Chapter 34 Zane
Zane
Glass crunches under my feet, and I look down to find blood on the floor. Smearing the shards the sole of my shoe, I stare at them as though they can speak and tell me what happened, or when.
Mercy’s gaze drops to my shoe. “Is that… blood?”
I scan the hallway for Kane and listen for his booming laugh, but neither are present.
It makes me nervous.
“Let’s find Kane.” Leading Mercy around the building, we check every room.
Party guests have dwindled since the night began, few of them equipped for late nights drinking and playing games, but Grandma Star sits at her table with her tarot cards out, idly pulling a five-card spread and staring intently at the card faces.
Slipping from my arm, Mercy approaches her grandmother. “Have you seen Kane, Grandma? Or, well, anyone? We can’t find Sam or Malachi—”
Granny clasps Mercy’s hands in her own and peers up at her for a long moment.
“You’ve blossomed into a beautiful young woman, Mercy, just beautiful.
” Her smile is as soft as her gaze. “I remember when your mother first came here. She was just as taken with the business as that young man of yours is.” Patting the back of Mercy’s hands, she turns her head towards the cards on the table.
“I’ve been telling that other boy, the sour one, that he needs to take deep breaths and drink more tea. It’s good for the soul, you know.”
I crinkle my nose. She’s been telling me that same shit for weeks now.
As though she can hear my thoughts, Granny tuts.
“Don’t be like that. The others are waiting for you downstairs.
But be a dear and bring a drink with you; I think someone’s parched.
” She makes a pained sound and touches her fingertips to her throat.
“I don’t know why he’s so angry. It’s bitter.
So very bitter.” Taking a shallow breath, she stands from her seat and hobbles towards the fireplace.
“I think I’ll have your father start a fire. It’s cold tonight.”
Mercy’s panic ignites my own. She glances back at me with wide eyes before helping her grandmother sit in the rocking chair beside the brick fireplace. “I’ll start the fire, Grandma. Do you want a blanket?”
“Downstairs,” she murmurs, holding her hand out and pointing at a spot on the wall. “Your brother is downstairs. Didn’t I tell you? He’s thirsty. Bring him some tea with a nice splash of whiskey and lemon. It’ll clear him right up.”
Mercy tucks a knit blanket around her grandmother’s legs. “You shouldn’t be alone, Grandma. Where did everyone go?”
“I’m not alone, darling. I’m never alone.”
Frowning, I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a deep breath. She’s always been eccentric, but this is senile. “I’ll keep looking for Kane.”
“Wait!” Spinning around, Mercy grabs my wrist. “There is a basement, but it’s been closed off for years. They can’t have gone down there.” She glances back at Grandma Star. “No one knows about it but us.”
“Who?”
She gives me an annoyed look. “My family.”
I glance at Granny and blow out a breath. She’s falling asleep. “I think your grandma had too much to drink.”
“I’ll get my dad to watch her.”
“Stay,” I insist. “I’ll find out what the guys are up to.” I have a feeling that they’re trying to get away with murder—something we didn’t exactly tell Mercy was in the plans for tonight.
I suddenly regret keeping the truth from her.
Rather than spill our secret, I pull her in for a kiss and indulge in the feel of her body against mine.
I can hardly catch my breath when I pull away, my racing heart making it impossible to keep my hands from shaking.
“Mercy,” I whisper, pressing our foreheads together. “We’re going to keep your family safe.”
Her eyebrows pinch together. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Zane?”
Fuck, I shouldn’t have said anything at all.
“I just wanted you to know that.”
In case one of us dies.
It’s not likely, but if Sam doesn’t uphold his end of the deal or if Samuel has a trump card, we could easily get screwed over tonight.
I squeeze Mercy’s hand. “Promise me that you won’t do anything reckless tonight. I want you in bed by midnight.”
Pursing her lips, she tugs her hands free. “I’m not going to turn into a pumpkin, Zane. You’re acting strange.” Her face pales a moment later. “Is it because… we…” She bites her lip. “Is this because we had sex?”
