Page 1 of Two Who Live On

Chapter One

Chapter One

Milo’s perfect date looped along his surface thoughts the entire time we strolled through the art district of the Lower West Side. His memories flashed in crisp stills like he’d photographed our past. There I was, twenty years old, hidden beneath an umbrella so my pasty pale skin didn’t burn under the beach’s harsh summer sun, which was nothing like the overcast gray winter sky we found ourselves walking under right now.

I cringed at how I’d glared at both him and Finn the entire time the pair played along the shore, splashing each other with waves through their telekinesis and wrestling over a volleyball. Finn’s smile filled more snippets of Milo’s mind than usual.

Though nothing particularly special had happened that day, this date bloomed in his mind, making it difficult for me to focus on the streets of the art district. I’d spent so much time tethered to Milo’s thoughts lately. Still, this date… Why was it special compared to the date he dragged me on now? We were just three goofy acolytes, unknown by the world, unburdened by the responsibility of the magic industry.

My heart hitched. Perhaps that was what made it so significant to Milo. Back then, we could go anywhere, do anything, and no one noticed. It was much harder to hide from his adoring audience these days. Plus, the beach wasn’t nearly as crowded as the sidewalks we strolled along on our current date. It bustled with people either enjoying their weekend or annoyed to be working. Thankfully, the one-way street had no parking, which afforded minimum traffic. Then again, the minds of each passerby buzzed louder than the hum of any revving engines.

Skimming Milo’s thoughts made everyone else more bearable. Truthfully, I would have preferred staying home and doing absolutely nothing. Maybe reading. Probably watching television instead. Maybe practicing my magics. Probably quelling my telepathy because my neighbors were insufferable. Maybe planning a lesson. Probably catching up on grading because I’d already added a mountain since the second semester started. I sighed at how many things I should have been doing opposed to enduring a busy art district.

Right now, though, I was less concerned about that and more worried about the anxious surface thoughts Milo had snuffed out.

“What’s wrong?” I tilted my head, stepping slightly in front of him.

“What? Nothing.” Sunglasses hid his eyes, and he tugged the cap he wore downward like the bill somehow gave him total anonymity in his trademark suit and tie. “Absolutely nothing.”

I tsked. “Liar.”

Despite Milo reminiscing perfect dates Finn, him, and I had once upon a time while also fixating on the perfect day date he wantedright now since it was only the two of us, his thoughts continued turning into static. I’d linked to his mind on all our outings—from guild events to grocery shopping—because no matter where we went, the spotlight found him. Milo struggled to find outings we could enjoy publicly, exploring the sensations of a new relationship without navigating his publicity. It didn’t help matters that I preferred our relationship remain private because his stardom came with a very big spotlight—hence him freaking out over a good date so I wouldn’t freak out, which made me freak out about him freaking out.

Fuck. I’ve been around teens too long.

Music funneled from the various stores we walked past. People were noisy, both internally and externally. Their fucking chatter never ceased, and it helped to fixate on the rhythmic melodies since Milo’s mind continued drumming in and out.

Earlier, he’d been teeming with day date thoughts, yet now, everything remained blank. Everything he’d researched on the exhibits became obscured, even his memories of the sunny beachside date fizzled in and out. Which could only mean Milo’s thoughts had drifted into a vision. Sure, I’d merged my telepathy with a single void vision that I’d nearly fucked up last semester, but since then, our psychic branches hadn’t intermingled. His clairvoyance remained unseen by me. So if he were weaving between a perfect date that had been and visions, he was probably foretelling a thousand paranoid possibilities of ruining the perfect date that could be.

“You know, I’m okay just staying home.” I forced an uneasy smile. “Honestly, it’s easier between my branch and your whole Enchanter Evergreen thing.”

Milo made a sour face. He hated when I called him by his industry title. Well, more likely the formality in my tone. Milo’s head swam into what he wanted, visions he needed, and concerns he’d gone about this day wrong. My face heated.

I’d said the wrong thing. Of course, he already knew I preferred lounging at home, but he wanted to find new things for us to try and enjoy together. I understood his craving to live in the world that he fought so hard to protect; it made sense he wanted to experience the balance and normalcy he brought to the city. Yet, ever the asshole, I had to say the rude thing, nitpicking his ideas since I liked my isolated routine. A habit I hated because it distanced me from so much happiness. There were parts of our past relationship I’d never get another chance at, yet the point of exploring this was to find our way to a new type of happiness.

That’s what I should say.

“Overall, this is a really fun day,” I finally said, mustering the most hollow enthusiasm.

“It’s literally the worst. I’m screwing up this entire date and it hasn’t even started.” Milo smiled, big and goofy but lacking charm as anxiety poured out of him along with thoughts he failed to hide. “Dorian’s already annoyed, wishing he were home. Just wait until he—”

Milo’s eyes widened, and song lyrics filled the air of his thoughts. Despite being caught off guard, he recovered rather quickly.

“I like the exhibits you found.” It was true. Two things I enjoyed: art and no audience. These little Sunday setups were actually the perfect outing. “Why don’t we just check one out, then head to the restaurant?”

I wasn’t hungry, yet Milo kept directing us further from our original destination and toward—

Erratic thoughts burst in rapid, incoherent succession. A stampede of terrified thoughts lapped like a tidal wave from all the people on this street. I grabbed my head, barring my mind against the invasive internal screeches that sent psychic fractures further along my skull with each passing second. Bracing me, Milo held my shoulders with a faulty grin.

“Guess you figured out the date is off, huh?” Milo blinked, silencing the static of a vision and the tremble of his surface thoughts.

“Did you plan on this?” I thought, connecting our minds. It required more magic and consideration to link our thoughts but had the added benefit of dulling others. All my channeled energy kept our minds synced together, making Milo a literal life raft keeping me afloat from the streaming fear. Maintaining a steady flux on someone I trusted helped when the volume in my head amped up to the max. Better to dwell in Milo’s mind than crumble in the barrage of chaos.

Milo sighed. “I’d planned on it being dealt with by others.”

“What’s going on?”

“Damn acolytes not following my directions is what’s going on.” Milo squared my shoulders, rubbing the tension away until my body stopped shaking. Even without explaining, he knew the contact helped conjure a stronger link between us. Once established, he released me.

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