“
No need to split my eardrums. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Something familiar about the boy’s lilting tone made Cass stop screaming and flailing in his grip. She looked up just slightly, into his face. Even by the dim light of the moon, she recognized his dazzling blue eyes. “You,” she breathed.
“Mourning girl?” The boy laughed, and steadied her on her feet. “So nice to run into you again.”
She wrenched away from his grasp, pulling her cloak tight around her body. “What are you doing here?”
The boy shrugged his broad shoulders. “I was just standing here enjoying the view when you almost ran me over.”
“The view?” Her voice rang out shrilly. “In a graveyard? At this hour?” Her fear began to give way to irritation. He was clearly lying to her.
The boy gestured around him. In the dark, a group of flowering weeds looked like a giant hairy spider crouched against the side of a crypt. “These flowers actually grow best in cemeteries. Did you know that? Something about the mix of soil and shade. Death and life, intertwined. One feeding off the other. It’s kind of magical, don’t you think?” He seemed distracted for a moment, like he really was fascinated by their surroundings. Just as Cass was about to respond, he turned to her again. “Plus the company here is much more agreeable than at la taverna. And much less likely to talk my ear off.”
Cass felt dizzy. She took one more step back. “What’s on your face?” she demanded, pointing at his right cheekbone.
“What?” He licked a finger and wiped haphazardly at the area Cass had indicated. His hand came away smudged with red. “Oh. Paint, probably. It gets all over everything.” His lips twitched as if he were trying not to smile. “It’s a wonder you aren’t the one being mourned, as accident prone as you seem to be.”
“I hardly think you jumping on me earlier qualifies me as accident prone.” She was surprised by how quickly the response came to her.
“Oh, if I had jumped on you, you’d know it,” he said with a wink. He reached toward Cass to dislodge a twig from her hair. “I’m Falco, by the way.”
Cass narrowed her eyes. Now, since he was obviously laughing at her, she found his mischievous grin annoying. Still, it didn’t seem to be the deranged smile of a murderer.
”
”