“Mom?” I called out.
“Hello,” my mom said in a sing-song voice, walking around a corner. Her eyes skimmed over papers in her hands, a pencil tucked into her tawny curls, as she chewed on her thumbnail. She looked up at me. And she sucked in a breath. She dropped the papers onto the entry table.
“Faye,” she gasped out. “What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
She trailed her eyes over me. “Are you sick?”
My lips parted to say something, but nothing came out. I put my hands in front of me to make a gesture. They trembled.
“Oh sweetheart,” my mom said, walking up and wrapping her arm around me. We headed into the living room and sat on the couch. She pulled me into her arms and ran her fingers down my hair. Over and over again. Like she did when I was a child.
I dove into her hug. She smelled like butterscotch, and I shuddered.
“Won’t you tell me what’s wrong?” she said.
“I…” My voice trembled, and I sucked in a breath. “I’m just having a really hard week.”
“Oh, baby,” she whispered into my hair, her breath tickling my ear. “What’s going on?”
I swallowed. What could I tell her? That I lived somewhere else? That I didn’t really exist here anymore? That I couldn’t close my eyes without seeing blood? I shuddered. “It’s just a stressful time right now.”
“Senior year can be tough,” mom said, tightening her arms around me.
“Daron,” I hissed into the woods.
The color had returned to the trees since the last time I had visited. Emerald leaves shimmered in the sunlight like hundreds of multi-hued fish scales. But still, it seemed dull compared to the Ether, like a sepia filter ran over the scene, draining it of colors.
He and Alec walked up. The gold in his brown eyes glimmered in the dimming light. “Are you all right?”
“What was that with my mom?”
His chin raised. “I pulled back on the magic some.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have.”
“Why?”
“Do you think I want her worried about me? Do you think I want to drag her into all of this? The only comfort I have is that my mom is separate from everything.”
Daron’s forehead wrinkled. “I thought it might help you. Maybe you could talk with her.”
“And say what exactly? I live in a different world now and I’m never actually here, but you don’t realize that because my friend Daron has magic that influences your thoughts so you don’t even know to worry about me. And, no Mom, I’m not sick. I’m struggling because every time I take a breath, I can taste the blood of the magical creatures that were slaughtered in front of me. Is that what you think I should say?”
Daron sucked in a breath. Alec’s eyes darted between the two of us. He didn’t know English and without the Ether’s ability to translate languages the words were lost on him, but his posture tensed anyway.
“I’m sorry,” Daron said. “I thought it might help you.”
“You thought wrong. Switch it back, where she doesn’t worry about me.”
“Okay,” he whispered. “I will.”
A silence stretched between us like a river flooding onto banks where it didn’t belong. Birds chattered in the trees. Had birds always been so loud? A cardinal streaked above us, its red wings spread in flight, the sun permeating through it, lighting it up like its wings had caught fire. Alec tilted his head back as he watched the bird’s flight, his eyes widening.
Daron sighed. “What do you need, Faye? Tell me and I will try to make it happen.”
I hugged my arms around myself. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be a jerk.”
“It’s all right.” His brow furrowed. “Is there anywhere specific you wish to go while we are here? Alec and I can stay discreet if you don’t want us with you.”
“Actually, I have tickets for us tonight,” I said.
“What for?” Daron asked.
“It’s a surprise.”
“Okay.”
“Are you really not going to push me for the agenda? You’re just going to let me say it’s a surprise and not argue with me about it?”
“I’m just wanting to help you,” he said.
Exhaustion wrapped around me. I wanted my selkie cloak. I wanted to lie down. I wanted to never have to rise again.
“Okay,” I said.
I drove onto the college campus where my mom worked. Evening descended over everything like a blanket, and solar garden lamps illuminated the flower beds bordering massive oak trees. Alec studied the door handle and said something to Daron in a language I didn’t know. Daron laughed.
We moved into the performance hall and found seats at the front. Alec pushed the seat down several times before sitting in it. I smiled at him and he reached out and patted my hand.
A woman with caramel hair and a mahogany sweater strode onto the stage, she held a guitar that reflected the can lights in its shining surface. Alec’s eyes brightened.
“It’s a classical guitar,” I whispered.
Daron smiled and then whispered something to Alec.
The concert began. The music vibrated and wound and sung around us.
Alec held his breath throughout the performance, occasionally releasing great sighs only to suck in another breath to hold. His eyes grew wide as they fixed on the guitar.
The performer ended with Moonlight Sonata. The song curled around the room as though the notes flew like seeds on the wind, searching for a place to root down.
What was a sonata anyway? I had no idea. Was that something I might have learned in school if I hadn’t quit early to join a war in a magical world? I sighed. I may not know what sonata meant, but I knew about moonlight. It existed in both worlds. But the moon shone like a spotlight in the Ether. Bright and clear. Would I ever find clarity like that again?
The music, like all good things, ended. The last note hung in the air, bittersweet.
We returned to the lobby with its red carpets and golden scones.
“Faye!” Someone called out over the crowd.
I turned, sucking in a breath.
Merri walked up wearing a peach floral dress that contrasted against her copper skin. Her hand entwined with Triston’s, his hair as dark and untidy as I remembered it. The last time I had seen him was the night I had met Cameron. That thought sunk into my gut like an anchor, weighty and sharp.
“I didn’t know you were coming,” Merri said.
I shrugged.
“Did you come with anyone?” People streamed by us, billowing out into the dark embrace of the night.
I turned and gestured as they stepped up beside me. “You know Daron and this is his boyfriend, Alec.”
Merri’s eyes popped open, her mouth parting. Her eyes dashed back to me. Then a smile spread on her face. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said to Alec.
Alec nodded, his dimples showing.
“I hope you bring Alec with you to prom,” Merri said with a smile to Daron. “We can all rent a limo together! Wouldn’t that be fun?”
“It would be,” Daron said.
“Babe,” Triston said, a smile edging around his lips.