by Ciara Graves
“We’ll be right back,” Gigi said loudly.
I turned around.
She was dragging Mercy into the back room. Their whispering voices were strained, and I contented myself with walking around the shop, not really paying attention to anything.
Then Gigi yelled, “You have no right at all to talk to me like this.”
I paused.
“You’re insane. I have never tried to do anything this crazy,” Mercy replied angrily.
I stepped closer to hear better.
“Yes, you have. Do you want me to stand here and count all the stunts you’ve pulled over the years? Or in the last six months alone? By the goddess, Mercy, why don’t we talk about the crap you’re pulling right now with Rafael. You’re playing with fire. And you know it.”
“Keep your damned voice down.”
“How long until he remembers everything, huh?”
“We are not talking about me, right now.” Mercy’s voice grew quieter.
I stepped even closer to the cracked door to hear better.
She continued, “You can’t go to Sector 13 alone. Just give me a day or two, and I’ll come with you.”
“You need to stay here with Damian.”
“He’ll understand. Please, don’t do this alone. You’re poking a nest of reapers. What do you think’s going to happen when they realize it’s you doing the poking? You’re not a dark witch. You’re not an evil person. Hell, you don’t even curse half the time. Or drink.”
“I can blend when I need to.”
“One time. Name me one time you blended in with a coven of dark witches.”
I waited.
Gigi said something in return, but it was too quiet for me to hear.
“Why do you have to go there?” Mercy demanded.
“I told you, these gargoyles are only the beginning of something. Rumors are that whoever summoned the gargoyles is just getting started and they’re in bed with the reapers.”
“Which is why you should wait. We’re going to take out the gargoyles. We can get the truth with the serum.”
“And if the only thing the gargoyles know about is the person who summoned them?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“I’m doing this whether you want me to or not. If the reapers are involved in any way with… with what’s going on. With her. Then I’m going to do this to help. I’m not going to let you fight this war alone. I’m a powerful witch. Or did you forget that?”
“You’re also one of my only friends, and I don’t want to hear you got yourself killed.”
There was a long stretch of silence and quiet mumblings from both.
Gigi was talking again. “You said it yourself, Damian’s doing his best with his contacts on tracking her down. Let me use mine. Those witches run with a bad crowd. With any luck, they’ll lead us to some more hybrids.”
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“Check in with me when you can?”
I hurried away from the doorway as their footsteps neared and picked up a random item from one of the shelves, hoping I looked occupied. Both women exited and looked at me.
“Have a nice talk?”
“I’d be careful with that if I were you.” Gigi nodded to the horn in my hand. “Known to cause a terrible rash.”
I dropped the horn as she burst out laughing. “Funny.”
“I do my best. Now then, be careful the two of you. Good luck.” She hugged Mercy once more, nodded at me, then we exited the shop. She locked it up behind us, waved once more, then closed the blinds.
“Want to head back to my place and get some sleep?”
Mercy pulled out her cell, texted someone, then shoved it back in her pocket. “Might as well. Bowen’s going to call me when Damian’s out of surgery. I want to check in on him at least once in case… Well, in case shit goes south tomorrow.”
“It won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
Not wanting to get in another spat, I let her walk on ahead of me, and we headed back toward my place and what would undoubtedly be several hours of very restless sleep.
Restless sleep didn’t even begin to cover it.
I gave up after three hours of tossing and turning, unable to get comfortable.
I’d told Mercy to take the bed again when we got home, but she refused, threw herself onto the couch and promptly fell asleep.
I attempted and failed.
I quietly traipsed to the bathroom and looked at my haggard reflection. My beard needed a trim, and even my horns seemed a bit on the dull side. A sign of exhaustion and stress.
All because of the woman in the other room.
I splashed water on my face to wake up, knowing I was going to need at least a gallon of coffee if I was going to get through whatever hell the evening was going to bring.
My head throbbed with a sudden pain, and I winced, pressing against my temples.
The bathroom faded away, and then I found myself lost in another memory.
“He still clueless?” Bowen asked.
“Yeah, but I can’t sense any magic coming off him,” Mercy said with a frown.
I watched the vampire circle me, wondering what he was up to when he bit down on my wrist. I yelped, more from shock than actual pain, jerking my arm back.
“What the hell are you doing?” Mercy snapped at Bowen.
“Testing his blood. There’s magic in him.”
“You psycho… Wait, what?”
Bowen closed his eyes, his jaw working as he continued to taste my blood, swishing it around in his mouth. “He was given a potion. It wasn’t meant to harm him, but it has messed with his mind. He’s in there somewhere.”
“And how do we get him back?”
“That I don’t know. We’ll have to find out who gave it to him.”
Mercy offered me a towel.
I took it and placed it over the bite mark on my wrist. “Someone did this to me?”
“We’re not sure yet. Do you have anything in your pockets that might help?”
