Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

He hated how much he focused on it, how hopeful it almost made him
feel. Mei had told him Nancy was a bit like her, though nowhere near as
strong. He didn’t know if it had to do with the passing of her daughter—her
grief manifesting itself into something extraordinary—or if she’d always
been this way. Some dark part of him wondered if he could use that,
somehow, use it to be seen and heard and—
He cut himself off, horrified.
No.
He wasn’t … he could never do something like that. He wasn’t like Alan.
Not anymore.
Right?
He turned toward the kitchen.
Mei watched every step he took while ringing up a young couple, their
faces flushed as the man smiled at his lady friend. “It’s our second date,” the
man said, and he sounded so awed by it.
“Our third,” the woman said, bumping his shoulder. “That time at the
grocery store counted.”
“Oh,” the man said, and he smiled. “Our third, then.”
Wallace walked through the double doors to an empty kitchen.
He frowned. Where had they gone? He hadn’t heard the scooter start up,
so he didn’t think Hugo had left, and it wasn’t as if Apollo could follow him
even if he did. They had to be around here somewhere.
Wallace went to the door, looking out onto the back deck. The spring air
still had a bite to it, though the tea plants and forest behind the shop were
more vibrant than they’d ever been since Wallace arrived. What did this
place look like in the throes of summer? Green, he expected, so green that
he’d be able to taste it, something he hadn’t known until this moment that he
desperately wanted to see. The world outside Charon’s Crossing marched
ever on.
There, sitting against the railing, was Hugo.
Apollo sat at his feet, paws folded over each other. His ears were perked
and twitching, head raised as he blinked slowly at Hugo.
Hugo, who looked slick with sweat, his breathing ragged.
Alarmed, Wallace hurried through the door.
Hugo didn’t open his eyes as Wallace approached slowly, keeping his
distance. He looked as if he was trying to get himself under control, breathing