I rubbed the bandage covering my wrist with my thumb as I stared at the giant picture of James from the back of the funeral parlor. Several people sat in the wooden pews talking quietly while others stood in the line to view the casket.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my churning stomach. I hadn’t slept well in the last two days since I’d moved in with Aunt Jo. As much as I wanted to blame her snoring, every time I closed my eyes, my mind replayed James’s death and my discovery about Mercer. I’d almost paced a hole in the hotel carpet, trying to figure out what to do about him and Serenity. Now, here was the funeral, where both would definitely attend, and I still had no plan.
I jumped at the hand on my shoulder and spun around.
Sheridan held her hand up with a wide-eyed look. “Sorry, didn’t know you were so jumpy.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
She nodded her head to the front. “I still can’t believe it. I keep expecting him to walk in and say it was a joke.”
I choked back a bitter laugh. “Some joke.”
She bit her lip, and her eyes watered. “I don’t understand why.”
I gave her an awkward pat on her shoulder. “It’s something I think we all are trying to understand.”
“You were there. Did he say anything before?”
I looked down at the floor, feeling that familiar burning lump in my throat. “A lot that didn’t make sense.”
The front door to the funeral home swung open, shining bright natural light into the dim foyer. Pins and needles spread across my tattoo and up my arm. I made a small hiss and rubbed it harder as I glanced behind me.
Mercer stood with his hand on the front door and his gaze on me. My heart pounded in my ears as everything in the room blurred out of focus except for him, and the tingling turned into a buzz that traveled to every nerve. Sheridan moved between us, and the moment was broken.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to make it,” she said.
He glanced at her with a smile. “I cleared my schedule. James was important.”
I turned away and found a seat in one of the back pews. Of course he wouldn’t miss it. James had headed one of the teams of the Proprius project. What would it look like if Mercer was absent from his funeral? The school would probably be more inclined to shut him down, which wouldn’t work for whatever plan he had in that godly head of his.
I sighed and chewed the inside of my cheek. Maybe, with Aunt Jo’s clout with the school, we could get the project shut down. Mercer would have no viable reason to stay afterwards. My heart squeezed in my chest at the thought of him disappearing from my life, and I shook my head. Stupid, stupid girl.
I pressed my thumb into my tattoo as he passed by me and sat in a pew two rows in front of me. More people took their seats and talked quietly with each other. I stiffened as Serenity sat down next to me. She glanced in my direction, opened her mouth, and closed it with a shake of her head. I knew how she felt. We had too many questions we were afraid to ask each other. I sat stiffly throughout the Eulogy trying to keep my gaze from wandering to Mercer’s dark hair. The voices of the speakers merged with one another and faded into background noise.
Even for a god, it was poor taste to come his victim’s funeral, if he had killed James. He’d been hit with the same cloud of depression that had affected me, unless it had been an act. If it wasn’t, that left Serenity. My roommate sat with her shoulders straight, staring ahead at the speaker, a former classmate of James. She twisted piece of tissue around in her hands, belying the calm fa?ade she was trying to put on. She couldn’t be capable of killing James. Besides, neither she nor Mercer had red hair, nor were they decaying. Something else was stalking the streets. How many players were in this game?
The priest came to the podium, and everyone bowed their heads. I blinked and joined them, letting the words of prayer pass over me without hearing them. There were too many gods, some in this very building, to bend my knee to one, especially when no one knew who that god was. I remained seated as everyone shuffled out of the building and to their cars to drive to the cemetery. Serenity shifted her body toward me.
“I don’t know what this is about,” she said. “I really wish you’d talk to me.”
“This isn’t the best place to talk.” Then again, would there ever be one?
I pressed my lips together and dug my nail into the bandage as Mercer and Sheridan passed us. She gave us a small smile, but he kept his gaze straight ahead. They were stopped by a small group of students at the door. Serenity watched me with narrowed eyes.