She sat across from me again, this time with hope stitched into her veins like a drug she hadn't realized would kill her.
Luna had no idea.
No idea that every doctor she'd spoken to had already heard from me. That every hallway she wandered, chasing the truth, had been lined with shadows I'd ordered into place. No idea that I had seen her years ago — barely eighteen, with wide eyes and skin the color of dusk — and known I would do anything to keep her mine.
She was sick.
But not really.
She was mine.
But not yet.
"You're saying you found a donor?" Her voice was so small.
I leaned forward. My hands were folded, my tone unreadable. "Yes. A perfect match. Everything you need to survive."
Tears built in her eyes. And still, she hadn't asked why.
She never did.
That's what made her different.
"Thank you," she whispered.
I let the silence thicken. Then said, "But there's a condition."
She froze.
"A condition?"
I nodded once. "Time. I want your time. A few hours a week. You'll come when I ask, wherever I ask. You don't have to do anything… except be there."
I watched the gears turn behind her eyes — panic, confusion, innocence.
Then the misunderstanding bloomed.
"Oh… I see," she said slowly, her voice softening. "You… want to date someone."
I blinked. Just once.
"I'm sorry?" I asked, though I already knew what she meant. I could smell the lie she was about to tell herself.
Luna looked down at her hands, then back up at me, nervous but genuine. "It's okay. You've been kind, and if this is how I can repay you… I could help you. With her. If it's someone you like."
She was unraveling her own logic in real time.
"My best friend—Lila—she's funny, kind, beautiful. You'd like her. I could introduce you two…"
Her voice trailed off.
I stayed quiet. Let the offer hang in the air like a noose she was tying around her own throat.
Lila?
The girl with too many opinions and eyes that lingered where they shouldn't?
My silence stretched long enough to make her uncomfortable, then I smiled — just enough to keep her off balance.
"If that's what you think I want," I said finally.
"Then yes, Luna. Introduce me to your friend."
And she smiled back… thinking she was clever. Thinking she'd solved the riddle.
But I wasn't looking for a match.
I was building a cage.
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