It definitely says, “I respect you.” It seems to say, “Oh man, we’re going to be really good friends.” But I very much doubt it’s saying what I want it to say: “Yeah, I like you too.”

***

“Let’s get to work,” Siaka says, and leads us down the back stairs to the basement.

“Wow! This place has changed!” I gape around at the brightly lit space. What was a dark storage space for antiques five years ago is now a fully-fledged laboratory. Metal tables hold scientific equipment, a counter with sinks lines one wall, and a ventilation system turns on when Siaka flicks a switch, sucking stale air from the basement and blowing it out through vents near the ceiling.

“This is where old meets new.” Bran gestures proudly at his lab. “You know I’ve been getting in touch with other Flame-fingers worldwide, asking them to send me all the revenant-related information they find in their families’ documents or oral stories. Some of those contain formulas and cures, and this is where I’m attempting to recreate them, with the invaluable help of my master-chemist, Siaka.”

Siaka chuckles and shakes his head. “I’m just a First Year in chemistry at the Sorbonne. I’ve got a long way to go before I’m master of anything!”

“He’s being modest,” Bran reassures me.

“Yeah, well, I watched my mom practice her craft when I was a kid, so I learned about healing from her. I’m studying chemistry to learn how science might explain, and maybe even amp up the effects.”

“Is your mom on board with that?” I ask, wondering what healers like Bran feel about someone trying to quantify, or even improve upon, their gift.

Siaka shuffles a few bottles around, keeping his eyes on the table. “My mother died last year.”

Oh shit. I put my foot in it there, bringing up a painful topic ten minutes after meeting him. I feel like telling him I’m an asshole but settle for, “I’m sorry.”

He accepts it with a nod and forces himself to meet my eyes. “Breast cancer. She could heal other people, but not herself.” He clears his throat. “She passed me the gift before she died. Do you know how that works?”

“Yeah, Bran told me. Only one person in a guérriseur family has ‘the gift.’ When they decide they’re done using it, they can transfer it to a willing member of the family. But only a very few guérriseur families are Flame-fingers—able to heal revenants as well as humans.”

Siaka grins. “Sounds like you’ve been studying us as much as we’ve studied you.”