Page 28 of Hell and Halos

And this is when I realize the hands have formed a circle around us. And half of them are lookin' at me, and half of them are lookin' at Wyatt and Cash. And I'm on the goddamned ground, letting the fuckin' Ashby brothers save my sister.

Cash was right. I am bein' a pussy.

I pick myself up off the dirt, grab a shotgun, and start runnin' after them. Several of the hands are already ahead of me, but I catch up just as we all reach the wagon together.

Cash looks back at me over his shoulder, then pulls the door open.

For a moment time stops and nobody moves.

I feel the failure in this moment.

It's a wiping away of everything I thought I had, and in the emptiness left behind, I find only misery.

And then…

Then I hear it. A faint muffled noise. Some knocking from inside. And as Cash enters, flicking the switch for the lights, I know something for certain.

Mercy is OK.

The Devil didn't win the war, just got the best of me in a battle.

Which means it's not over yet.

The trunk has a padlock on it, but moments pass, and I'm flanked on all sides by hands, and then someone delivers bolt cutters to Cash's waitin' hands—long ones, powerful ones. The kind that cut chains, not fences.

The lid opens, and there she is. My perfect, feral rat of a sister. Who can shoot straight and cook herself macaroni and cheese with milk.

Her face is red, eyes swollen from cryin', and it breaks me to see her like that. Mercy isn't the kind of girl who scares easy. She's not a crier.

But this—this look on her face—it's a look of terror.

Her Kane-blue eyes are locked on mine as Cash rips the tape off her mouth, and then, before he can cut the rope around her wrists, she's comin' at me. For a moment, I register this as a threat.

Because I am a dumbass.

Because I have lived with nothing but battle-ready wariness for all thirty-two years of my life.

Because I forgot that to this little girl, I am her number one.

She barrels into me face first, unable to hug me, but not carin'.

I don't care either. I bend down, and take her in my arms, and we just lean into each other.

Time stops here.

The whole universe goes silent.

All I hear are her breathy, weeping words. "I knew you'd come. I knew you'd save me."

Cash and I lock eyes as a hand cuts the ropes around her wrists, both of us knowin' I'm takin' credit for more than I should. But I catch him shruggin'.

"All right," Wyatt snaps. "Show’s over! Savannah is down in that goddamned crypt! Marcus White Jr. is here somewhere, and if he's not down there with her, I want him found." He starts pointin' at hands. "You, you, you, you, and you.” He doesn't even know their names, I don't think. "You take the horse barns. You, you, you, and you, you all take the shops on the west side. You, you, you⁠—"

He goes on like that, handin' out orders like he runs the place.

And Cash says nothin'.

When all the hands are gone, he turns back to Cash and lets out a breath. "Please, motherfucker. Please tell me you have the code for that elevator."