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“I need you to keep an open mind,” he mumbled nervously. “Can you do that for me?”

Looking down at our joined hands, my stomach shifted.

What he was about to tell me was going to be big. Life-altering. I could feel it.

This would be one of those moments where my path shifted significantly.

Like when I’d signed up for The Guard.

When I’d deployed on my first tour, killed my first person.

When my parents had died.

When the bomb had exploded, and Aaron had protected me. When he’d dragged me down to the bottom of the pool.

I squeezed Adrian’s hands, then let go.

“Yes,” I said, meeting his eyes. “Whatever you need to tell me, I can handle it.”

And that was the truth.

Since being on One, I found I was becoming more like my normal self again. My time spent on this new Earth overshadowed the doubt and fear of the incident I’d been battling back home. And having Leo, who knew my truth, had only helped in my recovery.

Adrian stood and paced, raking his hands through his hair: his tell he was stressed, I’d learned. “When the Deks first attacked One, the first time we found out about their existence, we weren’t prepared at the portals like we are now.” He rubbed at his shoulder, carefully pacing himself. “We’d always had guard stations, but those were meant to protect the existence of the portals. Our guards weren’t equipped to handle an attack from the portals.”

He stopped pacing.

“The first group of creatures made it to the castle grounds. We didn’t have Mag-Guns then, it was steel and magic, which had always been enough, but the Deks had held the element of surprise.

“We lost people that night. People we cared about, deeply. Including you.”

I sucked in my breath.

“Twenty-six years ago, you died, Bryn. And up until a week ago, I’d believed you were dead. When word came there was an attack on Six, I was shocked Leo had wanted to go. We have teams in place to assist the other worlds if something like that happened. I couldn’t understand why he, with his title, would go and risk himself like that. Until I saw you.”

That couldn’t be possible. Could it? A past life where this place was my home?

I thought of my parents sitting me down when I was younger, describing how I’d been adopted.

Left as a newborn baby on their doorstep, in the middle of the night, with only a bit of paper, my name scrawled across it.

Brynlynn.

“But how?” My voice trembled. “How am I here, alive?”

But I knew how.

Like the fawn in the woods when Leo was a child.

Leo, the creator of life, was the creator of me.

“It’s old magic. Almost a myth.” Adrian sighed. “Magic no one has talked about in thousands of years.” He sat down next to me. The side of his body touching mine. “You’ve been reborn, Bryn. Through the rebirth process.” He shut his eyes, exhaustion consuming him. “Leave it to Leo to hide something like this. I always knew his powers were strong, but I hadn’t realized how strong.”

Poor Adrian. He had no idea he’d been lied to more than once by his friend.

“Who was I here?” I asked, my heart beating wildly.

“Brynlynn Stewart, Princess of Two.” He frowned, so subtly I’m not sure he noticed. “And Leo’s betrothed.”