Elara's POV
I don't sleep after the vision.
I sit on my apartment floor until dawn, staring at the words I wrote in my journal: He kills me. Prince Cassian kills me in thirty days.
When the sun finally rises, I force myself to move. I need to check on Iris. Need to see her safe and alive and real.
But first, I have to survive going to work.
The library feels different today. Every shadow seems darker. Every sound makes me jump. I keep seeing flashes of the vision—my body on that altar, blood pooling beneath me, Cassian's tear-stained face.
"You look terrible," Sara says when she passes my desk. "Are you sick?"
"Didn't sleep well."
"Maybe you should go home early."
I wish I could. But going home means being alone with my thoughts, and that's even worse.
I bury myself in work, organizing books in the basement where no one will find me. Where he won't find me.
Except I can't hide forever.
At eight o'clock, Master Theron dismisses me. "You're useless today anyway. Get some rest."
I gather my things with shaking hands and head for the exit.
Prince Cassian is waiting outside.
I freeze on the library steps, my heart trying to break through my ribs. He stands in the shadows near the street, his dark coat blending with the night. When he sees me, he moves forward.
"Stay away from me," I say, backing up.
He stops but doesn't retreat. "We need to talk."
"No. I'm not—I can't—"
"You remember too, don't you?"
The words hit me like a slap.
My mouth goes dry. My hands start shaking. Five years. Five years of carrying this secret alone, and he just says it. Out loud. Like it's nothing.
"I don't know what you're—" I start, but my voice cracks.
"Don't lie." His eyes lock onto mine, and there's something desperate in them. "I've been watching you for weeks. The way you document everything. The way you flinch during the reset hour. The way you look at people like you're carrying memories they've forgotten."
Oh god. He knows. He knows.
"What do you want from me?" I whisper.
"The truth." He steps closer, and I press back against the library wall. "Last night, during the reset, did you see a vision? A temple. Blood. A murder."
My blood turns to ice. "How do you know about that?"
"Because I saw it too." His voice drops. "I saw myself killing you in thirty days. And I need to know why."
The confession stuns me into silence.
He saw the same vision. Which means... which means it wasn't just my nightmare. It was real. A prophecy. A warning.
"I don't understand," I manage. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you're the only other person in this kingdom who remembers the resets." He pulls something from his coat—a folded piece of paper. "Because we're both in danger. And because I need your help."
He holds out the paper. I stare at it, terrified to touch it.
"Take it," he says quietly. "Read it when you're alone. Then decide if you want to live or die."
My hand moves before my brain catches up. I snatch the paper from him.
"Midnight tonight," Cassian says. "The Obsidian Tower. Come alone."
"And if I don't?"
His eyes meet mine, and I see genuine fear in them. "Then we both die in thirty days. And I think you have more to lose than just your own life."
Before I can ask what he means, he's gone—melting back into the shadows like he was never there.
I stand frozen on the library steps, clutching the paper in my shaking hands.
When I finally unfold it, there are only two lines:
Midnight. Obsidian Tower. Come alone, or die in thirty days.
P.S. - I know you're not the only memory keeper. There are others. And they're being hunted.
Elara's POV
I go to the Forgotten Quarter first.
Iris is playing with wooden blocks when I arrive, humming a song I taught her. She looks up and smiles, and my heart breaks a little.
"Mama!" She runs into my arms.
I hold her tight, breathing in her little-girl smell. "Hi, baby. Are you being good for Mrs. Holloway?"
"Yes. But Mama, I had another bad dream."
My stomach drops. "About what?"
"The hungry moon." Her voice gets quiet. "It wants to eat people. And there's a dark man, and he's crying, and—"
"Shh." I stroke her hair. "It's just a dream, sweetheart. Dreams can't hurt you."
But I'm lying. Her dreams are visions. And if she's seeing the same dark man from my vision...
"Mrs. Holloway," I say carefully. "If anyone comes asking about Iris—anyone at all—you don't know her. You've never seen her. Understand?"
The old woman's eyes widen. "Miss Thorne, what's going on?"
"Just... please. Keep her safe."
I kiss Iris one more time and leave before I lose my courage.
The Obsidian Tower rises against the night sky like a black dagger. My legs feel like water as I climb the endless spiral stairs.
What am I doing? This is insane. I'm walking straight into the arms of the man who's going to murder me.
But he said others are being hunted. And if there's even a chance he knows something that could protect Iris...
I reach the top at exactly midnight.
The door is already open.
I step inside and gasp.
The room is filled with journals. Hundreds of them. They line every wall, stack on tables, pile in corners. Each one marked with dates going back years and years.
"You came."
I spin around. Prince Cassian stands by a window, and he looks different here. Less like the cold, untouchable prince. More like a man drowning under an impossible weight.
"You said others are being hunted," I say, my voice sharper than I intended. "Explain."
"Close the door first. This room is warded, but sound travels."
I hesitate, then shut the door. The click feels final.
Cassian gestures to the journals. "I've remembered every reset for twelve years. Documented everything. Every crime, every pattern, every person who disappeared."
"Twelve years?" I stare at him. "But the curse only started five years ago."
"No." His jaw tightens. "The curse has existed for centuries. But most people who remember don't survive long. They get hunted. Killed during resets when their deaths can be erased."
He pulls a journal from the nearest stack and opens it. Inside are lists of names, dates, locations.
"Seventeen people in the last five years alone," he says quietly. "All memory keepers. All murdered during the reset hour. Their deaths erased from time."
The room tilts. "Seventeen?"
"That I know of. There could be more." He looks at me. "You've survived five years. That makes you either very lucky or very powerful. Maybe both."
"I'm not powerful. I just hide well."
