Page 111 of Silent Shadows

Maya waves toward us. “Don’t stay up too late.”

And just like that, we’re alone. Daisy grabs her recorder and heads out the front steps of the Machine.

I follow her, and the second the door closes behind me, every molecule in my body reacts to hers.

“Interview?” I repeat.

She shrugs in mock innocence. “Technically, you are my assignment.”

“That feels manipulative.”

“You like it though.”

Yes. Very much.

The night air hits cold outside the Machine as we walk towards the trails that are covered in pinyon pines. The desert feels completely different after dark.

Quieter. Closer somehow.

Moonlight filters silver through the trees while wind rustles them softly.

We walk side by side without touching.

Which somehow feels more intimate than if we were.

Neither of us speaks right away.

The silence stretches warm instead of awkward.

Then Daisy glances over. “You’re happy.”

The observation catches me off guard.

“I mean…” I chuckle softly. “Yeah.”

She smiles. “You should be.”

Something about the way she says it settles deep in my chest. Because she means it. No teasing. No irony. Just genuine happiness for me.

“You know what the weirdest part is?” I admit.

“What?”

“I think part of me spent so long expecting to be wrong that I never fully prepared for what happens if I’m not.”

The moonlight catches her face as she looks at me. Beautiful enough to make coherent thought difficult.

“And now?” she asks.

“Now I feel like I drank one of Taylor’s energy drinks.”

That gets a real laugh out of her.

Then quieter: “You deserve this, Miles.”

The words hit me hard enough that I stop walking.

Daisy slows too.