She had a point. We’d spent the last three years avoiding our familial bonds to the point of damn near pretending we were orphans. With my mother gone, I guessed I was, but I never felt without family when I was with Serenity. I held out my closed fist, and she bumped it with hers.
“All right,” I said. “Then maybe you can help me out on Mercer.”
She sighed and looked to the floor. “I was wondering when you would ask. Look, I can’t tell you. He won’t let me.”
“What happened to the rebellion of thirty seconds ago?”
“No, seriously. The words won’t leave my mouth.” She opened her mouth and closed it several times. “See? I just tried to tell you.”
I shook my head with a snort. “You’re right. He’s a jackass.”
“And you still slept with him.”
I stared down at my closed laptop as my chest tightened. Jackass or not, just the memory of his smile could turn my legs to jelly. This soft spot in my heart needed to harden to stone.
“You won’t be upset if I kill him?” I asked softly.
Serenity choked. “What?”
“It’s what we do. Mostly to the spirits, but if a gods gets out of hand, them, too.”
She held her hand up. “Don’t get me wrong. He’s an ass, but I don’t know if he deserves that.”
“Why not? You know some of the stories, right? They’ve caused humans so much suffering just for their own selfishness.”
“Humans have done that to each other for centuries after the gods left,” Serenity said. “You going to start judging them, too?”
“Policing humans isn’t what my bloodline is supposed to do.”
“Weren’t you the one who said he wanted to change?” She threw her hands up. “I can’t believe I’m actually defending him now.”
“If he’s helping whatever killed James, then I need to deal with him, too.”
She twisted her fingers in her lap. “He had nothing to gain from killing James. It only set his pet project back.”
“He was pretty pissed when James was blaming you,” I said.
“Trust me, there were so many ways he could have handled that. Killing James was too drastic.”
I leaned back and tapped my armchair. “This is really weird. So many of you in one place.”
She shook her head. “I’ve spent most of my life avoiding it.”
“So, back to who he is. What can you tell me?”
Her eyes darted away from me. “I really don’t know.”
“Twenty questions it is.” I rubbed my chin with my up pointed index finger. “Can you tell me who you are?”
She blinked at me and tilted her head. “Hi, I’m Serenity Vargoss. Nice to meet you.”
“Okay, I walked into that one. How about what you are? Are you a god like Mercer?”
Her lips moved, but no words came out, and she started looking like a gaping fish.
I slouched back in my chair and tapped my fingers on my chin. “This is really annoying. I don’t know where to start.”
“Mercer is a good start.”
I blinked. “His persona? What about it? Is it really some poor guy he’s possessing, or did he invent it?”
“He’s not possessing anyone.” She blinked. “Whoa. I guess he didn’t think that was important.”
“Or he wanted to intimidate me with the information.”
It would be a fight like my mother faced and lost. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat and took a deep breath. I pressed my thumb into my tattoo. The tingling seemed to have abated the longer I spent with Serenity.
“Okay,” I said. “So he created Mercer. That’s a big lie for as famous as Mercer is.”
“Isn’t it?” Serenity said.
“Someone would have gone digging. They didn’t find anything off with his background?”
“If they did, they were silenced,” Serenity said.
“Silenced like?” I made a slitting motion across my throat.
She chuckled. “Probably not that bad. He probably just talked to them.”
“So he has a way with words,” I said.
“That’s an understatement,” she muttered.
“Good with technology, he invented a big social media site and made a lot of money, loved expensive things, and women.”
She nudged me with her foot and grinned. “The last two won’t be helpful. I mean, look at the Greek gods.”
I opened my mouth for my next question when the door jingled. The slight tingle of my tattoo disappeared as a burning sensation flared across it. I gasped and doubled over, grabbing my wrist.
Sheridan stumbled through the door and into the closet seat. The right side of her hair had come out of the twist she’d had it in and hung over her ear and face. Mascara mixed with her tears ran down her cheeks. The left strap of her pink dress was torn and dangled down. She held her arms wrapped around herself and rocked as her sobs drowned out the soft guitar music playing in the background.
Chapter 19
I jumped to my feet and grabbed my laptop at the last minute before it hit the ground. Serenity turned to glance behind her and stood up with a gasp when she saw Sheridan. I pushed past her and made it to Sheridan a few seconds after Katy. Serenity was at my heels. I kneeled down and put a hand on Sheridan’s wrist. She jumped and snatched her hand from me with her wide eyes going to my face.
“It’s Cassi,” I said softly.