"You don't go..."
"We have no afterlife. We aren't mortal."
"But you're not immortal."
"Not invulnerable, but most of us can live until we are killed or until we no longer wish to live."
"Oh." I looked at Damara. I thought of a girl whose best moment in life--her most treasured moment--was cuddling up with a boy and feeling loved. That was all she got. All she'd ever get.
"Is there...Is there anything I can..." I glanced at Damara. "No, I guess if she doesn't go anywhere, there isn't anything more I can do."
"There is, but you do not need to feel obligated--"
"What is it?"
"Take her someplace wild before she fades. Forest, meadow, even a farmer's field or a park in the city. We don't pass into another life, but there is something left, an energy, some small awareness, and if she's in a natural place, that remains."
"We'll do that."
--
We took Damara to Jackson Park. It was past midnight now, and Gabriel was able to find a spot to park, if not quite legally, and we carried her covered body inside the grounds. Damara hadn't reverted any further. This was her true form--human and serpent combined.
By the time we got her there, she was already fading. We found a spot and stayed until she was gone, and Gabriel managed, with some difficulty I suspect, not to check his messages until we were back at the car.
I slept at Gabriel's. It wasn't too late to go back to Cainsville, but I didn't want to spend my first night in the Carew house feeling like this, and if I stayed at my apartment, I'd only think of the house, of a magical evening gone so horribly wrong.
Come morning, we did go to Cainsville. We got there early, and we walked Melanie and Pepper to the diner, knowing it'd be almost empty. Veronica went with us, and a few of the elders showed up, and I could say they went to eavesdrop, but they seemed to be there as protection, taking tables around us, so we could speak in private.
We could, of course, have spoken even more privately at Veronica's house, but I remembered how much Pepper had liked her hot breakfast, and I thought that might cushion the news. She seemed a little better in Cainsville. Melanie claimed she'd spoken yesterday, and I hated to hurt her now. But they had to know.
I told Melanie and Pepper what had happened.
Pepper let out a whimper and said, in a breathy voice, "Damara?"
"I'm sorry," I said.
Another whimper, and she caught Melanie's arm. "Toby."
"I know." Melanie turned to us. "Damara had a...relationship with a boy. A small-time hustler." She made a face, clearly disapproving. "That's why she wouldn't come to Cainsville--she didn't want to leave him. Anyway, the two of them used to take Pepper for hot cocoa."
"Dami," Pepper whispered, her gaze dropping.
Melanie squeezed her arm. "I know, ee mikri mou."
"Did this boy know what Damara was?" I asked.
"I don't know. It wasn't safe either way, but Damara was a stubborn..." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Damn it." Her voice cracked. "Stupid, stubborn--" She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes and put her arm around Pepper.
"She said goodbye to you, Pepper."
Pepper looked over, slowly, at me, frowning because the voice obviously hadn't sounded like mine. Then her gaze turned to Gabriel.
He cleared his throat. "Before she passed, she mentioned your name. She said goodbye."
Pepper stared at him like a god himself had spoken. Then she launched herself across the table, dishes clattering as she threw her arms around his neck. Gabriel's hands were already on her upper arms, ready to push her off. But he only looked at me, nostrils flaring, as if he was trapped in a headlock. I mouthed, "Three, two, one," and then, having given Pepper her moment, carefully removed her, with Melanie helping. Around us, the elders looked pleased. Very, very pleased.
"Gabriel's right," I said, even if it wasn't entirely true. "Damara said goodbye."