The rain hadn’t let up in two days.
Still, the man in the dark coat walked slow thro
ugh the campus streets, eyes scanning every face
like he was searching for someone long gone.
He was.
“I know you’re not human,” said the girl behind
the coffee shop counter.
He looked up.
She was young, early twenties, with sharp eyes a
nd a scar on her wrist he recognized too well.
“Neither are you.”
She flinched.
He smiled, cold.
But she didn’t run.
That’s when he knew—she didn’t remember everythi
ng. Not yet.
But she would.
And when she did, the hunt would be over.
Or it would just begin.
The bell above the door chimed.
He turned.
Two men in suits. Military cut.
Not human either.
“Leave her out of this,” he said quietly.
One of them smirked. “She’s the key. You know th
at.”
He stepped forward. The girl ducked behind the c
ounter, hands shaking.
“She’s not your weapon,” he growled.
Glass shattered.
Someone screamed.
Then everything moved fast.
He blurred, knocking the first man into the wall
. The second pulled a gun—silver bullets, probab
ly.
He caught the barrel and twisted.
The girl was running now, toward the alley.
He had to choose—protect her or finish this.
He chose her.
They chased him through the storm, but he was ol
der, faster.
Older, but not faster than the truth.
She’d been born again.
He’d found her three times before, and three tim
es they’d taken her.
This time, he wouldn’t fail.
Even if it meant breaking every rule in the vamp
ire code.
Even if it meant war.
He found her hiding behind a stack of crates, sh
ivering.
“You’re not crazy,” he said, crouching. “You’re
not alone.”
She looked up. Tears in her eyes.
“I keep dreaming about a war,” she whispered. “A
nd you. You were there.”
He nodded.
“World War Two,” he said. “You were a nurse. I w
as a soldier.”
She shook her head. “That’s impossible.”
“You died in my arms,” he said. “And I made a de
al to find you again.”
Her breath caught.
“And now they’re after me,” she said.
“They were always after you,” he replied. “You’r
e not just my mate. You’re the only one who can
end this war.”
She didn’t ask how.
She didn’t need to.
The memories were coming back.
He saw it in her eyes.
She remembered the blood. The fire. The night he
turned her, screaming, as bombs fell around the
m.
And the betrayal.
“I was your vampire,” she said. “But I was also
theirs.”
He flinched.
“You were never one of them,” he said. “You were
tricked.”
“And now they want me back,” she said.
“They’ll never have you again,” he vowed.
Lightning split the sky.
The men in suits were closing in.
“We need to go,” he said.
She didn’t move.
“You said I can end the war,” she said. “How?”
He reached for her hand.
“You were made to be a weapon,” he said. “But yo
u can be something else.”
She took his hand.
“What?”
“A beginning.”
They ran.
Through the town, past the diner, across the foo
tball field where students once dreamed of NFL g
lory.
Now it was just cover.
They ducked into the woods, the cold air sharp.
Behind them, voices. Orders.
“Stop them!”
He turned.
They were surrounded.
He stepped in front of her.
“Let her go,” one of them said. “And we’ll let y
ou live.”
He laughed.
“I’ve been alive too long already.”
The fight was fast.
Claws. Bullets. Blood on the leaves.
He tore through them, but there were too many.
One grabbed her.
She screamed.
He turned.
Everything slowed.
In that moment, he saw her again—on a battlefiel
d, holding his hand, begging him not to die.
He had died.
But she had lived.
Only to be hunted.
Only to be used.
Not this time.
He broke free.
Slammed the man into the ground.
Pulled her close.
“I won’t let them take you again,” he promised.
Tears ran down her face.
“I remember,” she said. “All of it.”
He kissed her.
The kiss of a man who had waited lifetimes.
The kiss of a vampire who had finally found his
mate.
The forest was silent.
The men were gone.
Or dead.
Either way, they wouldn’t come back.
Not tonight.
She leaned into him.
“What now?” she asked.
He looked at the town behind them.
“Now we build a life,” he said. “Before they com
e for us again.”
She smiled.
“Smalltown life,” she said. “It suits you.”
He laughed.
“Only with you.”
And in the quiet, under the stars, they walked h
ome.
Together.
At last.
