Kai Veyren had never been good at sitting still.
So naturally, being trapped in a woman's body, dodging death, and pretending to be an elite assassin while wearing a corset was turning out to be his worst nightmare and greatest test of patience.
He paced Valeria's room like a caged beast.
Every shadow on the wall looked suspicious. Every whisper outside the door felt like a loaded crossbow. And every glance in the mirror reminded him he was still living a life that wasn't his.
The diary sat open on the desk, its latest confession echoing through his mind like a curse he couldn't shake.
> "I didn't kill you because I hated you.
I killed you because I loved you."
"Yeah?" he muttered. "Well next time, send flowers."
---
A loud knock snapped him out of his thoughts.
He grabbed a dagger off the wall — his third attempt at figuring out where she kept them — and tiptoed to the door.
"Who is it?" he called, trying to sound deadly instead of panicked.
"Len," came the reply. "And Toma. We need to talk. Now."
Kai's heart stopped.
Len and Toma.
His old team.
Bounty hunters. Loyal. Skilled. And currently hunting Valeria — him — for reasons unknown.
He looked down at himself. "This is going to be awkward."
---
They met in the gardens behind the royal barracks, surrounded by trimmed hedges and softly glowing lanterns. The moon cast long shadows over the gravel path as two familiar figures stepped into view.
Toma: tall, broad-shouldered, with a scar across his chin and a permanent scowl that made even sunshine nervous.
Len: lean, wiry, and grinning like he'd just stolen something valuable — which he probably had.
Kai tensed.
He'd worked with them for years. Shared drinks. Survived skirmishes. Laughed at their jokes. Cried with them once. Once. They were brothers.
And now, they wanted to kill him.
Or, well… Valeria.
Len whistled. "Would you look at that. The infamous Ghostblade, out in the open."
Toma crossed his arms. "Didn't think you'd show your face after what you pulled."
Kai swallowed. "Yeah, well… I've been busy. Poisoning kings. Framing nuns. You know, girl stuff."
Len chuckled. "Still got that sharp tongue, huh? Shame. We liked Kai."
His heart twisted.
"You came all this way to reminisce?" he asked carefully.
Toma took a step forward. "We came because someone put a bounty on Kai Veyren's head."
Kai froze.
"…Come again?"
Toma's voice dropped. "One million marks. Dead or alive. No known location. No known cause. Just his name. His face. And an order to make it final."
Kai's stomach churned.
Someone was hunting him.
Not Valeria. Him.
And that meant… someone knew he wasn't dead.
Or worse — someone had his body.
And they were doing something with it.
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked, trying to sound bored even as his mind raced.
Len smirked. "Because the bounty's private. Off the books. Which means whoever issued it doesn't want questions. That means it's dirty. And we don't like dirty."
Toma's eyes narrowed. "So either you tell us what you know about Kai's disappearance... or we assume you're involved."
Kai exhaled slowly.
This was it.
He had to choose between pretending to be Valeria, lying through his teeth — or risk exposing his truth and praying they believed the impossible.
He lifted his eyes to them and said softly, "What if I told you... I am Kai?"
They both blinked.
Then Len laughed so hard he nearly choked. "Oh, that's rich. The Ghostblade's finally lost it."
"I'm serious," Kai snapped. "I don't know how, but when Valeria killed me… I woke up in her body. I don't know where I am, or who has my body, but I'm not her."
Toma's face darkened.
Len stopped laughing.
The silence stretched like a blade.
Then Toma spoke, voice dangerously low. "You expect us to believe you're our brother, trapped in the skin of the woman who stabbed him through the heart?"
Kai didn't move.
"I know things only he would know," he said quietly. "The night in Blackstone when you both got drunk and woke up in the temple of the Sisters of Purity. You ran out naked and Len stole a priestess' robe—"
"That could've been a rumor—"
"Kai once confessed to loving a girl with blood on her hands," he continued. "He told Len he thought he could fix her, but she didn't want to be fixed. He was talking about Valeria."
Len's eyes widened.
Toma's jaw clenched.
Kai stepped closer. "I'm not asking you to believe me. I'm asking you to help me. Someone is using my body for something big, and if we don't stop them... it won't just be me who pays for it."
Silence again.
Then Toma said, "Prove it."
Kai blinked. "What?"
"You say you're Kai. Then act like him."
He tossed a dagger at Kai's feet.
"Prove it with a fight."
---
Five minutes later, Kai was on his back, bruised, breathless, and furious.
"Why do I suck in this body?!"
Len snorted. "Because you've got no balance and you're afraid of your own curves."
"THESE CURVES ARE A TRAP!" Kai shouted, tossing the dagger aside. "I had full range of motion before I had thighs thick enough to crush skulls!"
Toma grinned slightly.
"So… let's say we believe you," he said. "What's next?"
Kai stood, wiping dirt off Valeria's very tight pants. "We find my body before someone else uses it to start a war."
Len's smile returned. "Well. This just got interesting."
---
Back in Valeria's room, Kai collapsed onto the bed.
His body ached.
His heart raced.
And his mind swirled with too many questions and not enough answers.
Someone wanted him dead.
Someone had his face.
And Valeria… might have died protecting him after all.
He glanced at the diary on the desk.
Then at the dagger tucked under the pillow.
Then at his reflection — her reflection — in the mirror.
"Tomorrow," he whispered, "we go hunting."