With a nod, he places his hand on the small of my back and leads me toward the archway. Three steps past it, and we’re descending a set of spiraling stairs rimmed in iron. My gloved hands skim down the curved banister, the steps slightly dizzying. When we reach the bottom, there’s a corridor with worn gray rock and a long stretch of green carpet in the very center, while sconces held in iron casings flicker against the bare walls.
The ceiling is dropped here, the path narrow and feeling slightly claustrophobic, but then, Slade takes me down another set of stairs, this one wide and straight down. When we get to the bottom, the whole castle seems to open up around us. I clasp the open banister, looking down three more flights of stairs to see the grand hall below.
Dark wood and smooth white walls dominate the space. The open upper level corridors are somewhat like the ones in Ranhold, since I’m able to see clear across to the other side, every staircase and hallway visible within the squared center.
Except here, there are elaborate wood carvings that stretch from the pillars that secure the staircases, going all the way up to the ceiling. The thickly pitched wood reminds me of the inside of a musical instrument, complete with curved hollows and the daintiest of copper strings pulled from the points in the middle of the ceiling, leading down like draped tapestry to the arched windows.
“This is amazing,” I say, hands curling around the smooth wood beneath my fingers.
Across from us and down a level, I can see the others, just as they split off from a lower staircase. Lu continues down one direction, while Judd and Digby turn right and go down the hall across the castle from us, and Judd leads a limping Digby inside.
“He’s more hurt than he’s letting on,” I murmur with concern.
Slade slides up beside me. “His injuries were pretty extensive, but Hojat is the best mender there is, and if he truly didn’t think he should’ve made the trip, he would’ve put his foot down. Digby is tough, and I have another good mender here too. He’ll be looked after.”
“He was my guard for a long time. The only one I could ever trust. I always kind of looked at him like a sort of father figure. He didn’t just guard me. He protected me. Sometimes, even from other guards.”
I see Slade’s head turn to look at me.
“Midas was always very strict about me being guarded in Highbell, but he wasn’t as good about his threats as he thought he was,” I explain. “It was a common occurrence for some of the guards to behave...less than gentlemanly.”
I see his fingers tighten against the railing, and then with a perfectly serious tone, he says, “If you give me names, I’ll rot their brains from their skulls.”
A startled laugh escapes me as I turn toward him. “I think a lot of them didn’t really have impressively thriving brains to begin with, so we’ll just let them rot in their own time.”
“Fine,” he says, sounding slightly disappointed.
I laugh again, but a yawn takes over the tail end of it, making my jaw nearly crack from how wide it is.
Slade reaches down and takes my hand in his. “Come on, let’s get some real sleep, on a real bed with real pillows and blankets.”
“You really know how to sweet talk.”
Chuckling, he leads me down a set of stairs, but instead of going to the opposite end where the others are staying, we keep on this opposite end. We pass a guard on our way, who tips her head down in greeting, shooting me a curious look as we go.
The hallway walls on this level are studded with strips of the same carved and curving wood, making the ceilings appear taller. Every few feet, there’s a window tucked into the wall’s notches, the bubbled glass plaited with strips of iron. It’s too dark to see anything outside, so our reflections are all the windows reveal for now.
At the end of the corridor, Slade opens the door and then slips to the side, holding out a hand for me. As soon as I enter, there’s an immediate sense of familiarity, because the room just feels like Slade. There’s a masculine fireplace molded with an intricately carved black corbel. Set on the floor in front of it, there’s a trio of dark sofas and a table at the center.
On the opposite end is a doorway, and Slade leads me through there where I find a bed set on a raised platform, four stone pillars at each corner made of the same stone as the floor. It makes the big bed look even bigger, and the black and dark green bedding looks so plush that I can’t wait to drop right inside of it.
“Do you need anything to eat?” Slade asks behind me as he gently removes my coat.
“I think I’m too tired for food right now.”
He takes my coat and disappears into another door where I can see clothes and weapons hanging inside. I hear the telltale sound of boots being dropped, and then he comes out again, his own coat gone as well. In his hands is a shirt that he hands to me. “We’ll get you some proper clothing tomorrow, but for tonight, you can wear my shirt.”
“That seems a little intimate,” I tease as I pluck the clothing from his fingers.
Slade chuckles. “If you consider that intimate, then I’m in great need of making some things up to you.” He reaches one arm behind him and strips the shirt from his body in one smooth motion that makes my mouth water, gaze pivoting to his abs.
“Eyes up here.”
They snap up on command, and heat catches in my cheeks. “I wasn’t checking you out,” I say.
“No, I seem to remember it was my ass you liked to do that with.”
I narrow my eyes on him, and even though he’s right, I will never admit it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Mm-hmm. Come to bed, Goldfinch.”
I point a finger at him. “No ravishing, Ravinger. We’re both tired and you’re still recuperating from a power drain. We need to sleep.”
His eyes skate up my body as if it’s something to relish, when really, I probably look like a wind troll with tangled hair and three-day-old clothing. “Fine. But I’ll be ravaging you tomorrow. I’ll wear tight pants to set the scene.”
I roll my eyes, though my lips can’t help but tip up into a smile. “Good luck with that,” I tell him. “Can I use the bathroom to wash up?”
“Of course,” he says as he walks over to the bed. “And you don’t have to ask. Everything in this entire castle is yours. You may go wherever you like and do whatever you please.”
He pulls back the covers while I just stare at him for a moment.
When he notices me still standing there, his brows crinkle. “What?”
I snap out of it. “Nothing.”
Turning around, I quickly go through the only other door in here and close it behind me.
Go wherever you like and do whatever you please. He said it so casually. As if it’s normal. As if I’ve ever heard it before in my life, when in fact, I have not.
A smile pulls at my cheeks, and it stays there the entire time I’m in the bathroom. My bladder feels like it’s about ready to burst, so I quickly take off my gloves and use the toilet, and then wash my face and hands. I strip out of my old clothes, pulling on Slade’s shirt before I find a comb and try to brush through my tangles as best I can. I head for the door on another yawn, but I hesitate whether or not I should put my leggings and socks back on, but no. I don’t gild anything unless I want to.
As if to prove it to myself, I press my fingers against the comb again, calling up my magic, smiling when gold drips down the length of it. As soon as it’s gilded, I drain the magic up, pressing my fingers against the marble countertop to make sure not a single drop comes out.
It’s amazing how much easier it’s already become.
When I walk out with a smile on my face, I’m ready to tell Slade that I’m actually going to sleep in only his shirt, but I stop when I see he’s already fast asleep. His breaths are feeding in and out, his face relaxed, body slumped onto the plush bed. He looks so unburdened in his sleep that I just watch him for a moment, wishing he could have that same weightlessness when he’s awake.