by Ciara Graves
“History lesson. How wonderful,” Damian muttered but waved me on.
“The gargoyles used to be guardians before they were twisted against their purpose.”
Mercy went back to her walking around the room.
I didn’t take my eyes off her. “They were allied with another race before they were hunted down and killed. Dragons.”
Mercy stopped so suddenly she nearly toppled over. “What?”
“Dragons,” I repeated.
She gulped.
Damian showed no reaction at all. He appeared bored as he moved across the room and poured himself a glass of whiskey.
I continued, “Sycamore said if the gargoyles have returned, it’s a bad omen. Sign of the apocalypse, in a way.”
“The Gathered always enjoy having a dim view of our future. They’ve predicted the end of the world quite a few times. Was there anything else helpful?” Damian offered me a drink.
I shook my head. “He thinks the only ones capable of bringing back the gargoyles are the reapers or the dragons. Seeing as they are extinct, I worry the reapers are behind their reappearance.”
Heading into Sector 13 was not at the top of my to-do list, but if we couldn’t find any other clues, we’d have to go there and see what we could find. This time, we would be there on official business and have an entire team with us to ensure the reapers did not decide to keep us as reluctant donors.
“Not sure I like this information,” Damian mused.
“I have one more thing.” I hesitated, sure Mercy was going to hate me for even suggesting this, but Damian cared for her as I did. If he believed me, even partly, she’d be forced to take my worries more seriously. “The gargoyles. I think they’re targeting Mercy.”
Damian choked on his whiskey.
Mercy glowered at me from across the room. “No, they’re not,” she argued.
“Really? The first time we were attacked, it was only interested in you.”
“That is not true.”
“Yeah it is, and you know it. It tried to take off with you. It couldn’t have cared less about me. The second time, you were in your apartment and that gargoyle attacked. They’re after you. I don’t think you should be left alone until we get to the bottom of this.”
That dagger was back in her hand and the same, cold-eyed Mercy I first laid eyes on months ago looked back at me. This was not the Mercy I’d come to know. If I messed up whatever this was between us, then so be it, but I was not going to let her be alone until we knew if she was a target or not.
“You have no say over what I do.” Mercy flipped the dagger over and aimed the tip my direction.
“But he has a point.”
“No, he doesn’t. There’s no proof. None,” she ranted.
“There’s no proof they aren’t either,” Damian said, the calm returning to his voice. “These aren’t like other bad guys you’ve faced. They’re gargoyles. And they’ve already gotten the better of you twice.”
“How can you say that?” Mercy shouted at Damian.
“Rafael, can you give us a moment, please?”
I worried about leaving them alone, but Mercy had turned her back on me. Staying would only make matters worse. I stepped into the front room, toward the door.
Behind the curtain, Damian’s voice sounded calm and collected.
For a few minutes, I heard nothing of Mercy until glass shattered and then she was yelling.
It was impossible not to hear, unless I walked outside, and the Fed in me didn’t budge.
“You’re asking for trouble. You understand that. What is wrong with you?”
“He can keep you safe.”
“I can keep myself safe. I can stay here. You said it yourself. It’s warded.”
“I’ll ensure his place is warded, too. But you can’t stay here. Not while I’m going to be gone.”
“Where are you going?” Mercy asked the question that was on my mind.
“There are a few loose ends I need to check into, and they can’t wait. You weren’t supposed to be getting attacked by gargoyles.”
“So you’re leaving?”
“I don’t have a choice, and you’re not staying with anyone else. Got it?”
Anyone else? Who did Damian mean? Gigi or Bowen? I wasn’t worried about her being with the Bowen. She made her choice on that matter already. But what was wrong with staying with Gigi? She was a powerful witch and could keep Mercy safe.
I rebelled at the notion of passing on the chance to have Mercy at my place and willed Damian to make her see reason. Staying with me was the safest option, so why was she fighting it so hard?
