Page 54 of Reflections of Silence

“Yes,” I whispered, turning in a half-circle.

A dark-wood four-poster bed sat against one wall, netting caught up on all sides. Gold and silver circular patterns decorated a silky cover. I returned to focus on him, watching as he unbuttoned his shirt.

Sebastian let it hang open, raking a hand through his hair. Pale, ridged flesh and hard muscle displayed in the shadows beneath the ends of his shirt.

“You need a bath.” He looked down, but at me, not himself. “And you’re flaking all over my carpet.”

“I’m so sorry,” I blurted.

His gaze followed me as I attempted to retreat to the hall we’d come from. Yes, I had craved him, but this– this room, this place seemed far more intimate and imposing, as though he had thrown off the lordly mantle and given me a true glimpse of who he was beneath.

I was nowhere near ready for this.

“Gella—” He reached for me.

I backed away, finding the door with both hands at my back. “I can clean up in my own room?—”

“No.” He caught my wrist, drawing me back across the room to a flat section of mahogany paneled wall next to the bed. Kicking his boot into the side unceremoniously, Sebastian paused. A crease appeared, a vertical line separating the roof and floor.

He tugged it open and led me down into a lowered, tiled area with a sunken small pool that took up most of the room. The walls looked rough, as though they were hewn from solid rock. I realized with a start that we were below the castle, inside the rock strata.

Wide paving framed the water, the edges curling gently. Steaming water poured from a twisted face in the wall, not so different from Dolion's grotesque day mask. I half expected the bodiless figure to talk to me, but it remained still. Wall sconces, not as decorative as the ones in the plush halls of his home, flickered a golden light over the pool’s bluish-green surface.

“It’s an underground water system.” Sebastian grabbed a bag of something scented like berries and threw a handful of crystals into the water. “Dolion, Charleton and I made the most of it when we built the place. My gargoyle brought rock from the ground itself, a magical experience to watch. The rest, Charleton and I carted across the continent from one end to the other to create something that looked like home.” His mouth twisted. “The place of respite seemed apt in the event we needed to hide away from the world,” he mused, lost in his own head and not in mine for once.

“I can understand that need,” I whispered.

Even on the continent, there were horrible stories of burnings and witch hunts that traveled from Salem across oceans. The new world of the Americas had a horrific history in their fledgling years. Both my monsters were right to prepare, even be afraid.

Crimsons and blues swirled around the pouring water from the herbs he had thrown in. Sebestian pulled a handful of what looked like sand from a different pocket in the bag and tossed that in too. The water bubbled for a moment, then settled.

“What is it?” I asked, surprised to see the pool filling at a surprising rate.

“Salts. The naturally heated water has some medicinal benefits. You’ll need its properties after what she—and I—have taken from you.” He dipped his head in apology, and I smiled, the muscles tight with lack of use. “Do you have a headache?”

I nodded and instantly regretted it. “Yes. But I thought it was from…everything that had happened.”

“Perhaps. And you haven't eaten anything.” He paused, eyeing me. “The swamp shots don’t count.”

“No.” I twitched my nose, one hand pressed to my stomach. More mud flaked over my fingers to decorate the clean tiles. I winced.

“I am…sorry, Gella.”

I held his dark gaze, losing myself in them for a moment, for eternity.

I would forgive you anything.

The corner of his mouth quirked. “Would you.” It wasn’t quite a statement, but it wasn’t a question, either.

He offered me his promise.

A shiver rioted over my skin, setting every never-ending trembling in anticipation. Pushing the feeling aside, I turned to him, clenching the material of my skirts in my hands.

“I thought you couldn't hear me. In my head,” I added in the event I was being obtuse. “I thought…after she took Amy’s effects away, I would be…alone.”

You have never been alone, Gella.

“I hear you.” His lips moved at the same time as he spoke within my mind, and I lost myself in those eyes again.

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