There was something about buildings, silhouetted against an early sky, that had always left Eve feeling vaguely unsettled. Their walls bathed in gray light and the windows shimmering faintly with melted frost.

She could see a whole row of such homes from the back porch, presiding over the dawn with a certain sense of gravity and spilling down the mountain like monoliths. Cold air bit her expanding lungs as her gaze slid past the neighborhood and out over the sliver of water in the far distance. The bay was as tumultuous as always, visibly choppy even from a distance and deep, dark navy blue.

The door to the back porch swung open, Samir's usual, silent presence sidling up along her left. He was fiddling with that band of silver on his pinky again, twisting it back and forth, a question dangling almost visibly from the tip of his tongue. That slash of black across the sky grew all the more prominent as the fog dissipated and red sunlight seeped over the horizon. Fighting the urge to lean into the man's side, Eve watched the churning ocean for a while, until the air had warmed and her feet began to ache from holding a single position.

Arman shoved the door open with much more force than Samir had but shrunk backwards with a lopsided grimace when Eve turned to look at him.

"You still have blood on you," he said, visibly disgusted.

Eve flashed him a feral smile. "And if you had helped at all, you probably would too."

The redhead flinched and turned away from her as though she hadn't said anything at all. "Samir. I can't keep fielding calls. You can't put off work any longer. What do I tell the client?"

Samir twisted his ring another time, this time a full revolution. "I need to think about it some more."

"More? Haven't we wasted enough time?" A flock of birds took off from the yard in a rustle and rush of wings. "Boss, I don't understand. From the start you've been weird about this job. Did you ever intend to finish it? It's unlike you to be so rash. So stubborn. And all this for what? A trinket?"

"Arman," Samir said mildly, unmoving. "If you don't want to die, please be quiet." Arman paused, some of the anger she'd seen emerging over the past few days simmering unsteadily in his eyes. It flattened together with a long, frustrated exhale.

"How many times have you threatened to kill me now, in the past few days? In any case, suit yourself. When the company goes up in flames, don't complain to me."

"Frankly," Samir said, silkily-smooth and patient, "the world has greater priorities at the moment."

"Which is exactly why we have more requests than ever before," Arman snarled, fanning the flames. "I don't understand you. Was it not you who taught me how to take advantage of every opportunity? Not you that I chose to follow after you dragged me from the deepest hells of humanity?"

"Arman." Samir turned, sliding one hand deep into his pant pocket, looking deeply troubled. "If you do not understand the difference in gravity between the two situations, then I have failed you. Consider what would happen if we sided with the wrong client - the wrong side right now? Do you think we'd escape with our lives, much less with the company?"

"I don't know why I bother," Arman threw his hands up. "You've clearly made your decision a long time ago. Who would you consider siding with, if not this woman?" Eve fought to keep her expression steady beneath the utter and complete hatred that permeated in her direction. Should she put him in his place again?

She didn't have to. Samir drew his gun, looking as though he couldn't give less of a fuck. "Reign in your temper, and your greed. They may have been a weapon for you before, but if you continue to wield them so clumsily, I will be forced to kill you before you pose a threat to myself. And to her. If you are not happy that I've chosen to trust her, you are welcome to leave." He flicked the safety off. "But do so now. I can build the company a second time if I must. But I have no desire to die because you can't see more than one step ahead."

A harsh laugh came from Arman. "That's rich, coming from you. Find me when you've come back to your senses." With one final, injured glance, the man retreated again, leaving both Samir and Eve standing in bewildered silence.

She watched him stow the gun, shifting her weight uneasily and chewing on her lip. "Are you sure you're making the right decision?"

Samir muttered something, under his breath, unintelligible. Then he straightened, squaring his shoulders, and seemed to come to some sort of decision.

"You know something, don't you? About me?" Voicing the question seemed to rob the man of his remaining confidence. His posture crumpled again, and he twisted to stow his gun in an attempt to hide it. "I...admit I am confused. Overwhelmed. There's so much in my head that I can't make sense of. Arman has been taking the brunt of it but he's right. I hate to admit it but he's right."

Eve looked at him for a moment, and wished, for the first time ever, that she could take the pain from him. Could siphon that terrible confusion and hurt right from his bones the way she could with everybody else. Instead she watched the breeze stir his soft black hair and stretched her hand out in his direction.

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"Walk with me?"

Samir fell into step with her easily, steps deliberately slow so that she could keep up. He did not take her hand. She couldn't do anything much about that, despite the foolish sting in her heart.

They moved further from the house, down into the unfenced yard that sloped down towards the ocean. Here, the woods grew more densely, giving room to only a few, gentle rays of sunshine that danced amongst their feet. Eve stopped only when she felt she could not breathe amidst the tension between them, and allowed Samir to wander off amidst the autumn carpet, his very presence like a streak of light. The distance between them felt abruptly sharper and greater than ever before. A longing brimmed in her, suffocating, hopeful. That he might come closer.

What would she do if he did?

No, what would she do if he didn't?

It was as though a string, long and thin, had been drawn between them. She couldn't sense a single thing from him. Not a hint of how he was feeling, not even a flicker of pain or joy. But despite all of that, Eve was more aware of him than she had been of any living creature in recent memory.

