Chapter 6
Reva
The next day, I find Kit exactly where his brother said he’d be. He’s sitting on the floor of the room I fell asleep in last night, surrounded by embroidered underpants with all of the sawdust from last night cleared away.
“Hello, stranger. Have you eaten yet today?” I slide a plate onto the wooden floor beside him along with a cup of black tea so well brewed, it’s practically solid by this point.
Kit looks at the pair of underpants in his hand and then looks up to meet my eye with a frown. “I’m not sure.”
“Eat, then. I can’t remember the last time I saw you in the kitchen.”
He cocks his head to one side, his frown growing even deeper. “I can’t really remember either.”
“What have you been doing with yourself? Beyond all of... this?” I wave a hand around at the piles of stuff that are littered across the floor.
“Oh, you know this and that. Keeping busy.”
I give a slow nod. “Right.” I shovel food into my mouth and eye him. “You haven’t come to my room,” I say. “Or been around at mealtimes. I haven’t even seen you with the other guys when they’ve been doing a shitty job of cutting firewood or fixing the floorboards.”
It’s like he’s been a ghost, flitting through the house unseen.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he says with a heavy sigh. “I’ve been here. I’ve just been distracted.”
I nod. Understandable. We’re all trying to get used to being here, but I’ve seen everyone else at least in passing—even Torin, who’s avoiding me as much as he can.
Maybe the darkness from last night hid the sheer volume of trinkets and random objects spilling out over the floor, but they seem to be multiplying every time I look. There’s a pile of books and papers in one corner and metal compasses, glossy enamel boxes, and candlesticks, just to name a few.
So many lovely, shiny things.
“What’s your favourite?” Kit asks, his eyes locked on the side of my face and a little half smile on his face.
“What do you think my favourite is ?” I ask.
For a moment, I’m not sure he heard me. He glances down at the metal jug in his lap, his hair falling over his forehead in a way that makes me desperate to push it away for him.
He stays there, not moving, until it hits me that maybe he won’t answer.
“Kit.” I lean forward. “Hey, is everything okay?”
Then he grabs something and passes it over, squeezing gently as our fingers brush together. “Here. Your favourite thing.”
It’s a silver-plated shell. Perfect and spherical, and shiny, too.
Noush would love it.
Kit gives me the softest smile. “Not one I’m going to curse. You should keep it.”
“Thank you.” I slip it into my pocket before he can take it back. “You seem distracted.”
“I am,” he says with a little laugh. “I’m a little bit afraid this place is haunted.”
I snort. “Or you’re not sleeping or eating nearly enough, and it’s messing with your head.”
He shakes his head, peering around the room. “Maybe we shouldn’t be staying here. Maybe it was abandoned for a reason.”
“Uh huh. And you’d rather get arrested? Or be constantly seasick?”
“No, I—” He blows out a breath. “I don’t know what I’d rather do.
I’d rather be back in my shop with a pretty girl here to tell me all about her latest finds.
They’re all probably cursed, and who knows where she found them, but I’ll show her my new telescope and the shiniest shell I found and added to my ridiculously extensive collection of them.
Her pupils always blow out until they’re massive when she sees a new one. ”
“Oh, really?”
There’s a little smile playing at his lips, and I love it. It’s like normal Kit has come out to play. He doesn’t look so tired or stressed right now, or like he wants to be anywhere else.
He slides closer, slowly peeling the pants from my lap before wrapping an arm around me. I rest my head on his chest, and for a moment, my head stops pounding.
“Tell me more about this woman in your shop.”
Kit chuckles softly, the sound travelling right through me. “She’s a terrible distraction. And she always looks so gorgeous that I forget how to think and even how to breathe, even.”
“You charmer.”
“It’s true. I find myself losing hours while I talk and talk to her, but it never seems to be enough. Every time she leaves, I wish her back for another hour.” He runs his hand up and down my arm, my side, resting his palm on my hip, and I let out a soft sigh.
“She sounds like a menace,” I reply. “Think of all the work you could get done if she wasn’t around bothering you.”
“Think of how miserable I’d be if she wasn’t there. She’s my favourite person, you see.”
I press a kiss to his jaw and another to his neck, inhaling the scent of him. “I’ve missed you. You need to take better care of yourself.”
