Mercy's Protectors (Mercy Ashby Book 1)

by A. M. Hardin

  Hunter sighs. “Mercy-”

  I hold my hands out and step around the group to go towards the van, still facing them. “No. You know what? Fuck you guys.”

  I turn away from them and walk the rest of the way to the van, not willing to let the guys see how much they got to me.

  “Damn it,” I hear Hunter mutter before they move behind me, following me.

  I slam open the back door to the van and climb in, moving to Xena and giving her a hug, keeping my hold gentle so I don’t hurt her more.

  “You’re covered in blood,” Parker points out, licking his lips.

  “I’m aware. Can you handle that until we get to headquarters?”

  Parker grumbles a little under his breath, something about the smell of blood coming from both Xena and myself might be too much, a second before a blood bag comes flying his way. He catches it without looking and grins.

  “There. Eat it and chill the hell out Park. It’s a long ass drive,” War says after the back door closes behind him.

  Hunter and Talon go into the front, with Hunter in the driver's seat. While he pulls us back onto the road my phone vibrates in my pocket. I groan and reach in to grab it, careful not to get blood all over it.

  I unlock my phone and read the text. “Holy fuck my life,” I moan, running my hand through my hair, not caring about the blood anymore. Most of its dried anyways. It’ll come off in the shower. If it means I look like a horror movie reject in the meantime oh well.

  “What?” Xena asks while the guys look at me curiously.

  “My fucking uncle is back at headquarters,” I whine.

  Xena chuckles. “I don’t see why you’re freaking out. He loves you.”

  I look at her with wide eyes. “Dude. I’m covered in blood. He’s expecting me to go straight to the Head Orderly’s office with the whole team instead of giving me a chance to shower.” I turn to look at the guys. “By the way, dude really needs to change his title. I want to laugh every time I hear someone say ‘Head Orderly’. Hell, even Overlord would be better than that.”

  Warwick snorts out a laugh and the other two in the back with us shakes their heads with a smile on their face.

  Xena says softly, “You act like he’s never seen you like this.”

  I sigh. “I know, I just once would like to not be covered in blood when seeing my uncle.” I look at Xena and ask quietly, “How’re you doing?”

  She smiles. “I’m great now. I’m healing, albeit slowly. You found me, so I’ve got my best friend back in my life. I’ll be better once I’ve had some real food and some real sleep.”

  “You gonna bunk with me like old days?” I ask with a big grin.

  “Oooh, like nothing’s changed huh?” She ponders it a minute then meets my grin with a smile of her own. “Hell yes! I think we both need that.”

  “You have that right. It’s why I’m here.” She gives me a questioning look and I let out a breath before looking out the window, painfully aware of everyone’s eyes on me. “They found me.”

  “They won’t get you,” Xena says reassuringly.

  After dropping Xena off in the infirmary to get looked over before someone takes her to my room, I follow the team to the Head Orderly’s office. I have to hold back my snicker at seeing Head Orderly Nero on the door. That fucking title gets me everytime.

  Hunter goes into the office first and the guys file in after him. I walk in last and as soon as I cross the threshold I’m greeted to the sound of my uncles laugh.

  “Who the hell is the poor soul that pissed off Mercy?” He booms pushing his way through the men in front of me to wrap me in his arms to give me a hug.

  The team looks at him with varying emotions of shock and hilarity.

  “Uh, hi uncle,” I say into his ear, reveling in the comfort of his embrace.

  “So? Who pissed her off?” He asks, looking to Hunter, ignoring my greeting.

  Hunter looks at me for a split second before turning to my uncle. “It turns out the seer we were sent to rescue was a friend of Mercy’s. She was being beaten when Mercy entered the room. Mercy disobeyed my order to leave him be and take care of the seer, instead sending Kai ahead with her while she stayed behind with the human.”

  It was said without any of the anger and frustration from earlier. Though, I could tell from the tic in his jaw he still wasn’t happy with me.

