"Well, well, look who finally grew a pair," she drawls, voice like poisonous honey. "Was starting to think you'd never come, oh husband of mine."
I smirk, leaning against the wall like I've got all the time in the world. Armor on. Swagger loaded.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the chains, huh?"
She shifts, the iron links rattling as she moves. Her lips are cracked, eyes sunken, but there's still that flicker in them—the thirst. Not just for blood. For something deeper. I don't know if it's life, or death, or just destruction for the sake of it.
"A little too kinky for your taste?" she asks, rattling the chains again. "Thought you liked it rough. Come a little closer. We could make it interesting."
I chuckle. "Tempting, wife. But I'll pass."
She shrugs, all casual malice. "Your loss. So? What's the plan? You gonna throw some heartfelt monologue at me? Tell me how much you love me? Beg for me to remember our wedding vows like a tragic vampire with abandonment issues?"
"None of the above," I say, my voice dropping cold as I take a step closer. "Drop the theater, Sage. I know you're angry. At Darlene. At Darius. At the gods, or fate, or whatever turned you into this. But somewhere in that twisted storm of yours, the real you is in there. The woman who loved me. Who fought for us."
She gives a mock pout. "Aw. The classic 'I know you're still in there' speech. So disappointing. I expected something more original from you, Kayden. You used to have bite."
"Oh baby, I've still got bite," I say with a grin. "But I don't waste it on cheap shadows. Come back to me, and I'll show you fire."
Her eyes narrow. And then she smiles, wolfish and cruel. "Let me ask you something. When you were on your murder sprees—your hands soaked in blood, your conscience long gone—did it ever work on you? The begging to stop? To be good again? Your brother's pleas?"
The hit lands. Clean and brutal. I don't answer.
She leans forward, chains groaning, voice low.
"Exactly. You want me to crawl back to the light while you built an altar to your darkness and called it survival. That's not a rescue mission, Kayden. That's hypocrisy."
I look at her. She's not wrong. But fuck if I'll let that be the end of it.
"You're right, Sage," I say, and this time I let the grin fall away. "It's real fucking hypocritical. Iama monster. Have been for a hell of a lot longer than you. I've done worse shit than you can imagine."
Her lips curl. "Now we're talking. So how about it, Kayden? Let me go, and we can roam together as the monsters we are. The world deserves it."
I step closer, drop to one knee in front of her. Within reach of her teeth, her claws, and her rage.
"You know," I say, voice low, "there's a part of me… the old part, the one that used to love the taste of chaos. That part stirs when you talk like that. I can picture it—us, fire and blood and freedom. But that's not who I am anymore. And it sure as hell isn't who you are."
She raises a brow, unimpressed. "Don't tell me we're going there. That tired speech—'your love changed me.' Really? You gonna hit me with that now?"
"Yeah," I admit. "Exactly that. Because sometimes the cheesiest stuff is true. You happened to me, Sage. And everything shifted."
I reach out and brush a strand of hair behind her ear. She doesn't flinch. Doesn't lunge. My thumb lingers on her cheek, then falls away.
"I'm not here to argue. Not gonna throw the same tired words at you like we all have, over and over. I'm not here to fix you, or to beg. I'm just… here."
A lump tightens in my throat, but I push past it.
"I'm here to be with you. In this. In the dark. If that's where you need to be right now."
She watches me, wary, skeptical, but listening.
I slide down beside her, back against the cold wall, close enough to share warmth.
"I'll love you the wayyouneed to be loved," I whisper. "Not the way I want. Not the way I think you should be. Because you're right, I'd be a hypocrite otherwise. You saw me in the dark and still chose me. I owe you at least that much."
I take her hands gently, cradling them in mine, rough and calloused against hers, still cold from everything she's done. I bring them to my lips and press a kiss to each one.
"I'm here for whatever you can give. If you want to rage, I'll take it. If you want to scream, I'll listen. If you want to cry, I'll hold you. And if… if there's any part of you that still remembers love, that wants it without strings or expectations…"
