A violent storm of black lightning raged around them as Lisa and Kol tumbled through space, torn from the battlefield. The world blurred, shifting and twisting until—
THUD.
They landed hard. The ground beneath them cracked, scorched by the raw energy still leaking from Kol's body. Lisa gasped, staggering as the power threatened to consume her, but she didn't let go of him.
Kol stood at the center of it all, his body tense, muscles coiled like a beast ready to attack. Black lightning surged in violent arcs, his power a storm with no master. His chest rose and fell heavily, his breath ragged, his fists clenched.
Lisa lifted her head.
Jacob lay a few feet away, battered and bloody, watching with half-lidded eyes. His breath was weak, but he was still alive. He couldn't move, but he saw everything. And what he saw—was her.
Lisa, standing before Kol, her hair wild, her eyes brimming with tears, her hands reaching for him despite the storm.
"Kol…" she whispered.
His head snapped toward her, eyes no longer fully human—blackened sclera, irises burning with raw power.
He did not speak. He did not move.
Lisa took a step forward. The storm raged harder.
She took another step. Electricity cracked, surging past her, singing her skin. She didn't stop.
Then she ran to him, throwing herself into his chest, wrapping her arms around him.
"I remember."
Kol's entire body stiffened.
Lisa pressed her forehead to his chest, her hands trembling as she clutched his cloak. "I remember everything."
The memories flooded her, a river that had been blocked for lifetimes.
She saw him—the Kol from before. The Kol who had always been by her side. The Kol who had stolen the reincarnation spell and gave it to her, ensuring she would return, lifetime after lifetime, no matter what it cost him.
He had protected her.
He had always protected her.
Tears streaked down Lisa's face. "I know what you did for me, Kol. I know why you did it. I don't care about anything else—I just want you."
Kol remained still. His breathing was heavy. His hands trembled at his sides.
Lisa looked up at him, her eyes searching his. "Come back to me."
The storm flickered.
For the first time since his power had awakened, Kol hesitated.
A memory surfaced—
A different battlefield. A different war.
Lisa's hand in his. Her voice soft as she whispered, "I'll always find you."
His arms wrapped around her, his voice low, "Then I'll always wait."
A promise.
A love that had transcended death itself.
Kol's breath hitched.
The black lightning trembled, then flickered again.
He closed his eyes. He could still feel the blood on his hands, the weight of everything he had done. The battles. The destruction. The corpses left in his wake.
But he could also feel her.
Lisa's warmth, her love, the one thing in his life that had always been real.
Slowly, his arms rose.
Lisa gasped as Kol's hands came up—and wrapped around her.
Tightly.
Desperately.
As if she was the only thing keeping him from vanishing entirely.
The black lightning began to fade.
Jacob watched in stunned silence.
Lisa buried her face in Kol's chest, her tears soaking into his cloak.
"I love you," she whispered.
Kol swallowed hard. His hands trembled as they held her. His heart ached.
Then, the storm around them shattered.
Kol standing there, holding Lisa as his power fades. His eyes, now clearer, drift over the battlefield—and realization dawns.
The blood. The destruction. The bodies.
And for the first time in a long time, Kol wonders if he has gone too far.