I started to look, but Bowen pulled Mercy away. I guessed he assumed that because I lost my memories, I couldn’t hear anything, but I picked up every word of their argument.
“How do you know he’s not putting on a show?” he asked. “That he didn’t do this to himself as a trick to get closer to you.”
“And do what? You’re acting paranoid.”
“He’s a Fed. You might trust him, but I still don’t.”
“Fine. You want proof he’s truly lost his memory?”
Bowen nodded.
Mercy marched back over to me. “I have something to tell you.”
“Okay,” I said slowly—
The memory faded away.
I cursed, smacking my hands on the sink. What did she tell me? I should have already known that willing myself to remember wouldn’t work, but I spent the next hour in the bathroom glaring at my red-eyed reflection.
But there was nothing. No more flashes of memory. Nothing at all.
“Rafael,” Mercy yelled.
I rushed out of the bathroom.
She was on her feet, holding her cell. “Damian’s out of surgery, but Bowen said he’s being a pain in the ass. I have to get over there.”
“Right behind you.”
We made it to the hospital by cab and rushed to get inside.
Without even reaching Damian’s room, we heard his shouting from all the way across the floor.
Mercy cursed then took off at a run.
I took my time, wanting to give them space to talk if they needed it.
If he was yelling like that, then I had no worries about his pulling through.
By the time I reached the room, the nurses were exiting.
Mercy was inside, with Bowen at next to her.
They both glowered at Damian who was sitting up and glaring right back.
“You’re ridiculous,” Mercy snapped.
“Coming fro
m the person who’s getting beat up every other week.”
“I don’t end up in the hospital.”
“You should, but you don’t go,” Damian argued.
I nodded at his valid point.
Mercy noticed me then, and her eyes narrowed.
I backed away to find a chair in the hall and let them have their moment.
As Damian and Mercy argued, Bowen came to find me, looking pretty damned pale for a vampire.
“How long are they going to be at it, you think?” I asked him.
He sat down across the hall from me.
There was a crash, then Damian shouted even louder than before. The door closed, cutting off their argument.
I frowned.
“A while.”
“You don’t look so good yourself.”
He shrugged. “There’s a lot going on. Probably not eating as much as I should.”
Did I risk asking him what Mercy told me that night? The question was right there, but the longer I looked at Bowen, the more I hesitated to force the truth out of him. He really did look like shit. Whatever plans Mercy claimed they were working on were taking their toll on more than just her. The sooner I remembered, the sooner she would have to accept my help. There’d be no reason for her not to then. We sat in strained silence, every now and then hearing Mercy or Damian’s voice get loud enough to pick up a few words, but not enough to figure out what they fought about.
“You have a plan to take care of these gargoyles?” Bowen asked after a while.
“We do.”
“Think it’ll work?”
“Don’t have much else to go on. So yeah, hope it does. Why? You want in?”
“If I wasn’t worried about someone coming to finish off Damian, I’d be more than happy to assist you. Mercy doesn’t want him left alone.”
The door flew open, and Mercy stormed out.
“I need a word with you,” she said, pointing at Bowen. She stalked off down the hall.
He blurred away after her.
I took the time to check in on Damian. “Have a nice conversation?”
He laughed. “Yeah. You could call it that.”
“I take it you’re a shitty patient?”
“I have my moments. Guess that’s where she gets it from, not wanting to have anyone confine her to a damned bed.” He readjusted the blanket then threw his head back. “I hate being stuck in here.”
“Can’t heal yourself.”
“Sadly, no.” He shut his eyes then peeked one open to look at me. “You keeping your word?”
“Hard to do that when she’s pushing me away.”
“Don’t care. You swore to me you’d look out for her. Do not go back on your word, Rafael. Wounds or no wounds, I will make you pay.” The casual grin was gone replaced by a threatening look that had me believing every word he said. “Trust. That’s what she needs now. Your trust.”
“Hard to do that when she doesn’t trust me.”
“But she does.”
“No, she doesn’t.” I threw my arms up and stormed for the door. “Never mind.”
He called me back, but I ignored him and left the floor altogether.
I texted Mercy to let her know I’d wait for her downstairs in the cafeteria and found myself some crappy coffee.
Mercy and I could deal with our issues later.
By sundown, we’d be in another fight, and I could not afford to be distracted.
We’d set the trap, lure in the gargoyles, and end this battle, probably in time to start another one, if there was a war brewing.
Chapter 12
Rafael
I peered through the broken glass of the warehouse I’d hidden inside.
The traps had been set two hours ago, and now we waited. It had taken Joseph nearly an hour to get the trap created. The symbols were burned into the ground then faded away once he set them on fire. I wondered how the magic would stay, but he assured me the trap would work. He added Gigi’s boost of white magic to it, thrilled to have it.
I’d asked if any other mages would be joining us. He’d gruffly replied that they were too busy having sticks shoved up their asses.
As he’d been setting the trap, I was busy directing our agents to form a tight perimeter, most on the ground, but a few up high, out of sight, in case the gargoyles attempted to flee. We had steel cables and nets ready to bring them down if they did.