  My uncle chuckles darkly looking at me in pride. “Then she did what she should have. I’m assuming from the information you all gave me that this is the seer Xena?” Hunter nods. “Then she definitely did what she should have.” He pauses then grins at Hunter. “Good luck getting this girl to follow any kind of orders. If it doesn’t end the way she wants it to, she’ll make it in any way she can, regardless of orders.”

  The Head Orderly dude comes forward and speaks to uncle Roderick. “That’s not really how we run things here Roderick, you know that.”

  I look at him before my uncle can speak. “I don’t care how things are run. I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to stay alive and, or out of fucking chains. That’s it.” I’m honestly getting sick of repeating myself.

  “And if those orders mean you live while others die?” He retorts.

  “Then I’ll die along with them. I may be here for my safety but I won’t put my life above anyone else’s.” I shrug. “You can thank my uncle for my view on life since he’s been the one to be my father figure for years and taught me how to essentially be like him. Although, there’s enough of my mom in me to make me less selfish than him,” I add with an grin.

  “You little minx,” Roderick scoffs. “You say that as if I don’t care for you.”

  “I know you do uncle, but you don’t give a shit about anyone else.”

  “This is the truth,” he concedes. “Speaking of your mother…” Roderick stops, hesitating and I tense.

  “What? She better be alive Roderick,” I growl, clenching my fists.

  “She is. She’s just in hiding now. She went to work today and when she came home your house… I’m sorry sweetheart, they tore apart and tore apart everything in your house. There isn’t anything that was left untouched.”

  I clench my teeth. “Is she safe?”

  He nods. “Yes. I have her hidden and as long as she stays where she is no one can get to her.”

  “Why didn’t either of you call me?”

  Roderick shrugs. “I took care of it. She’s fine, Mercy.”

  “She better stay that way uncle,” I growl.

  He narrows his eyes at me. “You know better than to doubt me, little miss Mercy. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you now. You need to stay sharp and stop thinking of others before you get yourself taken again.”

  I roll my eyes. “Whatever. I’m going to bed. You guys can all bitch at me tomorrow for killing the human the way I did if you really want to. Don’t start, Hunter,” I warn as soon as I see his mouth open. “I’m sick of wearing his blood so I need to shower.” I leave the room, my uncles laugh following me out.

  9

  Chapter Nine

  Mercy

  Over the next several days Xena stayed in my room, not wanting to deal with people yet. I can’t say that I blame her. I wouldn’t want to be around a bunch of random ass people I don’t know after that shit either.

  Being a part of a team didn’t give me that same luxury. Using the term “team” doesn’t change that I’m only part of it to be protected.

  Although it’s nice to have something to do, it still rubs me the wrong way to need to be protected by these guys. Especially since one of them seems to hate the fact that I’m even breathing.

  “Are you even trying?” Talon snaps at me after he knocks me on my ass for the fourth time in training.

  I glare at him. “Of course I’m trying you fucking overgrown man-child. I’m just not interested in killing you so I’m not actually trying to hurt you.”

  “Talon, man, maybe you should just ease up on her,” Kai suggests. “She
’s gonna be covered in bruises before this shits over with.”

  “I’m already covered in them,” I point out as Parker helps me get to my feet.

  I try to ignore the warmth of his hand in mine and the tingle it sends up my spine. I meet his eyes and flush when I see the heat there before they run appreciatively down my body, making me burn.

  Jesus these guys are hell on my libido. I need to get laid.

  “She needs to start taking this seriously.” Talon’s deep voice cuts me out of my scandalous thoughts.

  “I am taking it seriously. You’re the one who’s more interested in actually hurting me than fucking helping me.” I walk towards the spot I threw my tank top near where Warwick and Hunter stand chatting about god knows what. They glance up when I get near.

