They ended up at one of Kieran's safe houses—a traditional courtyard home hidden in the mountains outside Hangzhou. It was beautiful, all dark wood and paper screens, with a garden that looked like something from a painting.
"How many properties do you have?" Adrian asked as Kieran led him inside.
"Honestly? I've lost count. When you live this long, you accumulate things."
Marcus excused himself to handle cleanup—bodies to dispose of, authorities to mislead, the usual post-vampire-battle checklist. Adrian tried not to think too hard about the logistics of keeping the supernatural world secret.
Kieran sat Adrian down in a bathroom that somehow had both traditional aesthetic and modern plumbing, and gently cleaned the silver burn on his palm.
"This will scar," he said quietly.
"Good. I'll have a reminder of the night I threw a magical dagger into the woods to piss off a vampire overlord."
Kieran's lips twitched. "You're handling this remarkably well."
"I'm internally screaming, but sure, let's go with that." Adrian watched as Kieran wrapped his hand with practiced efficiency. "How are you so good at first aid if you heal instantly?"
"A thousand years of patching up humans I cared about." Kieran's expression grew distant. "After you died, I tried to honor your memory by protecting others. Didn't always work out, but I tried."
Adrian's chest ached. "Tell me more. About what you did. Who you saved."
Kieran tied off the bandage and sat back. "Are you sure? Some of it isn't pretty."
"I want to know all of you. The good, the bad, the thousand years I missed."
So Kieran talked.
He told Adrian about the first century after Elias's death, when grief had made him a monster. About the villages he'd destroyed, the vampires he'd killed in rage, the humans who'd died because he couldn't control his bloodlust.
He told Adrian about the monks who'd found him and taught him meditation, control, humanity. About the temple that became his sanctuary and the philosophy that saved his sanity.
He told Adrian about the wars he'd fought in, always on the side of the vulnerable. About the humans he'd loved—not romantically, but as friends, as family. About watching them grow old and die while he stayed frozen at twenty-five.
He told Adrian about the moment smartphones were invented and he'd finally found a way to track global news, searching desperately for any sign that Elias's soul had returned.
"I had alerts set up for anything that might indicate reincarnation," Kieran said. "Strange birthmarks, children with impossible memories, unexplained phenomena. Most were false leads. But then, three months ago, there was a report of a university student in Shanghai who'd walked into an antique shop and identified every item from the Tang Dynasty without any prior knowledge of the period."
Adrian's eyes widened. "That was me. I thought I was just having a weird day."
"It was your memories bleeding through. I came to Shanghai immediately, but by the time I tracked you down, Viktor had already found you too." Kieran's jaw clenched. "He has spies everywhere. I should have been more careful."
"Hey." Adrian took Kieran's hand. "Stop. You saved me. Multiple times. You've literally been perfect."
"I'm far from perfect."
"Well, you're perfect for me."
Kieran looked at him, and something vulnerable crossed his face. "Adrian, I need to tell you something."
"That sounds ominous."
"The curse—it's broken now. The moment I saw you again, the moment my heart recognized your soul, the ache stopped. I'm free."
Adrian frowned. "That's... good, right? Why do you look sad about it?"
"Because the curse was the only thing ensuring you'd return. The witch never said what would happen after. For all I know, this is your last life. When you die, your soul might move on to whatever comes next, and I'll never see you again."
The weight of that statement settled between them.
"So you've spent a thousand years waiting," Adrian said slowly, "knowing that when you finally found me, you'd only have a human lifetime before losing me forever?"
"Yes."
"And you still chose to wait?"
"Every time. I'd choose it every time."
Adrian's eyes burned. "You are genuinely the most romantic and tragic person I've ever met."
"Is that a compliment?"
"I'm still deciding." Adrian shifted closer. "How long do humans usually live in vampire relationships? Like, what's the protocol here?"
Kieran's expression shuttered. "There isn't one. Some vampires turn their human lovers. Others watch them age and die."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to live whatever life makes you happy. If that's growing old naturally, then I'll cherish every moment. If you want to become like me..." Kieran swallowed hard. "I would never turn you without your consent. The transformation is agony, and immortality is a burden. I won't curse you the way I was cursed."
"But you'd do it? If I asked?"
"Adrian—"
"Just hypothetically."
Kieran looked at him for a long moment. "If you asked, after living a full human life, after experiencing everything mortality has to offer... then yes. I would turn you. Because the idea of existing in a world where you don't is unbearable."
Adrian's heart was doing complicated things. "We've known each other for like, three days."
"Three days and a thousand years, depending on how you count."
"Fair point." Adrian laughed, slightly hysterical. "This is insane. I should be running away. I should be terrified. Instead, I'm sitting here thinking about immortality like it's a career choice."
"You can run," Kieran said softly. "I meant what I said before. I can arrange for you to have a normal life. Protected, safe, but away from all of this. Away from me."
"Do you want me to run?"
"No. God, no. I want to be selfish. I want to keep you close and learn everything about this version of you. I want to hear your terrible jokes and watch you fail at cooking—"
"I never said I was bad at cooking!"
"—and just exist beside you for however long we have. But what I want doesn't matter if it's not what you want."
Adrian looked at this ancient, powerful vampire who was offering him an out. Who was willing to let him go, even though it would destroy him.
"I want to stay," Adrian said. "I want to figure out who we are now, not who we were. I want to see if Adrian can love Kieran the way Elias did. And I want to do it without running away."
Kieran's eyes closed, relief written across every line of his face. "You're going to ruin me."
"You already said that."
"It bears repeating."
Adrian laughed and kissed him, tasting the smile on Kieran's lips.