But Kieran was terrified.
Every moment with Aiden was perfect and excruciating. Perfect because Aiden was here, alive, in love with him. Excruciating because Kieran remembered how this story ended.
Death. Always death.
"You're doing it again," Aiden said one morning, catching Kieran watching him sleep.
"Doing what?"
"Looking at me like I'm going to disappear."
Kieran couldn't deny it. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to stay present, to enjoy what we have. But—"
"But you're waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"Every lifetime, something takes you from me. Illness, accident, violence. I've never been able to keep you safe." Kieran's hand trembled as he touched Aiden's face. "And this time feels more precious because you're choosing me. Because it's real, not just destiny or soul bonds. You're choosing me."
"Then trust that choice. Trust us."
"I'm trying."
But it was hard. Kieran found himself being overprotective—wanting to know where Aiden was at all times, worrying when he was out of sight, imagining disasters.
"You need to ease up," Marcus warned. "You're going to smother him."
"I'm aware. But knowing I should ease up and actually doing it are different things."
"He's not going to die just because you're not watching him every second."
"You don't know that. In his last life, I looked away for one moment—one moment—and he was killed."
"That was nine hundred years ago. Different circumstances, different threats."
"Threats still exist. The supernatural world is dangerous. And Aiden is human, vulnerable, mortal—"
"And capable of making his own choices. If you don't let him live his life, you'll drive him away. Is that what you want?"
It wasn't. So Kieran tried to pull back, to give Aiden space. But it was agonizing.
"Talk to me," Aiden said that evening, sensing Kieran's struggle. "What's going on in that ancient head of yours?"
"I'm terrified of losing you again."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"You can't promise that. Humans are fragile. One accident, one illness, one moment of bad luck—"
"Then turn me." The words hung in the air between them. "Make me immortal like you were going to do last time. Give us forever."
Kieran's expression turned anguished. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because last time, I turned you and had three weeks of perfect happiness before you died anyway. The immortality didn't protect you. It made me complacent, made me think we were safe. And then you were killed, and I spent nine hundred years knowing that forever had been a lie."
"So you won't even consider it?"
"I will. Eventually. But not yet. Not until..." Kieran struggled for words. "Not until I'm sure. Not until I know I can actually protect you. Not until I've proven to myself that this time can be different."
Aiden was quiet for a long moment. "That's fair," he finally said. "I won't push. But Kieran, you need to understand something."
"What?"
"I'm choosing you. Fully, completely, without reservation. Whether I'm human or vampire, whether we have five years or five hundred, I'm choosing you. And you need to choose to trust that. Choose to trust us."
"I'm trying."
"Then keep trying. Because I'm not going anywhere. I promise."
It was a promise Aiden meant. But both of them knew that promises and reality were different things.
The universe had a way of breaking even the most sincere promises.