Kael's POV
Vivienne lunges at Selene with the knife.
I move faster than any human can. My hand catches Vivienne's wrist before the blade reaches Selene's throat. I squeeze. Bones crack.
Vivienne screams and drops the knife.
"Nobody touches her," I say. My voice doesn't sound human anymore. It's the voice I use when I need people to remember what I really am. "Nobody."
The security guards rush forward. I don't even look at them. I just release a fraction of my power—the ancient magic that's kept me alive for a thousand years.
Both guards fly backward into the wall. They slump to the floor, unconscious.
Ryan's face goes white. "What are you?"
I ignore him. I'm staring at Selene's mother. At the thing inside her.
"Show yourself," I command. "Now."
The mother's body convulses. Her mouth opens impossibly wide. Black smoke pours out, taking shape in the air. It forms into a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes.
"The Immortal Prince," the shadow hisses. "Still fighting fate. Still trying to save the girl who's meant to die."
"Who are you?" I demand. "Who sent you?"
The shadow laughs. It sounds like breaking glass. "You know who I am, Prince. You've known for centuries. I am The Architect. The one who made your curse. The one who feeds on her death."
My blood runs cold. The Architect. The mysterious entity Elara has been trying to find for seventeen lifetimes.
"You," I whisper. "You've been behind everything."
"Every betrayal. Every death. Every delicious moment of suffering." The shadow moves closer to Selene. "Her soul is so powerful when she dies. So much energy. I've been feeding on it for a thousand years. Growing stronger with each life."
Selene makes a small, terrified sound. I step in front of her, shielding her with my body.
"Why?" I ask. "Why her?"
"Because she was supposed to be mine!" The shadow's voice rises to a shriek. "I was the High Priest! She was meant to bond with me, not you! But she chose a mortal prince over an immortal priest. So I cursed you both. You, to live forever without her. Her, to die forever without peace."
The pieces click together. The High Priest who performed our blood vow ceremony. He was obsessed with Aria. I remember the way he looked at her. The way he touched her hand too long during rituals.
"You sabotaged the ritual," I say.
"I improved it." The shadow circles us. "Now I have everything. Immortality. Power. And every twenty-seven years, a feast of pure soul energy when she dies."
"Kael," Selene whispers behind me. Her voice shakes. "What is he talking about?"
I don't answer. I'm calculating. The Architect is powerful but he's not in his true form. He's possessing Selene's mother. Which means he's vulnerable.
"You can't stop it," The Architect taunts. "In three weeks, she dies. The pattern is set. The magic is already in motion."
"Then I'll break the pattern," I say.
"You've tried seventeen times. What makes this time different?"
"Because this time, I know who you are." I pull out my phone with one hand, never taking my eyes off the shadow. "And I'm not fighting alone."
I press dial. Thorne answers immediately.
"Bring Elara," I say. "And the binding stones. Now."
The Architect's red eyes flash with alarm. "The binding stones were destroyed centuries ago!"
"Were they?" I smile. It's not a nice smile. "Or did I just let you think that?"
For a thousand years, I've been collecting pieces of the original temple where Aria and I performed the blood vow. The stones hold residual magic. Elara has been using them to track The Architect's energy signature.
We've been hunting him all along. We just didn't know what we were hunting until now.
"You're bluffing," The Architect says. But he sounds less certain.
"Try me."
The shadow lunges at Selene. I throw up a shield of silver light. The shadow bounces off it, shrieking.
"Run!" I shout at Selene. "Get out of the house!"
But she doesn't run. She grabs my hand instead.
"I'm not leaving you," she says.
Something inside my chest cracks. She doesn't remember our past lives. Doesn't remember loving me. But she's still choosing to stay.
Just like she did a thousand years ago.
The Architect sees it too. "Oh, how touching. The priestess still loves her prince. Even after death. Even after rebirth. The bond is still there."
He sounds pleased. Why does he sound pleased?
"Kael," Selene says urgently. "Something's wrong. I feel—"
She gasps. Her eyes roll back.
No. No no no.
I catch her as she collapses. Her skin is ice cold. Her pulse is racing too fast.
