Stopping a foot into the Solar, she turned. “Yes?”
Pressure built in my chest. “You haven’t had any…sensitivity to light, have you?”
Her head cocked as Casteel stiffened. “Not that I’ve noticed. Why?”
A little bit of relief swept in until I realized I had to come up with a reason for asking her that. “I just…wondered with…the change in your hair and eyes if it made you more sensitive to sunlight.”
“Uh, no.” Tawny smoothed a hand over the front of her gown. “But you’ll be the first to know if that changes.”
I smiled at her.
“See you this evening.” Tawny waved rather jauntily before pivoting on her heel and walking off, her footsteps fading.
The moment the door closed behind her, Casteel shook his head. “Your friend is…”
My eyes closed as the sorrow I’d checked earlier resurfaced. “Perfect.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Talk bad about her, and I will be kissing a barrat before your lips touch mine again.”
Malik’s lips curled as Casteel chuckled.
I turned to Malik, remembering that he’d been wounded. I glanced down at his arm covered by the long sleeve of his surcoat. I wondered if Kieran had healed him like I suggested, or if Malik had declined.
“How’s your arm?”
“Completely healed,” he answered with a tight smile. “There’s something I wanted you two to see.”
“You’re not going to tell us what?” Casteel asked, wariness in his stare as he set his tumbler aside.
“I’d prefer to show you,” he replied, his head tilting in the way his brother’s often did.
Curiosity rose. “When?”
He seemed to think about that for a moment. “Tomorrow morning.”
I glanced at Casteel, and he nodded. “That should work.”
“Perfect.” Malik stepped back. “I’ll see you both in the morning then.”
Casteel nodded again and watched as Malik turned and left. The moment the door closed behind him, he pushed away from the credenza. “What happened earlier?” he asked.
Knowing what he was asking about, my stomach began to twist. “Remember when we were talking about how Kolis and Nyktos can capture souls?”
He nodded.
“I think—no, Iknow—there are different ways to do it,” I said, my throat tightening as the tingling sensation skittered across my neck. “And it can be done with a god. But I don’t think it’s meant to be used on a mortal.”
“That makes sense. A mortal without a soul would be…”
“Basically dead, for all intents and purposes.” My throat tightening, I walked back to the settee and sat. “The mortal body can continue without a soul, but the soul makes a person who they are. Without it, they become a…” My brows knitted. “A…”
“Athanion.”
My head whipped toward him. “How did you know that?”
“Soul Eaters,” he said, dropping into the chair across from me. “They usually killed while taking a soul, but sometimes, their…victims survived.”
