“A new … what?”
“Did you think I came here to simply debrief you about my own romantic shortcomings?”
“Well, yeah,” I chuckle, “It’s your usual MO, isn’t it?”
“As you so often give me advice, I thought it was my turn to repay the favor.”
“What could you possibly tell me that could help?” I sulk. “Magnus, I can’t go up to the mortal realm looking like this.”
“Of course you can,” he says with a slight grin. “Surely you know what holiday the humans celebrate in the month of October.”
“Of course!” I say, leaping up from my spot on the rocks. All hallows eve, the night when mortals dress as monsters.
I could walk around in plain sight.
“What do you say we spend Halloween in the mortal realm?” he asks coyly.
“We?”
“Certainly.” Magnus’s grin is wide and fang-filled. “You’ll need someone to watch the portal that opens near her, won’t you? Besides, I’m keen to see if any of the ladies dressed as vampires wish to realize their dreams.”
Usually I’d roll my eyes, but I don’t have time to be annoyed because soon, I’ll finally see Marina in her realm, and I can be myself while I do it.
“Shift change is in thirty minutes,” I say, the wheels in my head turning. If we use a direct line like Magnus is talking about, that means it’ll appear as close to Marina as we can get.
“You really up for making sure no one gets through? It might take a while to pack.”
“In my experience with traveling, these normally spawn a little farther off the beaten path: an old tree, an alleyway. Magic is intuitive, Gilbert. It does not want to be found any more than we want strangers to find it.”
Monsters only lurk in the shadows and reeds in her world. Today is the only day I can pass through in the daylight.
I have to try.
Clawrece pushes into my leg with a high-pitched whine.
“It appears someone wishes to join us.” Magnus laughs.
“You think I can take a gator to the mortal realm?” I ask. Most tourists seem afraid of them, but then again, mortals also seem afraid of all sorts of animals. I don’t have a list of what’s commonly domesticated, but it’s possible they’re common pets, like large dogs.
“Gilbert, you should know the answer to such basic questions about mortals,” Magnus scoffs, leaning down to pet Clawrece. “Of course you can bring her!”
Chapter 35
Marina
Summer is over.
And Gil…
Well, I hope he’s still waiting.
Life goes back to a sad kind of normal faster than I would have thought. I go to work, crash on Grams’ couch in the evenings. So far, I’ve skillfully avoided scorn from management by moving my car around the parking lot every few days. I am working toward saving enough money to make my next move, but getting back to Eclipsica seems more like a pipe dream as the days turn to weeks.
I’m homesick for a place I barely spent 48 hours in.
Sunny daydreams fade into cool autumn, falling around me like the leaves on the trees. The deep yellow ones remind me of Gil’s eyes. Despite today being Halloween, I’m still stuck in the summer.
I work through thankless shifts to forget. The idea of snuggling on that couch, with my boyfriend and our gator next to me, makes the deep ache in my chest even worse. But the daydreams are the only thing that get me through the days. As time goes on, I worry he doesn’t want me to find him.
