No Mercy (Cambions 2.5)

by Dermott, Shannon

  When I turned away from the light show that was about to happen, I saw Sara on the ground dead ahead with something crouched over her. Its mouth was open wide as if it were an incubus going to steal life force. But hell, this wasn’t a lustful situation. No, what I was seeing was either a demon eater or a soul taker. Even though there was a fifty fifty chance Sara was a demon, there was also the other possibility. Human. Like Luke, I couldn’t live with myself if I let something take her soul. Luke hadn’t yet lit up based on the darkness that still shrouded me. I turned to look around the tree and saw the inner glow beginning on his skin. Those closest to him would be affected by now. I still had a shot, a second or two maybe. If I waited, Sara’s life would be over, demon or not. There was a well placed ditch off to her side and I thanked the heavens if they were listening for my good fortune.

  Channeling my inner NFL player impression that worked earlier, I barreled down on a demon that had Sara’s lifeless looking body trapped underneath it. It turned and before I could get an impression of its face it disappeared just when Luke went super nova on all of us. My hands that had been primed for the demon now clasped Sara before I could stop my momentum. We rolled in the ditch just as the light beamed over head, cocooning us in a pit of darkness.

  Sara wasn’t moving and I was busy catching my breath and not from exertion. I’d nearly met my maker and I wasn’t exactly dressed right for the meeting. I found myself chuckling at my own humor or was that nervous laughter from my near miss.

  A second later, my hand went to Sara’s throat and not to kill her. I checked and she had a pulse. Too bad, no mouth to mouth, because that kiss earlier had been a doozie. Sitting up, I cradled her in my arms. “Luke,” I shouted from the ditch where I had a clear view into what had been a war zone.

  His head whipped around like he was worried I hadn’t gotten away in time. “Hell,” he said. His eyes focused on the girl in my arms. Commanding like a chief, he said, “Get her back to the house, I’ll handle the rest here.” I wasn’t his soldier, but we understood each other. I had his back and wouldn’t leave if he needed me.

  While he surveyed the ground, I also caught sight of the wounded. All the shifters seemed to have survived and no demons remained. Luke’s little clean up show was perfect for our after war party. Feeling a bit light on my feet, I knew I was still bleeding. If I didn’t stop it soon, I would need someone to carry us both home. I moved with as much speed as I could muster.

  Relieved that I’d made it back to the house, I used my last bit of strength to carry Sara to my father’s bedroom on the lower level past the kitchen area. With the twins upstairs, I just didn’t want to go there. I didn’t have much strength at this very moment to do any mind scrubbing.

  Once I placed her on the bed, I collapsed on her other side. My hand was bleeding bad. I think the damn vampire hit an artery. If I’d been human, I would probably be dead by now. Holding my hand up and propping it against the headboard, I only hoped the elevation would stanch the bleeding. Not knowing how much blood I lost, I found myself drifting into blackness.

  Chapter Ten - Luke

  Chris was the only shifter to turn back human and stand before me. “Thanks for that. Although we aren’t demons, that light of yours isn’t a picnic.”

  “Sorry about that,” I said. I didn’t tell him that if he didn’t have any demon properties, that light would not affect him at all.

  Continuing, he said, “It looks like we are all okay. And because we heal better in animal form, we’re going back to the compound to rest up. We will circle by your place in the morning after we’ve healed our wounded.”

  “Yeah,” I said shaking my head in agreement. Watching Chris shift back so easily was odd. I’d heard tales about shifters and weres but seeing it was something to behold. The shifters had such a smooth transition that didn’t look painful. In opposition, I wouldn’t have wished lycanthropy on anyone. Their shift, the weres, was really painful if rumors were true.

  After they trotted off, I did a sweep of the ground to make sure nothing was left. Broken branches and a tree that had been stripped of bark were the only evidence of what went down here. When my nose told me a lot of blood had been spilled in the direction Flynn had been, I followed the trail to investigate. I couldn’t be sure a demon wasn’t left unaffected by my angel light.

  What I saw was a heck of a lot of blood that led to the ditch Flynn found himself in. That meant one of two things. He or Sara was bleeding really bad or worse, they both were.

  Just when I was about to take off to make sure my best friend and the fascinating girl were okay a leaf cracked like it had been stepped on.

  On autopilot, I summoned my gift from within me and it began to leak out of me as I turned around. My skin held the faintest glow when two humans kneeled before me.

  “Forgive us, my lord” they said in unison heads bowed on one knee. My light tucked itself back inside my pores.

  Holy hell, these two did not think I was the second coming, did they. “Who are you?” I asked.

  The one on the left lifted his head. “I am Gaius, my lord.” His hair was a muddy brown color blending with the tree bark. His face was sincere. If I had to guess, he didn’t have trouble with the ladies. “And this is Phebe,” he said, extending a hand out to his side. A face too young and too innocent looked at me like I was God’s gift and that was creepy even for me. Her hair was a mix of dark blond and light brown from what I could tell in the moonlight. She had a sweet face that didn’t belong in these woods, holding a blade half her size. Her partner held a similar one.

