Present Day
There was a long silence. Vix raised her eyes up from where she had been staring at the floor and watched Caine. Sunlight was washing joyously through the window of the Wench's Treasure.
But none of it seemed to touch Caine. He had stopped talking suddenly. His throat was moving convulsively, as though trying to force words out, but he made no sound. He kept running one hand across his shoulder, without seeming aware that he was doing it.
“You fell?" she prompted gently.
Caine started. His eyes seemed to fill in, somehow. Slowly, he came back from where he had been, lost in memory. “Yes."
“And then?"
He cleared his throat and looked away. “Then I died. That was the very first time I died."
“But...how?" Vix asked. “How did you come back?"
“The next thing I remember
