Luna was asleep beside me.The first rays of dawn hadn't broken yet, but the air had changed—the kind of eerie stillness before a storm. Shadows curled at the corners of the room, as if they, too, knew the truth we had uncovered last night.
We had lived before.
We had loved before.
And we had died in fire.
I sat by the edge of the bed, watching her breath rise and fall, her silver hair spilling over the pillow like moonlight across a frozen lake. Even in sleep, her brow furrowed like she was fighting ghosts.
I had so many questions.
Why now? Why had our souls chosen this lifetime again? Was it fate—or a punishment?
A faint knock shattered the silence.
I froze.
Another knock—this one harder. Urgent.
I stood, heart racing, and moved toward the door. Just as I reached it—
**Crash!**
The door burst open, and a tall figure in a black coat stepped through, his boots cracking the wooden floor like glass.
He had no scent. No warmth.
Only hunger.
"Ren Sakamura," the man said, voice low and cold as winter rain. "The half-turned."
I raised my hands instinctively, but it was no use. My strength was nothing compared to his. I could feel it in the air—this man wasn't just a vampire. He was something *older*.
"Who are you?" I asked, keeping myself between him and Luna.
He gave a cruel smile. "Call me Noctis. I am the Warden of the Bound."
Luna stirred behind me. "Noctis…" Her voice was quiet, broken. "You're still alive?"
"I never died, Velstra," he said, stepping closer. "But you were supposed to."
I turned to her. "You know him?"
She nodded slowly. "He was the one who cursed me."
Noctis raised a hand, and the shadows in the room writhed like snakes. "You weren't supposed to love. That was the deal. But you broke it."
He looked at me. "And now he's awake again. The Fireborn."
The word made something inside me twist.
"What are you talking about?" I said.
But Luna grabbed my wrist. "Run."
"No."
"Ren—!"
"I'm done running."
The power in my chest pulsed—hot, wild. My blood began to burn.
Noctis noticed.
"So it's true," he whispered. "Even in this life… the flame still lives inside you."
He lunged.
Everything blurred.
I raised my hand—and the air exploded around us in a ring of golden fire. The flames didn't touch Luna. Didn't even singe the walls. But they wrapped around Noctis like chains, forcing him back.
He growled. "You still don't understand it. That fire inside you—it's not a gift. It's the reason the vampire clans want you dead. It's the reason the world keeps killing you both. Because it's not meant to exist."
I stepped forward, the heat in my veins rising. "Then let it exist for me."
A wall of flame erupted between us. Noctis stumbled back, shielding his face.
"Run, Ren!" Luna screamed.
But I didn't move.
Something had awakened in me.
For the first time since I was bitten… I felt alive. Not just half-vampire. Not just cursed. But something *more*.
Noctis hissed through the smoke. "You will burn everything you love."
"Then I'll burn the curse too," I said.
Luna stepped beside me, her hands glowing with a soft blue aura—her vampire magic awakening. "Together."
He stared at us, expression unreadable. And then—he vanished. The shadows swallowed him whole.
The room was silent again. But everything had changed.
I collapsed to my knees.
"Ren!" Luna caught me just before I hit the floor. My vision blurred with pain.
I felt like I was breaking from the inside.
My blood burned like it was trying to boil through my skin.
Luna held me tighter. "You shouldn't have used it. Not so soon."
"What… is it?" I gasped.
She brushed my hair back with shaking fingers. "The Fireborn. The soul of a being that was never meant to live… sealed in your blood. You summoned it last night when you remembered the past. It's what destroyed us before."
I looked at her, barely breathing. "Will it destroy us again?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she pressed her forehead to mine. "This time… we fight it. We fight fate. Together."
My heart slowed in her arms.
Even if I was a monster.
Even if I was cursed.
As long as she stayed beside me… I'd believe in a world where love could survive the fire.