by Ciara Graves
I did, then came back to pick up the page. I turned it over as he motioned, not sure what I was looking at or what he thought he saw. “What?”
It was the back of the first page. I hadn’t looked at it, just a few of the pages after it. There was no red writing on it, but there was a diagram of some kind. It was only half the design, the rest of it probably on a page I hadn’t snagged. However, there was a handwritten list beside it.
“I don’t like this,” Todd said. “Not at all.”
“Why not, what is it?”
“Something dangerous. Shit, this is bad, Mercy.”
“Wait, are you… are you going to help me now?”
“I’ve killed a shit ton of people in my life,” he told me seriously, then pointed to the page. “I’ve seen this once before. The design I mean.”
“And?”
“And the bastard who drew it was responsible for the deaths of thirty werewolves. Men, woman, kids. He killed them all in one fell swoop with that damned thing.” Todd’s eyes flared bright white, and he snarled.
“You knew them, didn’t you?”
“They were my family, my entire pack,” he snapped. “I’d been away and when I returned that night… they were dead. All dead, but that design was burned into the field where it happened.” He floated away from me, rubbing his transparent forehead. “Damn it. Here I was content to torment you, and now I find you’re hunting down the asshole who took everything from me. Fate has a sick sense of humor.”
“Yeah, it does.” I frowned down at the pages. “You think it was Liam who did it?”
“No, I know who did it… and I think you do, too.” He dragged his finger down his cheek. “This mage has a tendency to curse his enemies, and those curses leave behind ugly marks for all the world to see.”
“Do you have a name?” My heart pounded to think we were one step closer to finding this bastard. “Todd, I know I killed you, and it was wrong of me. I can never ask you to forgive me, but—”
He held up his hand, and I fell silent. “As I said, Mercy, I killed a lot of people in my lifetime. Honestly, I’d been dead for a long time. Just going through the motions of taking the money and killing people who may or may not have deserved it.” His fingers reached out to touch my scar.
All I felt was a brush of cold.
“I told you before I had my reasons for sticking around you. Never thought our fates would be this connected though.”
“What’s his name? This mage?” I asked on a breath.
Todd’s hand fell back to his side. “A bastard who only goes by the name Envy.”
“As in the deadly sin?”
“His power manifests in green swirls,” he said.
I flashed back to the night I got my scar. All I’d seen was a bright green flash that clashed with my white and gold magic.
“That and he’s killed any mage who has ever been better than him, ensuring his place at the top of the food chain,” Todd added.
“Envy. Great. How hard is it to find a mage that goes by the name Envy?”
“I searched for him for five years and never found a trace.”
“Awesome. That’s great for morale.” I sank back to the couch, turning the pages over to the map. “Whatever’s happening here, I don’t think we have a lot of time. What do you say, Todd? Up for a trip to the Underground?”
“Not like I have anything else to do.”
“Wait, can anyone else see you? Or just me?”
He crossed his arms, raising a brow. “Worried someone’ll figure out you killed me?”
“Might get me arrested, so yeah, a bit.”
“Technically you could claim self-defense, though you did obliterate my body afterward so not sure how that would work.” He smiled when I glared at him. “You’ll be fine. I’m only seen by those I want to be seen by,” he assured me.
“Great. No time like the present then.” I shuffled the pages back together, grabbed my spare pistol and my daggers since I’d lost my sword, and left my apartment.
I was headed for the Underground with a ghost in tow.
What could possibly go wrong?
Chapter 6
Mercy
At midnight, the Underground was filled with supes. Getting to the Wailing Siren took longer than normal, and when I did reach it, Bowen stood outside, arms crossed and his face wearing its usual stern expression as he monitored those entering and leaving.
I hesitated, but I needed answers. Rufus was right. After hearing what happened to Todd, the notion that I was not the only one hurt by these mages working for Shuval faded away. It’d been stupid of me to think I was alone in my pain for what they’d done.
Readying myself for whatever harsh words Bowen might fling at me, I walked up to him and waited. His gaze remained over my head.
I cleared my throat loudly. When that didn’t work, I sighed and waved my hand obnoxiously in front of his face.
“I see you,” he hissed, red eyes darting toward my face. “What do you want?”
“I need to talk to you.” I moved aside as a couple of vampires nodded to Bowen then entered the bar. “Do you have a few minutes?”
“No.”
“Bowen, come on,” I said.
He bared his fangs at me.
“Really? It’s going to be like that?”
“I have a job to do so unless you plan on going inside the bar and having a drink, you need to go away before you cause any more problems.”
Ouch, okay that one hurt. I squared my shoulders, considered dragging him away from the doorway, but I wasn’t nearly strong enough to do that at that moment.
“Bowen, I’m sorry. For everything I said and for how I was acting. I’m sorry, and I’d love to stand here and continue to apologize, but I really need your help. Please.”
His gaze fully landed on me then.
I waited for him to rip me a new one.
His eyes narrowed and then widened. He grabbed my arm.
I cringed when he squeezed the bruises. He dragged me away from the front door and into the light shining out the window. “Mercy, what in god’s name happened to you? Who did this? Does Damian know?”
