Hope flares in her eyes again. "So... I can stay?"
"I'm extending our agreement."
She starts to smile, starts to move toward me.
I see the exact moment she thinks she's won, thinks she's been forgiven.
"You'll return in one year."
The smile dies.
Her face goes pale. "What?"
"One year from today. You'll come back to Hell, and we'll see if you've learned your place. If you understand what it means to be mine completely."
"A year?" Her voice cracks. "You're sending me away for a year?"
"This is a punishment, Selene." I keep my voice cold, clinical, even as something in me rails against the decision. "You undermined me. Showed weakness. Proved you're not ready for my world."
"I am ready?—"
"You're not." I stand, towering over her. "You're soft. Sentimental. You still have one foot in your old life, making decisions based on who you used to be instead of who you need to become."
Tears fill her eyes, but don't fall.
She's learned not to cry without permission.
Good.
"So this is it? You're just... dismissing me?"
"I'm giving you time to decide what you really want. To become who you need to be if you want to survive in my world." I move to the door. "One year. Use it wisely."
"What am I supposed to do for a year?"
"Whatever you want. Fuck other men. Go back to therapy. Get married. Build a normal life." The words taste like acid, and I see each one hit her like a slap. "Or... become someone worthy of standing beside me."
"How? How do I become that?"
I pause at the door. "That's for you to figure out."
"Will you... will you watch me? Keep tabs on me?"
I turn back to her. "Would it matter if I did?"
"Yes." She stands, the dress falling awkwardly around her marked body. "If I knew you were watching, I could show you. Show you how I'm changing, becoming what you need."
"This isn't a performance, Selene. This is transformation. Real change. It happens when no one's watching."
"So, you won't watch?"
I don't answer.
Let her wonder.
Let her assume every shadow is my eyes on her.
Let her live the entire year wondering if I can see her, if I know what she's doing.
