I moved close and put the light to shine between us. I needed him to see the determination on my face.
“I won’t leave you.”
His eyes went glassy, and I wasn’t sure if that was because of the pain or what. I figured it out when he leaned up to jam his lips to mine. My eyes closed against the light from the rock glowed between us. I sank into his kiss needing him to how much he meant to me. When he pulled back, he stared at me.
“Haven’t you figured out by now that I’d die for you? And it won’t be for nothing. I need you to be safe. Go.”
His last word was barely a whisper as his eyes rolled up in his head. He dropped to the ground face forward with a thud. He ended up with his cheek pressed against the stone floor.
“Flynn, Flynn, please.”
I shook his shoulders and slapped at his face, but he didn’t move. My hand met wetness on his back. I shined my light to find his clothes torn and bloody with gashes on his back that leaked blood. My blow to his knee had been the final one. However, he’d been on the verge of death long before he reached me.
I sat the glowing rock down for a second as I tore at his shredded clothes. They easily pulled free, and I used the rock’s light to explore his wounds. One seemed to pump blood out in a rhythmic fashion. I dared to touch it. When my bare fingertips touched his skin, a burst of light exploded in the room. I jerked my hand back for a second before I moved the rock to light the spot. I needed to know what I’d done.
The wound had begun to close. Slowly, I pressed a finger and again the light show began. I left it there until the light, created between our skin, died. The wound sealed itself right in front of my eyes. I needed to know if I could do it again. I found another large hole in his back. I pressed my palm to it that time. The light filled the room and again died. The rock illuminated smooth skin.
It had to be the Elven Queen’s magic, she’d gifted me. I knew what I had to do. I moved to his lower leg and tore the hole larger around the spike. If somehow I was out of juice, Flynn would die. Then again, if I did nothing, he would die. He had more gashes and holes than I could count. But the one I inflicted was the most life threatening.
When I’d made a hole in his pants big enough for my palm, I pulled the spike out of his calf. At the same time, I sank my hand into the hole and pressed it on the wound. As the light died, I lifted his leg and wrapped my hand around the other side because the spike had gone clean through.
Once the healing light died, the rock glow showed more smooth skin free of even the blood that marred it.
I went to work and quickly removed Flynn’s pants. There were too many wounds on his body, and I only knew of one way to heal most of them at one time. I left his boxer briefs on and fought with the corset strings at my back. I managed to free myself of the dress. In my strapless bra and boy shorts, I covered his body with mine. I lay my head on against his and splayed my hands on his shoulders. The room erupted in light. I was able to clearly see the other corridor the demon ventured down. It took some time before the light gave out.
When it did, I wasn’t done. I had to roll Flynn over. There was no way he only sustained wounds on his back.
As I did, he began to mumble. I couldn’t make out what he was saying and didn’t waste time trying. I positioned him, and bit back a sob when I heard the wet sounds coming from his chest. I crawled over him and lay down. Light and heat did its magic as he began to heal.
I placed my head close to his mouth to finally hear his muttering words.
“Don’t waste your healing on me. Save her. Get her out of this place. She’s worth more than becoming a Princess of Hell. She should be a Queen of Heaven, and you can give her that. Don’t ever tell her what I said. It will only hurt her. Stop. For once, let me die because I can’t live without her.”
Flynn’s arms flail as he tries to lift them and push against air. Luke wasn’t here. Luke wasn’t healing him. But he was so out of it, he didn’t know.
Tears leaked from my eyes. I pressed my lips to his and said. “You don’t have to live without me. I’m right here.”
He stilled for a second. Then, his lips started to move sparking a fire to grow between us. The healing light disappeared, but he found his strength. His hands gripped my bottom before they slid up my back.
“My Mercy. If this is the afterlife, I wasted a lot of time getting here.”
His hands roamed over my back until they landed on my bottom again. With firm hands, he ground himself against me. My hormones lit up like sparklers. I wanted him. Only being with him in hell wasn’t my idea of a first time together.
Obviously, he felt better when he switched our position to settle in the cradle of my legs.
“God, I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you. To think I had to die to have you.”
He still didn’t realize he was alive?
A shuffling sound preceded the ancient voice that interrupted us. “Blasphemy. We don’t say that name down here, we don’t. Master will not be pleased, he won’t. He will not like that his prize has mated with an outsider, no he won’t.”
“Mated,” I said, as Flynn’s eyes blinked open.
I watched his expression shift as he realized he wasn’t in the afterlife.
“You’re real,” he said with wonder.
“Real is she, she is real. You have tainted the prize, tainted she will be. Mated pair, pair mated. Master will not like, not like will he.”
“We aren’t mated,” I protested.
Flynn hadn’t moved. His eyes, however, had turned feral.
“Light is proof, proof is life. Only mated pair can heal to save. Save one mate can do for the other. He has taken the Master’s prize. He has become what the Master wished to be. He will have to die. Die to break the bond. Broken bond in order for Master to mate with you.”
As cryptic as the creature sounded, he did prove to have answers. Flynn picked up on that.
