Lucian carried Adrian's unconscious body through the narrow alley behind the warehouse district, his boots splashing through puddles of oil and rainwater.
Rhea ran beside him, breath trembling, hands still stained with Adrian's blood.
The world around them felt unreal—sirens in the distance, footsteps echoing, the night thick with danger—but all she could see was Adrian's lifeless face.
"Lucian… Is he breathing?" she whispered.
Lucian didn't slow down.
"Barely."
Rhea wiped her tears with the back of her hand, trying to be strong, but her voice cracked again.
"This is my fault… they were after me—"
Lucian's tone snapped like a whip.
"Stop. Adrian chose to protect you. He'd do it again."
They reached an armored black SUV hidden behind crates. Lucian opened the back door and carefully laid Adrian inside.
Blood smeared across the seat.
Rhea climbed in immediately, holding Adrian's cold hand with both of hers.
Lucian started the engine.
"We've got fifteen minutes before his pulse drops too low."
Rhea pressed her forehead to Adrian's shoulder.
"Adrian… please hear me," she whispered.
"I'm right here. Don't leave me."
Her tears fell on his shirt.
For the first time since she met him—
She wasn't crying because of fear.
She was crying because losing him… felt like losing air.
Lucian sped through the streets like a man possessed, every turn calculated, every second precious.
Then—
A voice crackled through his comm device.
"Knight One, this is Safe House Delta. Do you copy?"
Lucian grabbed the device.
"Delta, we're inbound with a critical. Prep for immediate surgery."
"Understood—sending med team outside. Hurry."
Rhea squeezed Adrian's hand harder.
"Hold on… please…"
She felt the faintest twitch in his fingers.
"Lucian! He moved—he's reacting!"
Lucian didn't look back, but she saw his knuckles whiten on the steering wheel.
"He's fighting," Lucian said.
"But he needs more than strength. He needs blood."
Rhea blinked.
"His blood type? What is it?"
Lucian hesitated.
Then he said something that made Rhea's heart stop.
"He doesn't have a blood type."
Rhea stared.
"What do you mean he doesn't—"
"He's AB-negative on paper," Lucian cut in, "but transfusions fail. His body rejects everything."
Rhea froze.
"That's… impossible."
Lucian's jaw tightened.
"The curse isn't superstition, Rhea. It's biological. Each Knight male has an abnormality—no medication fully works, no blood fully matches."
His voice dropped lower.
"That's why every woman they love dies… Because protecting her becomes a death sentence, they can't survive."
Rhea stared at Adrian helplessly, her world shattering.
"So he can't survive… because he loves me?"
Lucian's silence said enough.
Rhea shook her head furiously, tears falling again.
"No. I won't accept that. He is not dying for me."
Lucian finally looked at her through the rearview mirror.
"Then hold him steady. We're here."
The car screeched into a hidden underground entrance.
Armed guards rushed out, pulling Adrian onto a stretcher.
Rhea tried to follow—
A medic stopped her.
"Ma'am, you can't come inside. Let us—"
Lucian's voice roared across the hall.
"She stays. Try stopping her, and you deal with me."
The medics stepped aside instantly.
Rhea ran with them into the surgical room, where bright lights flooded the space.
They placed Adrian on the operating table.
Machines beeped.
Staff scrambled.
Lucian barked orders like a commander in war.
But Rhea—
She stood over Adrian's body, tears falling quietly.
"Adrian…" she whispered, brushing his cheek with trembling fingers.
"You fight everything. You break every rule. You terrify everyone who stands in your way."
She leaned close to him.
"So fight this. Fight for me. I'm not letting you go."
The heart monitor beeped once.
Twice.
Then dipped dangerously low.
The surgeon shouted, "We're losing him!"
Lucian slammed a fist against the glass.
"No. Not like this."
Rhea's breath hitched—her legs nearly gave out.
She grabbed Adrian's hand, pressing it to her chest.
"Adrian, listen to me," she whispered fiercely.
"You said you'd destroy anyone who harmed me."
Her tears hit his neck.
"So don't you dare become one of them."
The heart monitor flatlined.
Rhea gasped.
Lucian cursed under his breath.
The surgeons jumped into action, grabbing defibrillators.
"Charging—clear!"
Electricity surged through Adrian's body.
Nothing.
"Again—clear!"
His body jerked.
Still nothing.
Rhea's sob broke the silence.
"No… no… please no…"
Lucian turned away, fists trembling at his sides.
The surgeon raised the paddles again. —
But before he placed them—
The heart monitor beeped.
Once.
Then again.
A beat.
A rhythm.
Weak but real.
Rhea froze.
Lucian whipped around.
The surgeon blinked.
"He… he's stabilizing himself. Without transfusion."
Rhea covered her mouth with shaking hands.
Lucian exhaled shakily.
"He's impossible," he murmured.
"Just like every knight before him."
Rhea leaned over Adrian, whispering through tears:
"You came back… you came back to me."
Behind them, in the shadows of the safe house corridor…
Marcus Hale watched through a security camera feed.
He smirked and whispered into his comm:
"Phase Three is ready.
Activate the one person Adrian will never expect."
A female voice answered:
"Understood."