Graveminder

two people? She wanted what you had, and wanted you not-alive so she could take it, but you aren’t dead.”

He reached out to cover Rebekkah’s mouth, so her breath was against his palm. “You aren’t dead, but she killed you.” Troy looked increasingly horrified as he spoke, as if speaking brought him clarity, and clarity brought him horror. “Ms. Barrow wanted me to kill the grave woman. You . That’s why she let me out. Not first ... she let the girl out first to kill ... the first grave woman. Her mother.”

Beside her, Byron put a hand on Rebekkah’s lower back, steadying her. She shook her head. The thoughts, the words Troy spoke, made an ugly sort of sense, but they couldn’t be true. Cissy? Cissy did this ? The thought made Rebekkah feel sick in a way that she couldn’t quite verbalize. Cissy killed him. Made him kill Daisha ... who killed...

Rebekkah grabbed Troy’s other hand, so she was now holding both of his hands. “Are you sure? My aunt? Cecilia Barrow did this? Are you positive?”

Sadly, Troy nodded. “She kept me there. I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t think, but I knew where I needed to go. I needed to go home ... find you ... but not-you. The woman who could make it better. There was a different you. You aren’t two yous, though, are you? You’re real?” He pulled one hand from her grasp and stroked her face. “You are, and you saved me, but you aren’t the one I was to find—except you are. I don’t understand.”

“I do.” Rebekkah released his other hand. “You were looking for my grandmother, but she’s gone and I’m ... just like her.”

He looked stricken. “Did I—”

“No.” Rebekkah grabbed his arm as he started to step away from her. “Not you.”

“I killed a girl, Bek.” He looked heartsick. “I ... I didn’t think I could ever ... what kind of man am I?”

“One who was used.” Byron’s expression held the anger that Rebekkah couldn’t let herself feel yet.

Cissy caused Maylene’s death.

“Troy.” Rebekkah pulled his attention to her and then asked, “Can you tell me anything else about Cissy?”

“She ... they ... Twins ...” Troy’s eyes widened. He shook his head and pulled away. “I need to go.”

“Wait.” Rebekkah grabbed for his wrist, but he dodged away.

The moment she wasn’t touching him, he vanished. She was left standing outside the tunnel with Byron.

“What happened?” she asked.

“We cannot see our own dead.” Byron looked at her. “I’m guessing that means more than just those we call family.”

“So everyone I bring here will vanish?” Rebekkah frowned. The city loomed just steps away, but she wasn’t sure whether to walk toward it or go back home. Staying here meant that she could lose herself in the sensory excess that the land of the dead offered. Hiding. Going back meant she needed to find Daisha—and Cissy.

Cissy killed him.

Rebekkah opened her mouth to ask Byron what he thought, but as she did so, he said, “Alicia.”

“Where?” Rebekkah looked around. Two men approached, but neither looked like an Alicia. One was in ripped jeans and a faded black concert tee. Rebekkah looked behind her. There was no one there either.

“That would be good,” Byron said. “He needs a hand ... He’s a bartender by trade, though, not a ...”

“Byron?” Rebekkah whispered. “Who are you talking to?”

“Sorry, this is—what do you mean? Of course she can ...” Byron’s expression was suddenly stricken. “Bek? Who do you see near me?”

“Two men I don’t know. They aren’t speaking, though. You’re talking, and ...”

“You don’t see a woman?” Byron pointed to an empty spot and asked, “You can’t see her?”

Rebekkah shook her head slowly. “No.”

BYRON LOOKED AT ALICIA.

“No,” Alicia echoed. She stood, hip cocked and chin tilted.

“Neither of you can see each other.” He looked at each of the two women again and then he gestured at the men who’d come with Alicia. “Can you see them?”

Both Rebekkah and Alicia said, “Yes.”

“And they see you?” he clarified.

“Boys?” Alicia asked.

“She’s over there, Lish. Pretty thing,” one of them said.

The other man nodded. “No weapons on her, though. Foolish.”

Byron paused. “So ... neither of you sees the other. They”—he pointed at Alicia’s companions—“see both of you. You’re not known to her, so you’re ...” He looked from one woman to the other. He thought about the list of names. Was there an Alicia?

“You were a Graveminder,” Byron said.

Alicia’s shoulders arched back. “I am a Graveminder. I’m dead, but I still am what I am.”

“She’s ... why is she still here, Byron?” Rebekkah grabbed his arm. “Ask her. Does that mean that Maylene —”

“Why are you here?” he asked.

A flicker of pain crossed Alicia’s face. “No reason to move on, and plenty to stay. It’s a choice, Undertaker. I made this one. Tell her Maylene’s moved on. Your dad has, too.” She stepped up until she was uncomfortably close, but she didn’t touch him. “If you want to spend a quiet evening sometime, I’ll tell you all about it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“What?” Rebekkah prompted. “Keep what in mind?”

“Alicia was explaining that she’s here by choice. Maylene and Dad have moved on, but Alicia chose to stay,” Byron said.

“Not telling her about my offer?” Alicia’s smile was wicked. “Tsk. Tsk.”

“I’m not in the mood for games,” Byron cautioned her. “Is Troy, the one who came here with us, safe?”

“Safe as any are here.” The man in ripped jeans looked behind him. “The man you brought says to tell you he’s sorry he killed that girl, and that you need to go do something about Cissy.” He paused. “Who’s Cissy?”

Rebekkah let out a shaky breath. “Please tell him we’ll fix it.”

The second of Alicia’s companions looked over his shoulder. “She says to tell you they’ll fix it.”

Alicia laid her hand against Byron’s chest. “I’ll look after the bartender.”

“I don’t have anything for you,” Byron said. “The whole Hungry Dead business—”

“Next time. Your credit’s good for a little while. Get your friend here set up with a few weapons, too, okay?” Alicia curled her hand so that her fingernails pressed into his shirt. “Don’t linger here today.”

“Why?”

Alicia ignored his question and said, “Boys?”

The men both turned to follow her. Byron suspected that Troy did, too, but he couldn’t see the dead bartender. They walked away, and Byron was left deciding how much he trusted Alicia after all. She had taken Troy away, but he couldn’t think of any good reason for a Graveminder to be lingering in this place if she could move on. Alicia had an agenda, and she seemed to be the source for weapons in the land of the dead.

Was she behind Bek’s getting shot?

He stared after Alicia as she walked down the gray street. She might be a member of Rebekkah’s family, but being family didn’t mean that she was trustworthy. Alicia Barrow had secrets.

“B?” Rebekkah prompted.

“She said we need to go back now.”

Rebekkah laced her fingers with his. “Do you trust her?”

“For now.” He nodded, and together he and Rebekkah stepped back into the tunnel.

The walk back through the tunnel was a blink this time. They’d no more than stepped inside when they were back at Montgomery and Sons. Byron replaced the torch on the wall, and together they stepped back into the land of the living.

“Are you okay?” Byron asked.