  Gaius spoke up, “We saw your light. We’ve been trailing the demon and its carnage all the way here. We didn’t expect,” he paused. “No, we never expect to come into your holy presence.”

  Oh, yeah, where was Flynn now. He’d be laughing his ass off. Shit, Flynn, he could be in trouble. “Look, I don’t know who you think I am but I’ve taken care of things here. You can go back home.” I really wanted the little girl not to be fighting a battle she had no chance of winning.

  The girl in question finally spoke. “We’ve trained our whole lives for this. It is our great honor to assist you in the enormous battle waged here on earth. We will die to end demons who plague our cities and towns, one by one if we have to.”

  She sounded fiercer than she looked. “And who is your leader?” I asked. The question sounded funny coming from my lips but these two seemed to be dead serious.

  “An angel like yourself of course. His teachings have rallied us all. We are positioning ourselves around the country for a strike for all mankind.” Her voice was childlike but the tenor was all fearsome.

  “I can be of service to you,” Gaius spoke again bowing his head in subservience.

  Phebe looked at me wide eyed. “I know this is wrong but I must say it. I am in awe of your power and your beauty. I too can be of service.”

  What they needed to do was live their lives. Be in high school, go to college, and have a life. Not all demons were bad, it wasn’t good to generalize. I knew better than to mention that. They’d been brainwashed for years. A few words from me about good and bad demons weren’t going to erase all of that. So I did what I could.

  “Depart,” I found myself saying wondering if I stepped into the eighteenth century. “Do not dwell in this place. It is safe. Seek refuge and shelter for the night. Find another place to be of good service.” And all that shit, I wanted to add. “Help the homeless and the hungry and do not trouble yourselves with demons. Humans need help as well.”

  Okay, that sounded a little haughty but they nodded. Getting to their feet, they gave me another quick bow. Turning, they walked in the direction they’d come. So my little speech I pulled from books and movies must have worked. I would have to come out and search tomorrow for the pair just to make sure they’d heeded my instruction.

  With movement faster than the human eye, I lifted off into the air and zipped back to Flynn’s house not to waste anymore time. Opening the door
, I followed the trail of blood back to Flynn’s dad’s room. There on the bed, he was still bleeding. The sheets held a pool of blood and he looked too pale. Shit, taking my healing hand, first I stopped the flow of blood. Then, I sent out a wave of power to jump start his body to speed up the new blood cell production. He would need water, but I turned to Sara first.

  Lying next to him like another living corpse, I rounded the bed to check her out. She was breathing, but barely. Crap, all this healing would wear me down. I couldn’t only hope we wouldn’t have to fight again tonight. With my hands, I touched her cool skin on either side of her head and sent power through her body. Not knowing what was wrong, I couldn’t focus my power thus utilizing only what was needed. She seemed to suck in a deep breath when I was done.

  Feeling tired, I headed to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water from the fridge. Heading back to the room, I uncapped it. Pouring a little on Flynn’s face, he sputtered and I had to laugh.

  “Dude, you lost a lot of blood. Drink this,” I said holding out the bottle.

  No quips back, I knew the guy was out of it. I watched him drink down the whole bottle and collapse back on the bed. “No you don’t,” I said, pulling him back to a sitting position. You need to drink more water and find Adriana. I didn’t have to say why. He was an incubus and for him there was nothing like a little sexual healing.

  Helping the guy to his feet, once he was steady I sent him on his way. The guy loved life, so I knew I didn’t have to remind him about the water and the other stuff.

  “Thanks man,” he said weakly, still on the pasty side. He left and I heard the door on the refrigerator open and close. Then, I listened to tentative footsteps on the stairs. The place was quiet. Maybe too quiet.

  Looking at the bed, I scooped Sara off it. She was still out of it. Sitting her in the love seat in the room, I stripped the bed and hurried down the hall to put the blood soaked sheets in the wash. I found Sara’s clothes there, something I’d forgotten about. Not sure what else to do, I popped them in the dryer on a low setting although if they shrunk a little I wasn’t sure I would be upset by it. Then using hot water and a soak cycle, I shoved the sheets in, thanking my mom for all the laundry lessons because they were paying off.

  Superhuman, she’d balk, you still have to wear clothes and I’m not your maid. Sighing, I hoped she was okay.

  Going back to the room, I put Sara back on the bed without sheets. She didn’t have any or much blood on her from Flynn and I wasn’t sure how he managed that. But I was tired. Playing superhero, demigod, and housemaid took a lot out of a guy. I couldn’t face the stairs. Plus, Sara might wake in the night scared. Or maybe, I just didn’t want to leave. Whatever it was, I stretched out next to her and closed my eyes.

  Chapter Eleven – Flynn

  Climbing those stairs was like making it to the top of Mount Everest the way I was feeling. I was breathing heavy and four bottles of water sloshed around in my stomach. Luke had healed me, but he was right. A little fooling around with Adriana would go a long way.

  My vision tunneled and I was woozy on my feet. Nearly tumbling back on the stairs, I leaned forward lurching to door number three where I would hopefully find my prize. Fumbling with the doorknob, it looked as though I was seeing it through a kaleidoscope. Prisms of knobs multiplied as my strength faltered.