“Whatever hell is about to come down on us, I will not risk you, understand me?” Damian said with a fierce growl that almost made me believe he was a full demon. The rest of his words were too quiet to hear.
She said something back, but it was muffled.
I grunted, annoyed.
The curtain parted, and they exited.
Mercy marched right toward me. She poked me hard in the chest. “I’ll stay with you. Not because I agree that they’re after me, but because I’m tired and need to sleep. But,” she added with a gleeful grin, “I get the bedroom this time.”
“If that’s what it takes, fine, you can have it.”
“I need clothes from my place and my weapons.”
“Go,” Damian told us. “If you don’t mind, Rafael, I’ll head over and makes sure your place is warded? Bring Gigi with me.”
The old Rafael would’ve balked at the idea. Now I waved him on and escorted Mercy out of his place and back to her apartment.
The walk was tense, and the crime scene was in full throttle.
I spotted Nor. Mercy assured me there were enough Feds crawling around her place to keep her safe, so I let her go upstairs alone and talked to him.
“How’s she holding up?”
I shrugged. “Good enough. It almost had her.”
“I’m assuming you’re going to be keeping a close eye on her?”
“I am. I’ll keep working on the case, sir. No need to worry.”
He patted me on the shoulder. “As much as I can’t believe I’m saying this, we need her to stay safe and alive. She’s your priority right now. You can work from your place, but if you find something, you call Iris or me. Got it?”
Never did I expect to hear those words from Nor. I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
His gaze was trained on the apartment.
Mercy stood on the threshold. She glared into the distance, then spun around and disappeared inside.
The look Nor gave her startled me, but it was gone so fast, I told myself it hadn’t been there, to begin with. Nor’s normally stern expression returned as he glared at the place the gargoyle’s body had been.
“I’ll have Iris talk to Joseph Sycamore again. Let him know about tonight. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and he’ll have seen something.”
“I don’t think our luck will be that good.”
“You never know. Get Mercy out of here. We’ll take care of this mess. I’ll have them pack up whatever’s left in her place and take it to storage until it gets repaired.”
“Sir?”
“Rafael.”
I wasn’t sure how to ask what I wanted to ask, so told him never mind and waited for Mercy to exit the building.
He liked how she worked, and how much good she’d done with us, but he was treating her like she was one of us now. I wasn’t about to complain. Made my life a hell of a lot easier.
I took one of Mercy’s bags as she reached the sidewalk.
“Come on,” she called over her shoulder and aimed for her bike at the curb.
“You know what, I’ll meet you at my place.”
She sighed as she attached her bag to the back of it. “You know, while you were off in La-La land, you enjoyed riding on this thing.”
“I did?”
“Would I lie to you?” Her eyes darkened as she said it and she looked away from me. She had, in f
act, lied to me about something major in her life. What was to say she wouldn’t do it again? And with something worse? Or that she wasn’t doing it right now.
“If you want to catch a ride with someone else, be my guest.” She grabbed her helmet and was about to put it on when I told her to wait.
Smiling, she attached the other bag, and I climbed on behind her. “Hold on tight.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist as the bike roared to life.
The light in the bathroom flipped off, and Mercy poked her head around the corner. “Sure you don’t need anything else from in here?”
“All yours.” I fluffed the pillow on the couch and flopped onto it. “Get some sleep.”
“Rafael?”
I threw my arm over my face, worn out from the last forty-eight hours. “Mercy?”
“Uh—nothing, it’s nothing. See you in the morning.”
The bedroom door closed.
I wanted to be sure I was alone in the living room. I looked at the ceiling, playing through the stream of flashbacks I’d been having since hopping on that damned bike.
I saw the night I’d ridden on it, behind her. Back when I was not as myself. I’d sounded so free at that moment. So happy. I blinked, and the image was replaced with another. An image of us, sitting on the couch, kissing. Of her walking around in those damned sleep shorts and tank she wore to bed. I heard her laughter. Those memories lulled me to sleep. Whatever Mercy was worried that I would remember, I assumed it was not of all we had shared during that week.
