Chapter 6

-Katherine-

It felt surreal. Darius was kissing me, and I was thoroughly enjoying it. I moaned softly as his tongue slid into my mouth. It almost felt natural for him to claim me like this, but I couldn’t forget my unanswered questions.

“Darius,” I pulled back slightly and whispered, but he captured my lips again. I quickly turned my head. “We need to talk.”

I felt his sigh against my ear, sending pleasant shivers through me, while his body trembled with restrained need. He let me take a step back, and I watched as he tried to regain control, clearly struggling to calm himself.

“Sorry, I don’t… know what happened,” he said. “You just… make me lose control.”

I still clutched the sheets tightly around me, but his words warmed me deeply.

“I make you lose control?” I asked, wanting to hear it again.

He gave a small smile. “Very much.”

We locked eyes for a moment, but I shook myself out of the trance before I lost my mind again. Darius was certainly good at that.

“What happened?” I asked. “Exactly.”

“You died.”

“So, I did die?”

“You did. I reached you too late. You stopped breathing, so I changed everything. I went back into your past and altered the outcome. This became your new future.”

“We married instead?”

“We did,” he confirmed.

“But then… everything else is still the same? Except for our marriage?” I clarified.

“It should be. I haven’t had a chance to explore it fully yet. I was a bit overwhelmed by the memories… fake memories… real memories.”

Even Darius seemed confused by everything. It was evident he hadn’t done this before—time traveling or making alterations.

“Could we go back?” I inquired.

“Back? To our former lives?”

“Yes, could we go back?”

“Why?”

“Because this is… I mean, Acan, he…” I felt my heart breaking as I thought about how the man I had loved and been devoted to for so long had betrayed me.

“He hurt you, Katherine. Why would you ever want to go back?” he asked.

“I need to fix it!” I exclaimed.

“Fix it?”

“Whatever went wrong between us!”

“You want him back?” Darius inquired, looking bewildered.

“Yes!”

“What?” He seemed genuinely betrayed.

“I mean, no!” I shouted.

“Huh?”

“I mean… I don’t know what’s going on, but I need to… I mean, this is…” I was losing my grip, and it was clear Darius noticed. He stepped forward, wrapped an arm around my waist, and gently cupped my cheek with his hand.

“You’re alive,” he said softly. “That’s what matters.”

“He killed me…” I whispered.

“Yes, so do you really want to go back?”

“No, but I—”

“You’re dead, Katherine. In that future, you’re dead,” he whispered, and tears began to spill down my cheeks.

He looked so pained, as if he were the one who had been hurt. He wiped my tears away, shaking his head slightly.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “I hate seeing you cry.”

“I… can’t believe it. I loved him…”

“But he didn’t love you.”

“How does that make me feel better?” I asked, turning my head as my heart shattered all over again.

Darius gently grasped my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. His dark eyes locked onto mine with such intensity that I almost gasped.

“I love you,” he confessed.

“What?” I whispered.

“I love you. Goddess, I have from the moment I saw you.”

“Darius, this is just… another future. It isn’t… real,” I said.

“It is real. But even in our other life, I loved you.”

“What?” I asked, shocked by his confession. But then I thought back to my old life. Darius had always been there, my hero, even when I didn’t know someone was trying to kill me. He had even come for me in my final moments, holding me and reassuring me. How had I not known the depth of his feelings?

“I have always loved you,” he repeated, ensuring I heard him.

“But you never…”

“What? Should I have shouted my love from the rooftops? Written you letters? Tried to take advantage of my brother’s wife?”

“Of course not,” I said, shaking my head. “But you could have at least…”

“Have told you?”

“Why not?” I asked.

“You couldn’t have been around me if I did. How would it have looked? How would it have made you feel? Besides, you loved Acan,” he reminded me.

“Right,” I whispered, remembering the powerful love I had felt for my king. But in that moment, it was like a switch had flipped. The devotion and support I once had for Acan turned dark, withering away to reveal only a cold, bitter hatred. As the hatred spread through me, I focused on Darius again. Could it be that I felt something for him too? This me, the one who had fallen for him, was part of me now. Were those feelings still mine? I knew Darius could see the turmoil in me.

He led me over to our bed again… Oh Goddess, that was our bed, right? He made me sit down and then sat down beside me, turning my head and getting me to focus on him.

“What are you thinking?” he asked softly.

“I’m so confused,” I admitted.

“It’s a lot to take in.”

“I just… I’m not sure what’s me now and what’s this other version of me,” I whispered.

“Yeah, I’m trying to figure out our memories too.”

“It’s like I have two sets of them.”

“Me too.”

We sat in silence for a moment, and he continued to stroke my cheek as we gazed into each other’s eyes. The intensity was overwhelming, but I found I enjoyed it more than I had expected. No one had ever made me feel the way he did. It both scared and thrilled me. The love from my past self surged within me, and I leaned in, ready to let it guide me into a kiss. Darius noticed and smirked, eager for the kiss as well. But just as our lips were about to meet, a wave of nausea hit me. I managed to turn away just in time to vomit on the floor, my stomach churning uncontrollably.

“Katherine!”

Darius reached out, his warm hands comforting as I spat out the last bit of bile. When I turned my head to look at him, it was like a shared memory surged forward. I was pregnant!