Acts of Mercy

by Ciara Graves

  I pinched the bridge of my nose, counting to ten in my head, so as not to lose my temper with her.

  It had been three days since the attack at the hospital and all Iris seemed to care about was who the woman was who helped me, and then conveniently ran off when the rest of the Feds showed up.

  I held true to my word and gave away nothing about Mercy.

  Several times, I found myself with my thumb hovering over her name on my cell. She’d been in terrible shape when she ran off, and I told myself I would only be calling to ensure she made it home and was alive.

  In truth, I missed her sarcasm and that damned smile.

  My apartment was so quiet and empty, being home was no longer a comfort.

  A week.

  She’d done all this to me in a week.

  Part of me hated her for it, and part of me said to suck it up and go over to her place.

  A shout broke my train of thought. I frowned through the glass.

  “That’s all he’s been doing, yelling,” Iris muttered.

  “None of them remember killing Liam.” I shook my head at Rot and the witch currently in the room with Nor.

  Since the goblins were brought in, we’d been trying every method possible to break whatever haze was placed on their minds to get some answers. Someone took control of them in those last moments. It made them turn on Liam and kill him. That was the person we needed to find.

  “And it had nothing to do with this mystery woman of yours?”

  “Are you ever going to drop it?” I stormed away, forcing her to follow my quick pace if she wanted to keep talking to me. “She played her part, and now it’s over with. Probably never see her again.”

  “And if you do?”

  “Then I do.”

  “Chief’s been asking about her too,” she said as we double-timed up the flight of stairs back to where our desks were. “You might not want to tell me, but you’ll have to tell him.”

  “Look.” I whirled around. “Whatever you’re trying to do, just stop it. Leave the woman alone. She’s been through enough, especially after what we both witnessed. What with Liam being eaten alive by goblins. If I catch you snooping around trying to find her, you’ll have me to answer to. Got it?”

  Iris sniffed as she shrugged. “Whatever you say, Raf.”

  I ground my teeth but dropped it and hurried back to my desk.

  Iris was nowhere near letting this go. She was jealous of Mercy, I saw it in her eyes. But I’d covered my tracks, and there was no record of my search for Mercy in the system. Nothing for Iris to go on, at all.

  I sat down at my desk and continued working on my report of the entire incident involving Liam Manchester. Any mention of Mercy was omitted, and I simply said I worked with a witness who had knowledge of the mage and his whereabouts. In exchange for her help, she was to remain nameless.

  Near the end of the day, I was deciding if I was going to head to the Underground on the off-chance Mercy would be there, when Nor approached my desk, file in hand.

  “Sir?”

  “New case for you,” he said, tapping the file in his hand. “Three days with Rot and there’s only one name coming out of his mouth.”

  “And?” I hoped this was the chance we needed to pick up on whoever had Liam killed.

  Nor tossed the file on my desk. “Mercy Temple.”

  My stomach dropped as I flipped open the file and saw Mercy’s face staring back at me.

  “Apparently she’s our bounty hunter who we could never get a name for. Rot’s been repeating it for the last hour. We’ve got a name to go with the face now. I want you to track her. Figure out who she deals with, who she works for.”

  “Of course, sir. And then?” I picked up Mercy’s picture, forcing myself to remain calm.

  “Bring her in for questioning, if nothing else. If her reputation is as bad as the rumors are, you’ll probably be arresting her. She may be our missing link after all.”

  “Understood, sir.”

  “Good. Go ahead and head on home if you want. Going to be a long week.”

  “Going to be a long few weeks,” I whispered, unable to look away from the picture.

  This was bad. No, it was beyond bad.

  If Mercy found out I was supposed to bring her in, there was a good chance she’d kill me.

  And if I didn’t bring her in, I’d be out of a job and possibly arrested myself.

  And I thought the mess with Liam had been a pain in my ass.

  Disappearing suddenly sounded like a fantastic idea.

  “See our new target?” Iris asked, peering over my shoulder. “Going to be fun bringing her in.”

  “Yeah, fun,” I repeated.

  Looked like I’d be seeing Mercy again, after all.

  No matter what she might think, I’d have to find a way to get close to her if only to keep her safe.

  Keep her from ending up in one of our cells and vanishing forever.

  * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from the next book in the series!

  Excerpt: Rules of Mercy

  Mercy Temple Chronicles Book Two

  Mages. Sirens. Demons. Dragons. Gryphons. A Federal Paranormal Unit. Attackers of magic. The Mercy Temple Chronicles will hook you!

  * * *

  Mercy Temple lives in a world where paranormals are a thing. Humans know of their existence, but the two species don’t interact. Or so it is thought. She’s a bounty hunter. She’s good at what she does.

  * * *

  There’s been a killing in Sector 18. Not just any old sector. The werewolf sector. Not just any old killing. An alpha.

  * * *

  And as for the timing? A few short days before the full moon, when all the werewolves will be shifting and wreaking havoc.

  * * *

  So what’s Mercy got to do with this? She’s been hired to find the killer.

  * * *

  What about our favorite Fed? Demon Rafael? He’s been assigned to bring the killer in. And to find the mysterious bounty hunter.