“Can it happen any other way? Can she and I have mated without having sex?”
“The Lord of Lord, lord over lust, true bond must mate. Mate to form true bond. True bond is only way to create healing light. Healing light will kill you both. Master will know. Know will he.”
A million truths hit me at once including one; nothing for me has ever followed the rules.
“No wonder,” Flynn muttered.
“No wonder what?”
“Mia wasn’t helping me.”
I closed my eyes. I so did not want to hear about what he did or did not do with Mia.
“Must find master.”
Flynn rolled off me, but it was too late. The creature had scurried off into the darkness.
“Get dressed.”
“What?” I asked.
“Get dressed. Whoever is coming won’t find you half naked,” Flynn said, sounding strong and more like himself than he had in ages.
On my hands and knees, I used the light to find my dress. I found his pants ruined as they were and tossed them to him. His shirt was in tatters and was useless, not that a shirtless Flynn was a hardship. I got my dress on while sitting, but I needed his help.
“I can’t tie the laces.”
Flynn moved close. I couldn’t see him. I held the rock light where I thought he would be. He misjudged where I was and inadvertently grabbed my boob instead of my arm.
“Sorry,” he said snatching his hand away.
I shifted the ball of light to where he was. He took it, and I gave him my back. I was grateful for the darkness as my face had to be beet red.
“Too tight,” I wheezed, when he pulled the strings taught.
“Sorry,” he muttered again.
It was several minutes before he managed to secure the corset. His hand slid down my arm and grabbed my hand. I wove my fingers through his, and he didn’t stop me. He hauled me to my feet.
“Mercy,” he said and his face was close.
I had the urge to kiss him more than I had at any other time. I refrained. Even if somehow we’d manage
d to mate, there was still Luke and the matter that I was in love with him, too.
“Don’t be stubborn. Stay behind me when Sebastian or Belial shows up. It has to be one of them.
“You would be right.”
A ball of flame hit the wall above us lighting the room. Sebastian stood with eyes gone red. He took hold of me faster than Flynn or I could react. I was snatched into the portal Sebastian created with a thought.
Chapter Nineteen
Before the portal wrapped around us, I saw the ancient demon that had taken me. Sebastian called out a few final words that sent my heart to stop beating.
“Kill him.”
“No,” I screamed, but it was too late.
I landed on solid ground in Sebastian's arms. I swiveled around to beat on his chest. “How could you? How could you?”
He took my wrist. “His bond with you cannot be allowed to stand.”
His voice was thick with his Scottish accent, something he hid on most occasions.
“If he dies, I will kill you.”
“Aye. Yet, here you stand. I should kill you now for the shame you brought me by stabbing me in the chest.”
I could have cared less if he’d spoken French. The idea that Flynn was dead did something funky to my insides. I pushed at Sebastian’s chest one final time, and the unthinkable happened.
He flew across the room as if he’d been hit by a wrecking ball. He slammed against the wall, causing it to crack. I didn’t think. I acted. I scanned the room as the darkness receded. A small bed, equally small chest of drawers, a desk and chair were the only things around. Nothing else. Worse, there was no door, which made sense. Sebastian didn’t need one. But I did if I had a prayer of escaping.
Sebastian stood coolly and stalked towards me. Not knowing for sure where my power juice was coming from, I backed up against a wall. Then with sudden inspiration, I turned and violently punched out with my fist. The wall shook seconds before my hand hit air. I pulled back to see a head sized hole in the wall.
“I see you’ve learned how to use some of that power stored in you.”
I hadn’t, but it seemed that rage brought out the worst in me.
“Before you go tearing down the place, you still have a chance to save one of them.”
I blinked as my vision began to tunnel. What was he saying?
“Ah, there she is. My girl.”
I felt the demon jerk into place. I tried to remember what Luke said about the demon being me and not another person. However, my mouth opened involuntarily, and I began to lose the battle within myself.
“She won’t cooperate if the boy is harmed,” McKayla confessed.
I twisted the head on my shoulders and gritted my teeth shut. That part of me that was somehow linked to Sebastian wanted to say more. I tried to take back the reins. She was me, I was her, I chanted in my head. Only to realize I sounded a lot like that ancient demon.
“No harm will come to the boy angel if she cooperates.” The hair on my neck wanted to rise. Sebastian had Luke?
“She means both of them.” The words were forced from my mouth.
“It’s too late to save the boy demon. Cain would have followed my orders immediately.”
I felt my legs give, but the demon inside me held me up. Flynn couldn’t be dead. I couldn’t go through that pain again.
“You must try, or she will die before she submits.”
“Can you keep her secure?”
The nod was curt. Sebastian blinked out, and the tether I had on my body snapped back. I was once again in the driver’s seat. Too bad, I couldn’t stand on my own. I crumpled to the floor and began to ugly cry with fat tears.
Flashes of Flynn and all the cocky things he used to say filled my brain. I remembered that crazy day he showed up on my door, and I ended up in his lap. If I knew then, what I knew now, I wouldn’t have wasted any time. So much had gone by with us at odds with each other. All my mistakes began to add up. If I’d let Luke go, he wouldn’t have died. He wouldn’t have changed into whatever he was now. I wouldn’t have had either if it meant they would both still be alive.
