Reborn From Oblivion by Christia Muray

"Nathan."

When Nathalie looked up again, Nathan was gone-vanished completely.

She broke down, screaming his name, “Nathan!”

No one answered. The silence pressed in, heavy and suffocating.

Frantic, she ran upstairs. But in just those few moments, the whole house had changed. Family members, dressed in mourning clothes, filled the halls. Someone must have called the priest, because he was already there, chanting solemn prayers and setting up for the ritual.

Nathalie watched in horror as he burned sheet after sheet of white paper, each one scribbled with Nathan and Nellie's birth dates. The priest muttered strange incantations Nathalie couldn't understand, but the meaning was clear: once the ritual was done, Nathan's fate would be sealed-changed forever.

She remembered Morris from that other world-how he'd lost his family, lost his title, lost the use of his legs, left utterly alone. That was all the proof she needed. This priest really could change destinies, and Nathalie refused to let Nathan end up lonely and broken.

She forced herself to breathe, to focus. She couldn't let the ritual finish.

At first, she tried everything-leaping, running, desperately trying to blow out the candles like some wild thing, hoping it would stop everything. But nothing worked. She ended up on her knees, exhausted, sobbing and laughing at her own uselessness. She cried for Nathan, gone too soon, and for herself, too weak to do anything about it.

But Nathalie had never been one to give up. After a few moments, she wiped her tears, pushed herself off the floor, and tried again. She lunged for the burning papers in the fireplace, clawing at them, even as her hands burned and her efforts came to nothing.

priest finished, it was almost dawn. He turned to Gavin and said, "You should have the young master's body cremated as soon as possible. I've chosen

left clear instructions in his will. I'll do

the furnace, and in that moment, her whole world seemed to collapse. She'd

out the urn, Nathalie

to stand, determined to stay with Nathan until

saying goodbye,

nothing left in this world for

her just

more.

had given her and

made

did her

She remembered Almos's warning:

If you

a

it means something'se