“I don’t know. But you, Merc, my boss, just about everyone would like to know.”
“I’m coming over.”
“No. I’m just getting ready for bed. I told you I wasn’t up for doing anything tonight.”
“Too late. I’m in your driveway. Open the door.”
Ash sighed, then hung up and went to her kitchen. She put the outside light on just as Kiera got out of her van. She walked into the room like an avenging angel, ready to battle for Ash’s sanity.
The two women took one look at each other, then hugged. God, it felt great to see her friend. Ash was glad that Kiera hadn’t listened to her request to stay away.
“Tea or wine?” Kiera asked, holding up a box of Earl Grey and a bottle of shiraz.
“Wine.”
Ash got two glasses out of her cabinet.
“Better make it three,” Kiera said, seconds before a knock sounded on the kitchen door.
Ash knew who it was—and what they were doing. Summer had come too.
“Having an intervention, are we?” Ash asked, giving Summer a hug.
“Seems so. I mean, what else were we to do?” Summer asked. “You haven’t been taking our calls. And you ditched our meetup tonight—again.”
Summer and Kiera exchanged looks as Kiera handed them their glasses. “It’s not like you to isolate yourself, Ash,” Kiera said. “You’re a social butterfly. You need people like you need air.”
Ash set her glass down on the coffee table and started pacing around her living room. “I have a big problem.”
“Summer said you were hurt in Colombia,” Kiera said.
Ash lifted her hair away from the bug bite. It seemed worse today. A large scab had formed. “Just a bug bite. And no, that’s not it. It’s much worse.”
“Okay,” Kiera prompted. “You’ve got our full attention.”
“I’m in love with Merc.”
Summer giggled. “That would be a big problem. But you’ve got to know, he’s a wonderful man.”
“He’s not the problem. What he is is the problem.”
Kiera and Summer exchanged a worried glance. “What is he?” Kiera asked.
“A mutant.”
“Oh,” Kiera said with a sigh.
“You both knew, and you didn’t tell me? You let me prattle on about live-action role-playing game nonsense and didn’t stop me? You knew about ghouls and the Matchmaker and the Omnis. You knew all of it and just let me fall into his whole world.”
“It’s my fault,” Summer said. “I tried to tell you about all of it, but you laughed, convinced it was a Halloween prank. And then something happened to you in Colombia and you somehow connected with Merc. After that, Sam said we had to back off and let you two figure things out.”
“I did know, it’s true,” Kiera said. “I found out when I went to the fort to check on Summer. Sam told me everything. I asked him to keep all of this from you, leave you your innocence as long as possible.”
Summer took Ash’s hand and led her to the sofa. She sat next to her, and Kiera took the side chair. Kiera liked the advantage of being able to watch them as they talked, like a counselor.
“Ash,” Kiera started, “we’re your friends. Your best friends. We’ve been through so much together. We have so much more to get through in our lives. You can rely on us, lean on us. Let us help you.”
Ash sipped her wine. “All right. Merc’s talking about having me become a mutant. What’s that like, Summer?”
“The change was hard. I got very sick. And waking on the other side of it is strange. All of my senses are enhanced. I can hear the thoughts of some people. I’m stronger. I’m different.”
“Are you going to do it?” Kiera asked.
Ash shook her head. “I’m afraid. I saw what he’s up against. I saw the fiends you tried to tell us about, Sum. I want him, but I don’t want that world.”
“You mentioned a matchmaker. Who or what is that?” Kiera asked.
“He’s some kind of urban legend in the mutant world,” Summer said. “Remember the weirdo guy who crashed our ladies’ night before I started dating Sam? The guy with the red hair who kept popping up out of nowhere? He’s the Matchmaker.”
“Uh-huh,” Kiera said, doubt heavy in her voice.
“The legend goes that if the Matchmaker pairs a human and a mutant, and both accept the match, then the human will die,” Ash said. “I don’t want to die.”
“And if you don’t join him, the legend says he will die,” Summer added. “I don’t like the legend. I hope it’s not real. Our guys are trying to figure it out, but I’m afraid the Omnis are light-years ahead of them.”
“You guys do realize you’re not making any sense, right?” Kiera said.
Ash shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense, Kiera. Not any of this. On top of it all, I keep seeing Flynn. I think he’s stalking me.”
“Brett Flynn?” Summer asked. When Ash nodded, Summer said to Kiera, “He’s the guy I told you about. My former boss’s business partner, the guy I thought roofied me. He used Clark to attack me.”
“Flynn killed Merc’s family,” Ash said.
Summer covered her mouth, shocked. “He kidnapped and attacked Selena—twice. Once when they were kids, then just recently.”
Ash thought about what Flynn had promised, that he’d leave Merc—and the guys—alone if she agreed to not take their changes. That offer was something she was genuinely considering. Merc deserved to have his life, after nearly losing it mourning his family.
But who should she believe? The Matchmaker’s urban legend or Flynn’s promise to call the Omnis off Merc?
Could any of them be trusted?
“I don’t want to become a mutant,” Ash said, staring into her glass. “I’m afraid of the shift from human to mutant. I’m afraid my joining Merc in his world will kill one of us. I’m afraid of the monsters he keeps fighting. I’m afraid of crazies like Flynn. I’m tired of being afraid. I want my old world, where up was up and down was down. I want my life back.”
The room was silent for a long moment.
“So this is the battle you’ve been fighting, then,” Kiera said. “I had no idea. And I can see why you withdrew from us to make your decision.”
Ash nodded. The energy in the room now felt like they were mourning a big loss. And they were. The decision she was leaning toward meant she’d have to lose Merc.
It felt like a death.
Summer reached for her hand. “Be certain about this. Merc’s a wonderful man.”
“He’s my heart, and my heart’s now screaming.” Ash had a suspicion that it always would, for the rest of her life.
“Ash, I know you aren’t making this choice easily,” Kiera said. “I don’t know what I would do if I were in your shoes. I don’t know that I could pick life over love. I loved once, and it was wonderful. Losing my husband almost killed me. This may kill you—or Merc—just from being brokenhearted.”
Ash sniffled and wiped her eyes with the heel of her wrist. Kiera was right about that. This decision was already devastating her.