"You could." He doesn't look away. "And I would rather die by your hand than live another century without you."
"That's insane."
"Probably." His thumb brushes my cheek, wiping away blood or tears, I can't tell which. "But here's what I know: I love you. Not because Konstantin designed it. Not because of any modification or trigger or plan. I love you because you're stubborn and fierce, and you insult me when you should be afraid. Because you saved my compound and killed your maker and chose me over and over again."
"What if I can't fight it? What if he activates me and I…"
"Then we'll find a way to deactivate it. We'll tear out whatever he put in you. We'll burn his work out of your blood cell by cell if we have to." His forehead presses against mine. "But I am not letting you die tonight. I am not letting him win by making us afraid of each other."
The cold is spreading faster now. I can feel myself fading, pieces of my existence slipping away into the darkness.
But his words are warm. His hands are steady. His eyes, those beautiful eyes, are full of something I never expected to see from a six-hundred-year-old vampire lord.
Hope. Love. Defiance.
"Something's wrong," I whisper. "Inside. The silver, Valentina drove it into the original modification site. Whatever Konstantin built into me, it's coming apart."
His expression goes very still. "What do you mean?"
"I can feel it. Unraveling. Like I'm coming apart at the seams." Another wave of pain. I ride it out, gritting my teeth. "The silver isdestroying whatever he did to me in Rome. I don't think vampire healing can fix this. I don't think anything can fix this."
"There's a way." His voice is rough. "A bond. Deeper than what we've done before, deeper than shared blood, deeper than anything. It would anchor you to me. Make my strength yours. Give you something to hold onto while your body stabilizes."
"What kind of bond?"
"A blood bond." He holds my gaze. "It's rare. Two vampires drinking from each other simultaneously, with intent. It links them permanently, what one feels, the other feels. What one knows, the other knows. It can't be undone, Celeste. Once it's done, we're bound for eternity."
The weight of what he's offering settles over me. Forever. Not just love, not just partnership, a permanent merging of two existences.
"You'd never be free of me," I whisper. "Every thought. Every feeling. Every dark corner of my mind, you'd have access to all of it."
"Yes."
"And I'd have access to yours."
"Yes."
"Including whatever Konstantin put in me. If there's a trigger, if he activates it..." I force myself to say it. "You'd feel me trying to kill you. You'd feel everything."
"Yes."
"And you still want this?"
"I wantyou." He says it like it's simple. Like it's obvious. "All of you. Even the parts Konstantin touched. Even the weapon he tried to make. Because that's not who you are. That's just what he did to you. And I will spend eternity helping you tear it out. I already wanted to have a blood bond with you, even before this."
My eyes are burning. From pain or emotion, I can't tell anymore. "You've thought about this."
"Yes. I've been trying to find the right time, the right way to ask you. I wanted to give you a choice." His voice cracks again. "I wanted it to be romantic. Candles or something. Not a parking structure. Not with you bleeding out in my arms."
"Candles would have been nice."
"I'll make it up to you. A thousand candles. A million. Every night for the rest of eternity."
"That's a lot of candles."
"I have a lot of time." His forehead presses against mine. "Please, Celeste. Let me save you. Let me bind myself to you. Not because you're dying, but because I love you. Because I want forever with you. Because the thought of existing without you is more terrifying than anything Konstantin could ever do to me."
His eyes, those beautiful eyes, are full of hope. Love. Need.
