The Ghost that should not return

Anna's breath came uneven.

Lucas stood before her, whole, alive—or at least, something pretending to be alive. His voice, his face, his movements… all the same.

But the thing inside him?

It was something else.

And worst of all?

He knew exactly how to break her.

"You want him back," Lucas murmured, tilting his head slightly. "But you're afraid of what it'll cost."

Anna didn't answer.

Couldn't answer.

Because the truth was—he was right.

She had spent years fighting fate, but now fate had turned against her.

And then—

The air changed.

Lucas's expression flickered.

Anna felt it in her bones.

Something was coming.

Or rather—

Something was returning.

And then—

The shadows shifted.

A voice echoed through the air.

Low. Amused. Unmistakable.

"Oh, Anna," the voice drawled. "Did you really think I was gone?"

Anna went still.

Because standing at the edge of the battlefield, stepping out of the darkness with slow, deliberate grace—

Was Victoria Lane.

The Queen Refuses to Die

Anna's fingers clenched around her blade.

This wasn't possible.

Victoria had been erased.

Not just killed. Not just defeated.

Ethan had unmade her, pulled her apart at the very seams of existence.

And yet—

Here she was.

Whole. Laughing.

Victoria's cold blue eyes gleamed in the dim light. "You look surprised."

Anna's pulse thundered in her ears.

"You shouldn't be here," she whispered.

Victoria smirked. "Neither should Lucas. And yet, here we are."

Anna's nails bit into her palm.

This wasn't just a trick.

It wasn't a deception.

Victoria Lane had returned.

And that meant Ethan's erasure hadn't worked.

Or worse—

Something had brought her back.

The Laws of the World Are Breaking

Victoria stepped closer, her heels clicking against the cracked stone beneath them.

Lucas watched her with quiet amusement, as if he had expected her all along.

"Funny thing about power," Victoria mused. "You think you've won, that you've erased someone from existence, that you've finally rewritten fate itself."

She stopped just feet away from Anna, her lips curving into a cruel smirk.

"And then the world decides it doesn't like being rewritten."

Anna's stomach dropped.

Because she knew what Victoria was saying.

This wasn't just a revival.

This was the world correcting itself.

And if Victoria had been brought back…

Then Ethan—

Where had Ethan gone?

Anna's hands trembled.

"You're lying," she whispered.

Victoria's smirk widened. "Am I?"

She gestured toward Lucas.

"You've already seen it once, haven't you?"

Anna's throat tightened.

Lucas wasn't supposed to exist.

Victoria wasn't supposed to exist.

And yet, here they were—standing in front of her, breathing, talking, smiling.

The world had reversed the damage.

But Ethan?

Ethan was still gone.

Anna's heart ached.

Because for the first time, she realized—

Maybe Ethan hadn't just left.

Maybe he had been erased in a way that even the world couldn't fix.

The Offer That Should Be Refused

Victoria tilted her head slightly, watching Anna with an almost sympathetic amusement.

"You can feel it, can't you?" she said softly.

Anna swallowed hard. "Feel what?"

Victoria took another step forward.

"The void," she murmured. "The space he left behind. The reason we're here, but he isn't."

Anna's nails dug into her palm.

Victoria's gaze gleamed.

"You want him back?" she asked.

Anna hated how her chest tightened at those words.

Hated how the smallest sliver of hope tried to claw its way through her.

Victoria smiled.

"Then let's bring him back."

The Impossible Pact

Anna took a sharp step back.

Her body screamed no.

Her instincts screamed no.

But her heart—

Her heart hesitated.

"How?" she asked. The word was barely a whisper.

Victoria's smirk was slow. Victorious.

"You already know the answer," she said.

Anna's breathing shallowed.

Because she did.

She knew what Victoria was going to say.

"You have to take his place," Victoria murmured.

The world felt like it collapsed in on itself.

Anna's fingers trembled around the hilt of her blade. "No."

Victoria only smiled wider.

"Yes."

The Cost of Undoing Fate

"The world doesn't work without balance," Victoria continued, voice smooth, persuasive. "Ethan wasn't supposed to leave. The moment he stepped through that rift, he left behind something too big, too empty."

She gestured toward Lucas. "That's why things like him exist now."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Rude."

Victoria ignored him.

"The world needs to replace what was lost," she continued. "And if we don't act soon—"

Her gaze darkened.

"Then it won't stop with me and Lucas."

Anna's pulse pounded.

"What do you mean?"

Victoria's smile faded.

"The world is unraveling," she said simply.

And that—that was worse than any lie she could have told.

Anna's breath hitched.

"How do we stop it?"

Victoria's smile returned.

Slow.

Dangerous.

"You already know," she murmured.

Anna's chest ached.

Because she did.

She just didn't want to say it.

Ethan had left.

Someone else had to take his place.

And that someone—

Was her.

The Last Gamble

Lucas sighed. "I don't get a vote in this, do I?"

Victoria ignored him.

Anna's heartbeat thundered in her ears.

She had fought for Ethan.

She had bled for him.

And now—

Now she was being told the only way to bring him back was to become what he had left behind.

To take his place in the abyss.

To give up everything—**her life, her soul, her very existence—**so that he could return.

Victoria watched her.

And Lucas—Lucas was smirking like he had already figured out the ending to this story.

Anna clenched her fists.

She had spent so long fighting fate.

Maybe it was time to rewrite it.

She took a breath.

And then—

She made her choice.