Page 97 of Ruby Mercy

As if to make the decision even harder, Yuliana’s laugh echoes from the living room into the kitchen. She’s having the best time with her cousins.

Lana squeezes my arm. “I’ll throw you out the front door if I have to.”

In the end, I walk through the front door on my own. I hug Yuliana no fewer than ten times before I do, making her promise she’ll be on her best behavior. Then I hug Lana just as many times, reminding her what she said.

“Call me if anything goes wrong. Anything at all.”

“I will.”

“I mean it.” I wag a warning finger at her. “If she seems upset or anything doesn’t seem right, I’ll come right over. Even if it’s the middle of the night. Oh, and sometimes—”

“Night terrors. I know.” She nods. “Lily had them, too. I can handle it.”

The anxiety in my chest grows with every step further I move away from Yuliana, but I force myself to keep going. I climb in my car, reverse down the driveway, and head towards the hotel.

I talk myself in circles the entire time.

Lana has raised two kids. She knows what she’s doing.

But Yuliana is different from Lily and Brady.

She could get scared and need me and I won’t be there.

It’s good for us to learn how to be apart. Proper socialization is important.

By the time I’m checking into my cheap hotel room, I’m half-convinced I’d be better off sleeping in my car in Dad’s driveway. At least then I’d be nearby if anything went wrong.

“Shower first,” I say, sliding my keycard into the door. I’ll be able to make a better decision once I’ve had a shower and washed off the day.

The room is dark when I step inside. The chemical smell of bleached sheets and cleaning spray is heavy in the air.

Underneath it, though, is something else.

Something familiar.

I sniff, trying to place the smell, but I can’t. Not until I flip on the lights and see a dark figure sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Evening, Rayne,” says Kirill. “You should’ve run farther.”

36

KIRILL

Rayne is frozen in shock in front of the hotel room door. She blinks at me, too stunned to yell. Though I suspect that is coming soon enough.

“You look surprised. You shouldn’t be.”

She drops her purse on the table beside her, causing the entire assembly to tilt dangerously to the right.

“Where did you book this hotel? PlacesToBeMurdered.com?” I pinch the bedspread between my fingers. “This is made out of one-ply toilet paper. If you’d called me, I would have gotten you a nicer hotel room than this.”

“If I’d called you, you never would have let me leave.”

Her voice sounds weak. Thin, somehow, like tea made with too much water. The Rayne I know is there, but she’s not at her full strength.

Since yesterday, it looks like she’s aged a decade. Her hair is twisted into a disaster of a knot on top of her head. There are dark circles under her eyes. I want nothing more than to pull her into my arms, press her against my chest, and let her sleep. She looks like she needs it.

But she has towantit.

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