Page 21 of The Night Vision
“Please don’t leave me. I don’t know anything about Georgetown or anywhere else. All I know is the woods.”
“Hey!” Silas tipped Tighe’s face back and pinned him with a stern look. “I’m sticking as close to you as I can and I won’t let anyone hurt you. I’ve been worried sick and searching for a way to find you based on nothing but a vision of a skull in a stream. I didn’t go through all of that just to let you slip through my hands again. Got it?”
Tighe nodded, a small smile tickling his lips despite his dread. “Got it. I am worried about why I was dead but my dreams were good. Very good,” he added and lifted his brows so Silas understood.
“Right…” Silas rubbed his lips together as he squinted. “I had some…good dreams too and I eventually remembered where that stream was. I just had no idea when your body had been left there or if you were still alive or even real,” he said, sounding apologetic but Tighe shrugged.
“I could hear your voice and you were calling to me, guiding me to the stream. You said we’d find our way together. Does that make sense?”
Silas nodded. “I couldn’t see your face and I didn’t know who you were but I had to find you.”
“And wehad togo to Georgetown?” Tighe asked, casting an uncertain glance at Nox and Nelson. “I like them but can we trust them?”
There was a soft laugh from Silas as he smoothed the hair on the back of Tighe’s head, making him drowsy. “We can trust them. Nelson’s a good man and a smart agent, whether the bureau appreciates him or not. The professor is strange and I still don’t know what to make about the witch stuff and him being a god, but he’s brilliant and I believe him. Now, his friend Merlin…” Silas’s cheeks puffed out and he gave Tighe a loaded look. “I think he’s a real wizard and he’s brilliant too, but he’s a little bit of a pervert. Nox and Nelson warned me to watch his hands and you might want to as well.”
“A wizard and a pervert,” Tighe echoed, earning a humph from Nox as he turned in his seat.
“Shelby’s warned you about Merlin. That’s good. He can’t help himself but he’s harmless. I messaged him so he knows we’re on our way and that we’d found our lost Ossor.”
“I wasn’t lost,” Tighe said with another shake of his head. “Not until I woke up in this evil beast.”
“We’ll be there soon,” Silas said and went back to massaging away Tighe’s fears.
He focused on Silas and his kind, comforting hands, and hoped that they could be alone once they reached Georgetown. Tighe had so many questions and he wanted them to be naked. He wanted to touch and taste all the wonderful parts of Silas he’d explored in his dreams but couldn’t with Nox and Nelson so close by.
Eventually, the car slowed and after many turns, stopped. When Tighe looked out the windows, he was alarmed by all the boxy stone buildings around them. They reminded him of castles and sat in rows with neatly manicured patches of flat grass and ornamental flowerbeds. Nearly everywhere he looked he saw pavement, stone, and brick but he couldn’t see a forest.
“Where are all the trees? And the real grass?” he asked Silas in a hushed whisper.
The car had parked alongside a tall stone wall and a large, ornate wrought iron gate. Silas got out but it took a moment for Tighe to get up the nerve to follow. Tighe didn’t sense any danger, but everything looked so wrong outside of the car. The only thing he understood was Silas but he was so different from the wildly passionate man in Tighe’s dreams. Instead, Silas was patient and tenderly affectionate, yet reserved. Leaving Tighe to wonder if Silas was waiting until they could be alone as well.
“Come on. We’ll be safer once we’re inside,” Silas said as he beckoned Tighe with an outstretched hand.
Tighe scooted closer to the door and accepted it. He sniffed at the air when he got out and edged closer to Silas. “What’s that smell? It’s strange,” he said and Nox pulled a deep breath through his nose.
“Smells like Kung Pao Chicken. It’s Merlin’s specialty. Let’s go!” He gestured at the house as Nelson opened the gate.
“What does that mean?” Tighe asked Silas, then stared up at Nox’s home in fresh wonder. “Is this a castle? Is Nox a king?” The townhouse was made of the same gray fieldstones as the wall but all the windows glowed with light and he could see a sparkling chandelier and a large staircase through one of them.
Silas laughed again as he put an arm around Tighe and guided him through the gate. “Nope, just a well-to-do anthropology professor. Kung Pao Chicken is a Chinese dish andone of my favorites but I haven’t had it in ages. It’s a trek to the nearest Chinese restaurant when I’m home.”
“Chinese food?” Tighe parroted in wonder. “I’ve read about China and seen it on a map but I’ve never read anything about its food. Is it spicy?”
“Some of it but we’ll find out if Merlin put a lot of peppers in it,” Silas reassured him, just as the townhouse’s front door opened and a small bald man in a fancy purple suit waved at them.
“Welcome, welcome! I’m so glad to see that you’ve been found in one piece, Mr. Ossor,” he said as he grabbed Tighe’s hand and pumped it vigorously. “My name is Merlin Oglethorpe and you must let me know if there’s anything I can do for you!”
“Can you make them take me back?” Tighe asked, causing the little old man to chuckle and shake his head. He was nothing like King Arthur and Camelot’s Merlin, leaving Tighe somewhat disappointed. He had expected a man with a long beard and a pointy hat.
“I would not advise that but I’m sure we can make you more comfortable. I’ve just put on a pot for tea and dinner is almost ready.”
“You have tea?” Tighe asked, finally excited about something. “I love tea!”
“I did read that and we have more tea than you could possibly drink,” Merlin said as he led Tighe into another room. This one was filled with books. They lined the shelves on the walls and were stacked on most of the flat surfaces.
“Is this a library?”
“Goodness no, lad! This is Nox’s study.”
