by Ciara Graves
“Why would I tell you?” Shep snarled.
The bar quieted down around us.
Shep nodded to someone behind me, and the volume returned to normal.
I sensed a presence behind me.
“Get him out of here. Quietly. And do not let him back in. Understand? I won’t have it.” His glowing yellow eyes glared at me, the threat clear in their depths. “You leave that girl alone. You hear? Or you’ll be dealing with me.”
His comment threw me off.
The last time I’d been here, Shep had not seemed to like Mercy at all.
My scars prickled again, but this time it was instinct telling me this whole situation was off. “Why are you protecting her?”
Shep slapped a towel over his shoulder, crossing his arms, so his muscles bulged. “We protect our own around here.”
That had me frowning. “She’s a bounty hunter. She hunts supes down here.”
“You know nothing about the Underground.” He bit off the words, as though he’d much rather be chomping down on my neck. “All yours, Bowen.”
“With pleasure.”
A cold grip closed around my upper arm, and I was turned around forcefully, and found myself face-to-face with the vampire Mercy had seemed so close to.
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.”
Chapter 2
Rafael
The office was a mess Thursday morning by the time I got in.
Iris was already there at her desk, so at least she survived the night in the Underground.
From the pissed off glare she gave me when I got to my desk, she hadn’t gotten anywhere with whoever she spoke to about Mercy.
“Have a rough night?” I asked casually.
“None of them would talk about either woman.”
I slammed my desk drawer shut with a growl. Yelling at her sounded like a great way to start the morning.
Until Nor shouted my name across the floor, cutting me off. “My office, now,” he ordered and then disappeared back into his office.
“What do you think he wants?” Iris asked. “Something to do with why everyone’s running around all crazy today?”
“No idea.”
The office was bustling more than usual, but I hadn’t heard anything on the news this morning before I left my apartment. There’d been no public announcements either or news updates on my cell. If it was this bad, the public would’ve been alerted.
No. Who I was I kidding.
They’d want to keep everyone calm depending on what occurred. Supes were no different from humans in the way that they panicked and overreacted to almost every negative event that occurred.
“Sir?” I asked once in Nor’s office.
“Have a seat.”
Nor was on edge and hadn’t looked at me yet. Instead, he focused on papers on his desk, shuffling them around and muttering under his breath about escalation.
“Sir? Did something happen last night?”
“You could say that. Hold on, Rafael.” He picked up the phone and dialed. “I want that entire sector closed off. Understand?” he said a couple seconds later, a rumble in his words. “I don’t give a damn what they say. They do not have overall jurisdiction just because it’s their territory. We are the ones doing the investigating. And for the love of god, do not let them start killing each other. I’ll send more men.” He grunted in reply to something the other person must’ve said, then slammed the phone down nearly breaking the receiver. “This month is just getting better every damned day.”
“Sir?” I asked hesitantly this time.
I hadn’t seen Nor this riled up in years, not since we were tracking down a particularly vicious banshee who’d been killing off men like they were
gnats.
“Where are you and Iris at on finding the bounty hunter?” he asked, voice strained as he glared at me.
“It’s been hard to get information on her, sir,” I replied. “We haven’t managed to get anything.”
“That much is damned clear.” He slapped a file down at the edge of his desk, pointing at it. “Take a look.”
I scooted to the edge of my seat, so I could take the file. “Shit.”
“Shit doesn’t begin to cover it. Do you have any idea what’s about to happen and it’s all because of her. This is what failure looks like right now, and I am not happy. Not happy at all.”
The picture before me was of a murdered werewolf, but he wasn’t just any wolf. He was the damned head of one of the three families who divided Sector 18 into their territory. It existed outside the main hub of the city with access to woods and open fields for their packs to run during the time of the full moon when they had no choice, but to shift and their animal natures took over. Most, once they reached a certain age, could shift on command, but the full moon always changed them. Made them more irrational. Violent. It was one of the reasons they were placed so far away from the major populace.
But this wolf wouldn’t be running under a full moon any time soon. Not without a head.
The first photograph was of the werewolf’s body in gory detail, his head lying a few feet away. He’d been killed while shifting from human to wolf form, face frozen in a snarl. The next picture was of his body. Blood covered his chest, and there was a clear stab wound through it, right where his heart was. He’d been beheaded and stabbed through the heart. A broken bracelet lay beside him, along with torn shreds of clothing. No claw marks, no bite marks on his body. No, this wasn’t done by another were. A blade was the only weapon that could’ve made that clean of a slice at the neck. A blade like the one Mercy carried. But many bounty hunters carried swords if they were smart. Guns weren’t always reliable.
I glanced up from the photos at Nor’s reddening face and what he believed to be the truth slapped me in the face.
“You think she did this? The bounty hunter?” I asked Nor. “The one we’re after?”
“What else am I to think? She uses a blade, does she not? And there is no other bounty hunter on our radar that could take down the alpha were of a pack.”
I was already shaking my head, skimming over the rest of the pictures of the crime scene. “This was at his home. Where were his guards? His family?”
“He was conveniently home alone and the guards, well, they said they heard nothing.”
“Magic then?”
“It would appear so.”
“We don’t know what the bounty hunter is,” I reminded Nor, knowing Mercy technically could have committed this attack with the help of her witch friend, Gigi. From what Bowen told me, she was nowhere near strong enough yet to take on a were of this size. “Sir, it’s my opinion she is not responsible for this attack.”
“And what makes you say that? Something you know that I don’t?” He leaned over the desk with a snarl as he uttered, “Speak up, or was my confidence in you misplaced?”
“No, sir,” I answered quickly. “Not at all.”
“Then what makes you think she would not attack this target?”
