“
Kathleen," he calls, his voice a groan.
There is magic in names. Can she hear him?
"Kathleen," he calls again, louder.
Behind him, the denizens of Twilight murmur.
"KATHLEEN," he cries. His anguish batters the shining wall, shifting the starstruck colors from rose and lapis to deep purple and bloody magenta, but it remains inviolable.
Shadowman drops his scythe in the waters. He'll scream forever, if need be, until the day the walls tumble into the ocean.
"Hey, you."
Shadowman's attention whips to the top of the wall some distance down the shoreline to his left. An angel is perched on the edge - fair hair, fair-eyed, skin a soft café. A recent crossing.
"Trade you," Custo says.
Shadowman has no words.
"You want in or don't you? Heaven's no place for me, and I'm not hanging around until they figure it out." The angel glances over his shoulder.
The murmurs of Twilight grow louder, sharper, but Shadowman pays them no mind. Not anymore. They've already done their worst.
"I do," Shadowman says.
Custo flashes a grin. "Meet me at the wall.
”
”