Acts of Mercy

by Ciara Graves

  Her face was throwing me off. If I tilted my head, it seemed to shimmer. She was using a charm again. Wondered if that was why I hadn’t noticed her following me and made me second guess what she really looked like. But those dark blue eyes, they were exactly the same as I remembered. Whatever she really looked like might be a mystery, but those eyes, I’d know them anywhere. They held the same cold, hard stare I saw last night.

  “Fine.” I tucked the revolver in the back of my jeans and walked back to the fridge. “I’ll listen to what you have to say, but I deserve a name first. I’m not about to promise not to arrest you at the end of this conversation.”

  “Whatever makes you happy, Fed,” she said in a tone that told me quite clearly, I would not be taking her anywhere.

  As I pulled a second beer from the fridge, popped the cap, and handed it over, I said, “Rafael.”

  “Mercy,” she said. “Thanks.” She chugged half the beer in one gulp and smiled. “What? Never seen a woman drink before?”

  “Don’t get out much.”

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me.”

  Growling usually warded people off, but all she did was smile wider.

  “You know nothing about me.”

  “Right, sure I don’t. Oh, you know what I do know?” she said, tilting her beer at me. “How much you suck at catching the people you’re after. You and your damned girlfriend ruined my night big time. Just wanted you to know.”

  “Not my girlfriend,” I snapped.

  Her brow rose as a hint of longing appeared in those cold depths. My gaze flickered to her lips, and I shifted, not sure what game I was playing here. Whatever it was, I was already losing.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Could’ve fooled me the way she was clinging to you before she went after Liam.”

  So she had noticed us. Interesting. Knew I’d never fit in at that ball. “Are you going to get to the part where we can help one another, or should I just arrest you now for impeding my investigation?”

  “Sure. Resort to threats.”

  I started to reach around for the gun, and she held up her hands.

  “Alright, just don’t get your panties in a bunch.” She drained the rest of her beer.

  I scowled at her, waiting for her to finish so I could decide if I was going to arrest her anyway.

  “So,” she said, setting the empty container down. “You and I seem to be after the same guy.”

  “Liam Manchester. Mage.”

  “Yeah, I read a file on him, too,” she remarked. “But I’m guessing you are hitting a wall in finding anyone to give you more intel on him?”

  I said nothing, sipped my beer, waiting for her to go on.

  “Look, you have resources I don’t, and I have contacts that will never talk to a Fed. Ever.”

  “I could arrest them.”

  “Right, sure. Have fun arresting half the Underground, the rest of them will clam up, and then Liam will get away. Very, very far away.”

  “So what’s in it for you?” I asked, failing to see how this was going to benefit me.

  “Liam’s a bad guy. Bad guys show up on my radar.”

  “Because you’re a bounty hunter who takes people in for money. Isn’t that right?” I expected her to lie.

  Instead, she bobbed her head.

  “Feds won’t pay you for helping me bring him in, and I will be bringing him in. Not you.”

  She chewed on her cheek as her eyes narrowed and that charm shimmered across her face with her annoyance.

  “If you think I’m going to help you find him, so you can profit from it, you’re out of your mind. We need him.”

  “For what?”

  “That is official business you are not privy to.”

  “Ok, fair enough… so how are you going to find him?”

  I shrugged, finishing off my beer. “We have our ways.”

  “Which is code for you have no idea.” She rapped her knuckles on the counter, almost seeming nervous.

  I sensed it had nothing to do with me. Last night at the ball, I assumed she was nothing more than a greedy bounty hunter after money, but there was a desperation about her I hadn’t noticed. It rivaled the magic she used, and the charm shimmered again.

  Who was this woman? If she was coming to me, she had to be in some sort of tight spot. Otherwise, if she was the hunter I’d read about, she would be chasing down Liam on her own. Something was off about this case, and from the way she nervously picked at the beer bottle label, it had to do with her connection to Liam.

  “Why don’t you just be honest with me and give me one good reason why I should agree to you helping me?”

  “Honesty? That’s what you want from me?”

  “Is it hard?” I snapped, losing patience quickly.

  Despite the badass bravado she put on last night—and right now—a sliver of fear chased away the coldness for a moment. Then she turned away from me. Her hands were on her hips as she shook her head. “No. The chances of you believing me aren’t that high.” When she turned back to face me, she was wringing her hands, and the charm slipped again.

  Once more, I caught a glimpse of her true face.

  “Liam Manchester… he’s gotten into something dangerous, something that could hurt a lot of people.”

  “Does it have anything to do with why he tried to take my partner as a donor?”

  “I don’t know. And something tells me you don’t either.”

  “I’m still not hearing why I shouldn’t just go after him on my own. You’re a bounty hunter. You’re in it for the money. You talk of him hurting people, but if I get my hands on him, I can stop others from being harmed even more. That is more important than you making a payday.”

  I was certain the cold in her eyes made the temperature drop in my apartment. I wondered what she was again. Witch. That would make sense since she was using charms.

  “Did you ever think this is personal for me?”

  “You’re lying.”

