The silence between them stretched, thick with the weight of the truth.

She could barely breathe. He gave up his soul for me.

She wanted to deny it. Call him a liar. But deep down, she knew it was true. It explained everything.

The unnatural way this life felt different. The fact that they had lived through sixteen deaths, only for a seventeenth life to exist — when there was never supposed to be one.

She stared at him, searching his face for something — anything — that would make this less unbearable.

“You’re saying…” Her voice was hoarse. “That the people after us… the ones who tried to kill me…”

“They’re not here to kill you.” His eyes darkened. “They’re here to collect their debt.”

To take him.

Her stomach twisted.

For the first time, she understood why he had been so desperate to push her away. Why he never wanted her to remember.

Because he hadn’t just saved her.

He had doomed himself.

The Price That Must Be Paid

She felt sick.

“What happens if they take you?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

His gaze was steady. Too steady.

“They erase me.”

A chill ran down her spine.

“Erase?”

“There will be no next life. No memories. No trace that I ever existed.” He let out a slow breath. “It’ll be as if I was never here at all.”

Her hands curled into fists. “That’s not fair.”

He gave a bitter smile. “When has fate ever been fair to us?”

Something inside her snapped.

She surged forward, grabbing his shoulders. “Then we’ll fight. We’ll run. There has to be a way to fix this.”

“There isn’t.”

His voice was too calm. Too resigned.

But she refused to accept it. “You broke the cycle once. You can do it again.”

A ghost of a smile touched his lips. Sad. Almost fond.

“This time, I’m the price.”

A Choice That Cannot Be Undone

The door behind them creaked open.

She turned sharply.

They were here.

The air seemed to thicken, the temperature dropping unnaturally. Shadows stretched from the doorway, twisting into shapes that didn’t belong in this world.

Figures stepped forward — not quite human, not quite monstrous. Eyes black as the void. Their presence made her skin crawl.

The Collectors.

A man in a long, dark coat stepped forward. His expression was unreadable. “It’s time.”

She moved before she could think, blocking the space between them and him.

“No.”

The Collector barely blinked. “This does not concern you.”

Like hell it didn’t.

“You’re taking him for something that never should have happened in the first place,” she said, voice sharp. “There has to be another way.”

“No.” The Collector’s voice was final. “The debt must be paid.”

She clenched her fists. “Then take me instead.”

Silence.

Then — laughter.

Cold. Empty. Like the sound of a blade sliding against bone.

The Collector tilted his head. “Foolish girl. You are the reason he is in this mess. Do you think you have anything to bargain with?”

Her heart pounded. “I won’t let you take him.”

She felt his hand on her wrist.

When she turned, his expression was calm. Too calm.

“It’s okay.” His voice was barely a whisper. Like he had already accepted this.

She shook her head furiously. “No. I won’t lose you. Not like this.”

For the first time, something flickered in his gaze. Regret. Longing. Maybe even love.

His fingers brushed against hers, as if memorizing the warmth of her touch.

“I wanted more time.”

The Collector stepped forward. The air cracked with something ancient.

A force began pulling him away.

Her breath caught.

No. No, no, no.

She grabbed him, held on as tightly as she could, as if she could keep him there just by sheer will.

But he only smiled at her.

“Live.”

And then —

He was gone.