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“It looks more blue now,” Dad said. “Are you sure you haven’t dyed it?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Hmmm. I must be going crazy in my old age.”
“Shut up, Dad. You’re not old.” I batted his arm with the back of my hand.
Dad ran a hand through his hair and then patted it back into place. “Days like today, I feel old.”
Just like that, the gravity of our situation smothered me again.
“Dad, I’m sorry I didn’t come home sooner,” I said.
“Don’t be silly, now.” Dad shot a stern look at me. “You followed your gut and made something of yourself away from this place. I’m very proud of you, Maeve. Never forget that.”
I turned my face toward the window as tears prickled at my eyelids and my cheeks warmed.
He always told me things like that, but his praise cut a little deeper that day.
“Did you quit your job?” Dad asked.
“I had to.” I dabbed at a tear that squeezed out of the corner of my eye. “To come home for a while.”
My job had little room for upward mobility, but that never bothered me.
As a Nexus scuba diver, I had spent the past several years retrieving bodies and evidence from underwater. I loved the water, probably from a lifetime of open water swimming growing up on Dusk. But I had no fear of dead bodies, either.
Maybe the ever-present loom of death over our family all these years had made me indifferent to corpses.
“Perfect, I hoped you would. Maybe I can put you on the rota at the scuba centre.” Dad’s smile was weak, but his eyes shone. “Maeve… if the worst should happen, Brian will be in touch. You don’t need to worry. He will sort everything.”
Ah, Brian. Our family lawyer had no doubt been busy over the past few months.
I had exchanged several emails with him to settle my affairs. Not that I had much in the way of assets, but everything of mine would pass to Dad.
“I’ve spoken to Brian,” I said. “He’s sorted everything on my end, too.”
“Why?” Dad’s tone sharpened. “It won’t be you.”
“Dad, I’m not having this conversation with you again.”
Dad turned a corner a little too fast, and I slid across my seat, my seat belt straining.
He had a blind spot where the family curse was concerned. It didn’t matter that the curse had killed plenty of children before. In his mind, I was immune.
I had as much chance of dropping dead that day as any of our family members. We had argued about this far too much since finding out my cousin was pregnant.
We would find out who drew the short straw before the day was out.
The streets of Dawn, the island’s capital city, teemed with the first wave of spring tourists. The air rustled with new leaves and chatter. Stalls laden with produce had popped up along the street, and café tables spilled onto the pavements from their storefronts.
Dusk had a temperate climate all year round, but only when the sun came out did it and its residents rise from a dormant slumber.
High-rise buildings shimmered above us as we drove past. I tilted my head up to gaze at them through the sunroof.
London’s skyscrapers were stoic, immovable, and imposed themselves on the city’s skyline. In truth, the busy London skyline contributed to its vibrance. The residents of Dusk, however, had fought the proposition of high-rise buildings from the very beginning. In the end, the mayor of Dawn had established a compromise.
As we passed the skyscraper and turned off down the street, the building disappeared in a cloud of magical dust.