  * * *

  Then why does he find himself allied with Bowen and Damian suddenly?

  * * *

  Warning: Unputdownable action-packed fantasy, with mages, sirens, demons, dragons, gryphons and a Federal Paranormal Unit

  Chapter 1

  Rafael

  Files were scattered all around my living room, each one having only one thing in common.

  No, not one thing.

  One person.

  Mercy.

  Nearly every morning I awoke regretting I let her walk away so easily. I’d stopped using words and resorted mostly to grunts and growls at the office. All because I hadn’t seen her in two weeks. The sound was almost constant when I was alone in my apartment. Sitting on the couch she’d slept on.

  Walking past the place where I almost kissed her as much as nearly killed her.

  I chucked another file onto the table, but all it did was scatter the rest of them across the floor, and then I was staring at the picture of Mercy again. Those cold eyes glared at me accusingly.

  “I know where you live. Remember that,” I muttered to her picture.

  Every day, Nor asked about the case, and if I was any closer to finding her.

  And every damned day, I got better and better at lying to him. A man who trusted me with his life. And I was lying to him all for the sake of some cursed half-mage bounty hunter who had made the Feds’ lives very difficult these last couple of years. By taking out targets before we had a chance to question them. By killing others we were supposed to protect. I should be pissed at her. Should want to bring her in, but she was out there still doing whatever it was she did when she wasn’t working with me.

  I picked up my cell, nearly calling her, but what the hell was I going to say? If she wanted to talk to me, she would’ve called.

  I snarled in annoyance at how much I wanted to hear her voice.

  What had she done to me? It was worse than those men I’d seen fall und
er a siren’s call.

  Every night, I dreamt I saw her being attacked by goblins or Liam. And when I’d awaken, half of me hoped I’d walk out of my bedroom to find her crashing on my couch.

  Too bad that was never going to happen again. I had to get out of this apartment before it drove me crazy.

  As I gathered my wallet to leave, my cell went off, and I answered without looking, willing it to be Mercy, finally breaking down and calling me.

  “You got plans tonight?” Iris asked—not Mercy—and I nearly hung up on her. “Rafael?”

  “So what if I do?” I tugged on my boots then slipped on my shoulder holster. “I told you, we’re not socializing. You might be my partner, but that’s it.”

  “And I’m asking as your partner,” she replied hotly. “I have the same files on her that you do. Remember?”

  How could I not? Nor had given us each a copy of every known associate or past target of Mercy’s and Iris had been going over them more thoroughly than I had, trying to figure out where to find Mercy.

  Granted, Mercy’s license showed up in the database, but the day her file landed on my desk, I’d gone in and changed some details without anyone knowing. As of this moment, there was no known address for Mercy. I erased any hint of her license so only her bounty hunter permit, and sector pass appeared. Eventually, someone would realize it had been deleted. Eventually being the keyword. I promised her I would keep her anonymous from the Feds while we’d been working at finding Liam. And here I was, putting my job on the line, long after the fact. I shouldn’t have cared so much about protecting her, but until I knew exactly who she was, where she came from, and if she was really a threat or not, I’d prevent Iris or Nor from bringing her in.

  “What’s your point?” I finally asked, near my front door. After grabbing my keys, I opened it to find Iris standing on the other side, grinning. “Seriously?”

  Of course, she would be here.

  “I think we need to go the Underground.” She hung up her cell.

  “Really. And what gave you that bright idea,” I grunted sarcastically, pushing her aside so I could step out and lock up my place.

  “That’s where you’re headed now, isn’t it?”

  “So what if it is? Maybe I like going to the Underground.”

  “That’s bull. And we both know it.”

  Glancing upwards, I prayed for patience.

  Over the last two weeks, I lost my temper more times than I could count but managed to keep my rants private. The last thing I needed was Iris witnessing one and reporting straight back to Nor that I was losing my shit.

  “You hate going to the Underground, and you hate the demons down there even more,” she went on as if I needed reminding of why I loathed going to that stinking vampire-and-goblin-infested place. “You’re going because all of this bounty hunter’s contacts are down there.”

  “What do you want? A medal?”

  “When did you turn into a bastard, huh?”

  “I’ve always been one. You just didn’t want to see it.” I bared my fangs as we reached the main floor and walked out into the chilly night air.

  November was nearing its halfway point and brought much colder temperatures with it.

  Cold specks hit my hands, and I lifted them briefly to witness snowflakes melting into my warm, demon skin.

  Iris mumbled something about hating winter, and I grinned, completely fine with her being uncomfortable.

  The further we walked, the closer she tried to get to me. Each time, I put more distance between us. I had on my heavy leather coat with wool lining the inside. That, plus my natural body warmth, kept me nice and toasty.

  Iris’s teeth were chattering before we were even halfway to the Underground, but if she wanted my coat, she was going to be disappointed. If it had been Mercy walking beside me—well, that’d be another story.

  Once we were finally in the tunnel and out of the cold wind and snowfall, Iris shook out her arms and hair, glowering at me the whole time.

  “What?”

  “You could’ve been a gentleman.”

