The wind was heavy with the scent of blood and ash.
Kol stood before the house, his body worn and battered, his mind a storm of memories. Jacob lay limp in his arms, his breathing shallow, his body broken from the battle. Lisa stood beside Kol, her presence unwavering, her eyes filled with something raw—something Kol hadn't seen in centuries.
Love. Devotion.
She had seen his past. She had felt his pain. And still, she was here.
The door to the house opened with a slow creak.
A tall man with silver hair and piercing blue eyes stood in the doorway. Lisa's father. The head of the hunters. The man who had raised Lisa, though they shared no blood.
His gaze locked onto Kol immediately. A hunter's instinct never faded, even in the face of an unexpected guest. His eyes flickered to Jacob's battered form, then to Lisa, then back to Kol.
Silence stretched between them.
Kol didn't speak. He couldn't. His chest felt tight, his thoughts tangled in the past, in the weight of everything he had done.
Lisa's father exhaled sharply and stepped aside. "You gonna stand there all night, or are you coming inside?"
Kol hesitated. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, he was standing at the threshold of something unfamiliar.
Not war. Not battle.
A home.
Lisa reached for his hand.
And for the first time in a long time—Kol stepped forward.
And the past came crashing down again.
The mountain air was cold.
Kol knelt on the rocky ground, his hands curled into fists, his body shaking with grief and rage. The blood on his clothes had long since dried, but he could still feel its warmth.
Lisa's blood.
She was dead.
Dain had killed her. Right before his eyes.
Kol wanted to scream, but his voice had abandoned him. He wanted to destroy something, but his body was too weak to move. He wanted to tear apart the world until nothing remained.
But Elizabeth stood beside him.
She had saved him from his brothers, had pulled him from the brink of death, had brought him here—to the highest peak in the demon realm. A place untouched by war.
Kol raised his head, his eyes hollow. "Why did you save me?"
Elizabeth didn't answer immediately. She knelt beside him, her golden eyes filled with something that almost looked like sorrow. "Because I know what it's like to lose someone you love."
Kol clenched his teeth, his hands digging into the dirt. "You should have let me die."
Elizabeth exhaled slowly. "If death was what you truly wanted, you wouldn't have stolen the reincarnation spell."
Kol flinched.
She knew.
He had done it for Lisa. Because even as everything burned, even as the world turned against him—he couldn't let her go.
Elizabeth sighed, standing to her full height. She looked down at him, her expression unreadable.
"This is where your hunger for power has led us," she said, her voice quiet, but firm. "You wanted strength, and now our family is gone. The realm is in ruins. And Lisa—" She paused. "Lisa is dead."
Kol squeezed his eyes shut.
Elizabeth knelt again, her hand resting lightly on his shoulder. "If this happens again—if your power ever threatens this world again, Kol…" Her fingers tightened. "I will kill you myself."
Kol said nothing.
Because for the first time in his life—he believed her.
And he feared she would be right.
Suddenly kol's mind came back to reality.
Kol stood in Lisa's home, Jacob still unconscious in his arms. Lisa's father closed the door behind them, sealing them away from the outside world.
The warmth of the house was suffocating. Foreign.
Lisa touched Kol's arm gently. He looked at her, his expression unreadable.
"You're safe now," she whispered.
Kol wasn't sure he knew what that meant.
But for now—he would try.
And for the first time since that bloody night so long ago—he let himself rest.