Kieran hadn't meant to be there.
He'd been tracking Viktor's operatives across the city when the scent hit him—a fragrance he hadn't smelled in a thousand years. Jasmine and rain and something uniquely, impossibly Elias.
His feet moved before his mind caught up, following the scent like a beacon through the darkened streets until he found himself in an alley, watching three of Viktor's vampires corner a young human man.
Then he'd seen the human's face.
Elias.
No. Not Elias. This boy was different—sharper cheekbones, different hair, but those eyes. Those defiant, intelligent, impossibly warm brown eyes were exactly the same.
Kieran had destroyed the three vampires without thinking, moving on pure instinct, centuries of control shattered in an instant.
Now, standing in the aftermath, covered in the blood of his enemies, he locked eyes with the boy who held his entire existence in those fragile human hands.
"Who the hell are you?" the boy—Elias's reincarnation—demanded. His voice shook, but he didn't look away. "And what the fuck is going on?"
Kieran opened his mouth, then closed it. What could he say? I've been waiting for you for a thousand years. I've loved you across lifetimes. You're mine, and I'm yours, and I'll burn the world to keep you safe.
Instead, he said, "My name is Kieran. And you need to come with me. Now."
The boy laughed, high and slightly hysterical. "Come with you? You just ripped three people apart with your bare hands! I'm calling the police—"
"They weren't people. They were vampires. And so am I." Kieran took a step forward. "And the man who sent them won't stop until he has you. So you can either come with me willingly, or I can carry you. Your choice."
The boy stared at him for a long moment, and Kieran saw the exact moment he realized this wasn't a joke, wasn't a prank, wasn't anything but terrifyingly, impossibly real.
"My name is Adrian," he said quietly. "Adrian Chen. And if you try to carry me, I'll knee you in the balls so hard you'll wish you actually were dead."
Despite everything—the danger, the prophecy, the thousand years of waiting—Kieran smiled.
Yes. That's definitely Elias's soul.