Graveminder

Maylene choosing her to be Ella’s replacement, then yes, it mattered.

None of that was what she wanted to discuss, though, so she ignored it in favor of more pressing matters. “Do you want to help me tear the house apart? Or start looking at your dad’s file?”

“You’re dodging the question,” Byron pointed out. “We need to talk about this, about us, Rebekkah. You’ve been ignoring it for more than eight years, but now ... it’s the two of us dealing with this. Do you honestly think ignoring what’s between us is still an option?”

Rebekkah closed her eyes and leaned her head back. She knew that ignoring her feelings for Byron wasn’t an option anymore; it probably never had been, but she wasn’t sure what else to do. She loved him, but that didn’t mean everything else was going to fall in place.

After several moments passed during which she didn’t reply, he sighed. “I love you, but you’re a pain in the ass sometimes, Bek.”

She opened one eye and looked at him. “You, too. So ... journals?”

He paused, and she waited for him to push. She wanted to say the words, but she wasn’t sure how to. Years of trying to put him away on a shelf with the rest of Ella’s things weren’t going to fade in one day.

Instead of pushing her, he said, “I think we need to talk to the town council, read the contract, and ask Charlie some questions.”

“I asked some questions, but being forthcoming isn’t his first impulse,” Rebekkah said, and then she filled Byron in on the little that she’d learned from Charles.

Byron, in turn, told her about his conversations with Charles, with William, and with Father Ness.

“So whatever this contract is with the town ... it’s over there in his world? You saw it?” she asked when he finished.

The expression on Byron’s face grew oddly closed off. “I saw a contract, but I’m not sure if it was the one with the town . It had past Graveminders’ and Undertakers’ names, and ... I don’t know what else. Dad was there, and it was our last chance to talk ... I didn’t know it then, but they obviously did. Charlie boxed the contract up and left, but I guess every Undertaker reads it sooner or later.”

“So we go back and tell him we want to see it.”

“Pretty much,” Byron agreed. “We need to talk to the council, too.”

“Is it awful to be furious with all of them?” Rebekkah fisted her hands together. “I mean, I get it, but damn , it’s not like we have much time to figure anything out and ... I’m exhausted.”

“We will,” he said. “We’ll find Daisha, and then figure out the rest.”

Rebekkah nodded, but she wasn’t entirely sure they could do everything they needed to do. How do we find Daisha? How do we stop her? Why is there a contract in the first place? Is it breakable? She closed her eyes and leaned her head on the back of the sofa.

She felt the cushion dip as Byron came to sit beside her. “How about we get a little sleep?”

“We can’t. There are—”

“Just a couple hours. We aren’t going to get anywhere if we’re so exhausted we collapse. We’re both running on next to no sleep.”

She opened her eyes. “I know you’re right, but ... people are dying .”

“I know, and if you can’t focus, what good are you going to do them? The members of the council are asleep at this hour. Charlie refused to answer our questions. Between jet lag, Maylene’s funeral, Dad’s death, trips to Charlie’s world, shootings ... Catching a couple hours’ sleep is going to do more good than anything else we can do right now.”

For a moment, they stayed like that; then she stood. “You’re right. I’m going to grab a quick shower.”

Feeling foolish, she turned her back to him. “Can you unfasten this?”

She unhooked the clasp between her breasts, and then shrugged the outer layer of the dress off. She pulled her hair over one shoulder and stared steadfastly in front of her.

The first touch of his hands on her back made her draw in a sudden breath. They both froze for several heartbeats—each of which she was convinced he should be able to hear. Then, carefully, he began to unfasten the row of eyelets that ran along her spine. Her grip tightened on the sheer outer layer she held in her hand.

When the dress gaped open in the back, he pressed one kiss to her the back of her neck. She shivered and looked over her shoulder at him.

Say it. Tell him.

She took a steadying breath, stepped away from him—and fled.

Chapter 37

BYRON LISTENED TO THE WATER TURN ON UPSTAIRS AND DEBATED THE foolishness of following Rebekkah. Unlike her, he couldn’t care less why they were together, only that they were. He’d spent his life waiting on her, but had he known about Graveminders and Undertakers he’d have given her up rather than have her in danger. She has no choice. Because of the contract, they were tied together until death. Which isn’t going to make her any more likely to admit her feelings. She was the Graveminder—but she was still the same woman who hated being trapped, the same woman who had let her dead sister stand between her and Byron for years, the same woman who was so afraid of losing the people she loved that she denied loving them. She was the same woman he’d loved for years. And now she’s going to be in danger for the rest of her life. He wasn’t sure if her vulnerability in the land of the dead was more or less frightening than the fact that a dead girl was in Claysville killing people. In both worlds, Rebekkah was a target.

How did you do this, Dad?

Everything had shifted in mere days—giving Byron what he wanted most, a future with Rebekkah, and putting that very same thing in a state of danger he couldn’t have anticipated. He checked the doors, and then stood at the bay window in the living room looking at the dark. Daisha could be right outside, and he wouldn’t know it. She could be killing someone. She would kill people.

He picked up the journal and flicked through the pages.

If Mae knew Lily had died, none of this would’ve happened. What kind of man hides his wife’s death? Lily was kept there, and because of it, she came back. Mae was heartbroken.

Byron turned to another section and read:

Charlie refused to tell me anything about Alicia’s anger. She isn’t much better. She’s steered me wrong a few times, but most of her information is good ...

The number of secrets in the thin book was staggering. Byron skimmed, looking for Charlie’s name.

Nick is a jackass. If he could, he’d let the ministers move here without any knowledge of the contract. He says, “The townsfolk don’t know about it when they have children, so why should the ministers?” The difference is that the townsfolk are trapped here. New people aren’t. They can come and go if they aren’t born here.

Ann brought up parenthood when I mentioned the fracas at the meeting. We’re allowed to have a child whenever we choose. Undertakers don’t have to wait for consent. How do I pass this on to my own son? How do I tell Ann no?

Rebekkah came partway down the stairs. She was wearing a long nightshirt; the top of it was damp from her dripping-wet hair. “The shower’s free.”

If it wouldn’t make her run, he’d be upstairs with her already. Instead, he nodded. “I’ll be up in a minute.”

He resumed reading:

Mae understood why Ella did it, but she didn’t want to tell me. I saw her look at Ella. She knows the lure of Charlie’s world. I don’t understand it, but she tells me that the world she knows there is not what I see.

Sometimes I dream of killing Charlie.