Twenty-nine days left.
I woke up on my office couch still wearing yesterday's clothes. Dante's jacket lay across me like a blanket. The city outside was already loud and bright and moving fast.
He was gone.
Good. I needed space. Time to think. Time to remember why getting close to him was the worst idea I'd had in ten thousand years.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number. One line.
*"Roof. Now."*
Dante.
I should ignore it. I should stay right here, pour myself a drink, and remember every reason why hope was dangerous.
But my feet were already moving.
Stupid goddess.
---
The roof was freezing.
Wind hit my face the moment I stepped out. Dante stood at the edge, hands in his pockets, looking down at the city below like he was measuring the distance.
My stomach dropped.
"Step back," I said flatly.
Dante didn't move. "Why do you care?"
I walked closer. "I don't. I just don't need a dead body on my property. Bad for business."
Dante turned around slowly. His eyes were red. Tired. He looked like a man who hadn't slept and had spent the night thinking too hard about too many things. "There she is. The ice queen. Last night I thought I saw someone real under all that armor."
I stopped walking. "You saw nothing."
Dante took a step toward me. "I saw you cry, Lyra."
I had. And I hated him for it. "Last night was a mistake. It won't happen again."
Dante shook his head. "You told me I've died a hundred times for you. Now you want to pretend it means nothing?"
I kept my voice flat. "It means nothing."
Dante's jaw tightened. "Liar."
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
Dante moved closer. "You care. You just won't admit it because you're scared."
I stepped back. "You don't know me."
Dante followed. "I know you've been alone for ten thousand years. I know you're tired. I know you're scared of losing me again."
I glared at him. "Don't flatter yourself."
Dante stopped in front of me. Too close. "Then look me in the eyes and tell me you feel nothing."
I looked.
Amber eyes. Same as Marcus. Same as Thomas. Same as every version of him I'd ever loved and buried.
I couldn't say it.
I turned away. "This conversation is over. Stay away from me."
Dante grabbed my arm. "No."
I spun around. "Let go."
Dante held firm. "Make me."
I could throw him across the roof without blinking. I could freeze time. Disappear entirely. But I stood there and did nothing.
I stopped pulling. "You have thirty days to live. Why waste them on me?"
Dante loosened his grip. "Because last night, for the first time since my diagnosis, I felt something other than fear."
I swallowed. "What?"
Dante's eyes held mine. "Hope."
The word landed like a stone in still water.
Hope.
I'd stopped hoping centuries ago. Stopped wanting anything except the quiet of death. And here was this dying man handing it back to me like it was simple.
I shook my head. "Hope is dangerous."
Dante shrugged. "So is loneliness."
I looked away. "I've survived loneliness for ten thousand years."
Dante stepped closer. "Survived isn't the same as lived."
I clenched my jaw. "I shouldn't have told you anything last night."
Dante tilted his head. "But you did. And you can't take it back."
I raised my hand slowly. One touch. I could erase everything. Make him forget last night. Make him forget me. It would be kinder for both of us.
Dante spread his arms. "Do it."
I froze. "What?"
Dante's voice was quiet. "Erase my memories. I know you can. Go ahead."
My hand trembled.
Dante whispered. "I dare you."
I couldn't.
My hand dropped.
Dante stepped closer. "Why can't you do it?"
My voice cracked before I could stop it. "Because then I'd be alone again."
Silence wrapped around us. The wind howled. The city roared below. My words hung in the cold air between us.
Dante spoke gently. "Then don't be alone."
I hugged myself. "It's not that simple."
Dante reached toward me. "Show me your memories. Let me understand why you're so scared."
I stepped back. "If I show you, you'll hate me."
Dante didn't move. "I doubt that."
I pressed on. "You'll see every death. Every time I failed you."
Dante held out his hand. "I can handle it."
I took a breath. Then grabbed his wrist. Pressed my palm to his forehead.
And I opened the door.
---
It lasted sixty seconds.
Sixty seconds of a hundred lifetimes pouring into him at once. Marcus dying in battle. Thomas dying of plague. James dying in a muddy war field. William. Henry. Michael.
Over and over and over.
Dante ripped away from my touch and crashed into the wall. He slid to the ground, shaking hard.
Dante choked out. "Stop. Please stop."
I knelt beside him. "I told you."
Dante pressed his hands over his eyes. "I didn't understand. I didn't know."
I sat beside him quietly. "No one ever does."
Dante looked up. His face was wet. "How are you still standing after all of that?"
I looked at my hands. "I'm not standing. I'm just pretending. Same as you."
Dante stared at me for a long moment. Then quietly said. "I'm sorry. For dying. Every time."
I shook my head. "You didn't choose to die."
Dante reached for my hand. "Neither did you choose to keep living."
I pulled away and stood up. "Don't be kind to me. I can't handle it."
Dante stood slowly. "Why not?"
I walked to the edge of the roof. "Because kindness makes me hope. And hope destroys me every single time."
---
SLAM.
My office door flew open behind us.
We both spun around.
A woman stood in the doorway. Twenty-three. Tall. Silver hair longer than mine. Eyes black as empty space. Red lips. White skin. Beautiful the way a blade is beautiful.
Selene.
My blood went cold.
Selene smiled slowly. "Well. Am I interrupting something?"
I stepped forward. "How did you get in here?"
Selene walked in like she owned the floor. "Your security is human, Lyra. I walked right past them."
Her black eyes moved to Dante. Studied him slowly. Top to bottom.
Selene tilted her head. "So this is him. Number one hundred and one. He's handsome. I see why you keep picking him."
Dante's fists clenched. "Who are you?"
Selene smiled. "The competition. The Council sent me." She picked an apple from my desk. Bit into it slowly. "They're tired of waiting, Lyra. Choose a replacement. Or they choose for you."
She reached into her pocket. Pulled out a glowing envelope. Tossed it across the room.
I caught it. The seal burned my fingers.
Selene walked toward the door. Stopped. Looked over her shoulder.
Selene's smile turned sharp. "Twenty-nine days, Lyra. Don't waste them falling in love with a dead man."
She vanished.
I opened the envelope. Read it. My hands shook.
Dante moved beside me. "What does it say?"
I looked up at him. "We have twenty-nine days. After that, the Council takes everything."
Dante's jaw tightened. "Everything?"
I folded the letter. "You. Me. All of it."
Dante was quiet for a moment. Then he straightened his jacket.
Dante said firmly. "Then we start today."
I stared at him. "Start what?"
Dante looked at me steadily. "Fighting back."
He walked to the door.
Twenty-nine days.
And somehow, I believed him.