KAEL'S POV
I couldn't breathe.
Not from the demon fight. Not from the injuries. From the ache in my chest that started the moment Aria walked away.
Twenty-four years. Twenty-four years I'd felt nothing. No love. No real attachment. No pain when people left.
The curse my eight-year-old self made with a different entity had stolen all of that. Removed my ability to love in exchange for power to hunt the demons that killed my family.
But now, standing in the wreckage of the nightclub, watching Aria disappear into the shadows, my chest felt like someone was ripping my heart out.
"This is bad," I whispered to the empty air. "This is very, very bad."
My phone rang. Ezra.
"Report," I answered.
"Sir, are you alive? The nightclub is destroyed. News says gas explosion but we detected massive supernatural energy—"
"I'm fine. Archdemon is dead. Casualties minimal." I started walking to my car. Every step away from Aria made the ache worse. "I need you to meet me at headquarters. Now. We have a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"The kind that might destroy everything."
Thirty minutes later, I sat in my office while Ezra paced. I'd just finished explaining everything. The Nightshade Killer's real identity. The pier fight. Her infiltration of my company. The Archdemon attacks. The soul-bond.
Ezra stopped pacing and stared at me. "You're sixty percent soul-married to a vigilante killer with a Devil's contract?"
"That's the summary, yes."
"And in three more demon fights, you'll be permanently bonded. One soul. Forever."
"Also yes."
"Sir, with all due respect—what the hell?"
I laughed. Actually laughed. The sound was bitter. "My thoughts exactly."
Ezra sat down heavily. "This is insane. You've hunted supernatural threats for twenty years. You don't make deals. You don't partner with demons. You definitely don't soul-marry them."
"She's not a demon. She's human. Was human. Made a deal to gain power." I touched my chest where the ache pulsed. "And I don't think I have a choice anymore."
"There's always a choice."
"Is there?" I met his eyes. "Because for the first time in twenty-four years, I felt fear tonight. Real fear. When that demon had her by the throat, I didn't think about tactics or strategy. I thought: if she dies, part of me dies too."
Ezra's expression shifted. Understanding. Pity. "The curse is breaking."
"Completely shattered. I can feel emotions again. Her emotions. Her pain. Her fear." I stood and walked to the window. "And the worst part? I don't want it to stop. For twenty-four years, I've been empty. Now I feel alive. Even if it's terrifying."
"What does she feel?"
"Confused. Angry. Scared. She doesn't want the bond either. We both agreed to try to stop it."
"Can you stop it?"
"Only by not fighting together. Which means Archdemons keep attacking and innocent people die." I pressed my forehead against the cold glass. "We're trapped, Ezra. Damned if we do, damned if we don't."
My second-in-command was quiet for a long moment. Then: "What if the bond isn't a trap? What if it's the solution?"
"Solution to what?"
"Your curse. Her limited time. The Archdemon attacks." Ezra pulled up his tablet. "I've been researching soul-bonds while you were fighting. They're rare. Ancient. But every text says the same thing: bound souls are stronger together than apart. Their combined power multiplies exponentially with bond completion."
"We already combined powers. It didn't multiply. It just merged."
"At sixty percent completion. Imagine what you could do at one hundred percent." Ezra showed me his screen. Ancient text in seven languages. "Look. 'Two souls bound as one can challenge even Hell's princes. Their combined essence transcends mortal limitations. Death cannot claim one while the other lives. Time cannot touch them as it touches others.'"
My heart stopped. "Time cannot touch them?"
"Her Devil's contract trades time for power. But if you complete the bond—if you become one soul—maybe the contract can't touch her anymore. Because she's not just her. She's both of you."
Hope. Dangerous, terrifying hope bloomed in my chest.
"That's speculation," I said. "We don't know if it works that way."
"We don't know it doesn't." Ezra stood. "Sir, you've spent twenty-four years hunting alone. Being empty. Feeling nothing. Is that really better than risking a bond with someone who makes you feel alive?"
Before I could answer, alarms blared through the building.
"What now?" I growled.
Ezra checked his tablet. His face went pale. "Three supernatural signatures. All Archdemon level. All appeared simultaneously across the city."
"Three? At once?" That had never happened. "Where?"
"One at the children's hospital. One at the police station. One at—" He stopped. Looked at me with horror. "One at Aria's apartment building."
The ache in my chest turned to sharp pain. Panic.
"They're forcing our hand," I said quietly. "We have to split up. We can't fight three at once."
"You'll die if you split up. The bond is too strong now. Being apart during combat will weaken you both."
"Then innocent people die. Children at the hospital. Cops at the station. Her neighbors." I grabbed my weapons. "Call in every hunter we have. Send them to the hospital and station. I'm going to Aria."
"Sir—"
"She's the priority." The words came out before I could think. But they were true. Horribly, selfishly true. "The bond makes her the priority. If she dies, I die anyway. Might as well die protecting her."