“I know,” he replies softly. “It just... it all feels too important to mess up.”
“I don’t know when you got such an ego on you, but you’re not single-handedly responsible for all of our safety, you know? You’d have a job on your hands if you were, considering the entire crew seems to have a death wish.”
“It just feels like it was my curse that broke to leave us in this mess. I should have just cursed them all to die, and then we’d be done with it. I was too soft. Didn’t think big enough or far enough into the future. Otherwise, we could have been free decades ago.”
“Decades ago, eh? Just how old are all of you?” I ask. “I can’t believe I never asked before.”
His arm tightens around me, and he presses a kiss to my neck. “You don’t want to know, sweetheart. We’re old. Practically decrepit.”
I pull back and meet his twinkling eyes, relief hitting me with the force of a gryphon taking flight. He’s still here. Still my Kit.
He also doesn’t look a day over thirty, but he’s not the only one who talks about what happened to them happening years and years ago.
“Well, you’re remarkably well-preserved for a fossil,” I tell him.
“I am, aren’t I?” He pushes my hair over my shoulder, kissing and nibbling on my neck. “How do you always smell so good?”
I twist around and climb into his lap. Running my fingers through his hair, I roll my hips slightly and fight a smirk as he sucks in a sharp breath.
“Sweetheart,” he groans into my ear, his breath hot on my skin.
I cup his jaw and draw his lips to mine, kissing him long and hard. Our tongues tangle together, lips brushing in a kiss that starts off soft and grows more demanding, more heated with every passing second. A wave of pure fire rolls through me as I shift my hips, gyrating against his hardness.
Kit wraps his hand around the back of my neck, massaging me with strong fingers.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been around much.” He rests his forehead against mine with a soft sigh.
Then he kisses me again, and I can feel all the words he’s not saying.
All his worry and stress and regret are wrapped up in one kiss that leaves me breathless.
... or maybe I’m reading too much into it. A moment later, he pulls away, shooting a fleeting look at the ceiling.
“Did you hear that?” His voice has lowered to a concerned undertone, almost like he’s afraid of being overheard.
“Hear what?”
He blinks. “Do you feel like there’s something... off about this place?”
“Off in what way?” I ask. “Like it’s about to fall apart?”
Kit shakes his head. “More like someone’s watching you? I keep getting the same creeping feeling, especially when I’m sitting here alone at night.”
“Only when I’m very tired and hungry,” I tell him pointedly.
He leans back on his hands, now entirely distracted.
Disappointment chases away the last of the tingles in my core, and I climb from his lap, ignoring the twinge in my hip as I grab his tray, dragging it closer.
“Eat your breakfast,” I tell him, dumping it into his lap.
“I will. I just need to check the perimeter first.”
“Nope.” I’m practically growling now. “No. You don’t need to check the perimeter right now. You’re eating, even if I have to feed it to you.”
From the way Kit freezes in place, you’d think my words had turned him to stone. His eyes then meet mine, and he ceases all attempts at getting up.
“Why do I like the sound of that so much?”
“Oh, really?” I can’t help the smirk playing across my face. “Well, then. If it’s the only way to get you to eat.” I then settle back into his lap, grabbing the plate and a fork and proceeding to carefully bring it to his lips.
He keeps his eyes locked on mine as he takes a bite, licking away a droplet of butter so sensuously, my core clenches.
His throat bobs as he swallows, and my eyes get caught on the movement.
There’s something incredibly intimate about sitting on top of him and carefully feeding him like this until the plate is cleared.
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
There are so many things I want to say to him.
I want to ask what he’s thinking, why he seems so disturbed by a noise in a house that’s filled with odd noises.
I want to press him again where he’s been since we got here.
But as he chews and swallows through to the last bite, letting me take care of him in this way, his shoulders have slowly unraveled as he starts to relax.
The words on my tongue all melt away as I decide I can save them for another time.
I’ll regret that later.
Now that I’m sitting on top of him, I can see the dark circles under his eyes and the tired lines on his face. Even if he was sleeping last night, like Finch told me, it’s clear he’s exhausted.
“Come on.” I get to my feet and hold out my hand to him.
“Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you back to bed.”