Page 109 of Molt

His face collapses.

“You watched women become me.”

Silence.

There it is.

The truth.

Huge. Ugly. Impossible to hide from now.

I laugh. Then sob. Then laugh again because my mind can’t decide what to do with something this fucking horrific. “It’s not reincarnation.”

August whispers my name.

I shake my head. “No.” I touch my chest. His heartbeat answers. “It’s transfer.” The word changes everything.

I see it now.

Every cycle.

A living woman. A real person. A life.

Memories. Family. Scars. Then August finds her.

Or she finds him.

The bond wakes. The molt begins. Old pieces fall away.

Lenora is written over her. August is used to rebuild whatever is missing. And when it’s done...the woman disappears.

Not dies.

Worse.

She is overwritten.

I grab the edge of the sink. “Sarah.”

August is crying now. I’ve never hated seeing someone cry more.

“My name was Sarah.”

“Your name is Lenora.”

“NO.” I spin toward him. “That’s what this thing wants!”

He stops.

“My mother named me Sarah.” The memory comes faster now. Her face. My mother’s face. Birthday cake. College. Friends. Bad dates. A dog I had when I was fourteen. A tattoo I almost got and chickened out of.

A whole fucking person.

How could I forget her?

How could I forget me?

“I had a life.”