Sometime during the night, I growled myself awake, and sat upright on the couch.
My head throbbed, and I struggled to hang onto the images assaulting me. Mercy, Bowen, and I were in a room. There were papers on a table. It was the same memory I’d been seeing, but the third figure had always blurred out. Tonight, I saw it in full view. It had to be a nightmare. I was not going to let myself believe it to be true. I couldn’t. A goblin? Why would Mercy be working with a goblin? Especially after all they did to her, whether possessed or not? But this particular goblin with the pierced ears, seemed familiar. Why did I recognize him?
As I sat on the couch, holding my face in my hands, the bedroom door opened, and I stilled.
Mercy’s figure emerged from the short hallway, tiptoeing across the floor.
My lips curled up with amusement that she thought she could sneak out of this place.
Damian told me before he and Gigi headed out earlier that he placed a special ward on the door. It would alert me if she was within two feet of it or any window. He was damned serious about her not being on her own. When she was almost in the kitchen, she kicked the armchair and cursed, hopping on one foot.
I flicked on the lamp beside me.
She flinched.
“What are you doing?”
She glowered at me, holding her foot, then sank into the chair she’d kicked. “Not sneaking out, if that’s what you think. How long were you watching me?”
“Bad dream. I was up.”
“Same.” She dropped her foot and got back up, padding into the kitchen. “Grabbing some water. Want anything?”
I didn’t miss the way her eyes dropped to my bare chest. The memory of holding her slammed into me, and I found myself on my feet, following her into the kitchen. Reaching for a glass, her hand shook.
Worried she’d been through too damned much in so little time I pulled her into my arms.
“You’re trembling, and you’re cold.” I wrapped my arms around her, and she buried her face in my chest. The action startled me for a split second, but I wasn’t about to let go. “Mercy?”
“Why are you always so warm?”
I chuckled and rested my chin atop her head. “Demon. Part of my endless charm.”
“Right. Charm. We’ll call it that.” She hugged me back.
I waited for her to tell me what was wrong. When she didn’t, I leaned back, and studied her face.
She glared at me. “I’m enjoying this, don’t ruin it.”
“You said you had a bad dream. Want to talk about it?”
“Nope.”
“Then how about you tell me what happened right before the attack.”
“Double nope.” She slipped from my arms.
I grunted at the loss.
“Nothing happened.”
“Liar.”
Her hand stilled halfway to the glasses. “You were telling the truth. Damn.”
“About what?”
“About my being a shitty liar.” Her hand fell to the counter. She leaned on it hard, eyes closed. “I was falling again, but this time my magic wasn’t enough to save me. I hit the pavement. And, yeah. Not the greatest thing to dream about.”
Gently, I turned her to face me. The scar on her face was redder than normal.
“And before the attack?”
Her eyes crinkled like she was about to lie then she sighed. “I had a flare up.”
“Why?”
“No idea. I had just gotten back to my place after telling the others about the gargoyles, and it was like my face was on fire. I passed out on the floor. When I came to, the gargoyle was there.” She hung her head, then ran her fingers through the messy tangles of her hair, blonde with a few black streaks. “You really think they’re after me? Not mages. But me?”
“I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
“Because I can’t take care of myself. Got it?”
“That’s not what I said.”
She stormed away from me toward the bedroom.
“Will you just hang on a damned second? You can’t deny that you have a tendency to throw yourself in harm’s way.”
“I’m not going to apologize for doing my job.”
“Revenge, Mercy. The last time was out of revenge. Anything having to do with this Envy is about revenge. You won’t be able to get revenge if you’re dead. Why is it so hard for you to let others help you?”
“I don’t need anyone getting hurt because of me.”
“You are not in this alone. I won’t let you be.” I stalked toward her, standing at my full demon height.