  When the door managed to open and I stumbled in, I saw that the two sisters decided to share a bed. Unable to make it back to my room, I bomb dived over Adriana who blissful was closest to the door and managed to land between them. Rolling towards my girl, I used the last of my will to gently wake her or so I thought.

  Her eyes popped open in fear but soon filled with delight. The kind you get at Christmas when you open that present that you really wanted. This is why I liked being with her. She wasn’t demanding and she liked me more than just my outer wrapping. If only she lived in Maryland and not in New York. Maybe it would be her and not Amanda. Maybe together we could be something else.

  But I pushed that thought away. I hadn’t been able to make a relationship with two other girls I’d had more interest in. Heather and Jennifer were two causalities of my nature. Pushing that thought aside, I looked into those big brown eyes. “Kiss me, love,” I said. I really must have been out of it. Love wasn’t even in my vocabulary.

  Unable to muster movement, I watched as she leaned in with a grin and pressed her sweet mouth to mine. Like a dying man, I drank in her energy as it poured off of me. Lost in the glory of it, my mind went wild with the idea of Adriana and Sara together with me. Sara would be down with it, I could tell. Adriana was another story. It would take heavy convincing.

  Shaking my head, I found I had enough strength to wind my hand in her lovely thick hair. I needed so much more than this, but I had to get enough power so I could make it back to my room unassisted.

  “Flynn,” Adriana moaned when my hand which a minute ago had been in her hair was now under her shirt. I was losing time. Snatches of it, but I needed to get a grip. No doubt the sisters had done a lot of things together in their day, but somehow I didn’t think that included sex.

  My brain was coming online with every kiss we shared and I had a faint recollection that Adriana might be too much under my influence. Therefore, I would need to limit contact with her. I should let her be, but there was no one else. If she knew this would save my life would she give up her will to me?

  Her hands were in my hair pulling me closer when the first wave of super lust hit me in the back. Then a hand landed on my thigh and journeyed for statuette parts. Adriana didn’t have four hands, so it was easy to deduce what was going on. Boobs where pressed against my back and she was nibbling on my neck. My incubus nature was on high alert, taking from the physical and emotional lust that surrounded me like a sandwich. A hand hit home and Adriana’s kiss ate all the noise of any kind including the protest I made.

  If I wasn’t clear with my brain loopy from blood loss about what was going on, when the voice behind me called out “Luke,” my brain went on red alert. Pulling away from Adriana’s mouth, I said to her, “Let’s go to my room.” Nodding, she didn’t move while her sister’s hand was going to town. After a silent curse, I managed to say, “I’ll meet you there.”

  Like a zombie, she moved out of the room not noticing her sister at all. I hated compulsion. But I had no choice here. Adelina’s actions clouded my brain. As soon as I could disengage from her, I would compel her to forget this little indiscretion and leave her to go to my room.

  Grabbing a hold of her wrist, I firmly squeezed it just enough so she would let go of my most prized possession. I turned in the bed to capture her stare but the girl was like a cobra all fangs if she had any and locked onto my mouth pouring heaps of power into me. The rush had me for a second. So much so I dropped her hand. It was back where it started and my eyes betrayed me by rolling in the back of my head for a moment. The sounds I heard next might have been me but I wasn’t sure.

  When her mouth left mine, I was pinned to the mattress by her need. My incubus was reacting to what she wanted. Soon, I wouldn’t be able to stop. As her head journey southward, I warred with myself. I couldn’t do Adriana’s sister. Hell, I couldn’t do this to Adriana let alone to Adelina. Like the dinging of a bell, contact was made. My last thought before I snapped into action was Can I?

  Chapter Twelve – Luke

  Stomach growling from the smell of breakfast, I woke. Sara was still asleep beside me. Her color looked better in the daylight. It looked as though she was healing. Not sure of what she was, I let her sleep. Plus I wanted to talk to Flynn before she woke.

  Getting out of bed, I padded my bare feet against the hardwood floors. Finding Flynn shoveling food into his mouth from a plate, wasn’t a new sight.

  “Breakfast,” he said mouth full.

  My stomach growled some more like an angry bear and Flynn’s eyebrows cocked. The tv wasn’t on, which was odd. Flynn must have been too hungry to stop and turn on Sports Cent
er.

  “You’re looking better,” I said, while making a plate of my own. “Nice beginning from the evening we had.” Quite the spread, I knew the twins must have made breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, bagels, sliced fruit and orange juice.

  “Um huh,” Flynn muttered, still busy eating like he hadn’t in years. I got busy matching his stride. Several minutes passed, while we ate in silence. Filling your belly after battle was almost as important as the battle itself.

  Draining my glass, I asked, “Where are the girls?”

  Flynn’s eyes bugged out but he finished his juice before he spoke. “Gone,” was the only word he gave me.

  Turning wide eyes on him, I said, “Gone as in G.O.N.E. Gone.”

  Nodding, I waited for his explanation. “Adriana wanted to make breakfast. She hit the store came back and cooked along with her sister. They ate and I sent them on their way.”