Page 273 of Bitter’s Sweet

There is also Bitter.

I have not asked him why he killed Razor. Maybe because I am afraid of the answer. Maybe because I already know it will not be as simple as for you.

Bitter has finally stopped making everything simple when simple serves him.

That might be the strangest part of all.

A few days after the murder hole, I am back at the School of the Dead with a black apron around my waist, a restorative brush in my hand, and a dead man named Raven teaching me more about the living than seems fair.

Mercy has trusted me with his temple. Raven looked good for his original viewing, but the postponed procession means he's been waiting several extra days. Mercy says his preservation has held, although some of the color at his temple and hands needs refreshing before his final ride.

Not practice wax or a silicone training face.

Raven.

A real man. A Grave Prowler. A brother to half the men wandering this property.

He rests in his rider’s coffin beneath the preparation lights, dressed in his cut, his hands arranged carefully, his face peaceful without being falsely alive.

That distinction matters.

My job is not to make death disappear.

My job is to make sure death does not erase him.

“Too warm,” Mercy says beside me.

I glance at the color on my palette. “You said he had more red through here.”

“He did. You got nervous.”

“I am coloring a biker whose friends carry guns.”

“They carry guns when you color practice heads too.”

“Practice heads don’t have friends.”

Junie snorts from Raven’s other side.

Mercy taps the palette with one fingernail. “Again.”

I blend a cooler tone and apply it carefully along Raven’s temple, feathering the edge until the discoloration disappears into the surrounding skin.

Mercy leans in.

I hold my breath.

She straightens. “Better.”

Praise from Mercy Duvall is apparently designed to be rationed like wartime sugar.

I still feel ten feet tall.

“Do the hand next.”

My stomach flips. “Really?”

“No, sugar. I enjoy assigning imaginary work to people holding actual brushes.”