  “Yeah. You caught me,” she snapped, and the charm shifted again. “I risked my life last night to track him down in a house filled with reapers, because I’m that suicidal. You know what? Never mind. This was a shitty idea. If you want to find him on your own, have fun, but don’t blame me when your partner ends up in his clutches again. Or he kills you both.”

  She was already at the door when I snatched her arm and spun her back around, much as I had last night.

  She ended up trapped in my arms, against my chest.

  Her eyes slipped to my lips, her breath catching.

  Time slowed in that instant, and my heartbeat pounded in my ears. Her struggles to get away suddenly stilled as she leaned closer.

  But then my arms fell away, almost numb.

  She staggered back, toward the living room.

  “Just stop for a second,” I managed to grunt. “This mage, he did something to you. Didn’t he?”

  Her crossed arms and how she chewed on her cheek again. That was all the answer I needed.

  “Did you report him?”

  “No. It was a long time ago,” she whispered. “Doesn’t matter anyway. You’ll never trust me enough to work with me and I… I don’t think I can trust you either. This was a stupid idea.”

  The longer we stood there staring at each other, the more I didn’t see a greedy bounty hunter trying to make money. Instead, this woman was someone who’d been beaten down, who had seen some shit in her life. Who’d been hurt and broken. She was just like me beneath the sharp tongue and sarcasm. This mage, I needed him brought in, so we could get to bigger fish. She needed him arrested to mete out justice for whatever he did to her.

  “You’re right,” I said quietly. “Trust is not going to be easy, but I’m willing to accept your help if you’re willing to accept mine.”

  Her eyes widened. “You’re serious?”

  “Wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t.”

  “Well then, you got plans tonight?” she asked, walking around m
e to the door.

  “Not exactly. Why?”

  “No time like the present.”

  She was at the door again when I took her arm. Gently, this time.

  She glanced up at me. “What is it now? We have people to track down, wasting time, tick tock.”

  “What do you really look like, Mercy? What are you?”

  “Wow. You’re very blunt.”

  “Comes with the territory,” I muttered. “The other night after you got me out of there, I saw your face. Your true face. And the way you moved… if we’re going to work together, I’d like to know who I’m dealing with. As for me, I’m a bit obvious.” I pointed to my horns and was graced with a crooked grin that twisted my gut in a not so unpleasant way. “So?”

  She hung her head with a curse. “You’re going to see it one way or another.” She swiped her hand across her face, and as the charm faded, the real Mercy came into view. “Happy now?”

  The scar I barely caught a glimpse of the other night was in full view now and appeared worse than I’d thought. Magic caused it. That I could tell without even asking. From the way she’d gone off about Liam, I assumed he was the reason she felt the need to hide her face, needing to get close to the bastard so she could take him down for whatever he did to her.

  “Can we go?” She crossed her arms, looking anywhere but my face.

  “Yeah. Give me a second. You want your jacket?”

  “Oh, yeah, right.”

  I disappeared into my room to retrieve my boots and leather coat and a holster for my revolver. As well as to grab my pistol. If we were going to the Underground, I was going to be prepared for anything. She might not have told me what she was, but from the scar at least, I knew for certain she was the bounty hunter who kept popping up on our radar. The one that half the criminals we brought in were more afraid of her than of us.

  As I grabbed my cell, I considered texting Iris and giving her a head’s up, but I’d already lied to Nor about the mystery woman. For now, I’d keep our new working relationship to myself, seeing as I had no way to know how long it would actually last. Besides, this wasn’t going to be anything but a means to an end. As soon as she led me to Liam, I’d find a way to ditch her.

  A growl erupted in my throat, and I paused, wondering where that came from. There could be no staying with her. And yet… the idea of not ever seeing her again had my blood boiling, almost on the verge of a rage. What had she done to me?

  After I regained control of myself, I exited my room to find her waiting at the front door, coat on, and looking even more dangerous than she had in that perfectly fitting gown and boots last night.

  She looked me up and down. “Ready?”

  “Yeah. Who are we going to talk to?”

  “You’ll just have to wait and find out.” She led the way out.

  I locked the door behind me, reminding myself to add a few more bolts to it this weekend.

  As for the weird nagging in my gut that I was getting in way over my head with Mercy?

  I tried to quash it.

  Chapter 8

  Mercy

  Gigi told me one time one of my best traits was lying through my teeth. I put that to the test as I went off on a rant about why I had to find Liam. The trick to lying successfully was to keep the lie as close to the truth as you could, but leave out any pertinent details.

  For instance, I never once stated Liam was the mage who hurt me. The demon put that one together all on his own. If it would get him to help me, then I’d let him keep believing.

  Since in reality, it wasn’t all that far from the truth.

  My scar tingled, and I scrunched my face, shoving those memories down as far as they could go. There was no room for softness or weakness where we were headed, not tonight. Outside, the air had dropped another few degrees, but I liked the cold. Kept me alert, focused. At my bike, I pulled off a spare helmet and went to hand it to Rafael, but frowned.

  “Hmm, didn’t think this through.” I studied his horns, shaking my head.

  Rafael, on the other hand, was staring past the helmet, at the sleek, black and silver studded motorcycle behind me. “You have a Banshee 3000?”

