CAIN
Aldric shouldn't be alive.
That's my first thought when the sorcerer steps out of the shadows, smiling like he's arrived at a party.
Three thousand years. No one lives three thousand years except Elara. And she's cursed.
Unless—
"You cursed yourself," I say before Elara can speak. "To stay alive. To follow her."
Aldric's smile widens. "Smart boy. I can see why my beloved chose you."
"I'm not your beloved," Elara spits. Her entire body is shaking. Not with fear. With rage. "You destroyed my life."
"I gave you eternal life," Aldric corrects. "And I've spent three thousand years perfecting my magic, waiting for the right moment to return to you." He spreads his arms. "Here I am, my love. Finally strong enough to claim what's mine."
"I was never yours."
"You will be." Aldric's eyes slide to me. "Once I eliminate distractions."
He moves his hand.
I feel it—dark magic wrapping around me like chains. My body locks up. Can't move. Can't breathe.
"Stop!" Elara screams. Shadow magic explodes from her, shattering Aldric's spell.
I drop to my knees, gasping.
"Still protecting mortals," Aldric says sadly. "After everything. Haven't you learned, Elara? They all die. Every single one. Marcus died. This assassin will die. Everyone you love turns to dust while we remain."
"We?" Elara's voice is pure venom. "There is no we. There never was."
"But there will be." Aldric takes a step closer. "I've been patient. I've watched you push away everyone who tried to love you. I've watched you grow cold and empty. Perfect. Because now you'll finally understand—I'm the only one who can truly be with you forever."
"I'd rather die."
"I know." Aldric's smile turns cruel. "That's why I made sure your little assassin contract reached the guild. Why I've been watching him study you. Why I sent those pathetic attackers tonight—to show him how impossible it is. To make him realize that breaking your curse requires something he'll never give you."
My blood runs cold. "You've been manipulating this from the start."
"Of course." Aldric looks at me like I'm an insect. "I needed someone to make Elara hope again. To make her feel something besides emptiness. Because the curse can only break if she opens her heart." He turns back to Elara. "And when she finally does—when she finally loves again—I'll be there to claim her. Not this dying fool."
"You're insane," Elara whispers.
"I'm in love." Aldric reaches toward her. "Same thing."
Elara blasts him with shadow magic. He deflects it easily. They're both ancient, both powerful. The room shakes with their combined magic.
But Aldric is stronger. Three thousand years of studying dark magic versus Elara's three thousand years of just surviving.
He's winning.
I need to do something. Anything.
My curse flares—pain shooting through my chest. Six months. Maybe less after tonight's wounds.
But I can still move. Still fight.
I pull a blade from my boot. Not my main weapon—a smaller knife. Coated in poison that's killed three kings.
It won't kill Aldric. But it might slow him down.
I throw.
The blade buries itself in Aldric's shoulder. He grunts, surprised.
"Annoying insect," he snarls at me.
But the distraction is enough. Elara hits him with a wave of shadow magic that sends him crashing through the balcony doors.
"Run!" Elara shouts at me.
"No."
"Cain, you can't fight him! He's—"
"I don't care." I force myself to stand despite the pain in my side. "I made a deal. I don't break deals."
"You're going to die!"
"I'm already dying!" I grab her arm. "But you're not. Not tonight. Not to him."
Something flickers across her face. Emotion I can't name.
Before she can respond, Aldric appears in the doorway. The poison should have paralyzed him. Instead, he just looks annoyed.
"Enough games." He raises both hands. Dark magic swirls around him—more power than I've ever seen. "I'm taking what's mine."
The magic hits like a tidal wave.
I feel my bones crack. My vision goes black. The curse in my chest explodes with pain.
I'm dying. Right now. Not in six months.
Now.
Through the pain, I hear Elara screaming. Feel her shadow magic trying to protect me. But it's not enough.
Aldric's too strong.
Everything's fading. My body's shutting down. This is it. The end.
But I haven't completed my contract. Haven't broken Elara's curse. Haven't—
Wait.
The curse can only break if she opens her heart. If she chooses love over guilt.
She's been protecting me all night. Fighting for me. Caring about me.
Maybe she already has.
With the last of my strength, I pull out my main blade. The one I was supposed to use on her weeks from now. After research. After understanding.
But there's no time left.
"I'm sorry," I whisper.
I drive the blade into Elara's heart.
She gasps. Eyes wide with shock.
Blood blooms across her nightgown—dark red spreading like roses.
"Cain?" she chokes out. "What—why—"
"Because you need to forgive yourself," I say as darkness takes me. "And you can't do that if you're still trying to die."
I collapse.
The last thing I hear is Elara screaming my name.
Then nothing.
ELARA
I'm dying.
The blade is through my heart. Blood everywhere. Pain—real, actual pain I haven't felt in three thousand years.
I'm dying.
Finally.
I should be happy. This is what I wanted. What I hired Cain to do.
But all I feel is terror.
Because Cain is on the floor. Not moving. Possibly dead.
And I'm dying.
And Aldric is laughing.
