"I do put it that way," said Anton with a vaguely stern note--but the playful sort. The sort he'd used on his younger siblings, so long ago. The look on Erskine's face made his mouth twitch, and he pulled Erskine to his feet.

The music was distant and the bedroom was a strange dance-hall, perhaps. But it wasn't any stranger than some of the places the Dead Men had danced before, and on this night they had more time to spare than most. There was no reason not to take it.