Blood.
It was the first thing Kai tasted as he fell to his knees.
Warm, metallic, and bitter like every regret he never voiced. It bubbled in his throat, trickled down his lip, and painted the marble floor beneath him like the final stroke of a cruel masterpiece.
He laughed. Of course he laughed.
Because in all his years as a bounty hunter, conman, and part-time romantic disaster, he never imagined his final moments would come at the hands of the woman he loved.
Valeria Knox — the infamous Ghostblade — stood before him, her obsidian dagger glinting red under the moonlight, her eyes as unreadable as ever. Silent. Cold. Beautiful. As always.
"You…" His voice cracked with disbelief and pain. Not from the stab. From the look in her eyes — or the lack of it. "You stabbed me…?"
"Don't make this harder than it is," she said quietly.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I must have missed the part in our relationship where betrayal was on the menu," he croaked, slumping to the floor. "Should've seen the red flags when you made me sleep on rooftops."
Valeria turned her back to him — no apology, no explanation, not even a second glance. Just the sound of her boots fading into the darkness as his vision swam.
He'd survived arrows, bombs, wyverns, and one very clingy ex who threw poison darts when angry.
But this?
This was what killed him.
Her.
Somewhere Else.
Kai blinked.
Or at least, he thought he did.
The darkness shifted. His chest felt tight, but… different. Smaller. There was a strange pressure on his — wait, were those his hips? Since when did he have hips?
His senses returned slowly, like guests stumbling into a party late and drunk.
There was cold stone under his legs. Faint candlelight flickered on brick walls. The scent of lavender and steel hung in the air. A bed. A desk. Weapons on the wall. And…
A mirror.
Kai's breath caught.
Staring back at him… was her.
Pale skin. Raven-black hair cascading over his shoulders. Sharp gray eyes, haunted by secrets. And lips he had once kissed in a moment of weakness and stupid hope.
Valeria Knox.
"Nope," he said out loud, scrambling back from the mirror. "No, no, no. This is a dream. Or a curse. Or food poisoning. Or karma. Definitely karma."
He slapped himself.
"Ow."
Still her face. Still her voice. Still not his body.
He looked down. Blinked. Then looked again.
"Okay, who designed this body? These—these are not regulation breasts! Where the hell do I even put these?!"
He flailed dramatically, knocking over a dagger stand. One blade spun and lodged into the wooden floor with a heavy thunk.
Silence returned.
Then it hit him like a speeding wyvern.
He wasn't just in Valeria's room.
He was in her.
Somehow, some way, he had died — and woken up inside the body of the woman who betrayed him.
Kai pressed a hand to his chest. No wound. No blood. Just soft fabric and the unmistakable rhythm of her heart.
"What in all seven hells is going on?"
A knock at the door made him jump.
"Valeria?" a voice called. "Report. The prince's convoy moves at dawn. Your target's window is closing."
Target? Convoy? Prince?
Kai's eyes widened. Valeria's last mission — he remembered. It was something big. Something that involved the royal family. Something she never talked about.
He gulped. If the world still thought he was her, then he was now the one they expected to assassinate the prince.
And if he failed?
Either they'd kill him — or worse, Valeria's enemies would find him first.
This wasn't just a curse.
This was a death sentence — again.
But if fate thought Kai Veyren was going to just sit around and cry in a corset, it clearly forgot who it was dealing with.
He stood.
Wobbled.
Stared down at his — her — body in horror.
"I swear, if I fall and break an ankle in heels, I'm taking someone with me."
Later That Night...
Kai sat cross-legged in the corner of the room, staring at Valeria's weapons with growing dread.
He wasn't ready for this.
He didn't know how to walk like her. Talk like her. Stab like her. He barely knew how to breathe without cursing every five seconds.
And worst of all?
Her diary was sitting on the table.
Tempting.
Mocking.
He opened it with a sigh.
First page: "Do not read this, Kai, or I'll cut off your fingers."
He blinked.
"Oh, come on! You knew?!"
Second page was worse.
"I never betrayed you. You just don't know the whole story."
His heart stopped.
Before he could read more, there was another knock.
This time, gentler.
"Valeria? It's me… Rael. We need to talk."
Prince Rael?
The target?
Kai's eyes narrowed.
He grabbed a dagger, stomped to the door, and yanked it open.
But the moment his — her — eyes met the prince's warm, golden ones…
…he forgot how to speak.
"You're staring," Rael said with a charming smile.
Kai swallowed hard. "I'm just trying to figure out how many ways I can kill you."
"Ah," Rael said, stepping in casually. "That's fair. I did cancel your last mission."
Kai blinked. "Wait—you what now?"
The prince sat on the bed like it was his, gave him a lazy once-over, and smirked.
"I came to make you a deal, Valeria."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "Talk fast. Before I remember how to throw knives properly."
Rael smiled wider.
"Oh, I think you already remember more than you think."