A Heartbeat

A Heartbeat
“You can still walk away, Jaden Gabe.” Her tone turned quieter now. “You don’t have to come with me.”

“I’m going to Pearly.”

“I’m serious.” She stepped closer. “Tonight is the weakest night of the year for your kind. Donovan will kill you if you go.”

“I don’t care.”

“Then leave the mortal girl and find Lucille instead.” Lia frowned. “Stay away from my daughter too while you’re at it.”

Jaden Gabe’s patience snapped.

“I don’t love your daughter!” he roared. “How many times do I have to say that?!”

“Donovan will kill you.”

“I said I don’t care!”

Lia stared at him for a long moment.

Then softer:

“You only need to love Lucille. You don’t need to die for Pearly.”

Jaden Gabe looked at her like she said something disgusting.

“I love Pearly.”

The words came out without hesitation.

Without doubt.

And somehow, that made Lia’s expression change completely.

For the first time that night,

she looked genuinely unsettled.

“It’s too late to change your mind now,” she murmured.

Jaden Gabe frowned.

Then suddenly,

Lia vanished.

Before he could react, she reappeared directly in front of him and drove her nails deep into his arm.

Pain exploded instantly.

Jaden Gabe staggered.

Because of the approaching full moon, his senses had already weakened badly. He never even sensed her attack coming.

His strength disappeared almost immediately.

His knees slammed against the ground.

“I…” He grabbed weakly at Lia’s foot. “I need to get to her…”

Even barely conscious, Pearly was still the only thing inside his head.

“Please…”

Lia looked down at him silently.

Then pressed her heel harder against his chest.

“You really are your father’s son,” she muttered. “A complete idiot when it comes to love.”

Darkness swallowed him seconds later.

The first thing Jaden Gabe heard when he woke up was footsteps.

Slow.

Unhurried.

His entire body ached violently.

Every muscle felt heavy and wrong.

Then a familiar voice echoed beyond the steel door.

“Welcome, nephew.”

Jaden Gabe’s eyes snapped open instantly.

Donovan.

Rage hit him so hard it almost drowned out the pain.

“You.” His voice came out raw.

Donovan smiled through the small barred opening of the iron door.

“This is revenge against your father,” he said calmly. “And a way to force Helios into returning Euria to me.”

Madness flickered inside his eyes.

“And once I have Euria…” Donovan smiled wider. “I’ll conquer the world with her blood.”

Jaden Gabe barely heard the rest.

Because something else had already stolen his attention.

Someone.

In the far corner of the steel warehouse,

Pearly lay motionless on the floor.

For one horrible second, Jaden Gabe stopped breathing entirely.

Blood stained Pearly’s legs.

Bruises darkened his skin.

Pieces of torn clothing were scattered nearby.

And Pearly was not moving.

Fear tore violently through Jaden Gabe’s chest.

He looked back at Donovan with shaking fury.

“What did you do to him?!”

Donovan only shrugged.

“We didn’t do anything.” Then he smiled cruelly. “Maybe you did.”

Jaden Gabe lunged toward the steel bars with a snarl.

“You son of a bitch!”

But Donovan was already walking away.

His laughter echoed through the warehouse long after he disappeared.

“No…”

Jaden Gabe turned back toward Pearly immediately.

His entire body trembled now.

“No… no, no…”

He stumbled toward him weakly, almost collapsing before reaching him.

“Fuck… no…”

The moment he touched Pearly’s skin,

coldness hit him like a blade through the chest.

Pearly’s body was freezing.

Too cold.

Jaden Gabe’s breathing shattered instantly.

“No…”

His hands shook violently as he gathered Pearly into his arms.

Bruises covered Pearly’s cheek, chest, and arms.

His lips looked pale.

Lifeless.

“I know you hate me…” Jaden Gabe whispered brokenly. “But please… not like this…”

He cupped Pearly’s face desperately.

“Please don’t punish me like this.”

Nothing.

No response.

Jaden Gabe patted his cheek carefully.

Then harder.

“Pearly…”

Still nothing.

Panic became unbearable.

“Wake up.” His voice cracked violently. “Please wake up…”

He pulled Pearly closer against his chest as if warmth alone could bring him back.

“Don’t do this to me,” he begged shakily. “Please… baby…”

His hands trembled harder as he lowered his ear against Pearly’s chest.

Silence.

No heartbeat.

Jaden Gabe froze.

For a second, the entire world seemed to stop moving around him.

