Raphael froze just as he was about to sink his fangs into Lillian’s neck. His heart, like a thin string, broke with Artemis’s last barely audible sigh.

The whole world went out overnight, everything he believed in, everything he hoped for collapsed. Everything crumbled to dust for the second time. And he knew that this was the last time for him. There will be nothing more in his life, there will be no more life.

Without her, he could no longer continue to exist, he just remembered his desire to die again. And maybe this was the right moment to let Lillian drain his blood to the last drop and let him fall asleep?

He felt a sharp pain in his chest when Lillian pierced his chest again with her hand, wrapping around a vital organ that had forgotten how to beat.

He suddenly stiffened, his face turned red, and blood gushed out of his mouth, causing him to cough. He felt weak in his knees and began to fall. But was it because of the pain in his chest or because his heart shattered as soon as he stopped hearing Artemis’s heartbeat?

Hadn’t she promised him that she wouldn’t let him hurt Thea?

He screamed at the top of his voice, pouring out all his pain.

He lost them both.

The darkness that swirled around him began to crumble, dissolving into thin air.

Lillian couldn’t take her fascinated gaze away from Raphael, who was in his own agony, as if detached from the whole world. It seemed to her an incredibly beautiful sight. She even had a plan in her head to break down all his defenses, forcing him to disconnect from all emotions and maybe then she could lure him to her side and they would rule together. Recently, she realized that she did not want to kill him, but wanted to have him for herself.

She gently pulled her hand out of his chest, leaving his slowly beating heart alone, and bent down to lick the blood from the corner of his lips. But this was her big mistake, because the next moment, she met eyes the color of clotted blood. Dark, lifeless, ruthless eyes.

He grabbed her by the neck again and squeezed tightly, digging sharp claws into the thin skin, literally tearing her flesh before biting into her neck, tearing out a piece of it, then another, digging into the carotid artery.

Lillian didn’t understand what was going on. There was genuine horror in her gaze when she realized that her wounds were not healing as quickly as before and the pain had become incredibly unbearable.

She was panting and spewing blood from the open veins in her neck.

Still holding her tightly by the throat, Raphael leaned back a little, peering into the depths of her bloody eyes, and immediately a victorious smile appeared on his face, which she remembered since he single-handedly executed her people three hundred years ago.

- Do you feel it? - He moved closer to her ear, bathing it in heat. - Do you feel your death coming, you old bitch?

- Let me do it. - Terrence’s lifeless voice made Lillian and Raphael turn in his direction.

They stared at each other in silence until Lillian tried to say something inarticulate, like the word "son," but the next moment Terrence, without a drop of regret or other emotion, delivered his verdict.

- You destroyed everything that was dear to me. I hate you. - He swung at her with a sword, which he picked up along the way and in one blow, severed her head, allowing her to fall with a bang and roll at his feet.

He dropped the sword from his hands and fell to his knees, trembling with surging feelings, from the memories of the kind and sensitive Queen Catherine, of the merry laughter that Xana and Madeleine were in childhood. And of course, about dear Thea, who, despite her young age, was stronger than all of them combined. Brave, brave, kind. He betrayed her, he’s not worthy of staying alive.

He groped for the sword again and touching the hilt, pointed the point at himself, but Raphael pulled the sword out of his hands, squeezing his shoulder painfully.

- Stop it... – He said before getting up to head finally to his beloved.

He raised his head to the sky, where the bright sun was blinding so much and was festively beautiful, as if it were a happy and rosy day, if it were not otherwise.

A slight shadow passed over his face and he noticed a bird, which reflected the sunlight with its bright plumage, as if being flooded with gold. It flew away as quickly as it appeared, and when he got to Artemis’s body, he noticed the same bird lying on the lifeless body.

The bird was so huge that its wingspan covered the girl’s entire body. She continued to lie down, and the longer this happened, the brighter her plumage shone. It was something that no one present could explain.

Raphael took a step closer, he wanted to brush away the annoying creature that separated him from Artemis, from Thea. He wanted to cling to her one last time, touch her, kiss her before he deliberately committed suicide. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

There was a slight shadow of a smile on his face when he realized that he had suddenly become mortal. While still a vampire, he was no longer immortal. And he didn’t even care how it happened or what caused it. All he wanted at the moment was to join his beloved woman and finally not leave her even in the next world.

A firm grip on his shoulder prevented him from taking another step.

He turned his head slowly and noticed a bright white garment with gold patterns on the sleeves, almost to the point of pain in his eyes. Looking up, he was confronted by the pale, almost transparent irises of the cold eyes of the elven king, who only shook his head.

- Do you still have enough blood to share? - he asked without emotion.

Raphael could not and did not want to play charades, he roused himself, throwing off Ivrim’s hand from his shoulder and burning him with a withering look of anger and hatred.