Mercer shook his head with horrified bewilderment. “The pills William used to poison Kat were Lydia’s. He saw them in the bin with my migraine meds and our over-counter pharmaceuticals—all of which would be bad for a dog—and still chosethose. Maybe he was watching her and knew she relies on them, or googled the compound name to find out how rare it was, but somehow he figured out that losing those would hurt us the most. Lydia still has a smaller container in her bag, but he used most of what we had.”
“That fucking bastard.” Rahil surprised even himself with the little vampiric hiss that followed his words.
“He went after my dog,” Mercer agreed. “With my chronically ill daughter’s meds. Because I won’t make him a goshdarn weapon. Agoddamnweapon.”
Rahil felt sick at the thought. “What are you going to do?”
“I could call the cops,” Mercer said, but he sounded strained, like just the idea was killing him.
“Would you tell them a man is trying to threaten you into making a metal only the fae can?”
Merc rubbed the front of his forehead, dragging his fingers down the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know. I don’tknow.” He made a pained noise.
“What about… leaving?” Rahil suggested. And while everything in him clenched up, warning him that it was too much, that he was no more fit for this than his crumbling home, he added, “I’d offer you my place, if you have nowhere else?”
“All my work is here.” Mercer sighed. “I’d send Lydia with you, if she hadn’t been biking there already. Who knows if William has been following her when she’s out. I’ll see if an old school friend can take her, and then I’ll, I don’t know, figure something out.” Merc did a thing between a nod and a head shake as he said it, his somber expression impossible to tell whether it was a mask or not. He stared at the technology in Rahil’s hands, before adding, “You said you were finishing that?”
“Attempting, yes.”
“What if we don’t need to leave, or to involve the police?” Mercer suggested. “The shed trap isn’t enough to protect my entire home—Leah hadn’t finished the updated models she was working on for the house when she passed—but one of these projects was meant to be for Lydia, for her to carry, like a security—”
“Yes,” Rahil interrupted. This was better than bringing Merc back to his home anyway—this was a way he could help without it being too personal. Too emotional. And Leah had done most of the work already. Rahil could finish that up, Merc and Lydia would be safe, and then—then—well. “I can do that. I might need a few more pieces, some trial and error. It’ll take time.”
Mercer nodded, looking more and more reassured. “Making holy silver takes time too, so far as William Douglas knows. If I tell him I’m working on it, maybe that will satisfy him long enough that you can finish.” He cringed. “I’ve already dragged you into one thing, and now I’m putting something else on you, too. Would it help if I paid you?”
“Please don’t. I’m helping because I care—about Lydia. She’s a good kid, and if something I can do will protect her, then I’m happy for it. And I get to watch your buff body at work a little longer?” Rahil winked. “I care about that too.”
Merc snorted, but the edge of his lips quirked. “If you’re sure.”
He was so close—close enough that if Rahil wanted to, he could stretch out his foot and rub it along the inside of Mercer’s thigh, or lean in and press lips to his pulse; if he’d be allowed to. They had been this near before, of course, but always in motion. Always with a purpose. And never when Rahil was this hungry. The thoughtful silence they were lingering in gave far too much room for Rahil’s focus to latch onto the man in front of him, the rich, delicious smell that filled every space he walked into, the curvature of his insulated muscles, the pulse of blood through his neck and the shine of sweat from the blistering summer heat. Before he could stop himself, Rahil whispered. “There is one thing you could do for me.”
To his surprise, Merc simply lifted an eyebrow. “Say it.”
Rahil wanted to stare into Mercer for this, wanted to hold his gaze so firmly that the man could see the sheer depth of his craving, but he couldn’t bear to even look, knowing fully well that his desire wouldn’t be reflected back. His attention shifted to Mercer’s feet instead. He pushed a hand uselessly through his hair with a chuckle. “I know you didn’t want this, but if you could spare me a little blood, just a couple times a week, until we’re done…”
“Let me think about it. I’m not saying no, I just—”
“I get it. Your wife passed from something that involved a bite, and I’m just a stranger with no business putting you in my mouth—”
“Stop.” Mercer held up a hand, and for an instant, Rahil thought maybe he’d just dug his own grave, until Merc’s expression softened. “First, your flirting is getting even worse. You should quit while you’re ahead. But you’re not a stranger to me, Rahil. If I were going to let anyone bite me, it would be you. I truly am not saying no. I just need to think about it.”
“Oh,” Rahil said, because it was the only thing his brain seemed capable of.Not saying no. “All right,” he managed, throwing on a smile. He hoped he didn’t sound as awkward as he felt. “Thank you for considering it.”
“Thankyoufor being here.” Mercer smiled, small and strained but undeniably genuine. “You’re a good person—a good friend, and good for Lydia, too. I hope you know that.”
Like daughter, like father—Rahil could see the resemblance so strongly now; he didn’t know how he’d ever missed it. They were both detached from the outside but rattling with emotion underneath and ferocious when they believed in someone.
And somehow, they’d both made the mistake of believing inhim.
16
MERCER
Mercer wasn’t wrong, was he?
He’d told Rahil they weren’t strangers. Told him he’d think about doing the impossible.
He’d also told Leah he’d be fine alone with Lydia, to go out for the night because she deserved it. When he’d said it, he hadn’t meant he’d be fine alone with her forever. Alone, without his wife to help build the life they’d always dreamed of, to raise the child they’d made together, to love and be loved until they were both old, their curls no longer separated into her red and his black but both of them equally gray.
