Page 22 of A Deeper Blue
Azure was quiet long enough that he eventually nudged at her temple with his chin.
“I have the second sight,” she said quietly.
“Fucking-A!” Rafe sat upright and turned to her with a grin. “That’s how you knew about the Warlocks in the parking lot! Yes, this is awesome. What happens next?”
“It doesn’t work like that,” she said, looking annoyed. “I can’t just dial up the future and see everything. I get some pictures and some strong… nudges, I guess you would call them. And sometimes I just get a result, but I don’t know how to get there, and I have to work it out on my own.”
“Oh,” said Rafe, slumping back and resettling her into the crook of his arm. “That sounds lame and complicated.”
Azure laughed. “Yes, it can be. Also, you would be surprised how often I tell someone their future, and they tell me to fuck off and do whatever they were going to do anyway.”
“I believe that, actually. The future is always so much further away than the right now.”
Azure snorted. “The future is right here all around me. Time wraps around itself like a ball of yarn. I think I spend half my life trying to knit it into something useful.”
“Mm,” said Rafe, suddenly seeing Azure’s desire for a plan as a weapon against the out-of-control universe that resided in her head.
“Anyway, my point is that with the second sight and with magic, it can become very easy to manipulate people into doing what is good for them. But after a while, what is good for them and what is good for me can get very confusing. That’s where the oaths come in. They keep me from….”
“Making minions?” asked Rafe.
“I wasn’t going to put it that way, but yeah, something like that.”
“What’s in my future?” he asked.
“Don’t ask that,” said Azure.
“Why not?”
“Because for one thing, magical beings are harder to see, and for another…you don’t really want to know.”
“I don’t? Why? Is it horrible?”
“No!”
“So, it’s great?”
“I haven’t looked,” said Azure sourly. “Looking at my own future gets very problematical. I can start to sort of loop my own decisions. You are currently in my life, so I avoid looking too closely at you too.”
“But you looked to get us past those Warlocks, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I looked at them. Not at us. That’s easier.”
“Huh,” said Rafe. “Fascinating.”
And it was fascinating. He just wasn’t sure if it answered any of his questions. He rested his chin on her head and tried not to enjoy the smell of her hair. The old man at the Walmart had been right. If a girl could make him that mad, then she could also make him that happy. He wanted so much to let go and love her entirely, but humans flickered like candle flames and were gone. And if she could make him this happy, then she could also snap him in two when she left.
Episode 12
Think of Me
Azure
Azure woke to the chirping of the birds and the annoying dampness of dawn. Rafe’s camping gear was minimal, and while he put out more body heat than about three regular humans, sleeping on a camping pad that was thinner than most maxi pads left something to be desired. She’d spent most of the night trying to sleep on top of him. She rubbed her face across the hair of his chest, and he let out a soft snore. She thought about biting him just to punish him for being able to sleep through the birds, dew, and dawn. Instead, she reached up and wound her fingers through his dark brown beard. The sound of his heart thudding in her ear and the warmth of his hair on her fingers was soothing, and she felt time slip sideways as she started to drift back down into slumber.
If she was going to look at her own future, this was the time to do it. When her rational thinking self wasn’t attached to any judgment or decision making, and her dream self could steer. Azure hesitated. If she looked at a future with Rafe, what would she see? Would she see what he wasn’t telling her about the Warlocks? Would she see further than tomorrow? Would she see their happily ever after?
Azure finally let go and dared to look. The future swirled around her. Time was uncertain, only the crushing feeling of loss seemed real, and Azure felt hot tears on her cheeks as she screamed.
