“Were you planning to tell me?”
“I was waiting for you to ask,” I told him.
A beat of silence passed. “Asking now.”
I let my hands rest in my lap. “He had no idea about Pensdurth, nor did he seem to know that Kolis had come to the capital.”
“You believe him?”
“Can’t smell shit other than dead flowers when I’m around him, so I can’t say for sure.”
“But…”
“But I think he’s telling the truth.” I paused. “He also doesn’t seem to realize that I’ve changed. Probably the same with you.”
Cas shifted, his shoulder brushing mine. “Learn anything else?”
“He’s not very talkative,” I said with a huff. “For once.”
“Of course,” he replied.
He fell quiet after that, and so did I until I felt his fleeting gaze. Drawing in a deeper breath, I looked over at him—at his profile.
Cas looked like himself. Well, a tired version of himself, but there were no bones. No shadows moving in his flesh. There was, however, a heavy growth of hair along his jaw and around his mouth.
I pulled my gaze from his profile. “You need to sleep and eat.”
“I’ve been sleeping and eating.”
“You need more of both things, then.”
His laugh was low and carried away by the wind so quickly I almost missed it.
“The thing about sleep? About me getting more of it?” Cas said, his voice low. “I keep having these dreams. And not the kind I want. Only hadthatonce.”
I knew what kind he wanted. What he’d only hadonce. Dream-walking with Poppy. I wanted to ask about that, see if he thought that meant she was waking. But I knew that wasn’t what he wanted to talk about. “What kind of dreams?”
“Like the ones I had when we slept in the Skotos.”
My brows lifted, not expecting that. I glanced at him, and our gazes locked. His eyes were golden shards lit by the low glow of eather.
“It’s like before. She’s…where I can’t reach her. Caged, but…” The breath he took looked like it pained him. His gaze drifted away from mine.
“But what?” I pressed.
“But it’s not the same,” he said. “What she’s in, what I can’t get through? It’s a golden cage.”
Seconds passed, and he didn’t elaborate. I gave him a little more time, and still, he was silent. Knowing him as I did, I knew that meant he wasn’t ready to say more.
But his dreams made sense.
I’d dreamt of her, too.
There were no cages, though.
“Why?” I asked, clearing my throat. I looked over at him. “Why have you been coming here?”
His head tilted. “I found her here once.”