The air rushes from my lungs. I’m making everything so much worse. “No, Mercy, that’s not it at all. I just want you to stay safe while I—” Murder a horrible human being— “Look around. Okay? I’ll check the basement for the others.”
“It’s blocked off.” Mercy crosses her arms over her chest as the color returns to her face. “Plus the door only opens with a key that my father has. It’s an old, iron lock that won’t budge without that key, Zane. You can’t pick it. I’ve tried.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “Since when are you into lock picking?”
She rolls her eyes. “Since I was ten with a mischievous younger brother to torment.” Pushing me backwards, she huffs. “C’mon, let’s check the damn door, if you’re so curious.”
“That’s not necessary—”
Mercy doesn’t take no for an answer. She marches down the hall to a side room separated by a thick curtain. Pulling it back, she steps inside and doesn’t wait for me to follow. “See, it’s not even—”
Boxes litter the floor, with more than one sagging open and their contents spilling out. Mercy steps over them and shoves them aside as she cuts a direct path to the far corner of the room where an ominous wooden door sits half open.
“That’s not possible. It should be locked.” She bends down and picks up a worn door handle before dropping it into an open box. “No one should be down there, Zane, it’s not safe—”
Voices float up from the stairwell. Male voices.
“What do you mean, it’s not safe? Why isn’t it safe?”
“It’s really old. Like, one of the rooms from when this building was first built in the eighteen hundreds.
I think it used to be a furnace, or something, before my family turned it into cold storage.
” She shuts her eyes and presses her palm to her forehead.
“But my dad closed it off because the electrical never worked, and it showed signs of structural damage. He and my mom reinforced the main floor and installed steel beams to keep it from sinking, but the cellar isn’t made from steel.
It’s original brick like most of the rooms up here. ”
“It’s not safe.” My chest contracts until my ribs pinch together.
Kane wandered into some dank basement and is going to get himself killed for the sake of revenge—or love, I tell myself, although the two are closely related.
The only reason he wants to take revenge on Samuel is because of how badly he hurt me and could hurt Mercy.
Taking a breath, Mercy opens her eyes. “No, it’s not safe.”
We both stare into the shadows, neither of us taking the first step into the darkness. I don’t want her to go down there, but honestly, I don’t want to go myself, either. Why the fuck would Kane go down there? Does he have a death wish?
“Malachi is down there,” Mercy gasps, rushing towards the steps. “He’s the only one who would have known it was here—”
Grabbing her by the waist, I pull her away from the ledge. “Hold on, Mercy, you can’t just run down there!”
“Like hell, I can’t! He’s my brother, Zane. You don’t understand.”
“I’m not letting you get yourself killed!”
She sputters. “I’m not dying, Zane, I’m saving him!”
“We are not going down there without a plan.” This is exactly why I didn’t want to rush into anything with Samuel.
When we go half-cocked, we get horrible outcomes.
The only reason Kane and I almost got pinged for a double homicide a few years ago is because I hadn’t analyzed all the variables yet.
Tonight feels a lot like that exact situation; if we’re not careful, we’re all going down.
“Fuck the plan,” Mercy snaps, tearing herself free from my grasp. “I’m not leaving my brother ever again. I can’t let anything happen to him.”
I want to ask what she means—what could possibly have possessed her to care this much about a brother she hasn’t seen in years—but that must be the reason. They’ve been separated for God knows how long, and she blames herself for that distance.
“It’s not your fault, Mercy.”
She doesn’t hear me. By the time I say anything, she’s already slipped into the darkness, leaving me behind to come up with a plan on my own.
I scan the room for a weapon before I remember that I have one clipped to my belt.
Brandishing my knife, I pull my phone out of my pocket and turn on its flashlight.
It’s not a plan that propels me through the shadows after Mercy.
It’s the hammer of my heartbeat in my ears and the way Kane’s voice echoes in my head.
You freak out when things don’t go as planned. But that’s life. You’ve just gotta have faith.
I take a deep breath and taste stale air on my tongue. The voices at the bottom of the stairs grow louder, and I catch a glimpse of Mercy’s red laces as she scurries down the stairwell in front of me.
Faith got me into this mess, and I hope that faith is what’s going to get me out of it.