When they reached the third floor, Cassiel paused at the tug of Dyna’s fingers on the edge of his sleeve. Flickering sconces dimly lit the long hallway. The window at the end was black with the night. Her wide eyes fixed on the dark corners of the hall, and a trickle of her fear came through the bond.
He took her hand. “Come along. It’s all right.”
Together they checked the brass room numbers on each blue door until they reached 311. By the door was a wooden tray with two covered plates. He inserted the key through the lock and pushed open the door. The room was pitch black inside. She hesitated at the doorway, staring into the darkness. He frowned and went in first, dumping his pack on the bed. There was an oil lamp on the bedside table. With the matches he found in the drawer, he lit the wick and illuminated the room.
A single bed rested against the wall, a fact Cassiel ignored. At the end of the room was a screen to hide the bathtub and chamber pot from view. A set of doors led to a small balcony, but not much else was in the room besides a small dining table with a single chair and a wardrobe. Dyna lifted the tray of food and hesitantly came in, her eyes flitting to the shapes crawling on the walls.
“Are you really so afraid of the dark?” Cassiel asked.
She placed the tray on the table, not turning to look at him. “I know such a thing is unbecoming.”
He looked around the room, fidgeting with the loose button of his coat. “How have you endured it at home?”
“I share a room with my sister, and I keep the lamp on all night.”
Cassiel sighed. He may as well accept he wouldn’t rest fully tonight. “Then we will keep it on all night.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, her soft voice lifting the sharp edge of his irritation.
They stood in the room, too aware of each other. Well, if he was alone, he knew what he would have preferred to do.
Cassiel cleared his throat, fighting the heat surfacing on his face again. “I’ll give you leave to bathe and prepare for bed.”
Before Dyna could reply, he took a plate for himself and stepped out onto the balcony, closing the door behind him. The balcony was a small wooden ledge enclosed in an iron railing. He sat down and uncovered his meal, revealing a roasted acorn squash stuffed with chickpeas, grains, and herbs. The twinkling lights of the city served as a view while he ate. Once his belly was full, he stood and leaned against the railing.
The bustle didn’t end with the night. Lampposts illuminated the streets as several people milled about, and Azure Guards patrolled the area in pairs. He smelled the brine in the air as a breeze blew past, rippling through his hair. The nearly full moon shone in the sky, its silvery light reflecting over the surface of the sea. The sight of it drew his thoughts to Zev. His next change was coming in a few days. He needed to make sure they papered Rawn and Lucenna for it.
His gaze lifted at the movement of birds soaring past the moon, their wings rapidly slipping into the wispy clouds. For a moment, their large, elongated shapes almost resembled Celestials.
He was tired and imagining things.
Cassiel stayed out on the balcony until he couldn’t withstand shivering from the cold. He dared to peek inside the room, seeing Dyna was already asleep in bed. She lay curled under the white sheets with her damp hair flayed on her pillow.
He slipped inside and headed for the screen divider to wash up. She had already used the bathwater, but he couldn’t call down for more without waking her. The water wasn’t murky. Besides, he hadn’t washed in too many days to be fastidious.
Cassiel stripped off his clothes and sunk into the tepid water. He used the salts and oils on a tiny bench next to the bath to clean himself and rapidly scrubbed his body. The privacy screen hid him well, but he hurried lest she woke. It was the quickest bath he had ever taken.
He got out, patted himself dry, and dressed in clean black trousers and a dark green tunic. His bare feet slinked across the cold wooden floorboards to the wardrobe. Within its shelves were folded piles of blankets. He pulled out several along with a pillow and made himself a spot on the floor next to the bed.
Cassiel tried to get comfortable, but his body was restless and stiff, and the light from the lamp filtered through his eyelids, keeping sleep at bay. Tossing and turning didn’t help to ignore it. Dyna was already asleep. She didn’t need the light anymore. He reached out for the lamp’s dial and doused the lamp. Pitch black shrouded his surroundings, as he liked it.
Resting on his stomach, he stretched his wings as far as they could go, then brought them down and covered himself with their warmth. Laying this way on the floor near Dyna reminded him of their night in Corron. In his drunken logic, he had wanted to comfort her, so he brought her under his wing. How he had done it so blatantly. Perhaps it was because of saving her life so many times, or the bond had something to do with it.
Dyna was too trusting of the world. Cassiel had to shield her from it. But when did his self-preservation take second place to hers? The questions he struggled to understand spun in his head, fueling his restlessness. Cassiel groaned, burrowing into the pillow. He wanted to sleep and forget everything else.
Something shifted in him. His heart raced as a horrid panic struck him. The sudden onslaught of terror gripped his bones, and his heart hammered behind his ribs. He couldn’t move as terror gripped him. It was coming through the bond. A sharp scream shattered the darkness. Dyna thrashed and kicked wildly in the bed above him.
Cassiel scrambled to light a match, her deafening screams piercing his ears. After the third match, he lit the wick of the lamp, and the room filled with soft light. Dyna writhed and shrieked against an invisible foe. Her wild eyes bulged with horror at something unseen, her face wet with tears, and the sheets tangled around her limbs. She hyperventilated, her chest rising rapidly.
Cassiel held her down. “Dyna, calm yourself. Breathe.” She gulped in air, and her crazed eyes focused on him. “It’s me.”
Her small body shook beneath his hands. He carefully freed her from the tangled sheets, and she latched herself onto him. He let her embrace him, too stunned to care. Her arms trembled around his neck, and her rapid pulse beat against his skin. As the sobs wracked her body.
Cassiel shifted his position to sit on the bed, hesitating before pulling Dyna onto his lap. He sat there rigidly, not sure what to do. Her tears soaked through his tunic, and he worried she would cry all night. She trembled against him, whether from fear or cold, he didn’t know.
He wrapped her in his wings and hoped it would help. Opening himself to the bond, he sent a sense of calm through. Soothing energy coursed between them. He gently ran his fingers through her silken hair, sensing her solace in the touch. His fingertips tingled with each stroke that brushed her skin. Her cries slowly quieted. After a few more minutes of sniffling and hiccups, she fell silent.
Cassiel waited another minute, then asked, “Are you feeling better?”
