The cathedral of glass shattered as Mia fell through it, blood blooming across her side like a dying rose.
Lucien stood above her, fangs bared, hands soaked with Alexander's blood.
The city burned behind him. Dusk's sanctuary—his home—had fallen.
And Mia? She was dying.
Real death. No illusions. No mercy.
She heard Dusk's voice somewhere in the smoke, calling her name like a prayer too late. She wanted to reach for him. She wanted one last touch. One last kiss.
But her body was failing.
And Lucien knew it.
He knelt beside her, his face beautiful and horrifying all at once. "You could've had so much, little lamb. All you had to do was walk away from him."
"I'd… rather burn," she whispered.
"Then let's burn together."
He reached for her throat—but the blur of black flame struck before his hand landed.
Dusk crashed into his brother with the fury of gods and monsters combined, claws extended, power ripping the air in waves. He didn't speak.
He tore.
Lucien fought back harder than ever before—blood magic laced through every movement, summoning ghostfire and the cries of the damned—but Dusk didn't stop.
He didn't hold back.
Because this time, Mia was dying.
And he loved her.
Mia drifted between light and dark. Between cold marble and memories. She saw her first night in Dusk Tower. His eyes behind the glass. His warning. The stake. The temptation.
She saw the rooftop garden.
The first kiss.
The way he said her name like it meant something more.
The fight ended in silence.
Lucien, broken and burning, collapsed against the altar—his own blood trickling down the obsidian steps. He reached toward Dusk, eyes hollow.
"Do it," he rasped. "Finish it."
Dusk stared at his brother.
Then looked at Mia.
"I already have," he whispered.
And turned away.
Lucien's body turned to ash before it hit the floor.
Dusk ran to her.
Fell to his knees.
She was cold now.
"Mia…" His voice broke. "Please. Don't—"
She opened her eyes slowly. "You're here."
"I'm here."
"I don't… want to go."
"You won't," he swore, biting into his own wrist and holding it to her lips.
"Are you sure?" she whispered. "If I turn… I'll be like you."
"No," he said. "You'll be like you. Just... more."
Blood dripped onto her tongue.
The pain hit instantly—like fire in her veins, like a scream in her bones.
She arched back, her body trembling, mouth open as the taste of ancient blood filled her.
Every heartbeat sounded like a war drum.
And then—
Silence.
A new silence.
The kind that hears everything.
She opened her eyes.
The world had changed.
The air shimmered with the scent of heat and heartbeat and rain. She could see the particles of ash floating in the light. Feel the ghosts of every soul that had passed through the cathedral.
Her skin pulsed with power.
But more than that—
She was alive.
Reborn.
Dusk reached for her.
But she reached first—grabbed the back of his neck, pulled him close, and kissed him with everything she had.
When they finally parted, he whispered, "Welcome back."
She smiled, fangs glinting.
"Let's rebuild this city."
EPILOGUE
Weeks later, Nocturne was quiet again.
The towers were gone, but new ones were rising.
The shadows still whispered, but now… they whispered her name, too.
Mia Dusk.
The girl who fell for a vampire.
The woman who became one.
And the queen who ruled beside the monster she tamed.
Under the blood moon, above the city of glass and ghosts, she stood at the edge of the world...
And smiled.