The sky outside bled crimson.
The blood moon rose high and heavy, casting a sickly glow through the tall arched windows. Shadows danced along the marble floor, like whispers of things long buried trying to claw their way to the surface.
Kai stood at the balcony, bare feet pressed to the cold stone, Adrian's coat draped over his naked body. He was still aching, still trembling from the way Adrian had taken him hours before how he'd turned soft whimpers into broken cries of pleasure, how he'd marked him again and again like he was desperate to leave pieces of himself inside Kai.
Adrian emerged from the shadows behind him like a beast risen from the dark. "Come back to bed," he said, voice thick with that low, deadly seduction that made Kai's knees weaken.
"I couldn't sleep." Kai turned, his face pale in the red moonlight. "It feels like something's coming."
Adrian stepped close, wrapping his arms around him from behind. "Something is coming."
Kai froze.
Adrian's lips brushed his ear. "A shift. In everything. The vampires… they're moving again. I can feel it."
"But not for me this time," Kai whispered.
"No." Adrian's grip tightened. "They wouldn't dare. Not after what I did to them. But that doesn't mean we're safe."
Kai turned in his arms, placing a palm to Adrian's chest. "Then promise me something."
"Anything."
"If it comes to it… you'll protect yourself. Not just me. I need you, Adrian. Not just as my mate but as the man who taught me how to be fearless."
Adrian's jaw clenched. "I'd rather die than leave you."
Kai looked up at him, fire dancing in those stormy blue eyes. "Then don't die. Live. For me. For what we've built. For the life we're going to have."
There was a pause.
Then Adrian kissed him, slow and sure, as if sealing a vow. When they broke apart, his voice was a growl. "Then we hold the line until the end. We don't back down. We don't surrender."
Kai rested his forehead against his. "And if it's us against the world?"
Adrian smirked. "Then the world should start running."