The Mercenary and the Mortician (The Silent Hollow #1)

29. Ryan Fairview

E verything had gone to fucking shit.

I was already feeling self-conscious because the makeup I had borrowed from my mom to cover up my shiner seemed to have just made it look worse. I had no idea how to put makeup on a living person, and I was completely shit at it. So, with a still kind of purple but now cakey eye, I put on my suit and made my way downstairs to get started.

I received a text from Luthor, my part-time funeral service attendant, informing me that he had woken up with a bug and couldn’t make it.

This meant I would be totally alone, which was not ideal. Luthor usually helped me with transportation and greeting guests while I ensured the ceremony itself ran smoothly.

This would have been manageable if it weren’t for Ms. Thompson having an absolute fucking fit the whole time because her sister had been invited.

She followed me around as I rushed to greet people and get the hearse ready, constantly chewing me out for not insisting that her sister be barred from the premises.

I did my best to hiss at her under my breath that there was literally nothing I could do about it. Her benefactors were in charge of ensuring her wishes were carried out. I was merely the person who executed those wishes. However, I was the only person who could see or hear her, so I was forced to listen to her complain the entire fucking time.

Finally, when her sister arrived, I quickly learned why Ms. Thompson hated her so much.

God, that woman was awful.

The moment she barrelled into the viewing room, looking around the space for someone to scream at, I caved and fired a text off to Theo.

Ryan:

I hate to ask, but Luthor called in sick, and things are getting out of control. Can you please suit up and lend me a hand? Just handle transport; I’ll do the rest.

Theo:

My face is all fucked up; isn’t that going to look bad if we both look like we came out of a brawl?

Ryan:

I don’t really have a choice here. Ms. Thompson’s sister just showed up, and I think things are about to hit the fan.

Theo:

Alright. Fine. Give me 15. I need to find my suit.

Ryan:

It’s in the mud room; Mom got it dry-cleaned for you last week.

Theo:

*Thumbs up emoji.*

Say what you would about Theo, but she was pretty good when she knew you needed her. She hated helping out with stuff like this, but she also knew I would never ask unless it was super urgent.

Feeling slightly better, knowing that help was on the way, I turned to face Ms. Thomspon’s sister just as she barrelled into me.

“Excuse me! Are you the funeral director for this absolute shit show of a service!?” she screeched at me.

“Ma’am, let’s take this conversation into the hall, shall we? This is not the place,” I replied in my most calm and soothing voice. The entire family was staring at us now, and Ms. Thompson’s sister grabbed my arm and shoved her finger in my face angrily.

‘Here we go…’ Ms. Thompson’s ghost sighed in my ear. ‘I told you not to let her on the property…’

“Don’t you tell me where the right place is to have this discussion! This is my sister’s funeral, and you’re fucking it up!”

“Ma’am, please just?—”

Suddenly, all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and the angry woman was thrown away from me. I blinked at the six-foot-four, black-haired punk that was now standing between me and Ms. Thompson’s sister.

If his height didn’t already make him stick out like a sore thumb, Cal’s insanely inappropriate attire certainly did. His usual black hoodie, shredded black jeans, and scuffed combat boots were so out of place in the sea of guests that my entire body shuddered with the wrongness of it all.

To make matters worse, Ms. Thomson’s ghost screamed in my ear, and she fled the room just as Cal’s horde of ghouls spilled into the viewing room.

‘Devil boy!’ the ghost of Cal’s mother screeched as she barrelled toward me, passing directly through my chest before I could move out of the way.

The resulting effect was equivalent to diving head-first into an ice-covered lake. The breath was torn from my lungs, and I literally groaned out loud in pain.

The room was suddenly swimming as several more ghouls clawed at me.

I felt like I was drowning.

I could barely hear Cal shouting at the lady who had accosted me.

“Touch him again, and all these people will be back for your funeral, sweets.” He was growling, and I gasped, reaching for him, trying to get him to shut the fuck up.

“Cal. Stop,” I rasped. But he either didn’t hear me or didn’t care. His mother passed through me again, screeching and clawing at my insides.

Everyone was staring.

They were whispering and judging. This was wrong, so, so wrong.

This was so inappropriate. No one was ever going to want to have a service here again… My father’s legacy would be destroyed because I had let this fucking pushy mercenary into my life…

“GET THE FUCK OUT!” I was suddenly screaming, shoving Cal toward the door.

He turned to look at me, clearly shocked and confused that I was yelling at him .

“Ryan… I just?—”

“GET OUT! YOU’RE FUCKING RUINING EVERYTHING!” I was still screaming. All the stress from the day finally exploded out of me. The additional discomfort of the constant onslaught of ghouls passing through me was making it impossible for me to keep a level head. I just wanted him gone. I couldn’t breathe.

My whole body had broken out into a cold sweat, and I was so dizzy.

Cal looked like I had just broken his heart. He hovered for a moment as if he were waiting for me to take it back, but I couldn’t.

“Please. Just fucking get out of here. You’re ruining everything!” I begged, and finally, he nodded once and pushed through the crowd, leaving the viewing room.

His ghouls followed him, but the damage had been done. I was literally shaking when I felt strong hands curl around my shoulders.

I jerked away, thinking it was Cal, but looked up to see it was my sister. Her lips were crushed into a firm, concerned line.

“Head upstairs. I’ll take over for today,” she said, her tone more gentle than normal.

Nodding, I stumbled away, humiliation and shame at my behavior suddenly taking over.

The hurt look on Cal’s face swam across my vision as I dragged myself upstairs and into a hot shower, doing my best to get my core body temperature back up.

I battled with my guilt as I stood beneath the steaming spray.

Why did I feel guilty? He shouldn’t have been there! He was constantly barging into my life. He didn’t belong here.

My life was serious and orderly… there was no room for the chaos that was Cal fucking Walker.

So why did I feel like I had just made a horrible mistake and hurt someone who might actually really care about me?

I shook my head.

No. I couldn’t think like that. Nothing was more important than the business. Cal was a threat to everything I had worked toward. I couldn’t let him fuck it up just because he had looked at me with those sad brown eyes…

I smacked my forehead into the shower wall with a groan.

What a fucking mess.