Pain exploded through Adrian's chest—not the familiar ache of their curse, but something far worse. Dark energy burned through his body, destroying him from the inside out.
"ADRIAN!" Kieran's scream tore through the night.
Adrian fell, and Kieran caught him, cradling him against his chest. The battle raged around them, but Kieran saw nothing except Adrian's face, already pale, life fading from his eyes.
"No, no, no..." Kieran pressed his hand against the wound, but the dark energy consumed everything it touched. His own hand burned. "Stay with me. Please, Adrian, stay with me."
"Kieran..." Adrian's voice was barely a whisper. "I'm sorry... I couldn't... couldn't keep my promise..."
"Don't talk. Save your strength. Marcus!" Kieran roared. "Marcus, help him!"
But Marcus was fighting for his own life, surrounded by hunters.
Adrian's hand trembled as he reached up to touch Kieran's face. "Don't... don't blame yourself... I chose this... chose to save you..."
"I don't want to be saved! Not without you!" Tears streamed down Kieran's face—the first tears he'd shed in centuries. "Please, Adrian. Please don't leave me. We just got forever. We just started our life together."
"Love you..." Adrian's eyes were closing. "Always... loved you... every lifetime..."
"Adrian, no. NO!" Kieran pulled him closer, as if he could hold Adrian's soul in his body through sheer force of will. "You can't die. You're immortal now. You're supposed to live forever with me!"
But the dark energy was specifically designed to kill vampires—even young ones, even bonded ones. It unraveled the magic that sustained their undead existence, turning immortality into ash.
Adrian's last breath escaped his lips, and his body went still.
The bond between them—that golden thread that had connected them across lifetimes—snapped with such force that Kieran screamed. It felt like his soul was being torn in half, like every fiber of his being was being shredded.
Around them, Marcus had finally broken through the hunters' lines. With a roar of fury, he unleashed magic that sent the remaining hunters fleeing in terror. Elena Volkov escaped into the shadows, her mission accomplished.
But victory meant nothing.
Marcus approached slowly, seeing Kieran cradling Adrian's lifeless body, rocking back and forth, making sounds no creature should make—grief so profound it transcended language.
"Kieran..." Marcus knelt beside him. "I'm so sorry."
"Bring him back." Kieran's voice was broken, desperate. "You're a witch. You brought us together. Bring him back."
"I can't. That weapon... it destroyed his vampire essence completely. There's nothing left to resurrect."
"Then turn him again! Use my blood, use magic, use whatever you need—"
"His soul is gone, Kieran. Gone from this body. The reincarnation cycle..." Marcus's voice cracked. "It will begin again. But not now. Not for years, maybe decades."
The truth crashed over Kieran like a tidal wave. Adrian was dead. Really, truly dead. And unlike all the other times, unlike all the other lifetimes, this time Kieran had tasted forever with him. This time, they'd been bonded, immortal together, with eternity stretching before them.
And it had been ripped away in seconds.