"No! Liam! Let go of me! He will kill you!"

Emma's screams sounded weak and desperate in the narrow, echo-filled stairwell.


Liam had gone mad. He was completely blinded by his obsession with "saving" her. One hand firmly covered Emma's mouth, while the other gripped her wrist, practically dragging her downstairs.

Emma was struggling violently.

But her struggle wasn't to "escape," but to "stop."


She didn't want to run!

Her mind was in chaos. The blood bond was sending out shrill "alarms" because she had been forcibly taken away from Elias. She could feel the rage of the man upstairs, like an ice storm about to erupt.


And Liam, the man she once loved, was now acting like a kidnapper, trying to drag her toward a "freedom" she didn't even want.

"Bang!"

Liam kicked open the back door of the fire exit.

A cold gust of air mixed with garbage and rain rushed in. They were in a dark alley.

"My car is over there!" Liam yanked her along, rushing toward an old, beat-up car.

"Liam! Stop!" Emma was practically being dragged as she ran, her high heels making a screeching sound against the concrete.

Just as Liam took out his keys and was about to press the unlock button—

"—BEEP!!!"

A piercing horn sound tore through the night.

A black SUV came speeding out from a corner they hadn't noticed! The driver clearly hadn't expected anyone to rush out from the fire escape either.

Emma's mind went completely blank.

Time seemed to slow down. She could see the twisted smile of relief on Liam's face instantly transform into the same pure terror that she felt.

She was going to die.

She was going to die here with Liam, in the most absurd and meaningless way.

At this critical moment.

A black silhouette, moving at a speed that defied the laws of physics, inserted itself between them and the SUV.

It didn't "run" there.

He seemed to have... "materialized" from the shadows.

Elias.

He didn't even look at the vehicle that was about to crash into him.

His movements were unbelievably fast.

Emma only felt an irresistible force coming toward her—Elias grabbed her arm, "snatched" her away from Liam's pulling, and like handling a precious treasure, suddenly pulled her into his embrace.

"Bang!"

Almost at the same moment, he used his other hand (or rather, his foot), in an almost violent manner, to push (or kick) Liam forcefully backward.

Liam flew backward like a rag doll, crashing heavily onto the sidewalk, rolling awkwardly to one side, barely avoiding the front of the car.

"—Screech!!!"

The SUV's tires left a piercing, scorched mark on the asphalt road, stopping just inches away from Elias.

The driver was scared out of his wits and stuck his head out, cursing loudly: "Are you fucking trying to get yourselves killed?!"

But Elias paid no attention.

He just stood there, his back to the car, wrapping Emma completely in his arms with his body and expensive coat.

He held her so tightly, almost tight enough to crush her bones.

Emma's face was buried in his cold chest that carried that familiar scent. She could hear his already "dead" heart... thundering violently due to some emotion she couldn't understand.

She was safe.

Then, she felt it.

Through that bond of blood, a fury colder and more violent than a Siberian cold front transmitted from Elias.

He was trembling with anger.

But he wasn't angry at her.

Emma looked up tremblingly and saw Elias staring over her head at Liam, who had fallen to the ground and was too shocked to move.

Elias's face was terrifyingly pale, his golden eyes churning with pure, undisguised murderous intent.

He wasn't angry at Emma for "running away."

He was angry that Liam had forced himself on his person.

He was afraid in retrospect. He was furious—because this mortal, this foolish, insignificant insect, had almost made him lose her forever.

"I..." Liam sat on the cold tile floor, his clothes soaked with rain and cold sweat.

That sense of mortal terror, like a bucket of ice water, finally woke him up.

What was he doing just now?

He had forcibly dragged Emma... and almost got her killed.

He was no longer that "hero," he was actually the "kidnapper."

He looked at Elias. This man, this "monster," had saved Emma with a speed he couldn't comprehend... and incidentally, saved him too.

Liam finally understood.

How could he compare?

What could he use to compare with this being who had lived for six hundred years? This man could be a tyrant or a guardian deity. He could be a devil, or... (what Liam was unwilling to acknowledge) Emma's savior.

All his actions, good or bad, depended solely on Emma.

And himself? He only made things worse.

"Emma... I..." Liam's voice was hoarse. He wanted to apologize, to confess, to say he was wrong.

"Shut up."

Elias's voice was deep, raspy, filled with suppressed rage.

He didn't want to hear a single word from this mortal.

Emma had also had enough.

Everything that happened tonight was worse than all the weeks she had been imprisoned combined. Liam's accusations, Dean Marlon's true face, Elias's protection, and this "accident" that nearly stopped her heart.

She was too exhausted.

She didn't want to see Liam's guilt-ridden face anymore, nor did she want to feel Elias's anger that was almost materializing.

She just wanted to end it all.

At the moment Elias was about to turn toward Liam, Emma made a decision.

She stopped trembling. She actively, with all her strength, nestled into Elias's cold embrace. She buried her face deep into his coat, as if it was the only safe place in the world.

She grabbed his shirt.

"Elias..." she let out a tearful, exhausted whimper.

"...take me home."

The fury Elias was about to release, powerful enough to crush Liam, instantly froze.

He looked down at his soulmate in his arms, who was actively seeking his protection.

She had said... "home."

A dark, ecstatic possessiveness instantly overwhelmed all anger.

He had won.

Elias unbuttoned his coat and wrapped it more tightly around her, isolating her from the outside world.

"Good," he responded in a low voice.

He didn't even spare Liam another glance. That mortal no longer mattered.

He held Emma in his arms and turned toward the Bentley that had silently glided to the curb, leaving that broken world of the past behind forever.