Chapter 13. The Impostor Queen

Selene heard her before she saw her.

The sound was soft—bare feet in leaves, careful breathing, a rhythm she recognized like a heartbeat long forgotten. The scent that followed struck her harder: ash, pine, blood, and something impossible.

Herself.

Alaric stepped forward beside her, eyes narrowing. He’d felt it too. Not danger—familiarity. But wrong. Crooked at the edges, like a mirror that didn’t quite reflect true.

The trees opened.

And the girl stepped through.

Selene stopped breathing.

She looked like her. Almost exactly.

Same black hair, same sharp eyes, same stride like a held blade. Her skin glowed faintly where a silver mark curled across her collarbone.