Judging from the way Mercy sinks deeper into the chair I can tell that she already knows exactly how dangerous Nathaniel is.
“Ladies and Gentlemen.” Nathaniel rises from the chair with supreme arrogance. “May I approach?”
“Step lightly, Nathaniel,” Samuel warns.
“Of course.” When Nathaniel speaks, his voice oozes forth in a sweet, gooey, patronizing syrup.
He walks noiselessly to the center of the floor and turns his back to The Assembled, choosing instead to face the pews before him, giving the illusion that he was speaking directly to us.
“My friends,” he begins, “there is no crime here. I’m simply exercising my free will, a gift that cannot be withdrawn. The Assembled are not the source of such generosity. He alone bestowed this power upon me. And He alone,” he turns slightly, shooting a quick glare at The Assembled behind him, “can take it away.”
“You have abused your gift, Nathaniel,” Margaret Start, third from the left snaps.
“Who’s to say?”
“We are to say!” the head of The Assembled, Lucas Church, rises from his chair and shouts. “The crimes against you are heinous and you must suffer the consequences.”
“Do you threaten me?” Nathaniel chuckles.
“Do you deny the charges against you?”
Nathaniel tilts his head to one side. “I do not.”
“Then you shall be sentenced.”
“You cannot punish me. I do not answer to you.” Nathaniel’s voice remains cool, not showing even the slightest agitation.
“You answer to the laws that govern us all and we are the body that enforces those laws,” Lucas speaks with a grave tone.
“Fine.” Nathaniel waves his hand dismissively. “Do what you must.”
Lucas Church, followed by the others, stands. “Nathaniel Black, you are hereby sentenced to servitude on Earth. Since it seems you are so obsessed with human life, you shall become human.”
Nathaniel halts dead in his tracks. He pivots abruptly. “You cannot lower such a sentence! You have no right!”
“You will live your life on Earth, Nathaniel,” Lucas continues, ignoring Nathaniel’s pleas. “You will live as a human and you will die as a human.” The old man bangs a gavel. “Guards.”
Three imposing shadows step forward. They wear service uniforms, much like that of military personnel.
“You can’t do this to me!” Nathaniel screams as they restrain him. With great effort they bind him with chains.
“You’ll regret this!” He continues to yell as they lead him from the room.
The screen fades. It’s only then that I see Mercy exhale.
“Why are you showing me this?” she asks quietly.
“Patience.” Zee clicks a different button on the remote control.
A hospital room shows on screen. An elderly man, obviously stricken with disease, lies in the bed. Tubes protrude from his arms, his mouth, and his nose. The machine behind him blips slowly, monitoring the faint beat of a weakening heart. A nurse enters the room, takes his pulse, and adjusts his covers. She checks the tubes and changes the bags of fluid. Before she has time to leave the room, the monitor’s alarm sounds.
She takes the man’s pulse again. Removing the stethoscope from around her neck, she listens to his heart. Another nurse comes into view. The beeping morphs to a flat line, which rings one continuous and final note.
“Call it,” the second nurse says.
“Time of death, eleven thirty-one AM.” She covers him with the sheet. “Rest peacefully, Mr. Black.”
Mercy flinches every so slightly.
The second nurse leaves the room.
The first nurse goes about disconnecting wires, not noticing at all what is going on around her. Mercy edges forward in her seat, placing her hands on the table, her mouth hangs slightly agape.
Above the body a dark light hovers. Like a storm cloud it swirls furiously, slowly taking shape. The nurse turns around and finds herself face to face with the real Nathaniel Black. He isn’t aged, wrinkled, or sickly. He’s the same Nathaniel he’d been in the courtroom; the same creepy smile, the same devilish eyes. He checks himself over, as if admiring what he sees.
Then, quick as lightning, he lunges forward. I hear Mercy let out a tiny gasp as Nathaniel reaches for the unsuspecting woman’s throat.
