The scent of Dante still clung to her like smoke from a wildfire, even though she had tried scrubbing it off her skin. Selena stood in the shower, water scorching her flesh as if heat could erase the memories of last night—the way his monstrous aura wrapped around her like chains, the way her body had trembled not with fear but with a wicked, desperate need.
"Why can't I forget him?" she whispered, leaning against the tile, knuckles white.
Her body ached, but not from exhaustion. It pulsed, tingled, buzzed with something ancient and arcane. Her magic, which had always been dormant, was no longer quiet. It screamed inside her.
And with it came the dreams.
She had barely slept, tormented by twisted visions. Dante's eyes glowing gold in a moonlit battlefield. A throne drenched in blood. Her own face—but not hers—wearing a crown of bone. Each image felt too real, too visceral. As if someone had carved them from her very soul.
She turned off the water, stepped out, and stared at her reflection. Her eyes were rimmed red, her pupils dilated like a wolf in heat. And on her neck—a mark. Faint. Barely visible. But it pulsed with heat.
"No... no, no, no."
She rubbed it with a towel until her skin burned, but it didn't fade.
---
Downstairs in the mansion, Dante paced like a caged animal. His power simmered just beneath his skin, raw and volatile. He hadn't meant to lose control. He'd come so close to marking her last night.
The beast had risen.
And yet, even now, it whispered her name.
He ran a hand through his dark hair and grabbed the bottle of scotch from the bar, downing half of it before slamming it back on the counter.
"She's changing," he muttered. "The bond... it's waking her."
Luca stepped into the room. "Boss. You need to see this."
Dante followed him to the surveillance room. He watched the footage of Selena tossing in her sleep, her body thrashing, the sheets catching fire briefly before extinguishing. Her eyes glowing in the dark.
"She's remembering."
"Remembering what?" Luca asked.
Dante's jaw tightened. "Who she was."
---
Selena's dreams returned with fury that night. But they weren't dreams. They were echoes. Fragments.
She was standing in a grand hall—stone, gothic, ancient. Firelight danced over tapestries of beasts and battles. She wore a black velvet gown, and people bowed before her.
At her side stood a man. Golden eyes. Dark crown. A monster. Dante.
But this wasn't the present. This was centuries ago.
"You are mine," he said in that deep, commanding voice.
"And you are cursed," she replied, her voice colder, sharper than she remembered.
Lightning split the sky. Thunder shook the palace.
She turned—and saw herself plunge a dagger into his heart.
Selena woke screaming, drenched in sweat, the sheets tangled around her. Her hands glowed faintly, and her veins were lit with white fire.
A knock at the door.
"Selena!"
Dante.
She backed away as the door opened. He stood there, shirtless, dark tattoos crawling over his chest and neck like serpents. His eyes weren't fully human.
"Don't come closer," she said, voice shaking.
But he didn't stop.
"You're feeling it, aren't you? The mark. The magic. Your memories."
She held up her hand, fire flaring in her palm. "What did you do to me?"
He stepped into the room, letting the fire lick at his skin. It didn't burn him.
"I awakened you."
"Bullshit. You cursed me. You tied me to you with this—this bond. I saw it. I stabbed you. In another life—I killed you."
He nodded slowly. "Yes. You were my queen. My executioner. And my mate."
The words punched the air out of her lungs.
"No. That's not me. I didn't choose this."
"But your soul did."
She pressed her hands to her head, trembling. Her thoughts were not her own. Her memories weren't linear. Past and present blurred. A thousand lifetimes surged in her blood.
"I can't handle this."
He stepped forward. "You were built for this. You were born for me."
"Don't say that."
He touched her arm, and her skin erupted in sparks. Her knees buckled.
"Selena. The bond is almost complete. If you let it finish, you'll remember everything. We'll become whole again."
She looked up at him, heart racing. "And what happens then?"
He leaned closer, voice a whisper of sin. "Then we rule."
---
Later that night, she sat alone in the study, pouring over ancient books Luca had brought her. Every page spoke of soul marks, reincarnated mates, and blood-bound curses. And all of them pointed to one truth:
Selena was not just a girl Dante desired. She was the key to breaking his curse—or dooming them both.
"In every life, she chooses," one text read. "To bind. To break. To burn."
She touched the faint mark on her neck again. It was darker now, almost like a brand. It pulsed when she thought of him. When she wanted him.
And she did.
God help her, she did.
She closed the book and whispered, "What did I choose this time?"
Suddenly, a shadow fell across the room.
"You haven't yet," a voice said.
She turned—and froze.
It wasn't Dante.
It was a man with white eyes and skin like cracked obsidian. An ancient force. A creature not of this world.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"The one who cursed him. The one who watches. The one who waits."
"Why are you here?"
"Because the mark is almost complete. And your choice will either set him free... or kill him again."
He vanished before she could speak.
Her heart pounded in her chest.
What the hell was happening to her?
And what the hell would happen... when she chose?
---
Selena wakes the next morning to find the mark fully formed—and Dante gone.