"That's not tactical thinking. That's—"
"Love?" I smiled grimly. "Yeah. Guess the curse really is broken."
I ran for my car. Every second away from her made the pain worse. The bond screaming that she was in danger.
My phone rang as I drove. Aria.
"Three demons," she said without greeting. "They're attacking civilians to separate us."
"I know. I'm coming to you."
"No! Go to the hospital! Save the kids!"
"You can't fight an Archdemon alone—"
"I killed one alone last night! Go to the hospital, Kael!"
"Aria—"
"That's an order, partner!" Her voice cracked. "I have twenty-four years left to live. Those kids have their whole lives. Save them. I'll handle this one."
She hung up.
I stared at the phone. Every instinct screamed to go to her. Protect her. The bond demanded it.
But she was right. Children were dying.
I changed direction. Headed to the hospital.
And felt my heart tear in two.
The hospital was chaos. The Archdemon had taken over the pediatric ward. Thirty kids trapped inside.
I fought through it. Used every skill I had. My hunters arrived and helped. Together, we killed the demon.
But it took forty-five minutes.
Forty-five minutes that Aria fought alone.
When the hospital demon fell, I ran to my car. Called Aria.
No answer.
Called again.
No answer.
The bond felt wrong. Weak. Fading.
"No, no, no." I drove like a maniac toward her building. "Pick up, Aria. Pick up!"
I arrived to find her apartment building half-destroyed. Demon ash everywhere. Scorch marks from her powers.
But no Aria.
"ARIA!" I screamed her name. Used my supernatural senses to track her.
Found her in the alley behind the building.
She was alive. Barely. Blood everywhere. Her body broken in ways that even supernatural healing couldn't fix quickly.
"Aria." I fell to my knees beside her. "Hey. Look at me."
Her honey-brown eyes opened. Unfocused. "Did you... save the kids?"
"All of them. Every single one." I touched her face. "What happened?"
"Demon was stronger. Faster. It knew about the bond. Kept saying... if you were here... I would've won." She coughed blood. "Split us up. Smart."
"Don't talk. Save your strength."
"Kael." Her hand found mine. The bond pulsed weakly. "The contract. When I use too much power... it takes extra time. I burned... so much power tonight."
"How much time?"
"Three years. Maybe four." Her smile was bloody. "Down to twenty-one years now. Still plenty of time to—"
She stopped breathing.
"ARIA!" I channeled healing power through our bond. "Don't you dare die on me!"
Her heart restarted. Weak but beating.
"Hospital," she whispered. "Need human doctors. Supernatural healing isn't enough."
I picked her up and ran.
At the hospital—the same one I'd just saved—doctors rushed her into surgery. They made me wait outside.
Ezra appeared. "Sir. The third demon?"
"Dead. She killed it. Almost died doing it." I stared at my hands. Covered in her blood. "This is why the bond exists. We can't fight apart. We're too weak alone."
"Then stop fighting it. Complete the bond. Become what you're meant to be."
"She doesn't want that. She wants freedom. Twenty-four years to fix the world on her terms."
"Twenty-one now," Ezra corrected quietly. "And getting shorter every time she fights alone."
A doctor came out. "Mr. Ashford? Your... partner is stable. But she needs to stay for observation. The injuries were extensive."
"Can I see her?"
"She's asleep. But yes. Room 347."
I walked to her room in a daze. Found her unconscious, hooked to machines, looking small and fragile.
Nothing like the powerful killer who'd stopped hearts with a touch.
I sat beside her bed and held her hand. The bond hummed between us. Stronger now. Maybe because we'd been apart and nearly lost each other.
"You're an idiot," I told her sleeping form. "Fighting alone to save kids you don't know. Burning years of your life for strangers."
Her hand twitched in mine.
"But I understand. Because I would've done the same." I leaned closer. "Here's the truth, Aria Chen. I'm falling for you. The curse is completely broken. I can feel everything. Fear. Hope. Affection. Maybe even love. And it's terrifying."
I pressed my forehead to our joined hands.
"So when you wake up, we're going to have a conversation. About the bond. About us. About what we're becoming." I kissed her knuckles gently. "And then we're going to complete it. All the way. One hundred percent. Because I'm not watching you die alone in some alley. Not now. Not ever."
Her machines beeped steadily. She didn't wake.
My phone buzzed. Text from Samael:
"Touching confession, Hunter. She heard every word—she's not fully asleep, just pretending. Also, bad news: My boss is angry. The Archdemons were tests. You passed. So now comes the real challenge. Tomorrow midnight. Dante Security headquarters. The entity who cursed you is coming personally to kill you both. If you survive, you'll be worthy of the complete bond. If you die, well... at least you'll die together. How romantic! - S"
I stared at the text.
Then looked at Aria.
Her eyes were still closed. But her hand squeezed mine.
She'd heard everything.
She knew I was falling for her.
And tomorrow, we'd face the entity that cursed me twenty-four years ago.
Together.
Or not at all.