Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

His shining eyes stared directly at me and I had to fight the urge to look behind to see if someone else
was standing there. But no, I could feel the touch of his hand against my cheek, even the warmth
emanating off his skin. This was real, he could see me.

“Aria…,” he said weakly.

“I’m here,” I replied.

I wasn’t sure how to react. I was still unnerved by the whole situation. All I could do was stare down at
him confused and uncertain. Was this part of the vision or had something changed? “…Aria,” he called
again. “Cai? Can you see me?”

I wrapped my fingers around the hand he was using to touch my cheek Maybe he was too weak to see
me.

“.Aria.”

I frowned at him. It was starting to feel more than just being unable to see me as he persisted i n trying to
call out for me.

“Can’t you hear me? I’m right here.”

His eyes continued to bore into mine intensely before, finally, it was like he saw me. I watched as his
expression changed to one of worry.

How could he be worried about me? He was the one who was dying.

“Aria… wake up.” “What....?”



Wake… up?

Suddenly my vision evaporated, and I was looking up at Cai, his concerned face close to mine a s he
was bent over my body. It was just like in my vision, I could feel his hand was on my cheek as a few tears
had escaped my eyes. Had he actually not seen me as held laid dying then? Was it just a mesh of the
two realities as they transitioned? It had already been a frightening ordeal having to confront him like that
without the added fourth wall breaking.

“Aria?” he asked, seeing that I was becoming more alert. It was too much. All of it it. My already weak
body, the news of a ghost coming back to haunt m e… and then having to witness it for myself. I couldn’t
do this anymore. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his torso, pulling him down towards me. He
had to act quickly to use his arms to support himself so he didn‘t completely crush me during the sudden
embrace. I didn’t care though. He couldn‘t have broken every bone in my body and it still wouldn’t have
been enough. I cried into his chest, unable to process everything that had just happened. This gift was

becoming more like a curse every day. Had it really been necessary to be shown all of that? Caius Knight
would die at the age of twenty–one with no Luna, mate or child. I already knew that was his fate if
nothing were to change, I didn‘t need to be reminded. This wasn’t like Myra where being able to see it
happen in a vision had a real benefit. This felt more like I was being reprimanded.

When I’d finally calmed down, I released my grip on him, allowing for us both to sit up. My eyes were
painfully sore and puffy, my body ached still from the training.

“I’m sorry…,” I mumbled.

“Yeah, you might have mentioned that already once or twice… or ten times,” he joked.

I couldn’t reciprocate the joking half–smile he gave me though.



“Aria, you need to tell me what the hell I just saw because I’m really confused.” He sat down with his
back against the wall and drank from my water bottle. I could see a small frown on his face as he was
trying to process the situation. “Is this like a medical condition you have? It was if you were asleep…
except your eyes were open the whole time.” I shook my head. “I’m fine now, really. I’m sorry for worrying
you.” I did my best to give him the best reassuring smile I could manage. “Aria! Enough,” he suddenly
said loudly, a tone of annoyance in his words. “You’re clearly not fine. Stop feeding me that same bullshit
line. You weren’t fine with Aleric and you’re not fine with whatever hell that was. If you don‘t tell me then
I‘m marching you to your mum right now and telling her exactly what I saw.”

My face paled. If he took me to my mother then she would lock me up in the hospital for a few days in
order to conduct extensive tests. And I could see I’d upset Cai, my chest tightening with the guilt of
seeing him like that. He was worried and wanted to know what was wrong. I owed him at least some sort
of explanation.

I took a deep breath. “It’s the Goddess mark,” I said slowly. “It shows me… nightmares sometimes.”

“Nightmares…? Like what?” “L… I see…,” my voice trailed off. A flash of Cai‘s dying face came to mind
and I shuddered. I couldn‘t tell him. If I told them then I would need to explain my rebirth and it was
something I wasn’t ready to talk about with anyone.

But even if I did tell him about my past life, how could I even begin to explain what I’d seen? ‘O h, by the
way, Cai, I saw your death. Sorry about that. It was my bad? I‘d either sound completely insane or, if he
did somehow believe me, he would probably not want to be around me anymore.

“...I‘m not ready to talk about it,” I said finally. “I really am sorry. I hope that this will be enough
explanation for now.”

He looked uneasy and I could tell he wanted to ask me more questions. “Just… believe me when I tell
you… I feel like this Goddess mark is shaping up to be more pain potem than it’s worth.”



It had only made things more difficult. I was living with visions of graphic murders and was now having to
fight harder for my right to be left alone. Not to mention that, if I somehow didn’t get assassinated by
someone before my coming of age, then it would need to be classed as a miracle. This mark prevented
me from ever being able to run away or even to live a peaceful life.

Cai was reluctant but he finally agreed to leave it at that for now, having realised that I wasn’t medically ill
at least.

After we had finished talking, Cai helped me get back home and we agreed on a new training schedule.
He had banned me from any physical exercise for at least a week to allow my body to recover some of
the damage I’d already done, and he had even given me a new strict diet plan. I gave it to the cook at my
house and told them to keep it quiet from my parents in exchange for a pay rise. Finally, a few days into
my mandatory bed rest week, I was upstairs in my room when a small knock came from the door. “Come
in!” I called out.

The door opened slowly and an uneasy looking Lucy came walking in. I was confused about what she
needed at first before I finally realised the date. I couldn’t believe I’d almost forgotten.

“Sorry for the interruption, Miss. I’ve finished organising most of the things you’ve asked for, ” she said
and handed me a manilla folder.

I opened it up and had a look Inside contained an array of information from a fake alias, bank account
details, financial estimates, to even the details for a private investigator. The PI looked to be qualified and
came at the recommendation of a neighbouring pack who had used them in several large cases with a
huge success rate.

I smiled at Lucy and was genuinely really pleased with all the work she’d done. She only returned my
smile with a look of concern. “The PI is expecting half payment upfront…,” she said nervously, unsure if
this news would upset me.



“That’s fine!” I said cheerily and could see her relax a little. “I actually have an errand for you t o run so
he can expect payment within the next two weeks or so.”

I turned to the side and started sifting through a few documents in my drawer until I found an envelope
I’d carefully prepared earlier. I handed it to Lucy. “You’ll need to use a third party you can trust for this
task. Also, make sure they hold no tiest o the Winter Mist that can be traced back to you or me.”

“Miss?” she asked, tensing up again.

I ignored her distress and kept going with the details. “This letter needs to be delivered to Alpha
Raymond Sullivan of the Hidden Moon pack directly. It is for his eyes only. Please ensure it is sent
urgently as this is a time crucial errand.”

“Who is that? I’ve never even heard of them.”

“They’re a large pack to the far east so I wouldn’t expect you to know them,” I explained.” They’re
actually quite wealthy.”

She frowned. “So, are you planning on asking them for money, Miss?”

I laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. As if they’d just hand over free money.”

“… Then what….” Her words trailed off in thought.

I smiled brightly at her, which only seemed to worry her more. “I’m going to blackmail them of course.”




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