  “Yeah. Like it?”

  His lips gave a twitch as he nodded. “How the hell did you get one?”

  “My job has some perks. Aside from being shot at all the time. Or stuck in the middle of a gob brawl,” I explained. “I don’t have a helmet for you.”

  “We’re taking this?”

  “Well, I ain’t walking all the way to the Underground. You have a car?”

  His thinned lips were a giveaway that the answer was a no.

  “Exactly.”

  “I don’t need one,” he said. “Helmet I mean.”

  “Suit yourself. Don’t fall off. I’d hate for our partnership to come to an end because your head got crushed like a melon.” Helmet on and secure, I swung my leg over the bike and waited for him to get on. “You coming or what?” When I glanced back, he wore a bemused grin. “What?”

  “Nothing,” he growled, then climbed on.

  The second he was behind me, the cold night air vanished, and his body heat pressed like a furnace against my back, but he made no move to hold onto my waist.

  “Grab on. I won’t bite.”

  “Not a vampire then. Good to know,” he grunted.

  His arms wrapped around my middle, holding onto me loosely.

  Warning him to change his grip would ruin whatever fun I was about to have with this Fed. And it was the least I could do after the mess he got my ass into. Granted he might not have realized he did it, but that was beside the point.

  Payback was in order.

  I started the bike, revved the engine, and we zoomed out into traffic.

  His curse made me laugh, and then his arms held on tighter, nearly crushing my ribs.

  “Are you insane!”

  I cackled in reply and sped through traffic. All sectors were the opposite of the human ones. Many worked nights since they couldn’t be out in the daytime, so traffic jams later in the evening and into the night were common, hence why I opted for a bike. It was one of the only good things I bought with my blood money. And I wasn’t even going as fast as my Banshee 3000 could.

  Kicking it into gear, Rafael’s arms threatened to squeeze me even harder as we picked up speed, easily weaving around cars and dodging red lights. I wondered briefly if he’d get sick and puke, but figured it might be worth it. When the signs for the Underground appeared, I slowed down and parked along the curb down the street. The kickstand was barely down when Rafael was off the bike, doubling over, and glowering at me with those dark brown eyes now glowing a fierce red. His smoothed back black hair was disheveled and had a curl to it I hadn’t noticed before. He was a handsome demon. And sexy as hell when he glared like that. At the reapers’ when we’d been running for our lives, I never took the time to notice, but now I did, and a weird fluttering started in my gut. The cold seeped back into my bones without his nearness, and I wondered why I suddenly wished to have those arms around me again. Just like when we kissed—

  “Y-you’re a damned psychopath on that thing,” he snapped when I pulled my helmet off and rested it on the bike.

  “What? You didn’t have fun?”

  His eyes flared even brighter as I grinned.

  “Let’s go, tough guy, we have a long night ahead of us.” I walked into the tunnel leading to the Underground, telling myself the way his eyes lingered on my face were only for the scar and no other reason. No one found me attractive like that unless I wore one of Gigi’s charms.

  I rolled my shoulders, reminding myself I wasn’t coming down here for a fight. All I needed was information, anything to help Gigi in tracking Liam down.

  Rafael caught up to me easily, and we marched into the Underground in silence.

  “You’ve been down here before, right?” I asked when we neared the end that would dump us out onto the main drag.

  “Once, long time ago,” h
e muttered, clearly not about to tell me any more than that. “Not exactly my hang out spot.”

  “Too bad. You’d fit right in.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he snapped, catching my arm. “You think because I’m a demon I fit in down here with the rest of the gangs and scum? Is that it?”

  “Touchy much?” I tore my arm from his grip.

  “Do not compare me to them,” he whispered harshly. “Don’t.”

  He whipped around and kept on walking away from me as I made a mental note that this Fed was not as easy to read as I expected.

  “That’s not what I meant,” I said when I reached his side. “I was referring to your being the brooding, quiet, sulking type. For the record.”

  He blew out heavily through his nose but said nothing to indicate he even heard me.

  “Whatever. We’re going this way. Follow me and don’t talk to anyone. No one needs to know you’re a Fed either,” I added with an undertone.

  “I can handle myself.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  There were several contacts down here who might have information on Liam Manchester. I turned down a street, tuning out the whispers and shouts from those we passed. A few ran their fingers down their faces, cackling and I picked up the pace, reminding myself I was here to get answers, not beat the living shit out of anyone who crossed me.

  “Well, lookie who we got here,” a goblin spat as he leapt from a balcony overhead and directly in my path.

  “Move aside, Rot.”

  “Is that any way to treat a friend?”

  “Friend?” Rafael said from behind me.

  “Yeah, friend,” Rot answered before I could. “I thought we were so close. Mercy, what happened?”

  “Why don’t you ask your brother. You know, the one who decided a change of diet was in order.”

  “Oh, I would, but they took Rufus to some damned secret prison. They’re never going to let him out.” Rot grinned madly, flashing his sharp teeth as he snapped his fingers. “But, though I’m not able to speak to my brother, I know how he’d like me to take care of you.”

  Six goblins, the same ones from the other night came out of the alley and jumped down from the balcony, surrounding us.