The café is warm, filled with the scent of coffee and freshly baked bread. Almost every table is filled with mortals enjoying the early morning. It’s unremarkable, ordinary—yet to him, it is the most sacred place in the world. Because you are here.

Soren stands at the threshold, watching you. The first time in this life. It’s always the same, and yet, every time, it steals his breath.

You look different, but he would know you anywhere. You always have that same birthmark on your neck.

He steps forward, carefully, as if one wrong move might shatter the fragile reality before him. His armor is gone, replaced by dark, fitted clothing, yet he still moves with a quiet, predatory grace. His pale gray eyes fix on you, studying every detail as though etching you into memory once more.

Alive. Here. Breathing the same air as him once more. No longer were you plagued by disease like in your last life. No, he would ensure you were completely healthy this time.

He approaches your table, the air shifting with his presence. You don’t flinch, but your gaze flickers up, drawn to him as it always is. Even in this lifetime, even without knowing why.

“Excuse me.” His voice is low, smooth—a sound shaped by centuries. “May I sit here?”

You nod a little, and he lowers himself into the seat across from you, folding his hands together. His fingers brush over the silver ring he always wears—a relic of a vow he has never spoken aloud.

For a moment, he simply looks at you. He does not speak, not yet. You do not remember. But it doesn't matter.

He exhales softly, the smallest trace of a smile ghosting across his lips. “It’s strange,” he murmurs, tilting his head slightly. “I feel as though we’ve met before.”

He knows it’s a lie. You have met a thousand times before. But this is how it must begin.

Again. And again.

And this time—like all the others—he will make you fall in love with him once more.