The Deathless Trilogy

3.8. Magic

Just as we greeted the Deathless when they arrived to the funeral, Mom, Declan, and I wish them all a goodnight as they leave. After most of the crowd has cleared away to their tents for the night, I turn back to where our family waits for us, ready to ask Daniel if he'd like to talk to the two kids on the other side of the lake with me, but he's gone.

"Where is Daniel?" I ask. This disappearing act is getting annoying.

Eleanor rests a tired hand on her belly. "He went back to the tent. Did he not say goodnight to you?"

I shake my head.

"I'll have a talk with him. He's been off lately, hasn't he?"

I shrug, but Dad voices my thoughts, "I didn't want to be the one to say it, but there's definitely something going on."

Eleanor nods, rubbing her stomach. "I'll talk to him," she repeats, heading up from the bank to the tents. "Goodnight everyone."

"Night, Eleanor," Mom replies.

Declan turns to me. "Need me to give him a piece of my mind?" he asks, punching his fist into his hand.

I laugh. "No, thanks. We're fine, he's just... absent."

Except we're not fine. I think we're falling apart, I want to tell him, but I don't dare say that in front of my parents. As much as Daniel and I never wanted them to know we liked each other, I certainly don't want them to know we're going through a rough patch.

"He's really upset about his detectors killing those pilots," I tell Declan, Mom, and Dad.

"That's his rabbit, huh?" Dad asks.

"Yeah, I guess it is," I say. And look how long it took me to get over that. How long it's still taking. Terrifying uncertainty returns to me. Please don't let the pilots be his rabbit, I plead to the night sky.

"Ready for bed?" Mom asks, wrapping her arm over my shoulder.

I look back at the kids, who still play by the shore. "I want to check on those kids first," I say.

"I'll go with you," Declan tells me.

My parents kiss my forehead and wish me a goodnight, then Declan and I walk the shoreline toward the kids. I need a buffer between Eleanor's conversation with Daniel and what I hope is a productive conversation with Daniel anyway. Uncertainty has filled me with anxiety. What if he says something I don't want to hear? Something about needing space? I can't handle that right now, not after the empowering night I just had. Right now, I need the space.

"You sure you're good?" Declan asks.

I tuck my arm through his and rest my head on his shoulder. "No."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay," he says. "Friends share stories, but sometimes friends don't need to hear them to know what you're going through."

I squeeze his arm. "Thank you."

When we are close enough to talk to the kids, Declan takes the lead. "Hey there," he calls, and they look up from building floppy structures from the sand. They look to be about four or five years old. Maybe they're twins, though I can't be sure, since dirt covers most of their features. It's hard to tell if they have the same nose or not, but they definitely have the same eyes. Dark brown, so dark they look like night.

"Hello," the little girl says.

I push Daniel from my mind for the conversation, and smile. "We met this morning, right?" They nod their heads. "It's nice to see you again. What are your names?"