  I try to hide my discomfort as their eyes trail quickly over the numerous scars they can now see. This is the first time I’ve gone without a huge amount of clothes to hide them while we trained. It was getting tedious so I just said fuck it and went with what was reasonable. It’s hot as shit out here so when we started today, I stripped my top off leaving me in my black sports bra.

  The guys tried hiding their shock at the amount of scarring that covers my body but I could still see it. Kai, Parker, and Warwick looked pained at the sight before they all managed to school their features to impassive in no time.

  “Everything okay?” Hunter asks.

  I grab my shirt and put it on. “Fanfuckingtastic. I’m leaving. I’ll be back tonight before we need to leave.”

  Hunter grabs my arm when I turn to leave, stopping me. “At least one of us has to be with you if you plan on leaving the grounds.”

  Well, fuck a duck. It was worth a shot.

  “Yeah? Well right now I can’t handle anymore fucking testosterone choking me. I’m pissed off and I want to go relax and unwind. I won’t be able to do that if you’re hovering. Or if Talon’s there.” Hot though he is, he’s still a dick.

  “How are you going to do that?” Warwick asks, his green snake eyes glittering.

  “Leaving,” I answer, knowing damn well that was not what he meant but I don’t want to answer. It’s not his business.

  He grins. “You know what I mean. Where are you going?”

  I roll my eyes. “Dancing. There’s gotta be a decent place to do that around here and I’m going to find it.”

  Warwick and Hunter exchange a look.

  Hunter lets out a sigh. “Fine. But we’ll make it a team outing since I know Parker will want to go. We’ll keep Talon away from you and still keep an eye on you to make sure everything’s fine.”

  “You’ll keep him far away for me?” I ask hesitatingly.

  Hunter nods. “Yes. Kai, Parker, War or myself need to be with you at all times though.”

  I snort. “You’re not going to follow me into the bathroom right? That’s taking this shit a little too far.”

  Warwick laughs as Hunter rolls his eyes and mutters under his breath what sounded suspiciously like “gods save me from stubborn independent females.”

  I say quick goodbyes to the guys and head to my room. Xena’s laying on her bed reading on a kindle when I come in.

  “Where’d you manage to snag one of those?” I ask with a smile. We both like to read but she’s absolutely crazy about it.

  “Your uncle actually arranged one for both of us. I guess as a ‘sorry your life has turned to shit’ present or something.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, yours is right over there.” Xena points to a kindle laying on top of my pillow.

  “God I freaking love my uncle,” I mutter when I see it. Turning to look at Xena I have to clap to get her attention again. “The whole team is going out before we need to head out on our mission tonight. You wanna come with us?”

  She looks at me for a moment her face twisted in an odd expression before clearing it and shaking her head. “I better not. I’m just gonna stay here and read.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you tonight when I get back then.”

  “Yeah, I’ll see ya,” she replies in a weird tone. I turn to make sure she’s okay when I see she’s just tuned back into her book.

  She would tell me if somethings wrong. I know she would.

  After putting on a long sleeved purple dress that covers my scars along my back and arms I head down to where Hunter texted me to meet the group.

  I’m stupidly nervous because this will be the first time I’ve been around the guys without training or missions standing in the way or being a main contribution to us being around each other.

  This is also the first time I’m not wearing pants around them.

  It’s a weird thing to be nervous about but when you’re around five extremely hot guys in jeans, you can act like you’re just another one of the guys. In a dress, all of that just goes straight out the window.

  I spot Talon first and dear god if he wasn’t such an asshole he’d look probably a thousand times hotter to me.

  Eh, who am I kidding? He’s fucking hot anyway. It pisses me off that someone who is that much of a tool can be that delicious.

  No, down girl, he’s not delicious. Don’t think of him that way.

  “Holy fuck Mercy,” Warwick says when I come into view of the rest of the team at the same time I see them.

  Every head turns in my direction at Warwick’s words and I can feel myself flush. I hate being the center of attention in this way. If I’m fighting I don’t care. But when I’m not doing anything but standing there? Yeah I don’t like it.

