I eagerly accepted the second cookie she offered. “Very much,” I told her.
Biting into it, I thought of home. I remembered the aroma of bread baking in the kitchen and the sweet perfume of the wildflowers that filled our pasture lands, and my momentary joy faded.
I'd missed my chance to go back there. Multiple chances, in fact. I had done exactly what Merrick said and left Mother and Sayla in their time of need. Now I was trapped, and they would be left to wonder when I might return. I’d told them I’d try to visit in a few weeks, but that was no longer a possibility.
“Thank you for showing me the town,” I told Rosie as I stood. “Do you mind if I take another of the shortbreads home for Kit?”
“Of course.” She fished one out and handed it to me. “Do you think you'd like to make some yourself sometime?”
I nodded because my voice was suddenly gone. That smothering feeling from the conversation with Merrick had returned, like fingers tightening around my throat.
“Maybe I could come fetch you when I close tomorrow and show you then,” she offered, oblivious to my inner turmoil.
“Sure,” I managed to croak.
With a wave, I left Rosie on the bench and hurried back to Kit's house. Hot tears burned my eyes as I stumbled up the walk and pushed through the front door.
Going straight to the kitchen, I set the cookie for Kit and my own half-eaten one on the counter beside the sink, then opened the cabinet where the whiskey bottle was stashed.
Emotions tangled in a hopeless knot, joined by a stream of thoughts I couldn't stop.
My brother had lied to me.
He tricked me into burying our father’s body so he could steal it.
He despised me.
He’d all but wished me dead.
What would happen if Ididdie?
Who would tell Mother and Sayla?
And would they miss me once they knew?
Would Kit?
I uncorked the whiskey and stared at it. The smell of it stung my nose, so I held my breath as I tipped the bottle to my lips.
I swallowed fast and hoped I wouldn't taste it. Hoped I wouldn't feel it. Or anything at all.
21
Kit
The walk back to the Ossuary wasn’t nearly long enough to let my lingering anger about the incident in the stairwell fade. It smoldered in my chest and mingled with the dread about the consequences of Merrick’s presence here, making it hard to think.
Revealing anything personal to Levitt was a risk but leaving him in the dark could be catastrophic. If I could bend his ear before Merrick got the chance to, explain the situation, maybe I could take advantage of our old friendship and buy Penny and myself some safety.
Back in the atrium, I stopped in front of the long table. The man from earlier looked me over with bored disinterest.
“Back again?” he asked.
“I need to see the Right Hand.”
He quirked a brow. “Did you not speak to him a few minutes ago?”
“I did. But something else has come up that he needs to be aware of. It’s important that I see him now.”
