Mia didn't speak on the way back.
The car was silent. Not just quiet—silent, like the world had gone still around her. Rain fell in hushed streaks against the tinted glass as Dusk sat beside her, unmoving, unreadable, a storm behind his eyes she wasn't ready to name.
She wanted to scream. To ask a hundred questions. To demand the truth.
But the only thing worse than not knowing… was what she might hear.
They reached the penthouse. No words passed between them.
Not until the doors slid closed behind her and she turned, voice sharp and shaking.
"You have a brother?"
Dusk stood by the window, hands in his pockets. He didn't face her.
"I did," he said finally. "A long time ago."
She crossed the room, not caring how close she got, not caring if he was dangerous, not caring if he was a goddamn vampire. "You told me everything you built was to protect this city. That you chose this. Was that a lie too?"
He looked at her now.
And for the first time, Mia didn't see the billionaire. Or the vampire. Or the myth.
She saw a man carrying a graveyard in his eyes.
"No," he said softly. "It wasn't a lie. But it wasn't the full story either."
He motioned for her to sit, and—for once—Mia did.
Because whatever he was about to say… she needed to hear it.
"There was a time before Nocturne," Dusk began. "Before we were monsters.
Lucien and I were orphans in a war-torn village. He was older by two years, sharper, faster. I was quieter. The dreamer. The one who read books by candlelight while the world outside burned.
We had nothing.
And then… he found her.
Her name was Selene."
Mia blinked. "Selene?"
"A vampire," Dusk said. "But not like the ones you've seen. She was royalty. The last of the Crimson Line. She walked in the daylight, spoke in riddles, and bled gold. And she… she was beautiful."
There was pain behind the word.
Mia didn't ask if he loved her. It was obvious.
"She offered us a choice. Die like rats in the gutter… or live forever. She turned us both, under the Blood Moon. A sacred rite reserved for the highest bloodline. We were her 'sons,' as she called us. The first in centuries. We were… powerful. Untouchable."
He paused, jaw tight.
"Until Lucien killed her."
Mia inhaled. "He what?"
"He loved her too. But not the way I did. I cherished her. He… possessed her. When she chose me to carry her legacy, Lucien snapped. He said she made the wrong choice. That her blood should've been his alone."
He turned toward the fireplace now, voice lower, darker.
"He drained her. Slowly. Painfully. Said he wanted her to know what betrayal tasted like. I found him kneeling in her ashes, smiling. He told me we were finally 'free.' That now we could rule together."
Mia covered her mouth.
"I almost killed him that night," Dusk said. "I ripped his heart out and buried it beneath the city."
"Wait—you killed him?"
"I thought I did. But Lucien doesn't die easy. No vampire from the Blood Moon ever does."
He faced her again. "And now he's back. Not just to kill me… but to take everything I've built. And everyone I protect."
Mia stood. Her voice wavered. "Why didn't you tell me this from the beginning?"
"Because I knew what you'd say."
"What?"
"That I'm no better than him."
She stepped forward, eyes blazing. "That's not what I think. But damn it, Alexander, I'm risking my life here. I'm in this world now whether I like it or not. I need the truth, not your guilt."
Silence.
Then, quietly: "He'll come for you."
"I know."
"You're not ready."
"I don't care."
Their eyes locked.
He moved closer. Not like a predator—but like a man tired of running from his own past. His hand brushed her jaw.
"You should run, Mia."
"Too late."
Then he kissed her.
It wasn't soft.
It was years of silence, centuries of regret, a war between blood and fire and something too human to name.
When they finally broke apart, she whispered, "What now?"
Dusk's gaze hardened. "Now we stop him. Together."
Outside the city, Lucien stood in a cathedral of bones, staring into a mirror soaked with blood. He saw them—Dusk and Mia. The fire between them.
And he smiled.
"Let the games begin."