Page 27 of The Death Wish

‘I am simply trying to speed up the process of getting back indoors. Where the civilised people are.’

‘I think you are coddling.’

‘I think you shall get a clout on your ear if you don’t shut up.’

‘I think it is time for me to leave,’ Sybilla announced.

The ankou laughed. A choked, rather chesty sound, with an inhale that clearly took in more dirt than intended. Silas coughed and spluttered.

‘You idiot.’ Pitch banged at his back, in what he presumed to be a helpful move. He’d seen it done once or twice in various pubs. ‘Stop making such a fuss.’

‘Great gods, you are the worst nursemaid I’ve ever known.’ Sybilla stood beside the grave, arms folded, looks disapproving. ‘Stop hitting him.’

‘I’m all right.’ Silas coughed, though not as badly as before. The force of his fit though had made tears run. ‘It’s passed now. All is well.’

A sharp squeak came from the edge of the pit, the ferret peeking from beneath the length of Sybilla’s dark coat.

‘Hello there, pretty one. Thank you for bringing him to me.’ The ankou brushed a thick-fingered hand down the animal’s back. The scythe on Silas’s finger was altered, changed from its duller pewter tone to a shining silver that was difficult to miss.

‘Excuse me?’ Pitch feigned indignation. ‘I have been lying in the dirt for you, yet your thanks and attention goes to an elongated rat?’ The ferret bared tiny fangs.

‘Oh, Pitch? You’re here?’ Silas put on a show of his own, squeezing the bridge of his nose, and blinking groggily. ‘I didn’t notice you.’

‘Utter bastard. Fine, I will leave.’

Silas moved much faster now, grabbing at Pitch’s arm. ‘Not a chance. Why are you barely undressed?’

Pitch made a weak play at trying to remove himself from the ankou’s hold. He’d forgotten entirely he wore only trousers. ‘I’ve been making my way through all the men of the village, whilst you snoozed with the dead.’

‘Really?’ Silas moved him easily, and though Pitch could have bested him with some effort, there was no mistaking the easy strength that came from him. Nor how Silas’s brown eyes held specks of brightness in their depths now. ‘Will you show me what they taught you?’

Sybilla heaved a loud sigh, and even the grim ferret made a noise of discontentment and jumped from the grave. ‘Right, well that is my signal to leave, then. I’ll let the others know you’re up and about, and all is well.’ She paused. ‘All is well, I’m assuming, Silas? You seem…you look brighter, glowing more readily.’

Pitch frowned. He could not even make out Silas’s usual dull aura, and the angel seemed too far away in the dim light to notice the change in Silas’s eyes.

‘I feel much better, thank you, Sybilla. All is definitely well.’ Silas propped himself on his elbow, staring up at the angel. ‘Bloody hell, you are…well, you have a decent glow yourself. I’m glad this has helped you too.’

‘As am I. But I had best return before the others wake to find me gone. Mind you, I doubt Tyvain and Isaac shall rise beforenoon. They enjoyed the hospitality at the Rule last night a bit too much.’

Pitch’s head snapped up at that. ‘Who is looking after the simurgh?’

‘I’ve covered much of the Golden Rule in runes, and my room is saturated with them. Little wonder I felt so bloody rotten. Jane is there, and Phillipa and Scarlet too, of course.’ She picked at some leaf litter that had snagged in the fur cuff at her wrist. ‘And the Cultivation is not without its own protection. The divine magick it contains is remarkable.’ She looked to Pitch. ‘As is anyone who could hold the likes of it, for so long.’

Silas’s hand found the small of his back, but that only made the intolerably sweetness of the moment worse, and Pitch edged away.

‘Not as though I’ve had much choice,’ he muttered. ‘I thought you were leaving?’

‘And so I am.’ The Valkyrie leaned down and offered her arm to the ferret. ‘Come, leave them be, before you see a sight that shall scar you for all the afterlife you live.’ The ferret scampered up the angel’s arm, wriggling into place upon her shoulder. She turned away, but then reconsidered, and glanced over her shoulder. ‘There is something else I must tell you both. Now seems as good a time as any.’

Silas pressed a kiss to Pitch’s shoulder. ‘Go on.’

‘I’ve had word from the Lady Satine.’ She touched her temple, as though that explained the messaging well enough, which in truth, it did. ‘Though it is not with her usual aplomb. The message is most basic. But in short, many of our party have come to the end of their road. Ambleside shall be where we part ways.’

Pitch stared at her, caught off-guard by how her words quickened his pulse.

‘I understand.’ Silas said, though he did so very quietly. ‘Very well then. Do they know?’

‘No.’ Sybilla pressed her lips. ‘It only came to me when I sat here in long silence. And the message was so faint, if I’d not been surrounded by the quiet of the dead, I doubt I’d have heard at all.’ She glanced at Silas. ‘Perhaps the journey’s end approaches for all involved.’