"Wait," Seraphina said, looking at her supposed sister. "If you're alive, then who did we bury twenty years ago?"
The woman smiled coldly. "A very believable body double. Amazing what dark magic can accomplish."
"You faked your own death?" Aria asked, her mind spinning.
"I had to. It was the only way to escape Magnus's stupid rules about marrying for love instead of power."
"Aunt Selene?" Caleb whispered, recognition dawning in his golden eyes.
"Hello, nephew. You've grown up beautiful. Pity you're about to die."
But before anyone could respond, heavy footsteps thundered down the stairs. Real footsteps this time, not the shuffling of a body.
"Everyone stay calm!" a commanding voice boomed. Alpha Magnus burst into the chamber, very much living and covered in blood that clearly wasn't his own.
"Dad!" all three brothers yelled at once.
"You're supposed to be dead," Lydia's corpse growled.
"Sorry to disappoint," Magnus replied sadly. "Though it was a close thing."