Mercy hadn’t said a word to me since we left the hospital and that was fine by me.
The only time she showed any interest in the proceedings was when the artifacts were brought out and laid in the very center of the open lot.
I sensed nothing from them, but the few witches and other magic users amongst our number had stilled. I asked one of them what they felt, and the two witches explained it as a low humming, almost like a murmuring voice was speaking to them. As soon as Joseph was set up, all three artifacts were carefully packed up and taken to the waiting truck.
Mercy watched them wherever they went. When she pulled her eyes from the truck, her gaze locked onto mine for a good ten seconds. She turned on her heel and stormed off to wait in another warehouse.
I checked my watch and growled.
“It’s only been two hours,” Iris muttered from beside me. “Give it time.”
“We don’t have time. What if this trap doesn’t work and we miss them?” I peered through the binoculars again, but there were no shadow figures descending from the overcast evening sky.
“Have a little faith.”
“In what? The bad guys to do what we want for a change?” I moved the binoculars lower and searched the windows in the other warehouse for any sign of Mercy. But the glass was too cracked for me to make her out for certain.
“Any sign of them?” Nor’s voice came over the radio.
“Nothing from where we are, sir,” I replied, lowering the binoculars. “You?”
“Nothing. The rooftop is clear, too.”
“How much time are we going to give this trap?”
There wasn’t an answer for a few minutes, then Nor was back. “Joseph said it might take time.”
“Course he did.” I didn’t say that into the radio.
I wanted this to be over with. I needed to get answers from Mercy or Damian about this war they kept talking about. My head throbbed and as much as I wanted to see more of my forgotten memories, now was not the time. I shut my eyes, and eventually, the throbbing stopped.
“Ah sir, we have movement,” an agent beside me said with uncertainty.
“What? Where?” I started to raise the binoculars, but he pointed out the window. “What the hell is she doing?” I grabbed the radio. “Mercy, get your ass back in that warehouse.”
She lifted her radio to her mouth. “No.”
“You’re going to get your ass in trouble. Get back inside, now.”
“It’s not enough to draw them in.”
“Mercy, if I have to come out there and drag your ass back inside kicking and screaming I will.”
“He’s right,” Nor’s agreement joined mine. “Get inside.”
“No offense, Chief Nor,” she said then flipped us off. “Trust me.”
I assumed the gesture was mostly for me.
“We just need to be patient.” I started for the door as I spoke, ready to run out there and snag her. “Mercy, don’t be an idiot. You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone here.”
“Never said I was, but I am not a patient person.” She shoved the radio in her pocket.
I caught the flash of silver. “What are you doing? Mercy put the damned dagger down.”
She ignored me completely and slashed at her left palm. Blood dripped to the ground at her feet as she walked around the entirety of the trap. “Where are you, assholes?” she shouted, throwing her arms out wide. “I’m right here with your freaking artifacts. You know you want them. Come and claim them already.”
I hung my head, beyond pissed at her as she continued her taunting. “Merc
y, you’re making a fool of yourself.”
She turned her back to me and kept on yelling. “You’re scared? Is that it? Don’t want to attack now that I’m ready for you? You’re nothing, but a damned coward.” When she spun back around, her eyes glowed white with her magic. The flames came to life in her palms. “You didn’t kill him you know. He lived, and now it’s time for a little payback.”
“Has she lost her mind?”
“Probably,” I said. “You want to go out there and grab her be my guest.”
Iris glared at me. “I thought you were going to?”
“That was before she called on her power. I’m not about to get blown back on my ass.”
Mercy threw her head back and glared at the sky. “You’ll never win,” she shouted next. “No matter how hard you come at us, we’ll hit back ten times harder.”
I paused. Was she talking about the gargoyles still or something else? This she maybe I heard two people mention now? I held my breath, waiting to see what else she’d shout.
“Rafael, get her out of there,” Nor ordered.
“Sir, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Sir,” another voice came through the radio, “we have figures approaching from the south.”
“How many?”
“Four, sir, and they’re flying.”
Mercy’s dark grin told me she heard every word. She reached around to the small of her back with her bleeding hand and brought out her sword. She kept it collapsed. As mad as I was at her, I did not want to watch her get waylaid by four gargoyles.
“Get your ass out of there.” I stood in the doorway of the warehouse now, waiting.
She didn’t move.
“Mercy, do you copy?”
She winked in reply.
I punched the wall, denting the old, rusted metal.
“Get ready to cover her,” I ordered the agents with me.
“I thought the gargoyles weren’t after her?” Iris said, gun ready in her hands.
I tended to agree, but they hadn’t shown up until she stepped out there and bled all over the place.
There was no time for speculation as the four gargoyles circled overhead. Their massive shadows covered Mercy as she turned her head, keeping them in sight.
Her lips moved, but whatever she said was too low for me to hear.