Arav woke to find Kayen watching him, those ancient eyes filled with guilt and love.
"How long have you been awake?" Arav asked, his voice hoarse.
"Two hours," Kayen admitted. "I couldn't sleep. Kept replaying your mother's words through our bond. Feeling your pain as if it were my own." He touched Arav's face gently. "I took everything from you."
"You gave me everything," Arav corrected, placing his hand over Kayen's. "A family that rejects you for who you love isn't really family."
But even as he said it, the ache remained. His mother's voice echoed: *You're not my son anymore.*
A knock on the bedroom door interrupted them. Karan entered, looking exhausted and conflicted.
"Mae Siri just called," he said. "She's safe, but her shop is destroyed. The hunters burned what the explosion didn't demolish." He paused. "She also said the Bangkok Accord is under review. Hayes filed an official complaint claiming you violated the treaty by attacking his forces."
"That's bullshit," Kayen snarled. "We defended ourselves—"
"They have video," Karan interrupted. "Edited footage showing Arav attacking first, melting their weapons, threatening humans. It's all over the supernatural dark web. The Vampire Council is calling for a hearing."
Arav sat up, feeling the weight of consequences pressing down. "When?"
"Three days," Karan said. "In Singapore. Neutral territory. If you don't attend, you'll be declared rogue vampires. Hunted by everyone."
Through their bond, Arav felt Kayen's rage building.
"So we survive the hunters, survive Theron, complete the bonding—only to be put on trial by our own kind?" Kayen's voice was bitter. "Perfect."
"There's more," Karan said reluctantly. "Your family, Arav. The hunters leaked everything to Indian media. There are news articles. Your photo. Headlines calling you 'The Mumbai Monster.' Your university has expelled you. Your student visa is being revoked."
Arav felt numb. In three days, he'd lost his humanity, his family, his education, and now his legal right to exist in Thailand.
"So what do I do?" he asked quietly. "Where do I go?"
"You stay with me," Kayen said firmly. "Forever. That's what the bond means."
"But where?" Arav looked at him. "If Thailand revokes my visa, if I'm declared rogue, if—"
"Then we disappear," Kayen said. "I've done it before. Centuries in hiding, moving every few decades. We can—"
"No," Arav interrupted. "I won't run. I won't hide." He stood, feeling his convergence powers stirring. "They want to call me a monster? Fine. I'll show them what this monster can do. Starting with Seraphina's task."
"The Vatican?" Karan's eyes widened. "You're actually going?"
"We don't have a choice," Arav said. "The life debt is binding. And maybe..." he looked at Kayen, "maybe if we succeed, if we prove we're useful to someone as powerful as Seraphina, the Council will back off."
"Or she'll betray us the moment we deliver the Crown," Kayen countered.
"Then we make sure we have leverage," Arav said, his mind racing with his mother's strategic thinking—she'd been a corporate lawyer, taught him to always have a backup plan. "We get the Crown, but we don't give it to her right away. We use it to negotiate. Our freedom, our rights, protection from hunters."
Kayen stared at him, then smiled—proud and amazed. "You're thinking like a vampire already. Cunning. Strategic."
"I'm thinking like someone who has everything to lose," Arav corrected. "My family's gone. My human life is over. You're all I have left, Kayen. And I'll be damned—literally—if I let anyone take you from me."
Through their bond, love and determination flowed both ways.
Jin entered without knocking. "We have a problem. Bigger than the Council, bigger than Hayes."
"What now?" Kayen asked wearily.
"Someone's putting a bounty on Arav," Jin said. "One million US dollars. Dead or alive. Posted on every supernatural black market from Tokyo to London."
"Who?" Arav demanded.
Jin's face was grim. "It's anonymous. But the description is specific. 'Convergence bloodline vampire. Four-colored eyes. Bonded to Kayen of Thailand. Divine blood makes him partially immune to holy magic.' Whoever posted this knows exactly what you are."
"Theron's coven," Kayen said immediately. "They want revenge—"
"Or the hunters want you dead," Karan suggested. "Hayes seemed obsessed—"
"Or Seraphina," Preeda said, joining them. "What if the life debt is a setup? Get you to steal the Crown, then collect the bounty after?"
Arav felt the walls closing in. Hunters wanted him dead. The Council wanted him judged. Bounty hunters would be coming. And his own family had disowned him.
"Kayen," he said quietly, "maybe you should break the bond. Walk away. Save yourself—"
Kayen grabbed his face, forcing eye contact. "Never. You hear me? Never. If the whole world comes for you, I'll fight them all. If we die, we die together. That's what forever means."
"But—"
"No buts," Kayen interrupted. "We face the Council. We steal the Crown. We survive. Together. Or not at all."
Arav's phone buzzed. Unknown number.
The text made his blood run cold:
*"Your mother was wrong. You're still her son. Still human where it counts—in your heart. That makes you dangerous. Monsters I can kill without guilt. But you? You're something worse. You're a monster who remembers being human. Who still loves, still hopes. I'll be seeing you soon, Kumar. At the Council hearing. I have evidence that will destroy you. -Hayes"*
Arav showed the text to Kayen.
"What evidence?" Kayen wondered.
They'd find out in three days.
But deep down, Arav already knew.
Hayes had something that could prove Arav was dangerous. Something that would convince the Council to execute him.
The question was: what?
**To be continued...**