The nurse widens her mouth to scream, but it’s too late. A low gurgling sound bubbles forth as he chokes her. Without warning, Nathaniel’s grip on the woman loosens and he begins to shake uncontrollably. His victim’s eyes widen, horrified.
Nathaniel’s body shatters into a million pieces. Stunned, unable to run, the nurse stands there and watches as the pieces, like a swarm of bees, fly into her mouth. Then it’s her turn to shake.
She writhes, buckling to the ground. Her body thrashes against the floor. Finally it stops and her body is still.
To the unknowing, she appears dead. But then she rises from the ground. She pauses, steadying herself against the bed. She looks up, as though she knows she’s being watched. It’s like she’s looking right at the camera; her eyes are yellow and menacing. She stretches her neck, smoothes her clothes, and leaves the room.
The screen goes black. I can see Mercy’s hands shaking against the table. “As far as we know,” Zee says. “That was the first recorded breach.”
“But how? Why? I don’t understand.” She isn’t talking to Zee or me. She’s on the verge of uncontrollable babble.
With just a few steps I am across from Mercy, pulling out a chair from the table and sitting with her. I want to reach out and take her hands, to stop them from shaking, but I don’t.
“We don’t know how it happened exactly or why.”
Mercy lowers her head. A single tear trickles down her face and splashes against the table. “Is that what I did to Lyla?”
Chapter Eighteen
Mercy
I want to die. For the first time since all of this happened, I honestly wish that I was dead. Death has to be better than this. What I just saw, what Nathaniel did, that can’t be me. Without any memory of what happened after I passed out in the alley, I’ll never know exactly how I got into Lyla’s body, but if it looks anything like what Nathaniel had done, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.
Repeating my question, I ask again, “Did I do that to her, Gage?”
“No. No!”
Gage looks pained. Whether he’s lying or not, I want to believe him.
“I was there with you, remember?” He reaches out, takes my hands, and pulls me closer to him across the table. “Look at me, Mercy.”
Lifting my head to meet his gaze, I see the sincerity, the kindness in his eyes. Not deserving such a look, I turn away and rest my forehead on my arm.
Gage squeezes my hands. His grip is intense, a bit too forceful, but it’s exactly what I need. I need someone to hold me together because I know at any moment I’m going to fall apart.
“Gage, do you want me to keep going?”
I’d forgotten Zee was in the room until he spoke. For a huge man he has an uncanny ability to remain still and quiet.
Gage nods to Zee and the screen changes again. He angles himself toward me and says, “I’m sorry. There’s no easy way to do this.”
Sitting up straight, I pulled away from him as a familiar image appears before me. My mouth falls open as all the air pushes from my lungs.
I’m looking at my mother.
Her arms are bound behind her back. Her once beautiful auburn hair is matted to her head like it hasn’t been washed or combed in days. Her white gown is dirty, torn at the hem.
She’s in the same courtroom I’d seen earlier. She faces the same panel of judges, each one wearing the same scowl they’d worn when facing Nathaniel.
“You are a traitor, Ariana. Save yourself and confess,” says a man who could easily be one hundred and ten years old.
“No!” she cries out.
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The chair hits the floor when I stand. Mesmerized I walk to the screen, wanting so badly to reach out and touch her. My mother.
A frail, female council member points a finger at Ariana. “This is your last chance. Confess, or suffer the same fate as Nathaniel.”
My mother’s expression changes from one of pain to one of defiance. It throws me off kilter as her eyes narrow, burning yellow fire. “You can’t stop me. No one can.”
“We’ll see about that.” The old man signals to someone off screen.
The doors at the back of the courtroom open and four soldiers march in, Gage at the lead, followed by Zee, Jinx, and Rae.
Ariana lowers her head, peering out at the four who stand before her. Despite being confined, she looks ready to fight. A snarl forms at her lips. I back away, not recognizing this part of her. This is not the mother I knew.
“You’ve raised an army,” Arianna hisses. “You wage war against us.”
The head councilman speaks. “It is you who wage war! We will simply put an end to it.”
