Page 65 of The Price of Mercy
That must be going around. I’ve hardly gotten a good night’s sleep in God knows how long. “If you slept inside the house instead of out in the cold?—”
“No.”
“My dad said you could stay in Malachi’s room.”
“We’re fine where we are, Siren. Don’t worry about us.”
I frown as he lengthens the tool belt and clips it around his waist. “The church is falling apart. Does it even have insulation? Or a roof?”
Kane chuckles and hooks his fingers over mine. “See for yourself.” Kissing my forehead, he pushes me towards the church. “Bring him some coffee and he might actually smile.”
That’s not a bad idea. While Kane hunts for my dad’s address book, I pour fresh coffee into a thermos and grab the last remaining blanket from the hall closet. We reaaaally need to weather-proof the house, or it’ll be a terrible season. The fireplace needs emptied, the chimney swept, firewood gathered—the list is endless, and my eye twitches as I think about it. “While you’re in the attic, Kane, can you check for the box labeledWinter? It should have blankets and decorations, maybe some fire starter logs? If it’s not there, it might be in the storage room at the mortuary. Dad’s working, so he can let you in?—”
Kane sneaks up behind me and wraps me in a bear hug. “Mercy—” He presses his face to the top of my head and takes a deep breath. “You’re an angel.”
Butterflies flutter inside my chest. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”
He shakes his head with a soft laugh. “I’m trying to give you a compliment. Why does something have to be wrong?”
Because something’s always wrong.
“I dunno, I just…” I shrug. “Worry.”
About Zane’s mental health. Kane’s intentions, although sweet on the outside, and what ulterior motives he might have. Sam’s sudden disappearance. My grandmother’s age. My dad’s stress levels. My sister Lilith, locked in some mysterious contract, and my brother Malachi, wreaking all kinds of havoc in boarding school across the country. None of us have heard from him in months, and he’s not returning our phone calls.
Hopefully he hasn’t been admitted to the hospital for psychosis again. Once he turned eighteen, they stopped calling us when he’d have episodes. Like Sam, he’s pretty much vanished.
I bite my lip as Sam’s dad’s assessment of my family echoes in my head.A psychiatric patient abandoned by his own family.My mood plummets as his statement rings true. Malachi is my little brother, and I haven’t been taking care of him.
I haven’t been taking care of anyone but myself.
Sighing, I drop my head onto Kane’s chest. “I need to do better.”
He brushes his hand through my hair. “You’re doing fine. Besides,” he murmurs, leaning back to meet my eyes. “You’ve got me now.” A small smile graces his lips as he pulls me in for a chaste kiss. “I won’t let you fall, Siren.”
My cheeks flush as he presses another kiss to my lips, this one just as soft as the last. “Thanks,” I murmur, not sure whatelse to say. “I’ll, um, get going.” I feel his burning gaze on my back as I gather my things and hop down the front steps, making a circuit through the tombstones on my way to the church. These could be cleaned up, too, although the ones closest to the church have been cleared of leaves and what little snow sticks to the ground. Is that Kane’s doing, or is Zane doing yard work to cope with his anxiety?
I push open the heavy chapel doors without knocking. I haven’t been inside in a long time, and the transformation is shocking. Most of the pews have been broken down into planks and used to repair the walls or patch the hole in the roof, while a select few remain untouched near the pulpit. The floor, although dated, has been sanded and sealed while the rotted boards have been replaced entirely. Although there is no electrical wired to the building, a generator hums just outside a long stretch of windows, with cords snaked through a broken pane to power the string lights criss-crossing through the rafters, Zane’s computer system, and various hookups for charging cell phones and running space heaters.
It’s a nightmare for any fire department.
“Zane?” I wipe my feet on a brand new door mat covered in bright pink hearts and a bright orange sticker declaring75% off!stuck to the corner. No one responds to my call, but I catch a flicker of movement behind a computer station stacked with four monitors and a whirring desktop. Beneath the tabletop, I spy slippered feet tapping incessantly. “I brought coffee,” I proclaim loudly, hoping to rouse Zane’s attention. “I don’t have any sugar or cream?—”
Dark eyes and tangled bed head peer around the edge of the closest set of monitors. “I’ll take it black.”
I walk over and pour a generous helping into the thermos lid before handing it over. Zane doesn’t wait for it to cool beforetaking a sip, grunting the moment it hits his tongue. “Tastes like shit. How old is this?”
I don’t know. Does coffee go bad? “You could say thanks.” Setting down the thermos on his desk, I cross my arms over my chest and stare over his shoulder at the computer screens. All four of them have different projects pulled up, with two being devoted to fuzzy camera feeds of a bustling office and a conference room while another is rapidly auto-sorting emails. The final monitor is a crisp video feed of Kane crouching off the rooftop with a flashlight stuck between his teeth and a hammer in hand. “You were watching me?” Goosebumps trail down my arms. “For how long?”
“Since you got up this morning.” Zane takes another sip of coffee. “You don’t linger in bed anymore, do you?” He hums softly. “You used to sketch in the mornings before class.”
My dreams have been too erratic to try and pin down, so there’s no point in trying to sketch what I can’t see. Rather than tell Zane this, I offer another explanation. “There’s too much to do.”
“Like pretending you’re a carpenter?”
“Like fix up the house!” I smack his arm. “What areyoudoing, anyway? Playing solitaire?”
Zane stares at me with dead eyes. “Does this look like solitaire to you?” Sighing, he presses his thumbs to the backs of his eyelids. “I’m keeping an eye on Sam, okay? Butt out or I might miss something.”