As he wandered further into the distance, hardly more than a speck in the distance now, Eve could see him only as a sun on the horizon, a bright, flaring speck in an abysmally dark world. If only she could hold him, for even a moment. If only she could help him. Keep him.

Her mouth began to taste of blood. She couldn't stand this. Eve had never had so little control.

Like an obsession.

Was it the same for him?

It felt like eons before Samir had completed a circle and returned to the spot in which she sat, waiting, unmoving, for his return. He leaned against the solid trunk of the redwood at her back and exhaled, an exasperated rush of air.

"I'm not human, am I?" he asked through tight lips. Eve frowned, eyeing him with some suspicion. She hadn't been expecting that. Questions, yes. But for him to have come to his conclusion on his own...

"No," Eve said. "Probably not." Samir peered through the trees into the distance, a muscle in his neck growing tight with tension.

"Any suspicions as to...what I might be?"

"Not a clue," Eve admitted. "But I'm guessing you're missing your memories. Couldn't tell you why that might be the case." Samir ran a finger down one of his thighs, as though the sensation of the fabric running past the skin was soothing. As though he was nervous.

"Is there a way to find out?"

Eve smiled, looking down. She supposed there was one way. It was something that they could have tested much earlier. Guilt fluttered, unbidden, rising from her stomach up into her chest, clenching at her heart. Perhaps she hadn't wanted to know the answer.

She shook her head. There was no point in putting it off for any longer.

"If you are a being of the other world, you should be able to hear them all. Hear the way they touch this dimension." She reached for his hand, giving him no other choice this time. Samir didn't push her away either, thumb rubbing across the back of her hand.

"Do I close my eyes?"

"You can."

"But what am I supposed to listen for?"

"Can't you hear it?" Eve whispered, her eyes closed.

"Hear what?" Samir grunted.

Eve tilted her head, ears straining. "The Hymn of the Elder Gods."

"I don't hear anything."

"Shh," Eve hushed him, taking his hand in hers just to keep him still. "Just listen."

And he did. Eve knew what he was hearing. The birdsong, lifting and mixing with the wind. The sun, a low hum as it baked the skin The kiss of air within her chest. The tingle of magic mixed into all of those.

It was a confirmation of her suspicions that was almost nausea-inducing. Samir was not human.

Not by a long shot if he could sense the traces of the Elder Gods.

"They almost feel like different colors," Samir whispered, awed.

"Yes," Eve murmured. "Now you are beginning to understand. Every sound – everything has their touch. The wind through the trees - by recognizing it, listening to it, you fuel their very existence. Their strength. The deities of the earth, which anchor the trees, and that of the mountains you admired, have benefitted from your attention, tied as they are to this world. They are everywhere and nowhere, all at once."

His grip on her hand grew tighter. "Then how-?" She knew what he was asking before he'd finished the question.

"They are not infallible," she interrupted, squeezing his palm right back. "To intervene through the barrier, in this dimension, they must give up a portion of their power."

"But still, how-"

"How do we defeat them?" Eve smiled, opening her eyes. Samir was gazing down at her. He looked faintly terrified. She was overwhelmed with the urge to wipe that look from his face.

She looked away. "We do not. They are not all evil, nor are all benevolent. They simply are, the way that humans are, in balance with themselves and with the world. Conflicts brew, and are resolved. Humans die, and deities fade. And the world goes on."

"But you-"

"My role in this conflict is simply to make sure that the shadow of that world does not fall upon this one."

"That is not a burden you should have to bear alone." His hands, cold and clammy, cupped her face, tilting it up towards him. Eve stared, blankly, at the scar etched across his mouth. She wondered how he'd gotten it.

Now that she thought about it, how much did she truly know about this man?

Far less than Samir knew about her, certainly. She pulled away, feeling two-faced for the way she kept fighting herself and her reactions.

"I'm not fighting alone," she said, knocking his hands aside. Dangerous. His touch was too tempting. "I'm not. Human beings are stronger than they think - much more so. Because you see, humans fight for others. They don't mind sacrificing themselves if needed . It makes them so strong. And the elder gods are selfish by design. They have to be in order to exist." She smiled, drawing a line in the dirt with her finger. "That's why I've always found mankind to be so miraculous. Isn't it wonderful that even amongst all the terrible things, so many people choose to help others? That they build communities, protect their loved ones, innovate, and sacrifice themselves, all for the betterment of the world?"

Samir's hands had balled into tight fists at his sides. "Your expectations are too generous."

"Someone has to be positive. Besides, can you see humanity taking this lying down? Simply bending in subservience to another species - even ones they regale as divine beings or gods?"

Samir chuckled. "That's true. We're nothing if not stubborn." There was a pause - a nervous one - and Samir's next question was a quiet change of topic.

"Then where will you be? After all of this ends?"

Dead, probably, Eve thought, but dared not admit it and only smiled once more. A soft sort of smile. One of acceptance. "I don't know," she said. "Pitiful, aren't we all?"

She stole a single glance up.

And watched Samir shatter.