Page 77 of Dark Night of the Soul

“I am. Try again.”

He huffed. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what? I’m just standing here.”

“Like expecting me to do something.”

“You are doing something.”

His expression went flat. “Walking.”

“Yes,” I said with a nod. “Do it again.”

“Stop looking at me.” He sounded growly.

“Fine.” I turned away.

I never heard him coming. All of a sudden, he was there and then there was this weird cold place flooding my head. I spun, hand up defensively—

Don’t. Don’t attack him. Don’t—

Pain exploded behind my eyes. Sharp, vicious pressure as my will slammed against the programming. My hand snapped up toward his face, but he caught it, squeezed it.

The cold receded instantly. The pain vanished with it.

I jerked back anyway, crashing into the dining table, knocking over the coffee mug. I dropped my hand to my side, breath sawing in and out. That one instant touch had grounded me. Stopped the cold. Stopped the pain.

But my heart was still racing. “That… was it.”

“You felt something?”

I nodded. “Cold. In my head.” The words scraped out. “I never heard you. I felt you. And when I tried not to attack—” I gestured vaguely at my head. “Pain. Like something was tearing.”

“That’s the difference then. You perceived a threat.”

“Yes. And when you grabbed my hand… it stopped. I was still there. Enough.”

He took a step back. “I think that’s enough for today.”

“For today,” I agreed.

It was nice to have clean clothes that didn’t smell like sweat even if they weren’t mine. Silas wasn’t a great personal shopper, but at least I wouldn’t have to go barefoot or commando. So, there was that. Henleys, boots, cargo pants in black and charcoal. Not exciting.

After our morning testing, we steered clear of each other the rest of the day. Well, as clear as we could given the small space. He spent time hiding in another room or checking the perimeter. Mostly, I suspected, to stay busy.

There was absolutely nothing to do, and I was bored senseless. I still had headaches off and on and decided drinking an entire pot of coffee would chase them away. It did not. I was merely high on caffeine. Which made my captivity all the more irritating.

A couple of times, there was the awkward kitchen encounter where he gave me questionable looks about how many cups I’d had, and I merely shrugged and went on my way.

I did spy a bottle of whiskey in one of the overhead cabinets and I wondered if that was an accident or by design. Given that Silas didn’t know our penchant for drinking whiskey together, it seemed accidental. I missed doing that.

After the sun went down, I kicked off my boots and sat on one end of the sofa while he maintained his distance in the one chair on the other side of the room.

“You can sit with me, you know,” I said breaking into the long silence.

Honestly, if I couldn’t touch him, I wanted him in my line of sight. He was fun to look at.

He looked up at me, indecision in his eyes, and for half a heartbeat, I thought he’d refuse. Then he rose and stepped over to the sofa and sat on the opposite end. A cushion between us.