My fist connected with the floor over and over as tears flowed until I had no more. Whatever power had been stored in me was gone. The only thing I hurt was my hand, and I continued to pound rock.
When Sebastian came back, he wasn’t alone.
“Mercy, what has you troubled?” Belial crooned.
On alert, I struggled to maintain my two halves together. I couldn’t let Sebastian draw McKayla out again. I was me, she was me, I told myself before I spoke.
“I won’t do what you want unless you bring Flynn back.” That, I was adamant about.
Belial glanced over at his son. “I’m sorry that’s just not possible.”
I raised an accusatory finger to point at Sebastian. “He’s died more than once, and he’s alive.”
“Ah,” Belial began. “See, the rules are different here. If you die here, you cease to exist. If you die up top or anywhere else, you return home, here. Flynn no longer exists. I cannot bring him back even if I were willing.”
“You promised,” I raged at Sebastian.
“He wasn’t there. Cain, first born, said he’d taken care of the problem.”
“No,” I cried out, and the fortress shook from the force of it.
There went my emotions again. There was power in them.
Belial sighed. “If you bring down these walls, I’ll have the golden boy rebuild it with his bare hands.”
That shut me up. “How did you get him?” I asked with shaky words because I honestly hadn’t believed they had him. How could they? I’d seen him not too long ago or had I?
“Spoils of war,” Sebastian said with flat eyes as dead as I felt.
What had I done to him? What had I done to them all?
“Here’s my offer. Complete the ritual with my son and I will release the son of Jonah.” He tapped his finger on his lips while he waited. “You know, black is a good look for you.”
“What?” I said, confused by his sudden change of topic. I glanced down at my dress.
“Your eyes, your beautiful demon eyes. How do you think it’s possible for you to see down here without those?”
I blinked and thought about the demon taking possession of my body. I imagined my eyes were cesspools of evil.
“And what if I don’t agree?”
His brow arched. “That would be unfortunate. Then I would have to take your mother.”
“No, no, no,” I repeated.
“She is my property as you are Sebastian’s. She was promised to me, and I’ve allowed her to live her life up top. Hell, I even sent her your father so that you would be conceived. You should be grateful for my mercy.”
He laughed, and I didn’t find his play on words at all funny. I ground my teeth together and wished I had the demon killer knife. According to his own words, I could end his existence if I used it on him here.
“But she’s taken things too far. She’ll soon die. Taking her now would spare that wanna be, David, the pain of losing another wife to childbirth.”
I jumped to my feet. “What are you saying?”
“Oh, you didn’t know. Your mother is pregnant.” He watched me as the implications sank in. “Ah yes, she knew better. I never granted her permission to conceive another child. Stupid woman.”
I grappled with the idea in my head. Too many things were going on at one time. It wasn’t fair. I turned my gaze back on him. “She’ll survive. She survived with me.”
“Didn’t you hear me? I sent the bastard who knocked your mother up. The man was a shell of himself with his soul still in my clutches when I sent him to gift her with the seed of unlife. The soulless child you were supposed to be. The spawn your mother carries is from another Cambion. And there are reasons why your kind die while giving birth. There are rules of balance. And, the world would be populated with too many half demons otherwise. It is a compromise our Lord made with theirs.”
I pushed grief aside. I didn’t have time to mourn what had been taken from me. I could only focus on who I could save. There would be time for me to make peace with all my mistakes, including Flynn’s death.
“If I do what you want, you’ll leave my mother alone and release Luke.”
Belial nodded. “However, this is your choice. Free will and all. You don’t have to do anything.”
He was a liar. He was strong arming me into making this decision.
“Fine. I need to see Luke first. I need to know he’s okay and will be okay if I go through with this.”
Belial nodded at his son, and Sebastian blinked out of existence.
“You’ve made the right choice. You be a good girl, and I’ll even let your father and grandfather attend the ceremony.”
The way he said ceremony didn’t sound like white dress and flowers. I shuddered as Belial disappeared as well. I closed my eyes and thought about Flynn for the few minutes I would have alone.
“I love you, Flynn,” I said out loud finding peace by actually saying the words.
“Back at you, Mercy.”
My head snapped around and saw a head peeking through the hole I’d created in the wall. I ran towards it like my life depended on it. And there he was, Flynn.
“You’re alive.”
“Of course I am.”
I shook my head unable to believe my eyes. “How?”
“You still had your hand in mine when Sebastian tried to take you. Somewhere in that vortex, you let go. And I ended up landing in a heap of dead hell hound goo.”
“Gross.” I let out a relieved laugh.
“Gross or not, it saved me. I didn’t smell like me, and I was able to walk the path I left for you and not wake the sleeping ones. So don’t get close.”
I didn’t care. I moved as close as I could, not bothered by the hellhound stench attached to him.
“How did you know where I was?”
Sacrifice of Mercy Page 13