“Alright, just hold on a second.” I gently removed his hand from my arm. “I’ll tell you what I can, but not here.”
“What have you gotten yourself into?”
“Trouble, like always. It’s what I do, remember?” I turned around slowly, watching the passersby, but there was no sign of anyone watching me. Well, there was, but it was only Todd’s ghost. He gave me a thumbs up, and I bit my lip, doing my best not to start cackling like a mad woman. “I need you to tell me about the Blood Moon.”
He straightened, and this time it was his worried frown eyeing the crowd around us. “Why are you asking me about that?”
“I have my reasons.”
“No, I want the truth, Mercy. What are you up to?”
“I’ll tell you, but I will not have you turn into another Damian. He can’t know, Bowen, please. He’ll freak out, and then I’ll lose my shot—”
“Your shot at what?” he asked hotly when I didn’t finish.
“Just… are you going to help me or not?”
He cursed as he ran a hand over his head. “If you’re in too deep, I will tell Damian,” he warned me. “And since we’re talking, I would like to clear up another matter.”
“What matter?” I asked.
His lips thinned.
It clicked, and heat flooded my cheeks. “Oh, that.”
Nervously, he went from running his fingers through his hair to rubbing his neck, then shoved them in his pockets. He didn’t seem to like them there either and went back to crossing his arms. For a vampire that was nearly six hundred years old, he looked one hundred percent the age he was turned.
“You don’t have to say anything,” I told him quietly.
“Yes, I do. It was way out of line for me to just… kiss you like that. I was overcome is all, and it will not happen again.”
>
“Bowen, I—uh… it was nice,” I said lamely. “But I just don’t see you that way.”
“I understand. I was a bit late to the party.”
He was at that. If he’d kissed me way back before I met Rafael, if he’d let me know back then how he felt for me, there was no telling what would’ve occurred between us. I would’ve given him more shit for having kept the truth from me if we were together. Probably a good thing we weren’t.
“I’ll help you. My shift ends in two hours. Why don’t you hang out until then?”
“Sounds like a good idea—” Was that—I craned my neck and stood on my toes, trying to see around the crowd. “Rafael?”
“Mercy, what are you doing?” Bowen asked.
I moved a few steps away, and there he was, walking down the sidewalk as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He wore a smile on his face that seemed off. When someone bumped into him, he made no indication he even felt it.
“Something’s wrong,” I told Bowen then hurried across the main street to get to Rafael. “Hey, what are you doing down here?”
Rafael didn’t turn toward me at all. He kept walking, that damned smile on his face.
“Rafael?” I grabbed his arm this time and tugged him to a stop. His dark eyes found mine, and he smiled wider.
“Oh, hello. Do I know you?”
“Is this a joke?” I asked. “I know I was off the grid for a week, but no need to be an ass about it.”
He frowned, shaking his head. “What? No, I’m sorry. So I do know you then?”
“Rafael, this isn’t funny.”
He mouthed the name. His own name. “Hmm. Is that my name? I was sure it was something else.”
“Do you… do you not know your own name?” I asked slowly.
“Funny you should ask,” he mused, laughing. “I don’t think I do.”
“This isn’t funny. You’re joking, right?”
His frown grew, and he started to look slightly panicked. “I’m sorry, but I’m not. I’m not even sure how I got down here, to be honest with you… where am I exactly?” His eyes seemed to take in every inch of my battered face, and he growled. “What happened to you?”
“Bar fight, I’m fine,” I lied, more concerned with how strange this night was getting.
“Mercy, what’s going on?” Bowen asked as he caught up to me. “Rafael.”
“Hi, and who are you?”
Bowen arched one brow. “You know very well who I am. Is he joking?”
“I don’t think he is, Bowen. He has no memory.”
“What?”
“Rafael, do you recall anything about today? Or yesterday? Or who you are?” I asked, looking around behind him, hoping to find someone following him. Did a witch cast a spell on him? Or a mage? “Rafael?”
His face was screwed up in thought. “Nothing,” he finally said. “All I remember is walking down the sidewalk, and then you showed up.”
There was no sense of magic surrounding him, but this was also not the place to figure out who did this to him, in case whoever did it was hanging around. I took hold of his arm and steered him back toward the Wailing Siren, so we weren’t standing in the center of the sidewalk.
“You’re going to come with me back to my place, alright?” I said. “Just until we can figure out what’s going on with your memory.”
“Sure, that sounds fine by me. Not like I have anywhere I have to be… I don’t think.”
“Bowen? Can you meet us there?”
“Go on. I’ll be along after I tell Shep I’m taking off early. I think whatever questions you wanted to ask me might have to wait.”
I agreed completely. If Rafael had been attacked, our priority had to be to find out by who and keep him safe until we got his memories back. I led him out of the Underground, but when we got to my bike, I hesitated.
“Is that yours?” he asked.
“Yeah, uh, you like it?”
He was walking around my bike, admiring it, and grinning like he was the luckiest demon in the city. “It’s incredible. We get to ride this back to your place, right?”
