Prologue

Regina had always believed in true love. She thought there was a person out there for everyone. And when she met Daniel Colter, she believed she had found the one. She was sixteen, and he was a new student at her school—a boy who never wore clothes that weren't covered in paint. Yet those clothes were charming to her.

But somewhere inside her, she wanted to know the truth and if he was truly the one.

It was a day in November when Zelena's girlfriend was over. Zelena's girlfriend was eccentric, like all the companions Zelena had brought home. She was a girl who truly believed she had a gift. She believed she was connected to a ghost who had the ability to see more than she did. Regina never truly believed there was anything special about the girl. And so, one day, Regina's disbelief would give her knowledge she never truly wanted.

"You truly don't believe I have a connection to the other side?"

"Correction," Regina replied. "I don't believe anyone has a connection to the other side. Since I don't believe there is another side."

The girl shuffled her tarot deck as she looked at Regina. A sly smile appeared as she threw the cards from one hand to the other, like a magician. Regina didn't understand why she was captivated by the woman. The movement of the cards enchanted her. She put the cards in front of her.

"I bet you have a question you truly want an answer to." Regina turned around. "Like that boyfriend of yours, Daniel. You want to know if he's the one, don't you?"

"I bet Zelena told you I had a boyfriend named Daniel," Regina said. "Nothing special about saying what you just said. Everyone with a boyfriend doubts about their shared faith. Nothing strange."

Regina didn't understand why she kept looking at the girl. The girl's eyes were focused on Regina, so she moved the cards in front of her. Regina picked a card from all of the cards and put it in front of her.

"The sun." Regina turned around. "Happiness is waiting for you, you will get it with your Daniel."

For a moment, the girl closed her eyes. She opened them once again, and for an instant, Regina believed that the girl's eyes looked different. They had been brown, and it felt like they looked green. "You will have a baby, Daniella."

The girl reached for her another card as she pulled the tower. She put it in front of her. "But disaster is waiting for you. And loss greater than any. A fatal car crash will take the love from you, but you can't let depression take you. For the 13-year-old child will need you, and a dark future will lay in front of you if you let depression take you."

"This is bull shit." Regina turned away. She once again turned to the girl. "Why can you not just say that I will be happy? That I will live happily ever after. Instead of your horror."

"I can't help but see what your future entails. And whatever you do, you can't escape this faith. All roads will lead to this disaster. But there is …."

She pulled another card as she put it in front of her. "But after this disaster, there will be new love. I can see a girl, she has long blond hair. A son. And she will come on your path when your daughter is sixteen. It will be the children that tie you together. She's known loss; you will know loss together. And she will be the love of your life."

The girl pulled Regina's hand to her, and as she looked at lines, Regina's hand. A smile appeared on the girl's face.

"See, two loves. And I can see four children." She replied. "You will have a child with Daniel. And the girl has a child. And you will have two children together. Daniella, Henry, Fae and Nimue. You should keep a hold of the name Swan. It might help you find…"

Regina walked away; she wouldn't believe this for a single moment. She didn't believe it when she got pregnant at 18. She didn't believe it when they found out the baby was a girl; she didn't believe it when she named her daughter Daniella. She told herself when Daniella turned 13 that she didn't fear the phone ringing. Even when the phone rang on the 13th of November 2022, she wanted to say she didn't believe it. But when she heard her husband died, she finally believed. But she refused to believe the next part. For she believed there was only one true love in anyone's life. And she already had hers. All she had left was Daniella and her job. And she would not let the darkness take over for either one.