Day in the story: 31st December (Wednesday), evening
Funnily enough, I was the first one to get out of the basilica. Maybe I’d read so much about the style, the architecture, the artistry of the place that seeing it in person didn’t resonate with as strongly—or maybe it did, just faster than with the others. I found myself drawn instead to the more chaotic mystique of the city itself.
As I looked out at it, fully wrapped in the velvet blackness of night, even sothing as cliché as the Eiffel Tower—lit with ever-changing colors—looked majestic and imposing. Its still fra, bathed in light, reminded of my own shadowlight, dancing along pages forged into steel by my will. My creative mind kept on wondering about what Nick had said in basilica. About understating the choices to force the light out, when his voice reached again in a less profound tone.
“A is not for Alexa,” he said as he and Sophie joined outside. His breath turned to mist as warmth t the cold.
“I know,” I replied, making Sophie giggle. “But it could be.”
“I wouldn’t want that. Being famous, being revered—whatever that is that leads to monunts raised in your na. I wouldn’t want that,” he said.
“I wouldn’t mind,” Sophie chid in. “That would an I did sothing worth rembering.”
“Sophie, you don’t have to do anything monuntal to mark yourself on soone’s life. I’m incredibly grateful just to be with you. For the happiness and laughter you bring into mine.” Nick said, and they began leaning into each other.
I took my cue, turning away and stepping back little by little, careful to remove myself from the intimate space they were slipping into.
“Good for them, right?” Pam’s voice found its way to as she exited the building and joined my side.
“Yes. A bit cliché—having a romantic mont in Paris of all places—but who could bla them? Not in a city so thoroughly romanticized.”
“You don’t like following patterns?” Peaches asked curiously as she moved closer, letting rest my head against her shoulder. She wore a warm, long coat lined with wool—plain in its browns, but unmistakably hers. Pins dotted the fabric: a unicorn, a laptop, an acorn, a flower, a smiling hero from so Japanese manga.
“No, that’s not it. Patterns exist for a reason. I think they’re as important in life as they are in art. You have to learn the rules to know which ones to break—and how. Otherwise, you end up with a ss you don’t even understand.”
“But isn’t art all about breaking rules?” she asked. “Picasso painted however he wanted.”
“Not exactly. He could replicate nature with incredible detail—he had the skill from a very young age. He learned composition, proportion, perspective, light, shadow, placent… and only then did he decide to break so of those rules, because he understood what breaking them would result in.” I gave her a small lecture and sighed. “Sorry. I like talking about this stuff, and it’s hard for to stop—especially when soone’s interested.”
“It’s okay. I am interested. It’s fun talking to soone who’s passionate about sothing, whatever that is.”
“You’re great, Pam. Thanks.” I let myself stay close to her for a mont, just being quiet and looking into the distance. It felt peaceful. “How are you and Evan?”
“Movie night? We kissed a few tis. I didn’t feel the right vibe. I was really needy that night, but despite what I said, I’m not going to jump into bed with soone just because I want—or need—it. It’s just easier to encourage soone to be more approachable when they know you’re open to having so fun.”
“That’s a good strategy.”
“That’s the… that’s why…” She started, then stopped, stumbling over her words.
“What’s going on?” I asked, lifting my head from her warmth so she could look at .
“That’s also why I said those things about you.”
“Things? What things?” I asked, suddenly unsure.
“Like… that I wouldn’t mind seeing you lying down. Or that I like you.”
“What do you—” I started, but my brain connected the dots before I could finish. “You’re interested in a romantic relationship with ,” I said—declaring it instead of asking. The mont the words left my mouth, I knew I should’ve asked. It was always easier for to play soone else than to be myself for real with people I actually cared about.
“Yes. Would you be interested in that?”
“No. Not right now. At this point in my life, I’m not in the mood for a relationship like that. I’m sorry, Peaches.”
“That kind? You’re not attracted to won?”
“If you’d asked a few weeks ago, I would’ve said no imdiately. I never was—but there was a case where it happened,” despite a little magical help from a Domain like mine, “and while I didn’t pursue it, I wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea. So… maybe.”
“So it’s just , then?”