  “Guys, tongues back in your mouths. I don’t look that different,” I mutter.

  “No promises,” Warwick says with a wink.

  “You actually do look pretty different. You don’t usually wear a lot of makeup but even putting a little bit on and adding the dress you look different,” Parker says. He blinks when I raise a brow at him as if he just realized what he said could be taken offensively. “I mean, that’s not to say you don’t look gorgeous all the time but I just mean- You know what? I’m just gonna shut my mouth now.”

  “That would be preferable,” Talon says when the others and I chuckle at Parker. I flash a smile and wink at him to show that I’m not offended by his words.

  “Are we ready to go?” Hunter asks. When we all nod he leads us out to the van that we’ll be taking on our mission afterwards.

  “There’s a change of clothes for everyone in the back when it’s time to go,” Kai informs us.

  Everyone murmurs in response. It didn’t take as long as I expected it to for us to get to Blue Rose. A supernatural club that humans aren’t allowed to go in. One of the few anyways.

  Since humans are a main...food source I guess you can say… for certain demons or other supernatural creatures, like Parker or Warwick. That’s assuming Warwick needs to be with humans. There are many different breeds of incubi and succubi and without asking I have no idea which he falls under.

  When Talon leads us straight past the line of people waiting I give Hunter a questioning look, since he’s right next to me.

  His lips twist into a smirk but he doesn’t say anything. Narrowing my eyes I tilt my head, watching as the bouncer stands straighter when our group gets close.

  “Mr. Cole, we weren’t expecting you tonight, sir,” the bouncer says, his eyes shifting around nervously.

  “It’s fine. We weren’t actually planning to come out tonight so it was last minute,” Talon responds.

  “Ah, well, your private section should be ready for you and your guests.”

  Talon nods and leads us inside through the throng of writhing bodies towards a dark area that has a staircase leading up.

  “Talon owns this place?” I ask Hunter. It’s too loud in here with the music blasting to try talking out loud.

  “He does. We don’t come here often, maybe once a month. If that,” Hunter replies when Talon takes us into a large private room that has a window facing the dance floor and is lined with extremely comfortable looking c
ouches.

  The music’s still loud in here but not so loud that we can’t talk and have a conversation.

  “What do you think, Mimi?” Warwick asks, using that nickname again.

  I grin at him. “I think it’s time to dance. Who’s coming with me?” I ask, glancing at the men staring at me. I roll my eyes. “That is the whole reason I wanted to come out. I’m not dancing in a room with just you guys watching. There’s really no fun in not having a partner and other people dancing around you.”

  Kai chuckles from behind me while I walk back out the way we came towards the stairs that’ll lead me to the crowded dance floor. “I’ll go with you. One of you assholes can come take my place in a little bit.”

  I fight back a grin as I feel Kai place his hand on the small of my back on the way down the stairs.

  “You guys really don’t like dancing do you?” I ask him.

  He shakes his head. “It’s not that we don’t like dancing. We just don’t really do it very often. Even when we’re here we usually don’t dance. I think the only one who doesn’t like dancing is Parker because his parents made him take lessons growing up so he hates it with a passion.”

  As soon as we hit the dance floor my hips are swaying to the beat of the music and I’m moving along into the numerous bodies pressed together. Finding a spot that isn’t as crowded I dance my way that direction, dancing against people who stop me to dance for a moment before moving on again.

  I feel a touch of amusement followed by Kai’s chuckle in my head while I move when I get to the less crowded area. “You almost lost me, sweetheart.”

  I grin and shake my head while turning to look at him. “Nah, I knew you’d find me.”

  His eyes burn into me as he moves closer to me, placing his hands on my hips. “You’re right. I would have.”

  We dance together for several songs, both of us laughing and smiling the entire time. After the fifth song we’ve danced to is done Kai taps out.