Then terror ripped through him completely.

“No.”

His voice broke apart.

“No…”

This was his greatest fear.

Not losing fights.
Not death.
Not monsters.

This.

Losing Pearly forever.

“I killed you…” he whispered in horror. “I fucking killed you…”

His entire body weakened beneath the weight of it.

He shook Pearly desperately.

Again.

Again.

Nothing.

“Pearly!”

The scream that tore from his throat sounded less human than wounded.

Raw grief consumed him whole.

He kissed Pearly’s cold face repeatedly, trembling so hard he could barely breathe anymore.

Every inch of cold skin felt like another knife sinking deeper into his chest.

Gone.

Pearly was gone.

“Baby…”

Jaden Gabe’s voice shook so badly it barely sounded like his anymore.

He tightened his arms around Pearly’s cold body while tears continued falling helplessly down his face.

“D-Do you remember…” He swallowed hard. “The song I used to sing to you before you slept?”

Pearly remained motionless against him.

No reaction.
No warmth.
Nothing.

Jaden Gabe laughed weakly through his tears.

“You liked that song, remember?” His voice cracked again. “I-I can sing it for you now if you want…”

He lowered his forehead against hers desperately.

“Just please wake up.”

Silence answered him.

His chest felt like it was being torn apart slowly from the inside.

“Y-You really hate me this much, huh?” he whispered bitterly. “That’s enough already…”

His fingers trembled against Pearly’s cheek.

“You got your revenge.”

Another tear slid down his face.

“So please…” His breathing broke completely. “Please wake up.”

Outside the small warehouse, dawn was slowly approaching.

But to Jaden Gabe, the world already felt over.

Everything inside him had collapsed the moment Pearly stopped breathing in his arms.

Nothing mattered anymore.

Not revenge.
Not family.
Not the curse.
Not even survival.

He leaned weakly against the steel wall while holding Pearly closer against his chest.

Then softly,

almost like he was afraid the silence would swallow him whole,

he began to sing.

“I can be your hero, baby…”

His voice trembled through every word.

“I can kiss away the pain… I will stand by you forever…”

He shut his eyes tightly.

“You can take my breath away…”

Tears kept slipping endlessly down his face now.

“Would you swear that you’ll always be mine…?”

His breathing turned uneven.

“Would you lie? Would you run and hide…?”

He buried his face against Pearly’s hair.

“Am I in too deep? Have I lost my mind…?”

A broken laugh escaped him.

“I don’t care…”

His arms tightened around her again.

“You’re here tonight…”

The last line shattered completely in his throat.

“Oh, I just want to hold you…”

He cried quietly after that.

Not loudly.

Not dramatically.

Just the kind of crying that came from someone whose heart had finally given out.

“I’m sorry, Pearly…” he whispered repeatedly. “I’m sorry…”

He kissed her forehead gently.

Then closed his eyes.

“I have a secret to tell you, my love.”

His fingers brushed weakly across her pale cheek.

“If I drink your blood tonight…” His voice trembled harder. “I’ll die too.”

That was the Vox Vaughn curse.

During the night of their weakness, they could not drink from the person they had lain with.

For twenty-four hours, that blood became sacred.

Deadly.

And Pearly’s blood would kill him.

Jaden Gabe stared at him quietly.

Maybe that was fitting.

If Pearly was gone…

then Jaden Gabe no longer wanted to survive him anyway.

He lifted Pearly’s hand carefully and pressed a trembling kiss against the back of it.

“I’ll love you with every beat of my cursed heart…”

Slowly,

Jaden Gabe brought Pearly’s wrist closer to his mouth.

Ready to follow him into death.

Then suddenly,

he froze.

His eyes widened.

“What the hell…”

He pressed his hand shakily against Pearly’s chest.

A heartbeat.

Weak.

But there.

Jaden Gabe stopped breathing.

No.

Impossible.

Immediately, he touched Pearly’s cheek again.

Still cold.

Still pale.

But the heartbeat inside his body was unmistakable now.

Alive.

Jaden Gabe’s gaze slowly dropped downward.

Toward Pearly’s stomach.

Then his entire body went rigid.

His flat stomach was changing.

Very slowly,

a faint swell was beginning to form beneath the skin.

Jaden Gabe stared at it in complete disbelief.

His mind stopped working entirely.

No vampire pregnancy should happen this fast.

It was impossible.

And yet,

Pearly was carrying his child.

A child conceived during the night of the second full moon.