Madeleine didn’t. After two weeks, she still wasn’t interested in discussing the future. How odd. For once, Hæra was the one who looked ahead, and a human was the one who turned away.

Best not to push it. These were happy days. The happiest of Hæra’s life, in fact: the pleasures of a century squeezed into a summer.

She’d thought nothing could be more thrilling than a successful hunt, pursuing a great creature like an orca until her teeth tore into its flesh. Someday, she’d believed, getting her wings would be even better. Wrong. Nothing could be better than taking Madeleine into her arms for kisses, caresses, and more. Here was the flesh she wanted most beneath her mouth, here were the dazzling heights she’d sought.

Madeleine seemed to feel the same. She and Hæra walked about Jorsay less and worked on the farm more. It was hard work—“Smelly, too,” she said—and she was exhausted at the end of each day. Even so, she would reach for Hæra every night with eager hands.

Hæra had tried playing the whale mating songs to enhance the mood. Madeleine didn’t find them alluring, but it turned out they didn’t need the extra help.

“You no longer care about your church,” Hæra had said exultantly on their third night together, for so it must be.

Madeleine, sated in Hæra’s embrace, frowned. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“But why else would you have sex with me? I thought that was why not.”

“It’s complicated.” Madeleine looked away. “I’m trying to look at life in a different way. Like we talked about. But that doesn’t mean it’s simple. Let’s talk about it later?” She caressed Hæra’s bare shoulder. “I’d rather focus on being here with you.”

That suited Hæra down to the ground, and she’d pressed her lips to Madeleine’s forehead, where the scar was.

She’d been content to put the matter off for another day. Two weeks later, another day had yet to arrive. Maybe it would have been all right if that were the only problem. It wasn’t. Something felt wrong with the farm, and it was nothing she could put her finger on. No more footprints appeared. Nothing went missing or got damaged. Nothing had happened.

And yet.

The humans didn’t seem to notice anything. But the sheep were a little more nervous than usual, ewes likelier to bolt from their lambs. The dogs raised their hackles more and wagged their tails less.

It was enough to disquiet Hæra too. In Each-uisge form, her ears would have been folded constantly back. And yet she couldn’t tell why.