Wylder guffawed. “Bloodthirsty to the end, Kitten. Don’t you worry. We’ll still take care of him exactly as he deserves.” He’d seemed more at ease with Mercy since yesterday, and as he spoke, his eyes focused on her with a gleam that held both amusement and admiration.
Mercy raised her eyebrows at him, still smiling. “What do you mean?”
To my surprise, Gideon returned her smile as he answered, as if he was relishing the idea of offering her revenge instead of just stating the facts. “The Nobles have plenty of contacts in the prison system, as you’d expect. It’s very easy to arrange a painful death during a seemingly random brawl or shanking.”
Mercy didn’t appear to be convinced. She might have had some kind of a vibe going on with all the other guys—and it might have provoked a weird sense of jealousy mingled with pleasure inside me, wanting to keep her to myself while also enjoying seeing her become part of our harmony—but I’d known her so much longer. I could read her expression even if I’d never seen one quite like it on her face before.
“You were hoping to do it yourself,” I said quietly.
She grimaced, but she didn’t deny it. “He shot my father himself. I meant to return the favor—you know, just times about ten or so.”
Wylder gave her ponytail a light tug. “Let me think on it, and I’ll see if there’s some way we can get you your moment.” He turned to me. “Have you dropped the first tip to the cops yet?”
I shook my head, reaching for my phone. “I was waiting until we had our plans more solid. I can do it now.”
As I walked out back where the phone wouldn’t pick up the others’ voices, I realized I’d grabbed the wrong one. I had my usual phone on me and a burner I’d meant to use for the tip, in case anyone tried to trace it. I was holding my regular phone. An alert for a missed message flashed on the screen. I should check that first.
I tapped through to voice mail and raised the phone to my ear. When my mother’s voice carried through the speaker, my heart stuttered.
“Hi Rowan. It’s been so long since we last talked, honey. Too long. Anyway, you know your sister’s birthday is coming up this weekend. Carina would love it if you could make it down here for the weekend. I know it’s a long way and last-minute, and you have a lot going on, but I’d pay for the ticket. Let me know soon. And either way, give me a call when we can catch up a bit, please? I love you.”
My hand kept pressing the phone to my ear after the dial tone kicked in. I closed my eyes and forced myself to end the call. A burning sensation seared through my chest.
I couldn’t go. I didn’t even need to think about it. There was too much happening here in Paradise Bend right now, too many people counting on me to help hold things together, too many threats looming far too close on the horizon.
I’d gotten into this life at least in part to make sure I’d be stronger, readier, deadlier if anyone ever came for my family again, especially for Carina. And now my little sister was barely in my life at all. I hadn’t seen her or even spoken to her since half a year ago at Christmas. I’d already ordered a couple of birthday presents to be delivered, things I was pretty sure she’d be excited about, but it wasn’t the same as being there. I knew that from the look in her eyes every time I stepped away from those rare family get-togethers.
But she was safe, and I’d made other commitments since then.
I stuffed my regular phone in my pocket and dug out the burner. When the cop manning the line picked up, I had my voice go a bit hoarse and let a thread of confusion creep into it, doing my best impression of a nervous bystander on the street. The guy I might have been twenty years from now if I’d never known Mercy Katz.
“Hi, yeah,” I said, with a little cough. “I was just walking past Firkin Street on Carlton, and I saw a bunch of young guys who looked pretty… shady, you know? Hoodies and these red bandanas and all that. They were saying something about how they’d be moving in soon and taking over. I didn’t like the sound of it at all. Anyway, it seemed like something the police might want to know about.”
The officer asked me a few questions and then thanked me for my call, and I hung up with a sense of satisfaction melting a little of my regret. I’d picked an intersection far enough away that investigations there wouldn’t stop us from bringing in the truck, but close enough that I could easily lay a few more breadcrumbs to bring the cops right here. And I’d also primed them to assume it’d be the Steel Knights setting up shop in this neighborhood.
I stayed out in the fresh air for a minute longer, waiting for my emotions to completely settle. As I turned to head back inside, the door swung open and Mercy stepped out.
“Are you all done?” she asked. “I was just going to grab the cameras for Gideon.”
“Yeah. I made the call.” I found I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her. There was nothing extraordinary about her appearance today, just her typical ponytail, T-shirt, and jeans, but… she was kind of extraordinary just as herself, wasn’t she? What a fucking force of nature she’d become, even more so than when I’d known her and loved her way back when.
An ache squeezed around my heart. It was no wonder the other guys were all drawn to her. I couldn’t blame them for that, and I couldn’t blame her for however much she wanted all of them.
But that didn’t mean I had to roll over and pretend I didn’t care.
She was the one part of my old life I’d somehow found my way back to. I had to hold onto her this time.
“Mercy,” I said as she started to walk away.
She stopped and glanced at me. “What’s up?”
I swallowed thickly and stepped toward her to grasp her hand. When I’d explained to her what’d happened the night I’d been supposed to meet her and after, I’d seen the anger fading from her eyes. It’d been obvious from her response that she’d forgiven me. She could understand the awful position I’d been in and why I’d made the decisions I had, and that was more than I’d dared to hope for. But I still had to say this.
“I don’t think I ever properly apologized for what I put you through five years ago. I had my reasons, but still—you didn’t know, and I abandoned you to that asshole. I made you feel like you hadn’t meant anything to me after all… I wish I could have found a way to stay with you, to fight back—”
Mercy’s fingers squeezed mine. “It’s okay. There’s no way you could have gone up against my dad. I could barely go up against him, and I knew him better than anyone.”
“I still wish I could have.” I held her gaze, willing her to recognize how much I meant this. “I’m glad you’re here with us, Mer. I know I said a lot of crap when you first showed up that suggested otherwise, but I was just startled and, well, scared, and I acted like an idiot. I’m sorry about that too, and for not clearing the air sooner. Having you back in my life is the best thing I could have asked for.”
Her eyes widened, and something glimmered in them—were those tears? Before I could wrap my head around that, she tugged me to her, reaching to grip the collar of my shirt with her other hand. Then she rose up to press her lips to mine.
I kissed her back, lost in an instant in the sensations that were both so familiar and so new. It felt like coming home after a long trip away. She smelled like she always had, like hot summer days and violets, and her lips were just as soft, but there was a confidence to the kiss beyond what she’d had before. It spoke of experience, yeah, but it also said that she was going to take what she wanted, and right now what she wanted was to be kissing me.
How could I take that as anything but a total honor?
Mercy pulled back much sooner than I was ready for. Her eyes were shining with no hint of tears now, but a bittersweet smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
“No hard feelings,” she said. “I get it, all of it. It isn’t like we can pick up where we left off, but—I’m glad I’m here with you too.” She dropped my hand to head toward the car. “Now let’s take these fuckers down once and for all.”