A Sacrifice Rekindled

The smell of smoke and burning wood woke me, my heart pounding. It was the same fire, the one that had consumed everything in my first life.

But this time, Kaelen was alive, his silver eyes narrowed, not in concern for me, but in a frantic search for Lyra.

He accused me of setting the blaze, demanding I save her with my own lifeblood, forcing the agonizing transfusion while she smirked, thriving on my pain and his blind devotion.

How could he believe her lies, even as I sacrificed everything, again and again, for the very life he now blamed me for saving?