Mercer grimaced. “We had another—” He breathed in, then out. “We had adiscussion. And we decided that as long as Lydia keeps her phone with her at all times, doesn’t leave her friend’s house, and checks in with me when she goes to sleep and again when she wakes up, that she’s allowed this.”
“You felt bad because you yelled at her and tried to send her to LA, and this is your penance?” Rahil interpreted. By the second little grimace Mercer gave, he had to be right. He was right, too, about Mercer’s stony exterior hiding something. “But you’re still worried.”
“It should be safe.” Mercer said it like he was still convincing himself. “I don’t believe William will go after her while he still thinks I’m making his holy silver. It would be counterproductive to his goals, at this point.”
“That’s logical, and itisgood for you and Lydia to both have time for yourselves, you know. If you asked me, I’d say this was the right thing. But I’m the very worst person to ask, so probably you’re actually making a huge mistake,” Rahil said.
That seemed, strangely, to comfort Mercer. His expression loosened, and he gave a soft chuckle. “You’re right—about the first bit. As a parent, I know that, it’s just… yeah.” Then his brow did the cutest crinkle Rahil swore he’d ever seen. “Well, how do you feel about making a huge mistake withme?”
A hugemistake.
Rahil’s chest seized with the realization that if they did this, even just for the night, whether as friends or as something more, he couldn’t leave without telling Mercer the truth of how Leah died. But a night like thiswouldgive him time to find a good lead into such a horrific conversation. Once Mercer was away from the regular stress and settings of his life, hopefully the truth of Leah’s death wouldn’t throw him back into a new panic, this one aimed at Rahil. Maybe, if Rahil found the right moment, this could strengthen their relationship instead of ruining it.
He had to believe that.
Rahil smiled. “I’d be honored to make all the hugest of mistakes with you, bab—boss?”
Mercer’s lip quirked as he nodded and led the way toward the front of the house, only pausing for a moment as he passed Rahil to give a low, warm, “Good boy. Now put those back and come along.”
Chills ratchetted through Rahil’s entire body, and his stomach went so giddy that it took him a moment to contain himself. With the goal of breaching the worst conversation in the back of his mind, and the thought of breaching some very different topics he’d been flirting around for weeks in the front, he dropped everything into the shed, and followed.
26
MERCER
Mercer had done it.
He’d asked Rahil out. On a date. Well, a kind of date. Something like a date, at least.
Mercer stood on the sidewalk, staring aimlessly at the building’s front entrance, its crab shack aesthetics pierced by soft neon lights and crowded with laughter, pride flags hanging like drapes in the windows. He still felt like his head was somewhere in the clouds, if there were any clouds on the perfect, clear summer night, the twinkling of the stars glimmering past the boardwalk’s moderate light pollution to laugh at him. What had he been thinking—asking Rahil on adate? Mercer hadn’t been on a date in a decade.
But looking at the vampire beside him, his dark hair pulled back in a long, thick braid and his flowy white top nearly falling off his shoulders, Mercer wanted to figure this out. He swallowed and tried to tug his lips into something like a smile. He must have failed because Rahil lifted his eyebrow in concern.
“Do you not like the Fishnettery?” he asked. “You told me to pick the place—you should have been more specific.”
Mercer gave a soft huff. “No. It—I’m sure it’s great.”
“You’ve never been?” Rahil concluded. “Oh, my dear Mercer.”
“Leah was never the clubbing sort, and then we had Lydia…”
Rahil nudged his shoulder gently into Mercer’s and the physical contact shot through Mercer’s body like a lightning rod. He barely had time to recover before Rahil was moving forward, waving back at him as he went. “Well, come on.”
Mercer pushed his fingers into his pockets and followed. Maybe he should have changed out of his work attire? He’d been wearing his better set for his meeting with Andres and Shane—a clean gray t-shirt and faded maroon pants—but the bright yellow bandana holding back his hair had smudges of something red on it, and he could have used the eyeliner he kept around on the off chance he had reason to go to something more interesting than Lydia’s teacher-parent meetings. He’d figured that interesting thing would be a renaissance fair or a convention; somewhere he could set up a stand, maybe, and sell trinkets.
Hehadnearly done it a few years ago. Here now, surrounded by people enjoying themselves, sauntering down the boardwalk or kissing in the parking lot or hanging off the Fishnettery’s porch with drinks and fried shrimp, he remembered so clearly the moment his imagination had gotten the better of him, turning the thought of a cute artist grinning at him from across the aisle into an afternoon of convention research so overwhelming that it had ended in nausea and panic. He’d impulsively closed all the tabs he’d been searching through and opened a reality show instead, and that had been the end of it.
Mercer paused at the Fishnettery’s doorway, the onslaught of sound and motion hitting him like a physical pressure. Rahil glanced at him. His fingers brushed the side of Mercer’s hand, his mouth nearly touching Mercer’s ear as he spoke over the rush of the crowd. “Let’s go around to the outdoor space. It’s usually calmer.”
“That would be nice,” Mercer shouted back, feeling himself leaning too, his face nearly touching Rahil’s.
Rahil nodded and began weaving through the crowd.
They picked up a pair of drinks—two colorful mixed concoctions Rahil swore by, with a sharp cherry flavor and a bitter edge at the end—and found a table for two near the water. Live music echoed from a stage beside the building, a small band by the bizarre name ofVersatile Lemonsavidly belting the lines to a catchy song, and the view of the lake boasted a fair number of lively boats and yachts, everyone out enjoying the beautiful summer evening.
“So, whatdoyou do for fun?” Rahil asked, taking a sip from his drink.
“I have my shed.”
