cat exchanged a long, long stare, and it was Silas who looked away. “All right, now. But let me get him some clothes first.”
“I’m going hunting.” The cat headed for the door, tail tip twitching. “Call if you need me. This place is full of lovely tidbits.”
Silas held a hand down to Darien. “Come on, we’ll go to my room and find you something to wear.”
When Silas said, “Come on,” I always did. Darien took the offered hand and let Silas haul him to his feet.
The bedroom turned out to be just through the bathroom door. The big space held a long sofa with carved arms, a big canopied bed, and several dressers and chests. Silas gave Darien a push toward the sofa but he just stood by it, uncomfortably aware of how his wet underwear was soaking through the towel.
Silas dug in a drawer. “Here. These might work.” He handed Darien a pair of heavy, plaid pajama pants, thick socks, and a knit sweater. Then he crossed his arms and stood there.
Darien thought about asking him to turn around, but it wasn’t like there was much to see that hadn’t been on display in that bath. He dried himself roughly, squeezing the soaked ends of his hair, dropped the towel and underwear and tugged the clothes on, the cuffs bunching at his ankles and wrists.
“Better.” Silas sat on one end of the sofa and patted the other end. “Are you warm enough? Sit here.”
“I’m fine.” The heat in the room was better than he’d had the last two months. The sofa gave squishily under his butt. The back was invitingly padded. But a thread of caution kept him from leaning on it. Must stay alert. “Now what.”
“Now with your permission, I’m going to put my hands on you and try to figure out what Grim was talking about.”
To hide the not-unpleasant rush going through him at “put my hands on you” he said, “Necromancers ask permission?”
“Of the living.” That was Silas’s dry tone again.
“Okay. Go ahead.” He closed his eyes as Silas leaned close, then popped them open again because he needed to know what was happening.
“If you can look in my eyes, it might help.” Silas put one hand over Darien’s heart, and one on his head.
My hair’s probably still dirty. He hadn’t washed properly in that fast bath. But the thought scattered out of his mind as Silas stared at him from inches away. His eyes are that pretty gray, like Mom’s watered silk dress. This room is so warm. Is that snow on the window? He couldn’t seem to corral his thoughts. Silas’s eyes got wider and darker, staring into his.
The room was silent. Even the little ticking of snow on the window seemed to pause. He realized he was breathing in time with Silas, and tried to hold his breath in protest, but his chest rose and fell on its own. In his head, shadows moved, scuttling, like roaches running away from the light, but noiselessly, one-dimensional. He felt flat, insubstantial. Make it stop.
Then Silas gasped harshly and yanked his hands away.
“What?” Darien’s voice squeaked. He cleared his throat and tried for a more manly tone. “What did you see? What are those things? You said ghosts?”
Silas squinched his eyes shut and pressed the bridge of his nose. His mouth turned up in a grimace, as if something hurt, and his face had gone pale. He waved a hand as if to ask Darien to wait. Waiting sucks. But he nodded, even if Silas couldn’t see it, and watched as color slowly returned to Silas’s face. Silas drew one slow breath after another, as his expression gradually eased.
“Well?” No one had ever accused Darien of patience. “What did you see?”
Silas blinked his eyes and looked directly at Darien, his pupils still blown wide. “I’m so sorry. I think this was my fault. All the ghosts.”
“Your— you did this to me?” He waved at his tattoos, his heart racing. “What the hell?”
“I didn’t mean—”
“What did you do?”
“It was a spell—”
Darien bounced to his feet, finding a reserve of energy in his panic, his head throbbing like a drum till he could barely think. Folks didn’t mean to but they could still wreck your life. I thought I could trust him. He did this to me! He was out the door of the room almost before he realized he was running, socks skidding on the polished wood floor of the hall.
Which way? The hall extended in both