The Realms [Watty 2017 Shortlist]

Under Siege - Part 29

He's holding a family picture and the edges seem worn like he's looked at it so many time that it's aged years in days.

"What are you thinking?" I watch his face for any sign, any indication of what's going on. Once we were organized, I noticed he seemed closed off to me and I'm not sure why.

"Just a little sad." He traces the faces of his parents and his siblings. "I don't know why we think the Third Realm is so superior to the Second. This last year – these souls – they've been pretty great." He looks up from the photo and his smile is wistful. "I know the worlds work in this strange mix of chance and planning. We got lucky."

I think of my Second Realm parents and smile back, "We did. In so many ways, we did."

We sit in silence for a few moments and I keep watching his face, looking for clues, trying to figure out if that's all that's wrong if he's just mourning this loss. Absentmindedly, I run my thumb along the raised ridge of his embedded bracelet. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

He puts the photo down and mimics the gesture on my wrist. "Are you?"

I look away and don't meet his eyes. "I can't."

He shrugs. "And, I won't. You're just going to have to trust me."

"But, what if we aren't working towards the same goal?"

He gives a short laugh. "I'm pretty sure that in many respects we're not." He cups my face and forces me to meet his eyes. "Can we just enjoy the next few hours until the chaos starts? Maybe we can lie around pretending that we're just a normal teenage couple in an old abandoned building?"

"Does that even happen?"

"I have no idea. That just means we can make it up as we go along." He settles against the wall and eases me between his legs so my back rests against his chest. "What if we don't leave this place?"

"Ryan..."

"Come on. Just play along. What would you name our first kid?"

I sigh. "This is silly." I pause, considering. "Nevaeh."

"Nevaeh? Heaven spelled backward?"

"You asked."

"I didn't think your answer would be so lame."

"Okay, what would you name our firstborn?"

"Hannah Jr."

I laugh. "I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that with girl's names." I turn my head to the side. "Come to think of it, I kinda like Hannah Jr."

"I knew you would."

I rest my head against his chest and breathe deeply, enjoying the silence. Maizie and Mason are sitting across the room, engaged in lively conversation about something I can't quite catch. "How'd you convince him? When did you even have time?"

"It wasn't that hard once he'd been fired. His expulsion from this realm was imminent. He sort of sought me out."

"You don't think he's some kind of trap?" I shift so I can see part of his expression, but that doesn't feel like enough. I ease away from him, move so we are face to face and I put my legs around his waist. "Just yesterday he was part of the goon squad trying to kill me."

"True." Gently, he pushes my hair back from my face and kisses my forehead. "Now he's not."

I groan with frustration. "You're not going to tell me anything."

His expression immediately changes to one of annoyance. "You haven't exactly been open and honest about what you've been up to the last few weeks." I open my mouth. "Don't even try to deny it. I won't talk about what I'm doing and you say that you can't, so that puts us at an impasse. I thought we covered this earlier." He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. After a moment, he puts his forehead on mine. "We don't have much time and I just want to enjoy these moments with you. I don't want the third degree. Everything is incredibly complicated and, I'm not pointing fingers, but I wish you'd trusted me earlier." He pulls back again and looks away. "Or at all."