he could be sincere?
'Yes,' Mary said. 'I would like that. I would like that very much.' She wiped away the last of her tears and they left-but before they reached the door, he stopped, as if perhaps he had changed his mind.
'Is everything all right?'
'Yes,' said Beto. 'I thought I had forgotten my keys, but they're right here.' He jingled them in his pocket.
'Oh-so we're taking your car…'
'Got to,' he said with a chuckle. 'Already missed the train.'
Mary wondered how wise it was to get into a stranger's car, but decided unless she wanted to walk these empty downtown streets alone, she had little choice.
'A city can be a scary place at night,' said Beto, as they stepped out into the cool night. 'But this neighborhood looks worse than it is.' Then he added, 'Besides, you have your own personal security guard.'
Mary laughed at that, if only to make the moment less awkward.
'This way,' he said, leading her down an alley. 'The parking lot is in the back.'
He took her hand, and she chose not to resist.
'So what are you hungry for, Mary? Chinese food, maybe? A burger?'
'Food is food,' she said. 'Anything is fine.'
It wasn't until they were halfway down the alley that she realized, and stopped cold.
She had told him her name was Megan… not Mary.
A distant streetlight at the end of the alley lit half of his face, but from this angle his eyes were in shadow, so she couldn't be sure. 'Milos?'
Then he smiled. 'I was wondering how long it would take for you to figure it out!'
'But… how long?'
'Do you remember when he stopped to check his keys?'
Milos laughed, and Mary launched herself into his arms. She simply couldn't stop herself, and in return, he held on to her with arms strong and unfailing.
'You came back for me! You came back!'
'How could I not? Your children need you,' he said. 'I need you too.'
Milos went on to tell her about their week west of the Mississippi. The train traveled slowly, stopping at every town they came across, but they hadn't found a single Afterlight. There were dubious sightings of creatures that seemed part animal, part human, but that may just have been the over-active imaginations of the younger children.
'I've been thinking about what you said,' Milos told her. 'How you might be able to work from this side. It will be difficult, but it might work. Even alive, you can give comfort to your children. Of course you won't be able to see them, but they can see you.'
'Is anyone with you right now?' Mary asked.
Milos shook his head. 'No. We're all alone in both worlds.'
'Good!' And then she did something she never had done in Everlost. She kissed him. She kissed him so long and so hard that he had to back away to catch his breath. She knew it was partially the weakness of her flesh that made her do it, but she also knew it was necessary to seal the bond between them. He had come back for her. He didn't have to, he didn't need to-he could have chosen to rule her children alone, yet he didn't. Mary knew what he wanted; he wanted to take Nick's place in her heart. The least she could do was make him think that he had achieved that goal-and who knows, maybe someday he would. But for now, she would do him the service of telling him what he wanted to hear.
'You are very special to me, Milos,' she told him. 'You are every bit my equal, and I'm glad we found each other.'
Even in the stark slanted light, she could see that he was blushing. 'So then… shall I spend some time with you in this body?'
'No,' Mary told him. 'I've spent enough time in this body.' In fact, she realized, it had been more than enough. She did not want to endure another day in the dread place called the living world. This week had been horrible-but in a way, it had been a gift to her. It made her realize just how desperately all the people who suffered from life needed to be freed from it. She would free every single one of them if she could-and maybe someday soon she'd be in a position to do it. Not just a hundred, or a thousand, but all of them! She would not rest until no one on earth was left alive.
Of course, just as with bringing down the bridge, it would take planning and precision to bring an end to the world of flesh once and for all, and allow Everlost to take its place… but if it was ever to happen, then it had to start today. Not with a thousand souls, but with one.
'I want you to do something for me, Milos,' Mary said. 'There's a switchblade in your pocket…' Milos reached into Beto's pocket, pulled it out, and opened it. The blade caught the glare of the streetlight at the end of the alley, casting a long, sharp shadow against the brick wall.
'I don't belong in the living world, Milos. I belong in Everlost. I belong with you.'
When Milos realized what she was suggesting, his hand began to shake, and she gently touched it to steady it.
'Are you… sure about this?'
'More sure than anything.'
'But you will go into the light.'
'No-because you'll catch me, and stop me.'
'But then you will fall asleep. You will sleep and you won't wake up for nine months…'
'And you'll protect me while I'm sleeping, won't you, Milos?'
Milos took a slow, deep breath, then he nodded. 'Yes, I will,' he finally told her. 'And I promise I will be waiting for you when you awake.'
'I believe you,' Mary told him. 'I trust you.' But then something troubling occurred to her.
Milos must have read it in her eyes, because he said, 'Do not worry about this fleshie. He was kind to you, and so I will make certain that your body of flesh is never found, and he will never know what he has done.'
Mary smiled. 'You think of everything, don't you?'
'It is something I learned from you.'
Milos looked to both ends of the alley to make sure they were unobserved, before lowering the blade to her chest. It still quivered in his hand, so he tightened his grip until the blade was still. Then in that lonely alley in the living world, Megan Mary McGill put her arms over Milos's shoulders, feeling the steel tip of the blade lightly pierce her new satin gown, just barely touching the skin above her heart. She looked into his eyes until she could see Milos behind the face of the security guard, and then she commanded in a powerful, impassioned whisper:
'… Bring me home, my love…'
