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He smiled. I did not like that smile. That smile could peel the clothes right off a woman’s body.
“Go on,” he said coaxingly.
To my horror, I felt the heat of a blush rising just as if he had voiced that very suggestion and I was actually considering it.
He rocked back, caught himself, and let out a deep breath.
“Aunty makes the best rice and peas in the city,” he said in an altered tone.
He dug in. The sight of him eating with such gusto shocked me into temporary immobility. Then the smell of the food seduced me. The rice and round beans had been cooked in a creamy milk, and had a peppery flavor not burning but warm. The fish was white and flaky and perfect. It was so good and I was so hungry.
He paused. A disdainful frown creased his face. “Someone hasn’t been feeding you properly.”
I dropped my gaze back to the food so I didn’t have to look at Vai in case he would guess that I was thinking of Drake, for it seemed obvious he was referring to Drake. “You still didn’t answer. What brought you to Expedition?”
“A three-masted ship.”
“Don’t lie to me!” I set down my spoon.
“I didn’t lie to you. It was a three-masted ship. As for why I am here, I came to help my sister make a new life here.”
“Kayleigh? And the mansa just let her go?”
He tucked away several spoonfuls of the rice and peas as he considered. “Obviously it is not that simple, but it’s all I can say. If you thereby feel you cannot tell me what brings you to Expedition, then I will understand your reluctance to trust me. But you must know, Catherine, even if you can or wish to say nothing, I will give you whatever shelter and help you need. Anything.”
The word hit so hard I closed my eyes briefly out of sheer gratitude and relief. I was not alone and friendless. But I had to be pragmatic. “Anything encompasses a great deal. I have nothing except the clothes on my back and my sword. And my father’s locket, which I have thanks to you.”
“I won’t abandon you.”
Mercifully he did not add as your lover evidently did, but when he looked at me with that accusatory gaze, I knew he knew I knew he was thinking it.
“Thank you.” I lowered my gaze to the mundanity of the platter. Gracious Melqart! Between us, we had eaten through almost all of it. “Are you sure we’re not still in the spirit world?”
“I’m sure. But I wonder why you might think so.”
“I just never saw you eat like a normal person before. You said once that cold magic fed you. Doesn’t it here?”
“The secret belongs to those who know how to keep silent.”
The words ought to have annoyed me, but instead they reminded me of the other thing I possessed. I fished the stone from the jacket’s hem. “I found…this.” I handed it to him.
He gasped.
“Your grandmother walked with us for a while. I must say, she scolded me on your behalf. She favors you. It was very irritating.”
His smile twitched but did not quite bloom. Wisely, he said nothing.
“Then she was caught in the tide of a dragon’s dream. It swept over her, and she was gone.”
“Not gone, Catherine. Changed.”
I dropped my voice to a whisper. “Is the stone your grandmother?”
“Of course it isn’t my grandmother!”
“Her—uh—her soul, then?”
“What odd notions you hold, Catherine. Is this some sort of Phoenician belief??”