“Oh, hell no. You’re amazing. Every ti I’m with you, I feel better already. You speak freely. You act freely. You’re funny and loyal. It’s just that being with Jason was so emotionally draining for ,” I said, catching myself just before saying too much. “Please don’t tell him I said that—his ego might shatter and cause a cataclysm the Earth wouldn’t survive.” She laughed. “But yes, it drained . I just want to be alone for a while. Not tethered to anyone else, even soone as great as you.”
“That went worse than I dread… but better than I feared,” she said. “Overall, a slight success.”
“See?” I said softly. “Even now, you made feel better for turning you down. That’s precious. Everyone should feel—” I almost said lucky, but my second brain cut in imdiately, still smarting from my conversation with Jason. “—amazing to be with you.”
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“If you ever change your mind,” she said in carefully casual tone, “let know. I’ll see what I can do, if I’m still free by then.”
“Sure thing, Peach.”
“Keep it Peaches, please. One isn’t enough to express how great I am.”
I laughed. “That’s the reason?”
“Obviously.”
She hesitated, then tilted her head. “Why didn’t you ask , but Jason, at the party?”
“About the sex?” she clarified. “I figured I had a higher chance with him than with you. And I wasn’t already invested in him, so public rejection didn’t feel as risky. I’ve learned n tend to like won who are open about their sexual desires.”
“You’re… invested in ?”
“Yes,” she said simply. “I told you I like you. It’s not easy for to be sure about these things, or to express them properly. It doesn’t co naturally, so I had to learn—what’s appropriate, what’s not. I’m a good learner, though. I don’t mind.”
“Yes,” I said quietly. “You really are.”
Right then, the air cracked—an explosion of light tearing open the sky. Fireworks blood overhead, bright and star-shaped, dissolving into smoke almost as quickly as they appeared.
“Well,” I added weakly, “soone out there seems impressed.”
“I don’t think that was for ,” she said, managing a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “But thank you. I appreciate the joke.”
She looked fragile now, her gaze following the fading light until it vanished completely. And it felt like I’d held her heart in my hands and—rather than taking it or breaking it—I’d handed it back untouched. Sohow, that felt worse.
“I kind of sucked just now, didn’t I?” I asked.
“Yes,” she admitted. “I was hoping you’d either say you weren’t attracted to won at all… or kiss . Sothing definitive. That whole it’s not you, it’s thing wasn’t great.”
“That’s honestly the best I could co up with in the mont.”
“Is it true, though?”
“Partially,” I said, stepping closer again. “I really don’t want to be in a relationship right now. But if I ever caught real feelings for soone—deep ones—I know I’d do everything in my power to make it work.”
She searched my face. “So… not .”
“No,” I said gently. “I’m sorry, Peaches. Not you.”
She swallowed. “You’re not going to add sothing like not right now, are you?”
“That part is implied. I really don’t know what the future will bring. I was attracted to Jason, but only physically. I never committed to him emotionally, not really, though I was willing to try. With you, I feel like I could beco emotionally attached, but at the sa ti I’m not physically attracted to you right now and unfortunately my willingness to try, just to see if sothing might grow, is nonexistent at the mont.”
“Is it because I’m bigger than the rest of the girls?”
The insecurity ca out of nowhere. I was doing sothing wrong.
“No, Peaches. It’s not. Co here.”
I took her by the arm and gently pulled her with , down the stairs and away from the kissing couple. “You see that guy up there who’s glued to Sophie’s lips? Yeah. He was a lot chubbier just a few months ago, and I’m pretty sure I was attracted to him even then. And I’m one hundred percent certain I’d still be attracted to him now if he weighed a hundred pounds more.”
“You have feelings for Nick?”
“Yeah. Unfortunately I chose to let them in for so rea—” I stopped myself and corrected: “god forsaken reason. And it sucks. And I’m not going to do anything about it—besides letting it pass—because, like I said, I don’t want that kind of relationship right now. Especially not with my friend’s boyfriend.”
“That’s… I don’t know what to say to that.”
“Should I tell her?” I asked. She nodded. “I already did. She knows, and she trusts . And apparently I can live without giving my feelings an outlet, so everything’s fine. And to get back to your question—I don’t think my feelings develop based on soone’s looks alone. They play a role, sure, but it’s not a big one. Jason is eye candy, after all, and I never caught feelings for him.”
