After all, shouldn’t you be on a first name basis with your son’s killers?
“Are you coming back to stay soon?”
“No, no.” I could see the primary school in the distance where Elex and I had played as small children. “I’m here to check on the house, that’s all. Just make sure that it’s in good repair and…uh, find a piece of art my mother left me.”
“We were shocked to hear you were the Breaker,” Everett continued a moment later. “Someone so meek and mild entrusted with such a task…how do our vampire brethren fair?”
“Not, well, sir,” Rilen answered. “Not well at all.”
I leaned forward and cleared my throat. “Everett, who has taken over the Rest?”
Both Rilen and Roran turned their heads to look at me, eyes wide, shock on their faces. I darted between their looks, waiting for Everett to answer.
“The Fox Family,” he said, but there was reluctance in his voice. “I’m afraid they aren’t as good at attending to the needs of the Resting. We have all taken turns doing rounds in the caves.”
I sighed. “Should I speak with them? It is my duty to make sure that the caves are cared for.”
“I think it would be more than a mere suggestion to them if you did.” He chuckled. “I can just see Bateena’s face when not just one but three temple masters appear at her door.”
A little chuckle escaped me. “I believe thatcrapping her pantswould be an understatement.”
I heard Everett chuckle along with me a moment later.
The rest of the ride was quiet, as Roran and Rilen were clearly doing their twin thing, something passing back and forth between.
It only stopped when Everett pulled his carriage to a stop in front of my old home. House. Home.
It confused me more than ever to be there.
Roran helped me out of the carriage as Rilen pushed the gratuity into Everett’s palm. No one wanted for the basics of life in S’Kir, but the finer things required gold. And the people of the Middling Hills were always in want of gold—I was glad Rilen pressed it on him. I would do more if I could.
Perhaps I could. I’d look into it soon.
As the carriage rumbled away down the dirt trail, I stood looking at my old house.
It was nestled in the shadow of a tall cliff, the sun only shining down for a mere three hours in midday, between its rise from behind the hill to its slide behind the trees on the far hill.
There were two paths. One led to the front door, poorly tended even for a dirt path, and the other led off to the right and up the hill to the mouth of a cave.
Rilen’s voice broke the odd silence between us. “Kimber, your parents were the Keepers of the Rest?”
“Yes.” I glanced to the right to the two handsome men standing there. “It wasn’t a secret.”
“I just never realized you werethatRaven family.” Roran’s eyes locked on the entrance of the cave.
“I’ve been gone for nearly fifty years. I trusted the Poulson family first. They were terrible at taking care of it. I left it to the mayor to choose the next family. Too bad it seems they were just as bad as the Poulsons.” I sighed. “We’ll go up and check the Rest before we go to Everett’s house for dinner.”
I headed up the decrepit front walk, and the twins bolted after me.
“How many Rest?” Rilen asked.
I pulled out a key to the front door and unlocked it. “I don’t know. I don’t keep the records here anymore. I am merely the owner of the land. Other people are the caretakers.”
The door creaked on its hinges as it swung into the house. The same creak I remembered from all my years there. No amount of oil or grease ever fixed it.
The dust I stirred floated through the air and didn’t have any intention of settling. It was thick and choking, and with a brush of magic, I pushed all the windows of the house open, and a welcome breeze traversed the rooms.
So bucolic. So peaceful.
