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“‘Best’? You’re giving up. We are supposed to be together.”

“If the choice is between soulmates and you being healthy and alive, I will pick the second one every time.”

“This was a one-time thing. I haven’t been hospitalized for ages.”

His eyes fill with tears. “You don’t understand—I can’t look in the mirror and think I might be the cause of something happening to you. That’s not the man I’m supposed to be.”

“But relationships are about people growing, changing.”

He steps close, tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, and I lean into him. “I thought I had changed,” he whispers. “But not enough.”

I take his hand. He lets me, but his grip is loose.

He’s already letting go.

And something within me cracks.

“We’ll find you another therapist.” I’m saying it like I’m not terrified, but my stomach is quaking. “Someone who specializes in PTSD. We’ll go together, if you want. But please don’t leave because you think you’re protecting me. You’re not. You’re just leaving.”

Rhett is supposed to be my soulmate.

Magic pushed me toward him from the very beginning, but ever since I had my asthma attack, it’s abandoned me.

When I need it the most.

My heart sinks. Maybe there are just some things it can’t fix—like my lungs.

“Please. It’s all because of a stupid mistake. I forgot to get my inhaler filled. It won’t happen again.”

“You can’t make promises like that and you know it. We can’t predict the future.” He shakes his head sadly. “I was hoping I’d feel better after sleeping, but it’s just staying with me, eating away at me. I woke up seeing your blue lips, hearing you wheeze . . .”

I slump onto the bed and feel it sink. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Rhett drops to his knees in front of me and takes my hands. “Cristina, what I’m saying is there are a lot of people who are good for you—your parents, your friends—but I’m . . .” He looks like he has to force his next words out. “I’m not one of them.”

The room tilts.

“But you are.” I slide off the bed, kneel in front of him, take his face in my hands. “Look at me.”

He does, and his eyes are swimming.

“But you are one of them,” I argue. “You’re the one. You make me laugh. You make me feel like I’m exactly enough. How can that be bad for me?”

He closes his eyes, pulls my hands from his face. “Because if one day I fail you and you get hurt, I’ll never forgive myself.”

Oh, God. It’s the It’s not you, it’s me, speech. That’s what this is, and Rhett’s the person giving it to me.

My body goes cold. My feet tingle. “But you’re my soulmate. I didn’t want to believe that before, but I believe it now. I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”

He kisses my forehead, letting his lips linger while I close my eyes and hot tears fall down my cheeks.

He doesn’t have to say anything because I know what he’s thinking: Being soulmates isn’t enough.

“You’re everything I’ve always wanted.” The next part comes out of me as a whisper. “All of you.”

He pulls back and wipes tears from my face. “You may not understand right now, but in time you will, and you’ll thank me for it.”

“I’ll never thank you for this,” I grind out, anger taking over.