“I understand. It’s actually good to hear that. And thank you for being honest with . I’m insecure about my weight sotis. Maybe more than sotis. A lot.”
“Yeah. And I hate my freckles. Everyone has sothing, Peaches.”
“You speak the truth.”
“Sotis!” I said, striking a mock-cheerful pose. She seed to like that.
“I hope we can still be friends?”
“Sure. If you don’t mind having a friend like , then by all ans.”
She smiled widely.
“I think I can still seduce you later on, if that’s okay with you?”
“Go ahead. I don’t mind occasional seduction.” An old fashioned, no mind or nature-control seduction that is.
We stood there for a while after that in silence, just watching the city—its people and its movent—and the sky lighting up again and again with fireworks.
He ca by and watched and her like that. I saw him through my fingernail-painted eyes. Sothing he obviously couldn’t be sure of. There was an intensity to his gaze that wasn’t just attraction, at least not in my mind. It felt like borderline obsession, and I didn’t like that. There was another talk to be had between the two of us, before sothing I’d regret might happen.
I wanted to do it right then, if possible, but the rest of the group gathered on the hill and were intent on joining and Pam, so this would have to wait for a better ti. Another person I’d have to turn down. This one, however, I feared wouldn’t be as peaceful as it had been with Peaches. He had to be holding so power, that man—sothing he stole from Malik and sothing he’d held onto before even that. And if he was already able to use it, I’d have to be ready to face echoes that could shatter steel and concrete with ease.
**********
“No way! That’s the Statue of Liberty!” Elena shouted with all the power she could muster out of her lungs. Then, as everyone turned their eyes toward the smaller version of what we have in New York, she added in a quieter tone, “Why is it here? This is a Vegas kind of thing, right?”
We’d been traveling on foot from the Basilica toward the Eiffel Tower, where the New Year’s party for the citizens of Paris was supposed to take place.
“Elena, we’ve been talking about this for like fifteen minutes. Peter even asked if we’d like to walk about half an hour longer to see it, since it’s farther down the river,” Hannah took it upon herself to say.
“I must have missed that,” Elena replied. “This whole city is like monunt upon monunt—beautiful tenents one after another, arches, bridges, and now even a Statue of Liberty. That’s incredible.”
“It’s not bad,” Ty supported his girlfriend.
“Not bad?” Sophie asked. “It’s fanta—”
Her voice was silenced by one of the wildest screams I’d ever heard. It ca from a woman on the opposite riverbank. She was wildly pointing at sothing in the water, but before I could even identify what it was, both Peter—and surprisingly Jason—were already jumping from the edge of the bridge we were on into the Seine below.
The rest of us froze at that threshold, watching in equal parts awe and horror as they disappeared with a splash into the dark depths.
“What’s going on!?” Hannah shouted, while Zoe covered her mouth in disbelief.
“Soone fell into the river,” Evan said. “We saw it happen.”
“And they think they can help when the water is almost freezing?” Hannah asked.
“Peter’s an amazing swimr. Jason’s not bad either,” Evan replied.
I watched faint blue and white lights move beneath the surface at high speed. But there were also streaks of golden, purple, and blue shadowlight elsewhere, moving slower but with purpose. It could an only one thing—Jason had joined Malik’s Domain after all. I could finally be one hundred percent sure of that.
He’d been slowly giving more reasons to confront him, if he made it out of the water alive.
We weren’t the only ones watching. I guessed most sleepers didn’t see the shadowlight Peter and Jason left behind, but it made it easier for to track them. So when my brother erged from the water with a young boy in his arms, I already knew.
He stopped at a small enclave by the higher wall separating the river from the ground. I saw him place a hand on the boy’s chest and watched his shadowlight flow into the fragile body. Steam soon rose from both of them as their clothes dried, and the boy coughed violently, expelling water from his lungs, shouting sothing in French as Peter hugged him.
Jason joined them on the bank monts later, hauling himself up, looking shaken and cold but otherwise unhard. Peter extended a hand toward him, and soon his fra expelled steam as well.
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