The moonlight painted the cabin floor in silver, but all Ava could see were shadows.
She hadn't moved from the bed since Rhett's last words.
"Because the last time the moon marked someone like you… I lost her."
That sentence had sunk its claws into her chest and refused to let go.
Who was she?
Why did he look at her like she was already halfway gone?
The fire had burned out. The silence felt like a scream no one could hear.
She thought Rhett had left again — like he always did when things got too close. But then she felt it.
Not heat. Not cold.
Something worse.
Emptiness.
He was still here. Just not with her.
He stood by the door, half in shadow, his back turned like he couldn't bear to look at her.
"Rhett," she said softly.
He didn't answer.
She rose slowly, the mark pulsing faintly beneath her skin. "Tell me who she was."
Still nothing.
"Was she like me?"
His hands clenched at his sides.
"She was better than me, wasn't she?"
That broke him.
"No," he said, turning, voice cracked and raw. "She was everything like you."
His eyes — normally steel and silent — now burned with memory.
"She had that same look in her eyes. The one that says she doesn't know how to run… even when she should."
He walked toward her, each step dragging ghosts behind him.
"She fought the bond at first. Just like you. But she was stronger. Kinder."
He paused.
"And she died screaming."
The words sliced through her.
Ava staggered back, not from fear… but from grief that didn't even belong to her.
But somehow — it still cut.
Rhett's voice dropped to a whisper. "I held her hand. Promised her it would be okay. That she wouldn't change. That she wouldn't lose herself."
He looked up.
"I lied."
---
Ava wanted to say something. Anything. But her throat wouldn't let the words out.
Instead, she stepped closer.
"You think I'm going to become her," she said.
Rhett didn't deny it.
"You think I'm going to die."
Still, silence.
The tears came, soft and slow. Not because she feared death. But because… she feared being forgotten. Becoming just another ghost that haunted him.
She reached for him.
He pulled away.
"I can't protect you," he whispered. "Not from this. Not from the bond. Not from what you're becoming."
Then he turned and walked out into the night.
And this time…
He didn't come back.