Page 22 of Cast in Atonement

“None of us understand what that means right now. I mean, if they were dead, they’d be gone, right? But they’re definitely here.”

“Did Terrano call them out of their room?”

“No—they left it on their own.”

Kaylin shoved her way between Mandoran and Torrisant; it was Mandoran who gave first. “Hope!” she shouted.

The moon, for want of a better word, moved.

“That is not a good idea,” Helen said, voice far sharper than the norm.

Kaylin had seen Hope in three forms: the small transparent winged lizard that sat on her shoulder, the large transparent dragon she could—in emergency—ride, and the winged man, closest in appearance to an Aerian, who appeared when there was no room for a Dragon. She had never seen this form before; it was almost an orb of light, with indistinct edges.

“I’m going to try to talk to Hope,” she told her companions. “I mean—I’m going to try to understand what he’s trying to say to me. If he’s trying at all.”

It was Torrisant who gave her an odd look. He didn’t speak, though.

She closed her eyes.

The marks on her arms began to glow; they were, for the moment, the only thing she could see. She’d learned that their glow’s visibility had little to do with her actual eyes. The glow was subtle; it was hard to tell if the color was silver or a gray blue. Her skin didn’t hurt, which meant there was no normal magic being used.

What she noticed, beyond the expected marks, was the sudden drop in temperature. It was cold. It was so cold.

It wasn’t the first time she’d experienced cold like this—underdressed, no shelter in sight, almost resentful of the fact that death could come from something that had no will, no intent; it wasn’t hunting her—it didn’t notice her at all.

No. No—she wasn’t that child anymore. She had a home, had income, had food. She wasn’t trapped in the winter, her fingers and toes aching with a pain that would pass into numbness. She was with Helen. She was surrounded by friends. All she had to do was open her eyes.

Her marks flared suddenly, as if they’d been struck by fire; they were a gold almost eclipsed by orange, as if they reflected a Dragon’s eyes. They had never been this color before, but everywhere the marks shone, the cold receded. She always resented their presence across over half her skin; for the first time, she wished they covered all of it.

Who was it who had told her she wasn’t seeing her marks with her normal eyes? Terrano? Who’d said that to look at certain things she was unconsciously stepping to the side, stepping into a slightly different plane of existence?

Whoever it was, she wanted to thank them. Or strangle them. Which meant it was either Terrano or Mandoran.

She lifted her arms and realized belatedly that she could see them. She could see herself, her marks, and the darkness behind closed eyes, even if she’d opened hers, and she had. She could also see the white glow in front of where she stood. It no longer looked like a moon or an orb; she could see the faint outline of something draconic.

“Hope!”

You should not be here.

“Are you stuck there? Do you need help?”

You should not, he replied, in a more severe tone, be here. Helen should know better.

“I’m not the only person who’s here—Mrs. Erickson is here as well. Can you see Terrano?”

Hope wasn’t a Dragon, but his rumble was definitely a good imitation. I am aware of Terrano; he is tied to Fallessian, who usually knows better than to join his brother in reckless action.

“What are you even trying to do?”

Terrano attempted to knock on the door of the guest room. Helen had advised him against interfering with her guests—there is a good reason she has made their quarters in a separate hall—but he convinced her that he could do so safely. She created a space in which he could stand with Fallessian, adjacent to the guest room in some fashion.

Terrano and Fallessian could, with effort, occupy that space, but Terrano’s attempt to somehow see and interact with these extremely unusual ghosts hadn’t met with success.

Kaylin grimaced. “So he decided to take a walk.”

He decided to attempt to approach them more closely, yes.

“Is that why you stayed home today?”

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