5
Rowan
The apartmentwe’d arranged for Mercy wasn’t anything amazing, but I was glad to see the door looked solid and the interior was clean, none of the furnishings too shabby. The most unusual sight in the place was Wylder at the kitchen counter, prepping sandwiches.
Coming in behind me, Kaige let out a teasing whistle. “Wylder, you really cooking, bro?”
“It’s just sandwiches,” Wylder said with a roll of his eyes. “Pretty sure even you could manage that.”
“Not if you’re already making them.” Kaige flopped onto the sofa across from Gideon, who was fixated on his tablet as usual.
“Where’s Mercy?” I asked.
“In the bathroom,” Gideon said abruptly. “She wanted to take a quick shower.”
He didn’t even glance up, but something about his tone made me study him for a moment. I had the feeling I was missing something, but then, it was hard to tell what was going on in Gideon’s head at the best of times.
“Tell her to hurry up,” Wylder ordered. “Can’t leave a man waiting when he’s gone to the trouble of making lunch.”
Kaige snorted, and my lips twitched with a smile. I walked to the doorway Wylder had motioned to. The door stood ajar.
It was a bedroom, pretty spartan, the bedcovers a little rumpled. The door to the en-suite bathroom was closed, rustling sounds filtering through it. Mercy must have already finished her shower.
I’d only just thought that when she walked out, dressed and rubbing a towel over her long hair. She stopped in her tracks when she saw me.
Awkwardly, I took a step back. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she said, lowering the towel and offering a small smile. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“Kaige too,” I said, and then couldn’t figure out how to follow that up.
I was supposed to be the smooth-talker, ready to handle any situation, but my mouth never seemed to work quite right when Mercy was around. We hadn’t talked all that much in general since the night of the confrontation with the Steel Knights, when I’d apologized for so many things and she’d granted me her forgiveness with a kiss.
I wanted so much more than that. Even standing before me in her typical T-shirt and jeans, she took my breath away. We’d been so close before, and now…
Now I had no idea what she wanted or how to even bring up the subject. Especially when it was obvious she’d caught the attention of all three of my brothers-at-arms—and welcomed it too.
As if on cue, Kaige poked his head into the room. Mercy’s eyes lit up at the sight of him, and a pang of longing ran through my chest. She hadn’t reacted that happily to me.
“Come on, before I eat all of Wylder’s hard work,” he said, grinning.
“As if I’d let you,” Wylder retorted from behind him.
Mercy rolled her eyes, still smiling, and I walked with her into the main room. Wylder had set out plates for all of us on the narrow kitchen island. Mercy grabbed the nearest sandwich and took a big bite. Then she raised her eyebrows at Wylder. “Wow, this is pretty good.”
He picked up his own. “Of course it is. I might not be up to Anthea’s standards in the kitchen, but a real man knows how to make a proper sandwich.”
“Just as long as you don’t expect me to make you any,” she teased. “My place is definitely not in the kitchen.”
He smirked back at her. “Oh, I’m perfectly happy with what you have to offer elsewhere.”
Her only response was to aim a playful kick at his shin. The electricity between them crackled in the air, and my skin itched with it. I didn’t know just how much had happened between them over the past few weeks, but I was pretty sure it’d gone well beyond one quick kiss.
I swallowed down my jealousy and took one of the other sandwiches. “So what’s the plan for the rest of the day?”
As Gideon came over to join us, grabbing a sandwich with one hand while still holding his tablet with the other, Wylder chewed thoughtfully. “Mercy’s made some interesting observations about a new power struggle in the Bend. My dad doesn’t want to launch a full offensive yet, but I don’t think he can object to us cracking a few heads to get some answers.”
I nodded, a different sort of electricity prickling through me. The anticipation hyped me up, but it wasn’t all a good sensation. With the way the situation in the Bend had escalated, I knew talking wasn’t going to get us anywhere. I’d be calling on the other skills I’d built up so that I could stand alongside Wylder Noble. It wasn’t how I’d prefer to contribute, but I hadn’t earned my place here if I wasn’t at his side every time he needed me.