“I don’t know that I’d call myself the new island doctor.”
“The islanders feel otherwise,” Millie said gently. “I’ve set up a meet and greet for tomorrow.”
“Meet and greet,” I echoed vaguely. “Who am I meeting?”
“Whoever wants to come?” Millie’s voice lilted with uncertainty. “There will be coffee,” she added, as if that made it any better. She must have seen the dismayed look on my face. “Just meet them, please. They want to see you. They want to thank you. We take care of one another here, and with you helping Henry and Irina like you did… They all just want to thank you.”
“I don’t need thanks,” I muttered. “I was just doing my job.”
“Were you though?” Millie asked the question, but not to me directly. She walked away, leaving the sentiment trailing behind as something for me tocontemplate on my own time. She paused, turned back. “You can open them whenever you want.”
Before I could respond, I felt his presence. I couldn’t see him, couldn’t hear him. It was like the moon sliding in front of the sun, a shadow eclipsing the brightness that was this whimsical cottage garden. The birds quieted, the buzzing of the bees silenced. The world felt still and weighty.
Silas was the nightshade to my baby’s breath, the eerie silence to my chirping garden. His presence seeped around me like a pen bleeding ink, and by the time I turned to find him barely a foot away from me, I wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
Funny enough,heseemed to be the one surprised.
“What?” I asked. “Why are you looking at me like I startled you? You’re the one creeping around on my property.”
“It’s my property,” he growled.
“We’re going to have to discuss logistics,” I shot back. “Among other things.Manyother things.”
His eyes glinted as he studied me with a newfound curiosity. “Usually people can’t detect my arrival or my movements. I didn’t take you by surprise.”
“So you’ve met your match.” I set my jaw as I turned to face him. “The sooner you learn that lesson the better.”
Millie snickered in the background. When Silas shot a dark gaze in her direction, she scurried into the house,leaving me and Silas in a garden spotted of purple and a pile of gifts towering behind me.
“I see the welcoming committee has caught wind of your arrival.” Silas eyed the colorful packages. “Sorry about that. I tried to keep things quiet, but alas, Irina has been showing off her new baby around town.”
“Henry’s beautiful,” I said. “I’d show him off too.”
Silas simply nodded, more of a bow than a nod, as if agreeing with my point.
“As for you,” I said, “I’ve got some bones to pick. Like a whole skeleton’s worth.”
Silas ran his tongue over his teeth. The man really towered over me. I wasn’t short by any means, but hetowered. His arms were big. His legs were big. His shadow was big. His presence was big. There was a lot to him. Muscles and brooding darkness and stubbornness. Even his darkness was big.
Good thing I had my own healthy dose of stubbornness. A big heaping of it.
“Let’s chat about this curse, shall we?” I asked. “I want to see it. I want details and specifics and answers. If you tell meno, I’m going to—”
“Fine.”
“It’s really that easy?” I asked, registering genuine surprise. “You’re not going to argue with me?”
“I invited you here.” Silas’s voice was low, almost amused. “I’d like to keep you away from the curse, butI’m afraid that’s not possible. I’d prefer you to be well-informed and alive instead of surprised and dead.”
It was my turn to think for a minute. This was new. Simon had always preferred to make all our decisions by himself. I’d eventually just given up trying to contribute to our life, and mostly floated along like a cute little bobber sometimes dressed in nice clothes.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s not waste any time.”
“I’m ready if you are.” Silas’s gaze flicked toward my coffee cup.
“How are we going to get there?” I took a long pull. “Can I bring my coffee? I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”
Silas put his hand on my lower back, steering me deeper into the cottage garden. There was a white fence out the back, and once he opened that, I saw our mode of transportation.
