"Yes, Mark. I'm a vampire," I answered without a trace of irony. "And I kill people. I feed on blood."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"So you wouldn't look at me the way you're looking at me now."
"How am I looking at you?"
"As if you're seeing me for the first time."
"Aren't I?" Doubt crept into his voice.
"No," I said quietly, then paused and tried to explain as gently as I could. "You lived with me for six months. You know how I think, what matters to me. We met when I was already like this. Truthfully, I've never been any different. I'm the same woman you've always known. And loved. Nothing has changed."
"Nothing has changed," Mark echoed faintly. "Everything has changed, Lisa. How many have you killed?"
"In my lifetime? I never counted."
"Why not?"
"I didn't see the point."
"But each of them was a living person. They had families, connections, values, jobs. You ended their lives so you could continue yours."
"And I'll keep doing it," I said sharply—but when fear flickered in his familiar eyes, I softened my voice. "Sometimes. Before I met you, I truly didn't understand humans. I thought they were selfish, cruel, fit only to be prey. But you—" I covered his hand with mine. "You showed me what else people can be. You showed me feelings I never believed I'd find in them. You're the reason I rethought everything."
"But still not enough to stop killing others."
"Now I kill only parasites—the ones who poison this world. Those who took lives and would have kept taking them if they hadn't crossed my path."
"There's donor blood. There are substitutes. You could have told me."
"And what would you have done then?" I asked with a bitter smile, and Mark tore his hand from mine. "Would you have offered your own blood?"
"Maybe." He hesitated and took an uncertain step back. "Yes. I don't know. And now I never will, because you didn't give me a choice."
"I was protecting you!"
Ildar let out a heavy breath beside us, and I bit my lip, forcing myself not to turn my anger on him.
"Me? Protecting me?" For the first time, Mark mocked my words, and the pain cut even deeper. "No, Lisa. You were protecting yourself. You chose to hide this part of you. To lie."
"I didn't lie."
"Didn't you? Then how would you describe the paint incident? You killed that guy, didn't you? That was his blood on your jacket."
"I stayed silent. I didn't lie."
"It's the same thing."
"Mark…" I tried to step closer, reaching for him—but mirroring my movement, he retreated several steps and raised his hands between us.
"Don't touch me."
The words lashed me like a whip, and I felt tears pushing their way to the surface.
"Mark," I whispered again, already knowing that in this moment, I had lost him forever.
A sharp whistle cut through the air. I barely had time to notice something streak past me, stirring my hair, before it struck Mark in the chest. He staggered but remained standing.
Then a dark stain bloomed across his white T-shirt, spreading wider with every heartbeat. The room filled with the sharp scent of salt and iron.
Mark looked at me in confusion, his hands closing around the arrow now jutting from his chest.
"Lisa?" The name slipped from his lips—and in the same instant, his legs gave way. I lunged forward and caught him.
I wrapped one arm beneath his shoulders and lowered us both to the floor. My fingers tangled in his curls, and I couldn't tear my gaze away from the eyes I loved—eyes now filled with the terror of realizing his own mortality.
Ildar roared like a wounded animal and hurled himself at the shadow already loading another bolt into a crossbow. With a thunderous hum, the barrier flung him back, and I understood—we had lost.
There was nothing left to be done.
Mark coughed, and blood appeared on his lips.