Her head craned back so she could keep glaring at me.
“I told you before I’m remembering everything. If there’s something else I need to know, tell me now.”
“The worst part was the fight you came in at the end of. With Envy,” she said, but her eyes crinkled with the lie. “There’s nothing else you need to worry about.”
I remembered the note of random words I jotted down dealing with a Blood Moon and artifacts.
The question was on my lips, but the bags under Mercy’s eyes stopped me.
She was pale, beyond tired, and as much as I wanted her to simply tell me the truth, I’d find out one way or another, including why she might’ve been working with a goblin.
“Get some sleep,” I finally muttered, heading back to the couch and flipping off the lamp. “You’re safe here.”
Even in the dark, I sensed her intense blue-eyed stare. Then she stomped to the bedroom and slammed the door shut.
I’d remember everything soon enough.
How bad could it be that she refused to tell me?
What was she scared I’d do?
Chapter 6
Mercy
I tugged the blankets over my head as sunlight streamed through the curtains. I hadn’t expected to go back to sleep after the nightmare of falling to my death. Even though I argued with Rafael briefly, having him in the other room was comforting. I partially hated how much I was coming to lean on him. I was used to being on my own. Taking care of my own issues. Now, I was sleeping in his bed, breathing in his deep woods scent, and wondering how soon this was all going to end.
He was going to remember everything. That’s what he said. Now I couldn’t decide which was worse. His remembering what he helped Bowen, Rufus, and I do. Or that I was dragonborn. I crushed the pillow over my face, wanting to disappear for a few more hours, but it was a new day, and we had a new issue to
deal with.
I climbed out of bed and slipped into the bathroom.
Rafael was up, and on the phone, but I didn’t catch who he was speaking with.
I freshened up, then stepped out and right into him.
“Oh, hey. What’s wrong?”
“You feeling alright?”
“Yeah,” I said slowly, “why? Are you checking me for a fever?” His large palm rested on my forehead. “Rafael, I said I’m fine.”
“She doesn’t have one. Guess she was just overtired,” he said into the phone. “Right. Bye.”
“Did I miss something? I didn’t sleep that late, did I?”
He crossed his arms, breathing heavily out his nose, a habit I noticed he had when he was worried. “You slept for two days straight. That was Gigi. She was about to come over if you didn’t wake up. Since you did, I’m taking you to her.”
“Why? Was there another attack?”
“No, but she wants to make sure you’re fine. Said something about that gargoyle claw, too.”
I followed him into the living room, not really concerned with how long I’d slept. It had been a rough few days. I was more curious as to why he wasn’t sticking around with me and Gigi, in case she had a hit off the claw. “You want to dump me on Gigi, so you can chase a lead.”
“Never said that.”
“You don’t have to. I’m coming with you.”
“No, you’re not. It’s not a definite lead. Just a hunch.”
“A hunch about what?”
He plopped down on the couch and shuffled through some papers.
I thought I spotted one that mentioned something about the Blood Moon and artifacts and 1462 as well as the word, map with a question mark next to it. Shit, I was running out of time to figure what to do. Running sounded like a great option at this point.
“Where are you going?” I tried again.
“Back to Sherwood’s apartment. I want to see if there’s anything else there that might help. Then I’m thinking of heading back to the Citadel and see if I can’t get anything else out of him. That’s all, I promise. So get that annoyed look off your face.”
I turned for the bedroom, to get dressed. “Whatever you say.”
Ever since we got back from dealing with the werewolves, I couldn’t seem to decide which side of Mercy I wanted to be. Then with Rafael needing my help and being there for me, showing me what kind of life I could have, I discovered I was growing soft. Everyone else might think I was walking a fine line of going too far, but I didn’t think I pushed hard enough. Relationships made me weak, and that was not something I could afford to be. Anyway, the second Rafael learned the truth, it’d be over between us. Better to push him away now and save us both some heartache.