“Fools,” Arianna roars.
The floor of the courtroom rocks slowly. A rumble shakes the pews. Ariana lets out an inhuman roar as the ties that bind her split apart. Just as I’d watch Nathaniel minutes before, my mother’s body shatters like glass, shards flying in all directions.
“No!” I scream.
“Finish this,” the head council member directs Gage and the others. They disappear in pursuit of Ariana.
My chest constricts. I can feel the fury gaining momentum as my breathing becomes rapid and shallow. Heat like I’ve never felt before courses through my veins. The disturbing images I’d just witnessed fuel my rage.
Learning I am a Breacher is nothing compared to this. My mother is not only a Breacher, she’s evil. Pure evil. All the memories I have of her, all the sweetness, the kisses goodnight, the way she hugged me when I cried; it’s all lies, nothing but a cover for her true self.
The room around me starts to sway.
“Mercy?” Gage’s voice sounds distant, like he’s calling to me from far away. “Mercy! Can you hear me?”
Part of me wants to answer him, but the other part wants to succumb. The heat that courses through me is both intoxicating and numbing. It drags me down, pulls at the edges.
“She’s going to jump!” I hear Zee yell.
There’s movement around me, yanking and pulling me, sometimes hurting me, but it’s beyond my grasp. What is right within my reach is the warmth and so I settle into it, like dipping myself into a hot bath. I call to it to wash over me.
Suddenly, I feel the most intense, most searing pain of my entire life. It’s as though the flesh is being pulled from my bones. Someone cries out; it’s probably me, but I don’t recognize the scream.
The pain worsens and, this time, when I hear myself cry out it scares me. The separation between mind and body is jarring. I can feel the pain, but at the same time it’s like watching it happen to someone else.
Hands clamp down upon my shoulders, forcing me down. My wrists and ankles are bound. I thrash against the restraints, but it’s no use. Immobilized, there’s nothing to do but think of the pain. The pain.
Fighting, struggling, it’s no use. I’m trapped within the agony.
And then it’s gone. Just like that my body goes still.
I wake sometime later to the glare of harsh white lights. I squeeze my eyes shut and turn my head. Still restrained, I’m not able to move around much.
“She’s waking up,” I hear Rae speak from somewhere to my left.
“Give me a minute with her,” Gage says.
“I’ll be right outside,” Rae tells him.
Their words move like smoke around my head.
“I’ll be fine,” Gage says.
I hear Rae’s heels clack against the floor, growing softer as she moves farther away. A door, heavy from the sound of it, opens and closes.
Blinking against the light, I try again to open my eyes. The light is less harsh, blocked by Gage who is leaning over me.
“I’m going to loosen the straps, okay?”
Within seconds the tension around my ankles and wrists dissipates.
“Let me help you sit up.” Gage slips his hand under my shoulders. “Take it easy.”
He lifts me into a sitting position. My head throbs. My wrists and ankles are raw and covered in bruises and burns from the restraints.
“Drink this.” Gage tips a paper cup to my lips. A cool liquid washes over my parched gums and throat.
“Thank you,” I croak. Taking the cup from him I swallow two more generous helpings.
Gage nods in approval. When I finish drinking he takes the cup from me and sets it on the counter. The room is like an examination room at a doctor’s office: crisp, white, and sterile. There are a couple of cabinets, a sink, and a biohazard waste box.
“How are you feeling?” he asks me.
“Like I’ve been hit by a truck,” I answer. “What happened?”
“You tried to jump from Lyla’s body,” he says with a tinge of anger to his voice.
The straightforwardness of his answer throws me off a bit. Apparently he’s finished sugarcoating things for me.
“That’s not possible.” I wouldn’t do that to Lyla. I know that if I leave her body I’ll kill her.
“Luckily, we were able to stop you.”
“But this doesn’t make sense. You said that the only way for me to leave Lyla’s body was if she died.”