“Is there any proof someone put out a bounty on him? One of the other packs? Did he commit a crime of some kind? She’s not a hit man.”
“No reported bounty we could find.” The calculating look he gave me had my gut twisting in knots, but I remained perfectly still on my chair. “You seem very adamant at keeping us away from the bounty hunter.”
“No, sir. We’re still going to find her, but I won’t drag her in for a crime she didn’t commit.”
“And you know for a fact she’s not a hitman on the side?”
Did I? In truth, I knew very little about Mercy, but she told me herself she only went after the bad guys. Just like I did. The ones who hurt innocents. This werewolf, Jaxton Sawyer, was the alpha of the Silver Howlers Pack, had been for nearly thirty years. As far as I knew, he had no run-ins with the law. A few members of his pack got into some trouble years back before I became a Fed, but they’d been arrested, and that was the end of it.
“The two other packs,” I asked Nor, “are they taking responsibility for the attack?”
“No, but the Silver Howlers are blaming them for it and are screaming for blood. They believe the two other packs are responsible, wanting to weaken them so they can take over.”
“But why take out the leader this way? Usually, there’s a challenge.”
“That would be the question of the hour,” Nor agreed, his anger lessening, slightly. “So why kill the pack leader in such a brutal way?”
I’d only ever been in Sector 18 twice, and it was mostly to get an idea of what the territory looked like. The werewolves didn’t mind outsiders there unless it was the time of the full moon. They were always extremely territorial with other packs, but last I heard they were getting along. The Silver Howlers were the largest of the three packs. Still, this murder made no sense.
“Am I going to Sector 18, sir?” I closed the file and stood, still holding it.
“In a few days, yes. The men there now are getting the area secured and trying to stop a turf war from breaking out into the streets.” Nor sighed, sinking into his chair. Today, he looked every bit his age, his eyes watching me wearily. “This bounty hunter could be the key to stopping the war. And to figuring out what Liam had been involved with. We need her.”
“I’ve been looking, sir,” I insisted, but his brow went up to his hairline.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but you’re hiding something from me. I smell it every time you walk into this building. If she’s involved in this murder, I expect you to bring her in.”
“I will.”
“You certain of that?” he challenged. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on inside your head, but you’re protecting this bounty hunter. Am I wrong to assume she and this mystery woman are one in the same?”
Not trusting myself to speak, I said nothing.
“She helped us with Liam, but in the end, the man we needed ended up dead.”
“Not by her doing,” I said quietly.
“And you know that for certain?” he asked. “She is by all rights a criminal. While catching bounties, she’s obstructed justice—I can’t even count how many times—and done who knows what else. She is not one of us. Not even close.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Do you?” His eyes shifted to a look of sympathy then grew hard the longer he stared at me. “After what’s occurred in Sector 18, if you find any evidence she is involved, you will bring her in to be questioned and punished for her crimes. And if you don’t, if I learn this murder was committed by her, and you let her walk, it’ll be your job on the line. Do I make myself clear?”
I squared my shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. “Yes, sir. If she’s behind this, I’ll bring her in.”
“See that you do. You will leave for Sector 18 as soon as I get word it won’t turn into a bloodbath. Be ready to go. You and Iris. I expect you to brief her on the matter. And remember, you don’t have much time to find this killer. The full moon is in two weeks. I can’t have my people there when it rises. So tick tock.” Then he picked up his phone, dismissing me.
I left his office, dropped the file on my desk in passing and hurried to the stairwell, needing a moment alone.
Hands gripping the railing, I looked into the shadows below me, taking in deep breaths as the dangers of what I was doing slammed into me.
If Mercy was behind this werewolf murder, I would have no choice, but to bring her in for it.
There was no bounty on him which meant this was a flat-out murder.
I’d given her leeway in tracking down Liam, mostly because we’d been attacked by goblins possessed by an unknown supe.
But this… this was different.
If she used her magic on m
e, the chances of my bringing her in were slim.
But if I let her go without a fight, I’d be out of a job and probably arrested myself.
Life just got a hell of a lot more complicated and it all came back to her.
Chapter 3
Mercy
“Get away from her! Get away!”
Dad. That was him yelling. I rushed out of my room where they told me to hide if men ever came to the house. But the shouting and Mom’s screaming scared me. What was happening? I had to see. I ran out of my room to the end of the hall to find men in robes tearing Mom away from Dad. They were taking her somewhere. I screamed and ran at them, charging into their bodies.
“No! Don’t touch my daughter,” Mom shrieked as an arm closed around my middle and hoisted me off my feet easily. “Let her go!”
“You should have known this was coming,” one of the robed figures said. “You should’ve known. Burn them all.”
“No,” Dad bellowed, straining to get to Mom.
then chaos erupted as his magic exploded outward in a burst of bright white light, blinding us all…
“Mercy? Open up, or I’m going to think you’re dead.”
I jerked upward off the couch, holding my throbbing head and wincing as every bone in my body ached like I’d been sprinting nonstop in my sleep.
“Alright,” I muttered to Damian, who was currently pounding his fist on my door.
Getting up was not an easy process. After two weeks, I assumed I’d be back to normal, but whatever I’d done that night to save us from the goblins took way more of out me than I first suspected.
Cringing with every step, I eventually made it to my front door and unlocked it, so Damian could enter. “What?”
His brow furrowed with worry as he walked in, carrying a takeout bag. “You look worse.”
“Not. I promise.” I sniffed at the air and sighed. “Italian? Good. I’m in a pasta mood.”
He reached out and felt my forehead almost like a parent would, then leaned down so he could check my eyes. “I don’t like this. We need to take you to see someone.”