Adrian came back to the present sobbing.
He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but cry for that boy who'd died protecting the person he loved. For Kieran, who'd chosen immortality and suffering rather than let go.
Kieran pulled him close, and Adrian clung to him, feeling the coldness of his skin, the stillness where a heartbeat should be.
"I'm so sorry," Adrian choked out. "I'm so sorry you had to watch that. I'm sorry you've been alone for so long."
"Don't apologize," Kieran said, his own voice thick with emotion. "You came back. You're here now. That's all that matters."
"But I'm not him," Adrian said, pulling back to look at Kieran. "I have his soul, his memories, but I'm different. I grew up in a different time, a different world. I might not be who you're waiting for."
Kieran cupped his face gently. "You are exactly who I've been waiting for. Elias's soul, yes, but also Adrian. This version of you, with your modern cynicism and your terrible art history degree and your inability to recognize danger when it's staring you in the face." He smiled. "I fell in love with Elias. But I could very easily fall in love with Adrian too."
"Could?" Adrian found himself smiling through his tears. "Not already?"
"I'm trying to be respectful. Give you space to choose."
"What if I don't want space?"
Kieran's eyes darkened. "Adrian—"
"Kiss me," Adrian said. "Not because I'm Elias. Because I'm me, and you're you, and I'm tired of past and future. I want now."
"You don't know what you're asking—"
"I know exactly what I'm asking." Adrian leaned closer. "I'm asking you to stop being noble and respectful and just kiss me."
For a thousand-year-old vampire, Kieran moved with remarkable hesitation. His hand trembled as it slid into Adrian's hair. His eyes searched Adrian's face, looking for doubt, for fear, for any sign he should stop.
Adrian didn't give him one.
Their lips met, and it was nothing like the memory. That kiss had been desperate, stolen, shadowed by fear. This was different. This was choice. This was freedom.
This was theirs.
Kieran kissed him like he was precious, like he might break. Adrian made a frustrated sound and pulled him closer, demanding more.
"Careful," Kieran murmured against his lips. "I haven't... it's been a thousand years since I've felt anything like this."
"Then feel it," Adrian said. "Stop holding back."
Something in Kieran snapped.
He kissed Adrian harder, deeper, one hand tangling in his hair while the other pressed against the small of his back. Adrian gasped, and Kieran took advantage, his tongue sliding past Adrian's lips in a way that made Adrian's entire body ignite.
He tasted like midnight and winter and something indefinably ancient. His body was cold but solid, powerful, coiled with a strength that could break Adrian in half but held him like he was made of glass.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard (well, Adrian was breathing hard; Kieran didn't technically need to breathe), Adrian realized he was sitting in Kieran's lap.
"Oh," he said intelligently.
Kieran's eyes were crimson, his fangs partially extended. He looked dangerous and beautiful and absolutely wrecked.
"I should apologize," he said, his voice rough.
"If you apologize for that, I'll stake you myself."
Kieran laughed, the sound surprised and delighted. Then his expression sobered. "Adrian, I need you to understand something. What I feel for you—it's intense. I've spent a millennium waiting, wanting, yearning. My control is... not as good as it should be around you."
"I don't want your control," Adrian said. "I want you."
"You say that now—"
"I say that now, tomorrow, and probably for the foreseeable future. Kieran, I might not have all of Elias's memories yet, but I know what I feel. I know that being near you makes me feel safe and terrified and alive all at once. I know that when you touch me, I feel like I've come home. And I know that whoever I was a thousand years ago loved you enough to die for you. That's not nothing."
Kieran closed his eyes. "You're going to ruin me."
"Good. You ruined me first."
Before Kieran could respond, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out, his expression instantly shifting from vulnerable to lethal.
"It's Marcus," he said. "Viktor knows where we are."