Kate could feel the prickle of cold on her skin once again. Her lungs burst into life, her heart raced up to speed, and she was back in the museum, back in the firelight.
“What . . . was that?” she asked, her throat stiff and sore as Silas lowered his hands from her face.
“That was a glimpse of the half-life,” he said. “The first level of the veil that a Skilled mind learns to enter, where memory becomes reality. You cannot stop now. You must return.”
“But I saw the book . . . and Da’ru . . . inside a tower. I’ve never been there.”
“That was one of Kalen’s memories,” said Silas. “I took it from him in the moments before he died. The soul remembers every aspect of a person’s life at the moment that it ends: every sight, every sound, every thought. Kalen’s search for Wintercraft consumed the final years of his life. When he died in that alleyway, his spirit was exposed to me. The memories I needed were easy to find. I shared that memory with you because it was important for you to see. Now go back. The veil must become familiar to you. You must travel even further along the path into death if you are going to be of use to me.”
“No,” said Kate, flinching away from him. “Leave me alone!” She knocked her chair over and stumbled to the door, throwing back the bolts with shivering hands as Silas sat and watched.
“It took Kalen just a few weeks to find your parents, but he did not find the book,” he said. “The Skilled were not there to help your family when it mattered most, just as none of them are here to help you now. It seems Artemis kept you away from them for good reason. Clearly he did not want to put you in any more danger. Your parents had already done enough of that.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” snapped Kate, fighting with the door as tears sprang into her eyes.
“The Skilled convinced your parents to risk their lives and yours to protect Wintercraft, and Kalen took the wardens to Morvane that day because of them. From what I have heard, your uncle fled from the bookshop the moment the wardens arrived. That cowardice saved his life. If he had stayed, he would be dead.”
“Artemis is not a coward!” said Kate.
“He ran like a rabbit, leaving you and your parents to your fate. I have seen him lie for you. He protects you and treats you like his own child, but he does it out of guilt. He gave in to his fears that night, saving himself and leaving your parents to face their enemies alone. Then again, perhaps he was happy to see them being taken away. Your uncle was powerless within your household before the wardens came. Perhaps he wanted your parents to die.”
“That’s not true!”
“Your family was the reason Kalen harvested your town ten years ago,” said Silas, “and you are the reason I chose to harvest it this time. The Winters family has a talent for attracting danger, and that danger has always been connected to the same thing. Tell me where Wintercraft is. Tell me what happened to it and you will have no reason to hide anymore. It will all be over.”
Kate rattled the door. The bolts would not open. They were stuck tight.
Silas stood up and began walking toward her. “Since the night Da’ru unearthed the book she has been plagued by visions of the dead,” he said. “They disturb her dreams and torment her days. She believes that ancient spirits of your family cursed her for taking Wintercraft from them, yet she still wants it back. She will do anything to find it and, if she does, you can be sure that you and your uncle will be the first to suffer. You saw what was left of Kalen. He was Da’ru’s closest ally, yet she poisoned him into madness just for losing Wintercraft. The man I killed in the barrow alley was barely a shadow of the warden he had once been. His mind was lost. If you insist upon making things difficult, I could easily do the same to you.”
Kate’s head swam with dizziness. The effects of the veil were still upon her and an old memory blossomed in the confusion. Silas’s link to her thoughts was already broken. This memory was for her alone. A memory Silas could