The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure - By Storm Constantine Page 0,27

coldly.

Cal did so. ‘You know, I think you must see and hear a lot of what goes on around here,’ he said. ‘Quiet little Flick. You must know quite a lot.’

‘Not really,’ Flick said, gathering a few glasses from the table. ‘I can’t tell you anything.’

‘Tell me about Orien.’

Flick dumped the glasses in the sink, turned on the faucet. ‘What about Orien?’

‘Where did he come from? How did Seel meet him?’

‘Seel met him while he was still with the Unneah. They came here together originally, I think.’

‘Orien’s an adept. Who trained him? Was he incepted to the Unneah?’

‘I don’t know,’ Flick said. ‘Why don’t you ask him?’

Cal uttered a bark of caustic laughter. ‘You think I’d get the truth?’

‘What I think is that Orien isn’t the sinister dark character you believe he is. Why don’t you speak to Seel about this? I don’t know anything.’

Cal stood up and came to stand behind Flick at the sink, very close. Flick could smell him: a warm spicy aroma of fresh hay. ‘I’m not sure I believe everything Seel says either,’ Cal said.

Flick could barely move. He realised, with a strange kind of detachment, that he was terrified, but there was something else... ‘You’re joking. Seel adores you.’

Cal touched the back of Flick’s head. ‘I bet you hate me for that, don’t you?’

‘Not for that particularly, no. Get your hand off me.’

‘What do you hate me for, then?’

The fact you can intimidate me so easily. The things I don’t know about you. The horror inside you. Your power.

Flick managed to turn round and wriggle away from the sink. ‘It’s not hate, Cal. I don’t know you, and I don’t think anyhar can. You’re freaky, that’s all, and I think you get off on unnerving others.’

Heart, slow down.

Cal laughed and folded his arms. ‘You’re not afraid of me, are you?’

Utterly. ‘No. Should I be?’

‘I don’t know. I’m so full of hate I’m fairly unpredictable.’

Flick shrugged. ‘You’re nothing to do with me.’

‘You and Pell were pretty close. I’m surprised you’re not more upset.’

‘I am upset,’ Flick said. ‘I’m dealing with it in my own way. Look, just go to bed, Cal. Leave me alone.’

‘What did Pell say to you before we left Saltrock? I know he said something. I watched you together. You looked weird.’

‘Nothing,’ Flick said. ‘I don’t remember.’

‘Lies, lies,’ Cal sang. ‘What are you afraid of?’

‘OK. He asked me to find his family, that’s all. We’re not supposed to do that, are we? Wraeththu don’t have human families. We have to forget them. So I never spoke of it. Satisfied?’

‘And did you find them?’

‘No, of course not.’

‘Some friend.’

‘There would have been no point. The chances are they’d have been attacked by one of the rogue tribes by that time, anyway.’

‘Possibly. It’s not that far, you know. I remember every step of the journey, every rock, every stone.’

‘Then you go,’ Flick said. ‘I’m sure they’d be delighted to see you again.’

‘God!’ Cal put the heels of his hands against his eyes. ‘The smell of that place. I can remember it so well. The sight of him. So beautiful. God!’

The wrong one was shot, Flick thought. If this was Pell here now, and Cal had been killed, he wouldn’t be like this. ‘I can’t help you,’ Flick said. ‘I think you should let it go.’

Cal lowered his hands. ‘Yeah,’ he said quietly, resignedly.

Flick watched as Cal went back to his seat and poured himself some more brandy. He looked frail, as if some kind of wild fire had died inside him.

‘You want a coffee with that?’ Flick said.

‘No. Some company would be nice though.’

Flick sat down. He might as well have another drink too. An image of Seel flashed across his mind. He’d be lying awake, dealing with being hurt. Flick sighed. ‘I wish you’d go,’ he said. ‘You’re trouble.’

Cal took a drink. ‘I can be nice. Pell loved me back, you know. It’s not just me.’

‘I thought you wanted to be alone tonight.’

Cal grimaced. ‘Just not with Seel. I can’t cope with all that concern. It drives me nuts. Now you – you’re refreshing.’

Flick thought it best to ignore that remark. ‘You do some talking,’ he said. ‘Tell me about Seel. How did you meet?’

‘When we were kids,’ Cal said. ‘He was a lot like you then. Makes sense, I suppose. Finding a younger version of himself to have around.’

‘He was never like me,’ Flick said. ‘Why say that?’

‘Why not? Do you want hear this or not?’

‘Tell me.’

It was fascinating to listen to the