"Perfect!" he crows. "The curse will break when you die. Your immortality will transfer to me. I'll have everything—eternal life and the woman I love!"
No.
No, this isn't how it ends.
Cain didn't stab me to give Aldric what he wanted. He stabbed me to make me choose.
You can't forgive yourself if you're still trying to die.
He's right.
I've spent three thousand years wanting death because I thought I deserved it. Because Marcus died and I lived. Because I couldn't save him.
But Marcus didn't die wanting me to suffer. He died wanting me to live. To be happy. To find joy.
And I've wasted three thousand years doing the opposite.
The wound in my chest starts closing.
No. Not yet. I'm not ready—
But my body heals. Like it always does. The pain fades. The blood stops flowing.
I sit up.
Alive. Still alive.
But something's different. The emptiness that's filled me for centuries—it's cracking. Breaking apart.
Because I don't want to die anymore.
I want to save Cain.
I crawl to him. His pulse is faint. Blood pooling under him. The curse and Aldric's magic and the wound in his side—all killing him at once.
"No," I whisper. "No, you don't get to die. Not after making me want to live."
Aldric stops laughing. "What?"
I look up at him. "You made one mistake. You thought breaking my curse would give you power. But curses don't transfer. They just break."
"What are you talking about?"
"I forgive myself." The words come out strong. Clear. True. "For Marcus. For everything. I forgive myself. And I choose this." I put my hand on Cain's chest. "I choose him. I choose life."
Golden light explodes from my body.
The curse shatters.
Three thousand years of stolen life force releases all at once. Marcus's soul—trapped inside me this whole time—finally breaks free. I feel him leaving. Feel his love, his forgiveness, his joy that I finally chose to live.
Goodbye, Marcus. Thank you. I'm sorry. I love you.
The golden light flows into Cain. Healing his wounds. Breaking his curse. Giving him the life he was supposed to have.
His eyes open.
"Elara?" he gasps.
"I'm here." Tears stream down my face. I'm crying. Actually crying for the first time in a thousand years. "I'm here. You're alive. We're both alive."
"Your curse—"
"Broken." I laugh through tears. "You broke it. By making me choose life instead of death."
"NO!" Aldric screams. "That's impossible! You were supposed to be mine!"
"I was never yours," I say, standing to face him. "And now I'm mortal. The curse is gone. Which means so is your claim on me."
"Then I'll kill you both!" Dark magic swirls around him. "If I can't have you, no one will!"
He raises his hands to strike.
But nothing happens.
His magic sputters. Fades.
"What—" Aldric stares at his hands in horror.
"Your curse was tied to mine," I realize. "When mine broke, so did yours. The dark magic keeping you alive for three thousand years—it's gone."
Aldric's face starts changing. Aging. Three thousand years catching up all at once.
"No," he whispers as his skin wrinkles, his hair grays. "No, this isn't—I was supposed to—"
He falls to dust before he can finish.
Just dust. Blowing away in the wind from the broken balcony.
Gone.
Silence falls.
I'm mortal. Cain's alive. Aldric's dead.
It's over.
I sink to my knees beside Cain. He's still weak but healing. The golden light did its work.
"Did you know?" I ask. "That stabbing me would break the curse?"
"No." He coughs. "I just knew you needed a reason to choose. And dying wasn't going to do it."
"You could have killed us both."
"Yeah." He smiles weakly. "But I didn't. So it worked."
I laugh. Actually laugh. The sound is strange and wonderful and terrifying.
"I'm mortal now," I whisper. "I can die."
"Welcome to the club," Cain says. "It's terrible."
"I'm terrified."
"Good. Fear means you're alive."
Guards burst through the door. Captain Voss takes one look at the destruction and swears.
"Get healers," I order. "Now. And someone clean up that dust. It used to be an evil sorcerer."
Voss's eyes go wide but he obeys.
I look down at Cain. "You're staying here. Until you're healed. No arguments."
"Wasn't going to argue."
"And then we're going to discuss your payment. Because you completed your contract. Sort of. You did kill me—or the cursed version of me."
"Keep your gold." Cain meets my eyes. "I got something better."
"What?"
"A reason to keep living my last six months."
My heart—my mortal, breakable heart—clenches.
"About that," I say. "The curse breaking released a lot of life energy. It might have cured you completely."
He stares at me. "What?"
"You're not dying anymore, Cain. You're going to live."
For the first time since I met him, emotion breaks across his face. Not just emotion—hope. Wonder. Joy.
"I'm going to live," he whispers.
"We both are." I take his hand. "The woman who couldn't die and the man who couldn't live. We're both going to live now."
"Together?"
The question hangs between us. Fragile. Dangerous. Full of possibility.
I spent three thousand years alone. Pushing people away. Afraid to lose anyone else.
But Cain made me choose life. And life means risk. Means love. Means possibly getting hurt.
But it also means being alive.
Really, truly alive.
"Together," I say.
He squeezes my hand.
And for the first time in three thousand years, I'm not afraid of tomorrow.