"Do you?" His eyes are intense. "Because I've been documenting crimes for twelve years, and I can't remember even a fraction of what you do. Most memory keepers can hold onto fragments. But you? You remember everything. Details that should have been erased."
I think about my journals. Five years of perfect documentation. Crimes I witnessed that left no evidence except in my memory.
"Why are you telling me this?" I ask.
"Because last night's vision wasn't random." He moves closer. "Someone sent it to both of us. A prophecy spell designed to make us fear each other. To keep us apart."
"Why would they want us apart?"
"Because together, we're dangerous." His voice drops. "You have perfect memory. I have twelve years of documented patterns and royal access. Combined, we could expose whoever is behind this."
"Behind what?"
"The murders. The curse. All of it." He runs a hand through his hair. "Someone is manipulating the moon magic. Hunting memory keepers. And they're planning something for the lunar ceremony in thirty days."
The lunar ceremony. The night of the next full moon.
The night I'm supposed to die.
"What do they want?" I whisper.
"Power. Control over time itself." He pulls out another journal. "But they need something specific. A sacrifice during the ceremony. Someone with strong memory magic."
Understanding crashes over me. "Me."
"Yes. And they want me to do it." His voice goes rough. "The vision showed me killing you because they're trying to frame me. Turn me into the weapon they need."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"You don't." He looks at me with raw honesty. "But if I wanted you dead, you already would be. I'm the Crown Prince. I could have had you arrested. Killed during a reset. A thousand things that don't require showing you my research first."
The logic is sound. Terrifying, but sound.
"What do you want from me?" I ask.
"Help me investigate. Find out who's behind this before the ceremony." He pauses. "And in return, I'll protect you. I'll help you break this curse so you can finally be free."
Freedom. I haven't even let myself dream about it in five years.
"How would we investigate without raising suspicion?"
"I have a plan." He takes a breath. "Pretend to be my fiancée."
I nearly choke. "What?"
"Think about it. As my fiancée, you'd have access to the palace. To records, archives, council meetings. You could search for clues without anyone questioning why." His eyes are intense. "And I could protect you. No one would dare touch you if you were mine."
"That's insane."
"It's practical." He steps closer. "Right now, you're vulnerable. A low-level librarian with no protection. But as my fiancée? You'd be untouchable."
My mind races. He's right. I hate that he's right.
But there's one problem.
"I have a condition," I say slowly.
"Name it."
"There's someone else who needs protection too." I meet his eyes. "Another memory keeper. Someone young. Vulnerable. If I do this, I need your word that you'll protect them too."
Cassian studies me. "Who?"
I hesitate. Telling him about Iris means trusting him with my greatest secret.
But what choice do I have?
"Later," I say. "First, I need to know you'll agree."
"I agree. Whatever it takes." He holds out his hand. "Thirty days. We pretend to be engaged. We investigate together. We stop the vision from coming true."
I stare at his hand—the hand that will supposedly kill me.
Then I take it.
His grip is warm, firm. The moment our hands touch, something sparks between us. Recognition. Understanding. Two drowning people finding each other.
"We have a deal," I whisper.
"We have a deal."
He doesn't let go of my hand. "Elara, there's something else. About that vision—I saw something you might have missed."
"What?"
"The date carved into the altar. It wasn't just any full moon." His voice goes grim. "It was the lunar ceremony. The one night when the High Priestess renews the moon magic for another year."
My blood runs cold. "What does that mean?"
"It means whoever is planning this has access to the temple. To the ceremony itself." He finally releases my hand. "We're not just fighting assassins. We're fighting someone inside the priesthood."
Before I can respond, bells start ringing across the city.
Not the normal hour bells.
Warning bells.
Cassian's face goes white. "No."
"What? What's wrong?"
He pulls me to the window. In the distance, people are running through the streets. Screaming. And the moon—
The moon is turning red.
"That's impossible," I breathe.
"Someone is corrupting the magic." Cassian's voice is tight with fear. "Right now. Tonight."
As we watch, the moon pulses like a heartbeat. Once. Twice.
Then the world rewinds.
But it's not midnight. It's only 12:15 AM.
"It's too early," I gasp. "The reset shouldn't happen until next month—"
The reset hits like a wave of pressure. I stumble, grabbing the windowsill.
But I don't black out. I stay conscious, aware, watching as the world flickers and resets around us.
When it stops, we're back at midnight.
Exactly where we started fifteen minutes ago.
"They're testing it," Cassian says, his voice shaking. "Whoever is behind this—they're learning how to control the resets."
"Can they do that?"
"They just did." He turns to me, and I've never seen him look so scared. "Elara, we're running out of time faster than I thought. If they can trigger resets whenever they want—"
A knock on the door makes us both freeze.
Three sharp raps.
"That's Dorian," Cassian mutters. He crosses to the door and opens it.
A man in dark clothes stumbles in, breathing hard.
"Your Highness." His voice is strained. "You need to see this. The reset—it didn't just rewind time. It erased someone."
"What do you mean erased?"
"One of the palace servants. She was there fifteen minutes ago. Now nobody remembers her. She's gone. Not dead—gone. Like she never existed."
My stomach drops.
"That's impossible," Cassian breathes. "The resets don't erase people. They only erase events."
"Not anymore." Dorian looks at me, then back at Cassian. "Your Highness, whatever is happening—it's getting worse. And the High Priestess just sent word. She wants to see you immediately."
"Tell her I'll come in the morning."
"She said it's urgent. She said if you want to save the kingdom..." Dorian swallows hard. "You need to bring the memory keeper with you."
Cold floods through my veins.
"Which memory keeper?" Cassian asks, though I can see he already knows.
Dorian's eyes flick to me.
"The librarian."