Gage turns his back to me. He grips the edges of the counter. The muscles of his shoulders and back strain the fabric of the dark, gray shirt he wears.
A sickening thought occurs to me. “Did I try and kill her? I mean did I do something harmful to myself. To harm Lyla?”
“No,” he answers, not turning around.
Regaining my strength, I hop off the table I’d been strapped to and step closer to him. “Then how? I don’t get it.”
“I know why Nathaniel is after you, Gage whispers.”
His words do nothing to alleviate my fears or calm my nerves. My patience is thinning.
“So then tell me.”
Gage paces back and forth, wearing tracks into the white floor. When he stops he put his hands on his hips and faces me square on. “There’s only been one other case of a Breacher being able to jump from one body to another without killing its host first.”
I know exactly where he’s headed and he looks like he’s having trouble saying the words, so I help him out. “My mother.”
Most girls hope to inherit traits from their mothers, like shiny hair, or eye color. Some are lucky enough to have life skills passed on to them like cooking or sewing or snaking a drain—my mother could do all of that. She was also spontaneous and generous and had a wicked sense of humor. Any of those things she could’ve bestowed upon me, and yet I get stuck with body stealing … and God knows what else.
He nods. “She was extremely powerful.”
“I’m starting to understand that.”
Something dawns on me. A tiny glimmer of hope begins to burn inside of me.
“Wait a minute. If I can leave Lyla’s body without killing it, then I can get out of it right now without hurting her.”
“Mercy, it’s not that simple.” Gage tries to reason with me, but I’m not hearing any of it.
“It is! It is that simple. I can make this right.”
“Mercy.” Gage takes me by the shoulders. “Lyla’s dead.”
No. I don’t believe him.
“How do you know she’s dead?”
“Experience, mostly,” he answers matter-of-factly. “In all my years as a Hunter I’ve never seen it any other way. Breachers take over bodies and there’s nothing left of the original person.”
I sink into the bed again. Defeat and grief twist around me and squeeze. It’s difficult for me to breathe.
Gage kneels on the floor in front of me.
“I’m sorry that all of this is happening, Mercy.” He covers my hands in his. “I wish there was more that I could do, to somehow make this easier for you.”
Such tenderness in his voice and in his expression, I’ve never really seen this side of him before. I know he cares about me, or something like that, but these words are different. He wants to take my pain away and he feels guilty that he can’t. He feels powerless. For the first time I see his vulnerability.
Overcome by everything, my eyes pool with tears. Though I want to hold them in, a few break loose and slither down my cheeks. With his hand cupping the side of my face, Gage brushes away the tears with his thumb.
Before I know it, I’m in that moment, the one that happens right before two people kiss. He leans toward me and I reciprocate. His breath lingers on my lips.
The door slams open and Rae bursts in. Gage and I jump apart.
Rae groans. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
Gage stands, pulling away from me. “Leave it alone, Rae.”
There’s no chance of that. Rae glares at me then rolls her eyes in disgust.
“You’re ruining him,” she says sharply. “I hope you know that. The Gage I know would never act like this. He was our leader, the one who kept all of us in check whenever humanity crept in.” She says humanity like it’s a dirty word.
“Rae, stop,” Gage says.
Rae spins around to face Gage, a look of disgust on her face. “I don’t even know who you are anymore,” she seethes. She turns again, giving me one more glare full of hatred, and then she leaves.
“She’s pleasant,” I quip.
“She’s right,” Gage replies coldly.
His words sting. I stare at him in shock. Gone is the Gage from just a few seconds before. The tenderness, the vulnerability, is gone. In its place is Gage, the soldier. A tremble of fear rips through me like icicles down my spine.
“Let’s go,” he says sternly and leaves the room.
Chapter Nineteen
Gage
I keep my distance from Mercy as we walk down the hall, Rae’s words repeating in my head. Hers was the reminder I needed to jolt me back to the present, to keep me focused on my job. As a Hunter, I’m sworn to track and kill Breachers, to not fall in love with them.
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