All Chapters of Blood and Mercy: Chapter 21 - Chapter 28

28 Chapters

Don’t Fall Apart

CassieThe car door closes behind me and the sound of it feels final, like I just crossed some invisible line I can’t uncross.I’m in the back seat and Kai is across from me and the driver is pulling away from the mansion, and my brain is still trying to catch up to what just happened. I pull up Mara’s contact, and press call.It rings once.Twice.Three times. VoicemailI hang up and try again immediately because maybe she just didn’t hear it, maybe her phone was in her bag or she had it on silent or—Voicemail again.My fingers are shaking when I lower the phone to my lap and I realize I’m breathing too fast, each breath coming shallow and quick like I can’t quite fill my lungs all the way.What happened? The principal said incident but that could mean anything. Mara could be hurt. She could have hurt someone else. She could be in trouble with the police or expelled or—I press my thumbnail hard into the soft part of my palm and use the sharp sting to anchor myself.Stop spiraling.

You’re Working for Him

CassiePrincipal Grace is sitting behind her desk and she looks exactly how I remember from the last time I had to come here—a woman in her fifties with graying hair pulled back in a neat bun, wearing a cardigan that’s seen better days and glasses that sit too low on her nose. She looks tired in that particular way people get when they’ve been dealing with teenagers and bureaucracy for too many years.“Ms. Brennan. Thank you for coming so quickly.” She gestures to the chair across from her desk. “Please, sit.”I sit and my hands immediately want to start shaking again so I press them flat against my thighs and wait.“I’m so sorry about this,” I say before she can start. “Whatever Mara did, I—I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”Principal Grace’s expression softens slightly. “I appreciate that. But we need to discuss what happened today.”She folds her hands on top of a file folder on her desk and I see Mara’s name printed on the tab.“Mara was involved in a physical altercation d

She Knows

Mara is staring at me, waiting for me to deny it, to tell her she’s wrong, to say something that makes this make sense. But I can’t. The words are stuck somewhere in my throat and all I can do is stand here on the sidewalk outside her school while the silence between us grows heavier with every second that passes.Her eyes narrow. “Cassie.”It’s not a question. It’s a demand. I grab her arm before she can say anything else, my fingers closing around her elbow harder than I mean to.“Get in the car,” I say quietly. “We’ll talk about this at home.”She yanks away from me but she moves toward the car anyway because what choice does she have. I’m her ride home. I’m the one who showed up when the school called. I’m the only person she’s got right now even if she hates me for it.The back door opens and Mara climbs in, her boots scraping against the doorframe on the way. She glances once at Kai through the gap between the seats, just long enough for me to see her taking him in, filing aw

What Does He Know..?

CassieWe pull up outside our building and Mara has the door open before we’ve fully stopped, her feet hitting the sidewalk and carrying her toward the entrance.I call thank you to the driver over my shoulder and scramble out after her. “Mara, wait—”She stops walking and turns around. We’re maybe forty feet from the car. Close enough that if Kai’s window is open, even a crack, he might be able to hear us.I don’t know if it is and I don’t dare to turn back.Mara’s looking at me and there’s something in her face I’ve never seen before, something that’s past anger and into territory I don’t know how to navigate.“You’re working for him, Cassie. For the Petrovas. After what Miles did—” She stops, her voice breaking. “How could you?”The way she says the name makes it sound like a curse. “Mara, keep your voice—”“Oh you don’t get to do that.” She shakes her head and her hands ball into fists at her sides. “You don’t get to tell me to keep my voice down, not with what you’re risking. Are

Questions

KaiI’m in the front seat staring at the apartment building and thinking this is the first time I’ve been outside in five years, the first time I’ve left the mansion grounds for anything, and it wasn’t even for myself.It was for a girl I don’t know who got suspended for fighting.It was for Cassie.The realization doesn’t sit well but I don’t have time to examine it because Cassie and her sister are standing on the sidewalk about forty feet from the car and whatever’s happening between them looks like it’s about to combust. I sit here and watch through the window as Cassie tries to calm down a girl who looks like she’s about ready to explode.Mara—Cassie talked about her that night in my studio doorway, talked about her sharp edges and her anger—is standing there with her whole body pulled tight like a wire about to snap. Her arms are gesticulating and even from this distance I can see the fury radiating off her in waves.She reminds me of Lily. Not her face or anything physical, j

Why can’t I let this go..??

KaiWhen we get back to the mansion John comes around to help me out of the car. Cassie moves like she’s going to help too but I stop her before she can get close.“I’ve got it.”She steps back immediately, her hands dropping to her sides like I slapped them away.“Thank you,” she says quietly, first to John and then to me. “For coming with me today. You didn’t have to do that.”I don’t respond, just transfer into my chair and head for the entrance. Behind me I hear her footsteps follow for a few seconds before they veer off toward the staff wing where her room is, and then I’m alone heading for the lift that’ll take me up to my floor.My wing is quiet when I get there, the hallway empty and still in that way it always is. I wheel myself to my bedroom and once I’m inside with the door closed I pull out my phone and stare at it.I didn’t hear the full conversation on that sidewalk. Just those fragments. “For the Petrovas” and “Does he know what—” and then something that got swallowed

The Conversation

CassieI’m pacing my room and the floor feels too small, the walls pressing in from all sides, my brain spinning so fast I can’t make it slow down long enough to land on a single coherent thought.Mara’s face won’t leave me alone. The way she looked at me on that sidewalk, the fury burning in her eyes when she saw the Petrova name on that car, the way her voice shook when she said does he know what Miles did to his sister.And Kai’s window.It was cracked open, just slightly but could sound carry forty feet through city noise or was he too far away, was he distracted, was he even paying attention to two people arguing on a sidewalk?I walk from the bed to the window and back again, my feet wearing a path in the carpet. What did he hear? The question circles through my head on an endless loop and I can’t make it stop, can’t find an answer no matter how many times I replay every second of that scene.He didn’t say anything on the drive back. Didn’t ask a single question. Just sat in th

The lie she tells

CassieThe words die in my throat, but she didn’t push.“You’re stronger than you think, Cassie. I see it even if you don’t. Whatever you’re facing, you’ll find a way through it.”The door closes softly behind her and I’m left sitting in my chair staring at the space where she was, her words echoing in the sudden quiet.I should sleep.I know I should sleep.But every time I close my eyes I see Mara’s face, hear her voice demanding to know if Kai knows what Miles did, and sleep feels impossible.*****It’s past two in the morning when I finally make myself leave my room.The hallway is still dark except for the small lights along the baseboards, just enough to see by without illuminating much of anything. I’m heading toward Kai’s bedroom when I hear movement from his studio, the faint sound of wheels on hardwood. He’s still awake. My footsteps slow and then redirect, carrying me to his studio door instead.I stop outside his studio door and stand there with my hand raised to knock,

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