  “Why would I do that? You said it yourself. And I’ve said it. How many times do we have to go over it? Do you have short-term memory loss or something?”

  “Not even close, but there’s something different about you. Ever since that damned woman came into your life you’ve been weird,” she accused. “The mystery woman who helped us not catch Liam. Who is she, huh? I know you know.”

  “All I have is a first name, and I doubt it’s her real one,” I replied, giving her the same line I fed to Nor after the incident with Liam. He asked a few different times, too. Obviously, I wasn’t as good as I thought I was at hiding the truth. Between the two of them, I was going to find myself in deep shit if they kept pestering me. One of these times I’d slip up. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be down here all night.”

  “Is she worth it?”

  “Worth what?” I asked, confused, leading our way toward the Wailing Siren.

  Each step brought me closer to possibly seeing Mercy, and I picked up the pace even more.

  “Worth whatever trouble you’re going to get yourself into over her.”

  I stopped so fast, Iris went on for a couple of feet then realized I wasn’t beside her. “What’s that supposed to mean? What are you up to?”

  She shrugged but wouldn’t meet my gaze. “Just my job.”

  “Are you investigating her? She was a cooperating witness, which means she’s protected from us. Leave her be.”

  “Or what? You going to stop me?”

  “It’s not me you have to worry about,” I growled, and her snarky look disappeared. “She’s dangerous, and I’m only going to tell you one more time. Stay away from her. We have a new case to work. Remember?” Not that it was any different, but she didn’t need to know that.

  When we reached the Wailing Siren, the bouncer vampire wasn’t standing outside. A shifter was. He barely nodded at us as we entered the bar. It was barely seven o’clock and wasn’t terribly busy for a Wednesday night.

  Several werewolves took up the rear corner table to the right. Vampires played darts along the back wall. Witches and warlocks cackled about something or another near the front doors. I growled under my breath as we passed them and chose a table, so our backs could be to the wall and eyes to the door.

  “Who are we looking for you think?” Iris asked me quietly.

  “Wasn’t it partly your idea to come here? Who did you want to talk to?”

  She tapped her nails loudly on the table, glowering at me. “The werewolves. There’s mention of her talking to them a few times.”

  “Then have at it. You’ll have better luck than me, seeing as you’re a siren and all.”

  Honestly, I probably would’ve been better off going and speaking to them. Werewolves and demons did not get along on any level, and most of them were superstitious of my kind. They steered clear of us. Several were already looking at me over their shoulders.

  “Fine. You could at least get us some beers.” Iris got back up, then sauntered toward the werewolves, flipping her air and putting on the charm heavily. The magic in the air increased as soon as she started talking and my hands curled into fists. The scars along my shoulders and back came to life, attempting to drag me back to another place. Another time.

  I dug my nails deep into my palms and kept myself firmly planted in the present.

  Every nerve screamed at me to get the hell out of here, but I was going to stay for a few hours at least, in hopes Mercy herself would appear. If she did, I’d have to find a way to stop Iris from seeing her.

  A sultry laugh echoed toward me, and I scoffed at the idiot werewolves falling for the siren and her tricks.

  “Typical dogs,” I muttered to myself then went to the bar to grab beers.

  Shep was there again, eyeing me closely as he wiped down two bottles. “What you doing here?”

  “Getting a drink with a friend,” I said, not smiling.

>   His brow arched, and his lip twitched, baring teeth, but he didn’t shift or yell at me to get out. “You best watch yourself down here, demon.”

  “I haven’t done anything to worry anyone.”

  “No?” He leaned in closer, sniffing. “I know a Fed when I see one,” he whispered. “Knew it the last time you showed your face here. You and your partner, what do you want, huh, except to stir up more trouble than you already have. Wesley’s disappearance goes back to you. Don’t think I’ve forgotten you were one of the last to see him.”

  “I tried to save him,” I argued. “Ask Mercy.”

  “Yeah, as if I would believe that. What do you want?”

  Iris was busy with the werewolves, so I leaned over the counter. “Mercy. You seen her?”

  “Why would I tell you?” Shep snarled.

  The bar quieted down around us.

  Shep nodded to someone behind me, and the volume returned to normal.

  I sensed a presence behind me.

  “Get him out of here. Quietly. And do not let him back in. Understand? I won’t have it.” His glowing yellow eyes glared at me, the threat clear in their depths. “You leave that girl alone. You hear? Or you’ll be dealing with me.”

  His comment threw me off.

  The last time I’d been here, Shep had not seemed to like Mercy at all.

  My scars prickled again, but this time it was instinct telling me this whole situation was off. “Why are you protecting her?”

  Shep slapped a towel over his shoulder, crossing his arms, so his muscles bulged. “We protect our own around here.”

  That had me frowning. “She’s a bounty hunter. She hunts supes down here.”

  “You know nothing about the Underground.” He bit off the words, as though he’d much rather be chomping down on my neck. “All yours, Bowen.”

  “With pleasure.”

  A cold grip closed around my upper arm, and I was turned around forcefully, and found myself face-to-face with the vampire Mercy had seemed so close to.