Page 10 of Last Rites

That detail had not been part of my limited discussions with Kit since his return. I told him I’d worried about him falling prey to anything from wolves to bandits to mountain lions, but the spectacle I’d made of myself while shouting in the town square and knocking on doors had not been relayed. I would have preferred it to stay that way, seeing that it made me look crazy or desperate, and I was supposed to be angry.

I didn’t dare glance at Kit and let him see more of the color that was tinting my cheeks, so I met Levitt head on as I replied, “We had separate business to take care of before we got back, and I expected Kit to beat me here. I forgot how much faster the trip is with just a horse and no wagon.”

Like he had at the door, Levitt deferred to Kit for confirmation, and I felt my hackles rising.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Kit piped up. “But I assume you had something you wanted to discuss beyond our comings and goings.”

Levitt lifted a mug of tea from the tray and held it in his one hand. Steam curled in a thin tendril toward his nose. “I was hoping to revisit what we spoke about before you left… but perhaps now is not the best time.”

I was still scowling so deeply it crinkled my eyes. Levitt definitely saw it as he glanced at me, then quickly away. And he had the nerve to appeal to Kit again. Like a plea to get me out of here before I ruined their would-be clandestine meeting.

Kit’s hand found my knee under the table and rested there, a gentle weight to hold me in place. “Anything you have to say can be said in front of Penny,” he told Levitt. “I trust him implicitly. There are no secrets between us, and he’s been privy to everything you and I have discussed.”

There was a question, an unspoken “Everything?” that flitted across Levitt’s face.

Yes, everything, I wanted to tell him. I knew how Kit waited for him after he escaped Ashpoint, but Levitt never showed up despite knowing where to find him. I knew that he’d made excuses for Merrick’s murderous behavior. I knew he was a coward, and we were here doing his job for him: fixing what was broken in this place and reminding the people here who Eeus really was before the Bone Men twisted him into something monstrous. Showing them that community didn’t require the kind of sacrifices that people like Merrick wanted them to make.

“That’s good to hear.” Levitt set the tea down, then clasped his hand over the stump of his right wrist. “We searched Merrick’s house and office while he was away, though he wasn’t gone as long as we had anticipated.”

Intrigue softened the harder lines of my expression. This was the kind of news I wanted to hear, but a swell of pride compelled me to share, “He showed up somewhere he was neither wanted nor needed, so I sent him home.”

Levitt smirked at me, and I answered with a crooked grin of my own.

I had done that. I chased my half-brother off the farm like the blight he was. I protected my family, stood up for Kit and for myself, and I was strong enough to be part of this. Even if I had to elbow my way into meetings like these.

“Yes, that was my fault. I apologize. When we searched his home after the Tribunal, we found nothing. But Violette told you”—he gestured at Kit—“that he had your father’s journals. I think that’s the only thing she didn’t lie about.”

Kit rolled his eyes at the reminder of Levitt’s twin’s charges against him.

Levitt just smiled.

“We needed to do a more thorough search, but I couldn’t risk doing that while he was in town. He still has too many allies here that could have alerted him to what we were doing and given him a chance to destroy everything first. So, I sent him after you, and while Vi was out of the house, we turned it upside down and found your father’s journals hidden in the floorboards.”

He paused to take a sip of his tea, then gestured to the shelves on the side of the fireplace nearest to him. There were two stacks of books there, out of place laid on their sides in front of a row of otherwise neat volumes. Upon closer inspection, I recognized the stitching on the spines, though some of them didn’t look quite as hefty as I remembered them to be.

“They were missing quite a few pages,” Levitt went on, “but Merrick didn’t have time to get through them all. There was a fair bit of incriminating information involving Merrick in the ones he didn’t finish redacting, which leaves little wonder as to why he didn’t want you to have them, or anyone else to get the chance to read them. It’s clear from what happened before you left for spring planting that Violette was colluding with him, so we detained her, along with Fletcher, who was supposed to be cataloging the journals to be returned to you. And as soon as Merrick returned, we detained him, as well.”

Gone were all traces of irritation. Mistrust forgotten. The cowardly leader of the Bone Men had descended from his perch at last. He was moving. Acting. Doing something. And, gods, that felt good.

My grin spread while Kit sat beside me, slack jawed.

Levitt looked less pleased than he had earlier, likely a bit torn at having to treat his sibling like a criminal. It was a feeling to which I could relate. It seemed we’d both been unlucky in that area.

“They’re all being held pending sentencing,” Levitt concluded. “Now that the two of you are back, we can proceed. I assume you’d both be willing to give testimony?”

“Yes!” I blurted and pushed to standing. “Today? Right now? Let’s go.”

Levitt chuckled, then waved me back down. “There will need to be a trial before the rest of the Tribunal—a formality, really, at this point—but I also need to put the Sentinels to a vote on replacing Merrick.”

His explanation failed to impress me, but I remained hopeful despite being given an elaborate “no.” This was good news. More progress than we’d seen in months. The end was in sight, and fate may have finally been on our side.

“Kit, can I assume you’re still willing to take his place?” Levitt asked, and I joined him in looking at Kit, who met my gaze instead of his.

“Are you okay with that?” he asked.

Not entirely. Not even very much. But I believed in Kit, and I’d trusted him since the day I showed up at his house and he waved a knife in my face. He would be a far better Shroud Warden than Merrick had ever been, and he would do what it took to fix this place. Then we could wash our hands of it, and he could have the peace he'd been chasing for half his life.

“I am,” I told him.