“Can I hug her?”
The question broke something open in the room.
Daniel’s eyes closed briefly.
When he opened them, he nodded.
“You don’t need my permission to care about someone.”
Silas stood.
Elena remained seated until he stepped around the table.
“Is it all right?” she asked.
He nodded.
She embraced him carefully, as though holding something both familiar and entirely new.
Silas did not cling to her.
He did not pull away.
He rested his cheek against her shoulder and listened.
After several seconds, he whispered, “You smell like the library.”
Elena laughed softly.
“It follows me home.”
When they separated, Silas looked calmer.
Not complete.
Not healed.
But no longer alone with the questions.
That afternoon, we returned to Evelyn’s house.
Daniel went directly to the hidden room and knelt beside the bed. Beneath it, behind two flat boxes of photographs, he found a small gray metal case.