“As long as you’re okay with it.”
“Definitely.”
This Rafael was throwing me for a loop, but I wanted to get him off the street and back to the safety of my place. I shoved my helmet on my head, got on the bike, and waited for him to climb on behind me. Unlike the first time he rode with me, there was no hesitation before his arms closed around my waist. His warmth seeped into me and chased out the winter chill.
I revved the bike, told him to hold on tight, and took off. I weaved us easily through traffic, surprised to hear Rafael laughing as we picked up speed and soared around turns. By the time we reached my building, I was considering passing it by. I wanted to keep his arms around me a bit longer. Worry about the state of his mind stopped me from doing just that, and I parked. He climbed off, nodding with excitement.
“That was incredible.”
“Glad you enjoyed it this time,” I commented.
“I didn’t before?”
“Not really.” I motioned him inside, and we climbed the stairs to the top floor and my small, studio apartment. I walked in, but he stopped in the doorway. “What’s wrong?”
“Uh, nothing.” His cheeks flushed for a moment, then he walked past me and inside.
The only people to see where I lived were Damian, Gigi, and Bowen and only one of them was enough of an ass to comment on how I lived in my tiny space. Usually, I didn’t care what people thought of my hole in the wall apartment, or the mess, or lack of any personal touches, aside from my weapons hanging by the bed. Watching Rafael walk around, I was very anxious suddenly to know what he thought. I tossed my coat over a kitchen chair.
“It’s not much, but it’s enough for what I need.”
“I like it,” he said, grinning as he turned back to face me. “Homey.”
“Homey? Don’t think it’s ever been described as homey. Do you want anything to drink, or eat? Think I have some coffee… might be some takeout that’s still good.”
“No, I’m good for now.”
“Rafael, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, not sure I’ll know the answer, but I’ll try my best.” He was still grinning.
“How are you not panicking right now? At all… about anything.”
His smile faltered then, but he shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Dunno. Guess since I can’t remember anything there’s nothing to stress about?”
“You really don’t remember anything about anything?”
He puffed out his cheeks. “Nope. I mean I know I’m a demon, and I know my age, but after that, there’s no memory. No images of anyone I know or knew.”
“We’ll figure this out,” I promised him. “Somehow. I won’t let you lose your mind forever.”
“Thanks… that vampire, he called you Mercy. That’s your name, right?”
“Yeah, I’m Mercy.”
This was so surreal. To hear him talking without the usual growl to his voice that I’d grown used to. He was the Rafael who would exist if he wasn’t carrying around his dark past, a past I only learned about recently. He’d been having trouble dealing with the memories and the guilt. Had they driven him so far over the edge he had a mental breakdown and lost himself? I told him I would be here for him if he needed to talk and then I up and disappeared right when he needed someone most.
“Not like you’re his girlfriend,” Todd’s ghost said, standing beside Rafael now.
I shot him a glare, his comment not even close to helpful, but he had a point. What was I to Rafael except for a friend, barely at that. My mind flashed back to the dream I had of us, how we kissed. I mumbled something about getting a glass of water from the kitchen, telling him to get comfortable.
“Check out that blush,” Todd said. “You like the demon.”
“No,” I whispered quietly.
“Liar. There’s definitely some tension between you two, though he
can’t seem to remember why. But you can. Come on, tell me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you don’t seem to want to tell anyone else. And who am I going to tell? Dead, remember?”
“If I tell you, will you shut up?”
“High chance,” he replied.
“We might’ve kissed twice,” I admitted.
Todd whistled.
“And there was a weird moment in his apartment. Not weird but… damn, I don’t know. It was a moment, alright? And then when you tried to kill me, he was there and fine,” I finally muttered when I caught Todd laughing. “I like the demon.”
“And he likes you?”
“No freaking idea,” I muttered.
“So what’s the problem then?”
I threw a look over my shoulder.
Todd waved off my worry. “He’s looking out the windows, not even listening. You scared?”
“No, it just can’t work.”
“Says who?”
“Trust me, alright? You don’t know everything about me just because you’re haunting me now.”
Todd started to reply, but there was a knock at the door followed by Bowen announcing his arrival. I hurried to answer it, and he blurred inside.
“He still clueless?” Bowen asked.
“Yeah, but I can’t sense any magic coming off him.”
Rafael joined us, and Bowen circled him, sniffing the air. He asked for Rafael’s hand, and the demon offered it up without question. In a flash, Bowen bit down on his wrist.
I yelped in surprise.
Rafael winced in pain, jerking his arm back.
“What the hell are you doing?” I snapped at Bowen.
“Testing his blood… there’s magic in him.”
“You psycho… wait, what?”
Bowen closed his eyes, his jaw working as he continued to taste Rafael’s blood in his mouth. “He was given a potion. It wasn’t meant to harm him, but it has messed with his mind. He’s in there somewhere.”
“And how do we get him back?”
“That, I don’t know. We’ll have to find out who gave it to him.”
Rafael took the towel I offered him and placed it over the bite mark on his wrist. “Someone did this to me then?”