The Deathless Trilogy

3.27. Our Battle Has Begun

My tears freeze to my cheeks as I stand on the balcony of the Beast, rolling away from Daniel and Hellhole and toward DC. It will take us until dusk to get there, since the snow's been coming down all night and has now coated the roads and trails, but once we are there, we'll split up. That's the plan.

Rubble sweepers ride on horseback or in vehicles, vaguely camouflaged in their animal pelts, Deathless drive the pods, and the rest of us are crammed into the Beast. Celia and I stand at the edge of the balcony, like wooden mermaids at the front of a pirate ship. She holds my hand.

"I'm sorry he's not here," Celia says. She's talking about Daniel, and she knows my tears linger from our goodbye this morning.

"Me too," I say. "But at least we're still together, right?"

She nods. "I miss Julian too."

Last night, after he set up his machines to project virtual ground covering over the chasm the Immortal created, he broke the news to her that since Dr. Guzman was staying back to take care of the Carriers, Julian was being forced to stay back too.

"I never asked how the conversation with him went after you told him the truth about being a Comforter," I say, welcoming the distraction.

"It was fine. He said he didn't know why I lied to him in the first place."

"What did you say?"

"That I didn't want him to think I was used up. I really like him. He makes me want to be new again," she says, smiling to herself. "He said he would never think of me as garbage. He called me his media naranja."

"What does that mean?" I ask.

She bites her lip to keep from smiling too widely. A giggle sneaks out from her lips. "It's an expression in Spanish. It literally means half orange, but it's like... two halves of a whole. Your perfect half, or perfect fit."

"Like a soul mate?"

"Yes. He's a very nice boy. I'm very lucky."

I pull her hand my lips to kiss the top of it. "He's very lucky," I say. I rub the spot where I kissed the top of her hand. Her skin is freezing. "Look, I'm sorry I've been sort of a bad friend. That was so long ago when you told him, and I should have asked about it sooner."

"You've been busy," she says, shrugging.

"That's not an excuse. I want to be a good friend. What you said at our engagement party was so sweet, and I... I just don't know if I've been living up to the person you talked about in that speech."

"You have," she says, "don't worry. I haven't been the bestest friend either. I didn't even say bye to Daniel before I left."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, he was only allowed one visitor, so we'll just pretend you tried."

She doesn't laugh or smile like she normally would. "You were the visitor?" I nod. "How was he?"

I shake my head, trying not to let the memory make me cry again, but I can't help it. With all the stress I've been feeling lately, it's hard for me not to cry, especially when thinking about the desperation in Daniel's face and the pain in his voice when he saw me walk in and curled his fingers around the bars of his cell. "Isla," he said, a twinge of surprise mixed into his painful tone. I felt my heart break.

"Daniel," I replied, kneeling in front of him and wrapping my hands over his. "We're moving out. My mom and dad, Declan, Ava, Celia, General Kazemi, Phoebe, Jane... lots of people will be there to watch over me. We will be back soon. Once we are in position, it won't be difficult to defeat Gunther, especially if he's preoccupied with the spaceship landing."