Acts of Mercy
Page 20
Bowen’s red eyes glowered as he hissed, dragging me away from the bar. “Move, demon.”
“Get your hand off me.” I tore my arm free, or thought I had.
His hand clamped down again, then he blurred.
I found myself outside the bar, stomach reeling and head dizzy from his damned vampiric speed.
“Shep said out. So you’re out,” Bowen said from behind me.
I half-turned to face him, still ready to lose the contents of my stomach.
He was sporting a smug smile, back at his post by the front door. “I suggest you do as Shep says and stay away.”
Making sure I wasn’t going to heave first, I straightened and asked quietly, “How is she doing?”
His whole body tensed and the red in his eyes intensified. “If you cared you would call her instead of showing up here snooping around like the Fed you are.”
“The partner, Bowen!” Shep yelled from inside.
“Duty calls,” the vampire said.
Before he could speed away, I snatched his arm, planting my feet. He might be faster than me, but he certainly wasn’t as strong.
His body jerked harshly, but he went nowhere. “Remove your hand. Now.”
“Or what? If I wanted to, I could arrest you.”
“Don’t waste your breath. Whatever you brought me in for would never stick.” His hand pried mine off, and he shook his head. “Leave Mercy alone. Hasn’t she suffered enough without having you causing more of a disturbance in her life?”
“Liam’s gone. She should be celebrating.”
“You really don’t know anything,” Bowen muttered, almost sounding like he pitied me.
Then he was gone.
Five seconds later, he returned with Iris in tow.
He released her, and she stumbled into me. I took hold of her long enough to steady her then put distance between us.
“Have a nice evening.” Bowen’s smile was tight.
Definitely not what I’d call friendly.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Iris snapped.
Her power rose, and I cringed, moving away from her.
Oh, she was livid. “You can’t just drag me out of there! I’m a paying customer!”
“Right. Seducing six werewolves does not make you a paying customer,” Bowen said, looking bored. He rolled his eyes and sighed. “And stop with the mind tricks, siren. They don’t work on me, haven’t for a very long time.”
If Iris wasn’t here, I’d demand he tell me why he seemed worried about Mercy. Had she not recovered yet from the power she used? Cursed or not, she should have. It’d been two weeks.
Bowen’s eyes watched me back away, as if he read my mind and was silently warning me to stay away from her.
That was not going to happen.
Mercy and I might’ve only shared a couple of close moments together, but they were enough to stay with me. She was stuck inside my head, and until I talked to her again, she wasn’t going to leave any time soon.
“Now what?” Iris asked, catching up to me as I stalked away. “What happened, anyway?”
“They caught onto your flirting,” I lied. “We’ll have to try another angle.”
“Hmm, right. Well, I’m in the mood for dinner. Care to join me?”
“No,” I snapped and left it at that.
Iris remained behind, probably thinking she’d have better luck without me.
I should’ve stayed with her, or at least told her not to be an idiot and question anyone alone, but she’d told me plenty of times lately how she could take care of herself. She was jealous of the mystery woman, of Mercy, but if she wanted to try and prove to me she was a badass, that was on her.
I didn’t have to stick around to watch her get her ass handed to her if she started a fight.
Just inside the entrance to the Underground, I leaned on the wall, out of the way, and drew out my phone.
I scrolled to Mercy’s number, under the letter M and nothing else to give her away.
My thumb tapped it and then it was ringing.
When it reached the third one, the sound cut off and there was a fumbling.
I caught her taking a breath to answer and panic set in, so I hung up.
“Idiot,” I snapped at myself, marching out of the Underground. “Damned idiot.”
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Copyright © 2018 by Ciara Graves
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