"What did you do?" I roar at The Architect.
"Nothing. You did it." The shadow laughs. "The bond between you strengthens when she's near death. When she touches you while her life is threatened, it triggers the curse early. You just activated the three-week countdown yourself."
Horror floods through me. I was trying to protect her. I just killed her faster.
"Starting now," The Architect continues, "she has twenty-one days. Each day, she'll get weaker. Sicker. Until her twenty-seventh birthday when her heart simply... stops. Just like it did seventeen times before."
"No!" I hold Selene tighter. She's still breathing but barely. "I'll find a way. I'll break the curse—"
"You can't break what you don't understand." The Architect's shadow form starts to fade. "And you never understood, Prince. The curse isn't on her. It's on you. You're the one who keeps killing her. Your love is her poison."
The shadow disappears completely. Selene's mother collapses. Ryan and Vivienne stand frozen, looking confused like they just woke from a trance.
I don't care about them. I only care about the girl dying in my arms.
"Selene," I whisper. "Stay with me. Please."
Her eyes flutter open. They're unfocused. Glazed.
"Kael," she breathes. "I remember something. The temple. The fire. You said..." She coughs. "You said you'd find me in every life."
"And I did. And I will. Always."
"But he's right, isn't he?" A tear slides down her cheek. "You loving me is what kills me."
I can't answer. Because it's true.
For a thousand years, I've been searching for her. Finding her. Loving her.
And every single time, my love destroys her.
The front door crashes open. Thorne bursts in with Elara right behind him.
"We heard everything," Elara says. She kneels beside us. Her face is grave. "Kael. The curse is tied to your immortality. As long as you're immortal, she's mortal. As long as you live, she dies."
"Then tell me how to fix it," I beg. "Tell me what to do."
Elara's ancient eyes fill with sorrow. "There's only one way to break this curse. You have to choose."
"Choose what?"
"Your immortality or her life." Elara touches my shoulder gently. "You can become mortal and break the bond. But if you do, you'll age. Die like any human. You'll have maybe fifty years together before death takes you both."
"Or?" I already know I won't like the answer.
"Or you stay immortal. Let her die in three weeks. Wait for the nineteenth life. Try again." Elara's voice cracks. "And keep trying for eternity."
I look down at Selene. She's barely conscious now. Fading fast.
After a thousand years of being alone. A thousand years of watching her die. A thousand years of immortality that feels like torture.
The choice should be easy.
But if I become mortal, what happens when we both die? Will her soul finally rest? Or will the curse just start over with someone else?
"There's more," Thorne says quietly. "Elara had another vision while we drove here."
"What vision?"
"If you become mortal now, The Architect loses his power source. He'll die too. But..." Thorne hesitates. "If he dies, the magic he's collected for a thousand years will be released. All of it. At once."
"And?"
"And it will destroy everything within a hundred miles. This entire city. Everyone in it."
I close my eyes. Of course. Of course there's a catch.
Save Selene and kill millions of innocent people.
Or let her die and save the city.
"How long do I have to decide?" I ask.
"Three weeks," Elara says. "When she dies, you have to choose. Become mortal and trigger the apocalypse. Or stay immortal and let the cycle continue."
Selene's hand weakly grabs mine. "Kael. Don't... don't sacrifice the city for me. Please."
"Quiet," I tell her. "Save your strength."
"Promise me," she whispers. "If it comes down to it... let me go."
I can't promise that. I've spent a thousand years refusing to let her go.
But looking at her now, dying because I tried to save her, I realize something terrible.
Maybe The Architect was right.
Maybe I'm the real curse.
Maybe she keeps dying because I keep loving her.
My phone buzzes. A text from an unknown number:
"Tick tock, Prince. Twenty-one days until she dies. Twenty-one days to decide if you're willing to destroy a city for one girl. Choose wisely. - The Architect"
Below it, a photo loads.
It's a live feed from the city center. Thousands of people going about their lives. Shopping. Laughing. Living.
All of them will die if I choose her.
I look at Selene. Then at the phone. Then back at Selene.
For the first time in a thousand years, I don't know what to do.