Four months after their first meeting, Li Wei called.
"I need help," the boy's voice was strained. "The memories are getting stronger. I can't sleep. I can't focus on anything. I keep seeing... everything. Five thousand years of everything."
Adrian and Kieran were in Beijing within hours.
Li Wei looked worse than before—thinner, paler, with the haunted expression of someone who wasn't sleeping. His apartment was a mess, textbooks forgotten, food left untouched.
"It's overwhelming," Li Wei said, his voice shaking. "I remember being Cain. I remember the curse, the guilt, the endless centuries. But I'm also Li Wei. I have parents who love me, friends at school, dreams about college and a normal life. How do I reconcile that?"
"You don't have to," Adrian said gently. "You can be both. Cain's soul, Li Wei's life. The memories don't erase who you are now—they just add layers."
"But what if I can't handle it? What if the memories drive me crazy?"
"Then we help you," Kieran interjected. "There are ways to manage ancient memories. Meditation techniques, mental exercises, even magic that can help you compartmentalize."
"Or," Adrian added carefully, "there's another option. You could be turned. Become vampire again. Your body would be better equipped to handle the memories if it's the same species as the soul."
Li Wei stared at him. "You're asking if I want to become a vampire?"
"I'm offering it as an option. But only if you want it. This has to be your choice, freely made."
Li Wei was quiet for a long time. "What's it like? Being vampire?"
"Complicated," Adrian said honestly. "You're stronger, faster, immortal. But you need blood to survive. Sunlight hurts. And you watch everyone you love age and die while you stay frozen."
"That sounds lonely."
"It can be. But it can also be beautiful. You have time to learn everything, experience everything, become whoever you want to be. And you're never truly alone—there's a whole community of vampires."
"Would I remember being Cain if I'm turned?"
"Probably more clearly. The vampire body would sync better with the ancient soul."
Li Wei stood, pacing his small apartment. "My parents. My friends. My life. I'd have to give up all of that."
"Not immediately. Young vampires can maintain some human connections for a few years. But eventually, yes, you'd have to distance yourself."
"That's a hell of a choice. Normal human life with overwhelming memories, or immortal vampire existence where I remember everything but lose everyone I love."
"I know. I'm sorry the universe put you in this position."
Li Wei laughed bitterly. "It's not your fault. It's just... life, I guess. Or undeath. Or whatever this is."
He fell silent again, thinking. Adrian and Kieran waited patiently.
Finally, Li Wei said: "Can I have time? To think about it, talk to my parents maybe, figure out what I want?"
"Of course. Take all the time you need." Adrian handed him another card. "Call me whenever. For anything."
They left Li Wei with resources—contact information for therapists who specialized in reincarnation trauma (yes, that existed in the supernatural world), meditation guides, even a prescription for supernatural-enhanced sleep aids.
"Do you think he'll choose it?" Kieran asked as they flew back to Shanghai. "Becoming vampire?"
"I don't know. Part of me hopes he doesn't. He deserves a normal life."
"And part of you?"
"Part of me wants Cain back. Wants my friend returned. But that's selfish."
"It's human. Or vampire. Or whatever we are." Kieran took his hand. "Whatever Li Wei chooses, we'll support him."
That night, Adrian was restless. He couldn't stop thinking about Li Wei, about impossible choices, about the weight of ancient souls in young bodies.
"Come here," Kieran said, pulling Adrian into bed. "Let me distract you."
"I don't need distracting—"
"You absolutely need distracting." Kieran rolled on top of him, pinning Adrian's wrists above his head. "Stop thinking about things you can't control. Focus on what you can control."
"And what's that?"
"Me. Us. This moment." Kieran kissed him deeply. "Let me make you forget everything except how good we are together."
Adrian surrendered to the distraction. Kieran's mouth traveled his body, finding every sensitive spot, building pleasure slowly and deliberately.
By the time Kieran finally entered him, Adrian had forgotten about Li Wei, about responsibilities, about everything except the perfect feeling of being claimed by his mate.
"Mine," Kieran growled, his pace rough, possessive.
"Yours," Adrian agreed breathlessly. "Always yours."
They came together intensely, Adrian's fangs in Kieran's shoulder, Kieran's buried in Adrian's throat. The blood bond sang between them, amplifying everything until Adrian couldn't tell where his pleasure ended and Kieran's began.
After, they lay tangled together, both satisfied and content.
"Better?" Kieran asked.
"Much better. Thank you."
"Anytime you need distraction, I'm available."
"I'll remember that."
They drifted into meditation—the vampire equivalent of sleep—wrapped in each other, the world's problems temporarily forgotten.