The blood burned immediately.

Not metaphorically.

The moment Lucien’s blood touched her tongue, heat ripped through Seraphina’s body hard enough she doubled over against him with a sharp gasp.

God.

It felt like swallowing lightning.

Lucien caught her instantly, one arm wrapping around her waist while the other gripped the back of her neck carefully, trying to steady her without forcing anything.

“Easy,” he whispered, even though panic still shook his voice. “Easy, sweetheart.”

The old endearment nearly broke her apart.

Seraphina’s entire body trembled violently as the transformation began spreading through her bloodstream. The sanctified poison inside her reacted instantly against Lucien’s blood, and the collision between the two felt catastrophic.

Every nerve in her body lit up at once.

She buried her face against Lucien’s shoulder trying not to scream.

Too late.

The sound tore out of her anyway.

Lucien flinched like someone stabbed him personally.

“Seraphina.”

Cassian backed away several steps immediately while staring at the spreading energy under her skin.

“That is extremely not stable.”

Morvena looked toward the shattered sky overhead where the wounded Gate still pulsed weakly above Prague.

“Can you stop talking like this is a laboratory accident?”

“I cope through commentary.”

Fair.

Seraphina barely heard them anymore.

The world blurred violently around her while Lucien’s blood fought the sanctified blade still embedded in her body. She could feel both forces colliding inside her chest like two storms trying to occupy the same space.

One side pulled toward death.

The other dragged her toward something ancient and immortal and terrifying.

God.

Lucien held her tighter when her breathing became uneven.

“You’re okay.”

“No, she absolutely is not,” Cassian muttered nearby.

Lucien shot him a murderous look.

Cassian lifted one hand weakly.

“She deserves accurate updates.”

Another wave of pain hit.

Seraphina curled instinctively against Lucien while heat exploded through her veins hard enough her vision went white around the edges.

Then suddenly—

everything sharpened.

The wind.

The snow.

The smell of blood in the ruined cathedral courtyard.

She could hear distant fighting three streets away.

Could hear heartbeats.

Dozens of them.

Human.

Vampire.

Injured.

Afraid.

God.

Seraphina jerked hard in Lucien’s arms.

Lucien immediately understood.

“The hearing starts first.”

His voice sounded strangely gentle now despite the monstrous form he still wore.

Like he remembered exactly how terrifying this part felt.

The hunger arrived seconds later.

Not fully.

Just enough frightening her instantly.

The scent of blood everywhere around the ruined cathedral hit her all at once.

Warm.

Alive.

Calling.

Seraphina’s stomach twisted sharply.

Lucien felt it through the bond immediately.

His expression changed.

Not judgment.

Recognition.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me seeing it.”

The sentence landed softly between them.

God.

Of course he’d say that.

Even now, while holding her together physically, he still worried she’d hate herself for becoming like him.

The transformation surged harder suddenly.

Black veins flashed briefly beneath Seraphina’s skin before fading again.

Lucien’s expression darkened immediately.

“No.”

Cassian swore under his breath.

The sanctified blade still glowed inside the wound.

Too bright.

Instead of disappearing, the Church relic energy had started reacting with Lucien’s blood in unpredictable bursts.

Ancient magic against ancient corruption.

The courtyard stones beneath them cracked.

Snow melted instantly around Seraphina’s body from the heat pouring off her skin.

Lucien pressed one hand harder against the wound while shadows gathered uncontrollably around both of them.

“She’s rejecting it.”

“No,” Cassian said sharply, studying the reaction carefully. “Not rejecting.” His face paled slightly. “Combining.”

Nobody liked the sound of that.

Seraphina gasped suddenly as another surge ripped through her chest.

This time Lucien felt it too.

The bond between them exploded wide open.

Not emotional.

Physical.

For one terrifying second, Lucien saw what she saw.

Felt what she felt.

The hunger.

The fear.

The pain.

And Seraphina felt him right back.

Centuries of loneliness.

Buried grief.

The constant exhausting discipline of remaining gentle while carrying something monstrous inside himself every second of every day.

God.

No wonder he was tired.

Lucien made a strained sound under his breath when the connection hit fully.

“Seraphina…”

She grabbed his coat hard enough tearing fabric.

“I know,” she whispered weakly, tears burning down her face. “I know now.”

The grief inside him nearly drowned her.

Not because he regretted immortality.

Because he regretted surviving so long without being loved properly.

Lucien closed his eyes briefly against the intensity of the bond.

Then suddenly his body jerked violently.

Black blood spilled from his mouth onto the snow.

Cassian’s face went white.

“Oh, that is deeply concerning.”

Lucien ignored him completely.

But Seraphina felt it instantly.

The transformation was feeding on him too.

The more blood he gave her, the faster the corruption inside him destabilized.

God.

“No,” she whispered immediately.

Lucien wiped blood from his mouth roughly before she could reach for him.

“It’s fine.”

Lie.

Terrible lie.

His breathing had become uneven again.

The monstrous wings behind him twitched violently while shadows cracked through the cathedral courtyard in jagged bursts.

The ancient thing inside him was unraveling under the strain.

And still—

he kept feeding her his blood.

“Lucien, stop.”

He shook his head immediately.

“You were dying.”

“So are you.”

The sentence hit him hard enough he finally looked at her directly.

And there it was.

The truth both of them had been avoiding since this began.

Saving her might kill him.

Not metaphorically.

Not eventually.

Now.

Because the transformation ritual had never been meant for someone carrying both Doom corruption and reactor damage simultaneously.

Ancient magic destabilized around them violently.

The wounded Gate pulsed overhead in response.

Snow swirled harder through the ruined courtyard while black fractures spread slowly through the cathedral stone beneath Lucien’s knees.

Morvena stepped closer cautiously.

“If the magic overloads completely, it could trigger another reactor collapse.”

Cassian looked exhausted beyond reason.

“Fantastic. We are somehow still escalating.”

Seraphina reached for Lucien’s face with trembling fingers.

His skin felt colder now.

God.

He leaned into her touch anyway.

Always instinctively moving toward her, even while breaking apart.

“You should’ve let me die,” she whispered.

Lucien’s expression changed instantly.

Not anger.

Actual hurt.

“Don’t say that again.”

The answer came so quietly it hurt worse than shouting would have.

Seraphina swallowed hard.

“You can barely hold yourself together.”

“I don’t care.”

“You should.”

“I don’t.”

God.

He meant it.

Completely.

The transformation surged through her one final time after that.

Pain exploded across her spine hard enough she screamed into Lucien’s shoulder while immortal blood rewrote something fundamental inside her body.

Lucien wrapped both arms around her immediately, holding her through it despite black blood still dripping steadily from his own mouth.

The shadows around them erupted upward violently enough nearby fighters stumbled backward in fear.

Then suddenly—

everything stopped.

The heat.

The pain.

The screaming magic.

Silence settled heavily across the ruined courtyard.

Seraphina collapsed against Lucien’s chest breathing hard.

Lucien’s arms tightened around her automatically.

“You with me?”

She nodded weakly.

Then looked up at him.

And froze.

Lucien looked worse.

Much worse.

The corruption beneath his skin had spread farther while black blood stained the front of his shirt completely now.

He smiled anyway the moment he realized she was conscious.

Relieved.

God.

That expression scared her more than the transformation had.

“Lucien…”

His body swayed once.

Then both of them collapsed together into the bloodstained snow beneath the dying red sky.