Cruel Mercy (Book 2)

by Lola StVil

  The figure shrugs.

  “As you wish,” he says.

  He lowers his hood. I don’t recognize him, but I recognize the look in his eye. It’s the look of someone who knows they’ve won.

  “Should we take her in alive?” a female voice asks from the other figure.

  I assumed she was a guy. I was wrong.

  The man shakes his head.

  “Nope. We end this now.”

  He raises his hand, and a thousand thoughts run through my mind.

  Let Milo be okay. Let him escape this and live a long and happy life.

  Someone help Dylann. Make her see she is more than good enough without drugs or anything else.

  Let the team go from strength to strength. Let them avenge my death and live happy lives.

  Lucas, I forgive you. I love you. I will always love you.

  Just when my mind is at peace, I hear Lucas’s words in my head.

  “Summit, you know who you are; save yourself.”

  I am so engrossed in my final thoughts that I miss what happens next. All I know is the girl who wanted to take me alive is gone, replaced by a cloud of smoke. I see a flash of red, and a cloud of dust appears, enveloping me where the man was only seconds before.

  I cough as I inhale the dust and wave a hand in front of my face, trying desperately to see what’s going on.

  A hand reaches through the dust and grasps mine. I try to wriggle free but it’s too strong, and I feel myself pulled to my feet. My paralysis is broken now my aggressor is dead, and I stand up, trying to make sense of everything.

  The dust cloud settles and I can see again. Nix stands before me, my hand still in his. I’ve never been happier to see anyone in my life.

  Milo stands a little way away from us, his opponent on the ground before him. Dead maybe or maybe just unconscious. Not our problem anymore either way.

  “I…I…” I stutter to Nix.

  I don’t have the words to thank him, so instead, I wrap my arms around him tightly. He squeezes back and for a second, everything is perfect.

  I step back from Nix’s embrace.

  “How did you know where to find us?” I ask.

  “You told me you were going to Milo’s place, and this is the quickest way back to the house,” he explains.

  Milo joins us and I look him up and down. He looks beaten and bloody, the same as me, but nothing even close to fatal. He hugs me and shakes Nix’s hand.

  We start walking towards the house again. I think back to when I realized we were trapped. I wanted Lucas or Nix here, and Nix came. It’s like he heard me.

  “That was damn good timing,” Milo says as we walk.

  “Yeah,” Nix agrees.

  He looks down at his feet as he says it. Strange, I think.

  But is it really that strange? Is it any stranger than the way he reacted outside of the hospital when I said I was going to Milo’s place?

  I try to think, reminding myself of his words.

  He asked me if being alone was a good idea. He told me I should be careful. He made it sound like he thought I was going to get attacked. And then, when I was, he turned up for no apparent reason in the middle of it all.

  I stop walking, and the others notice and stop too.

  “Nix. How did you know the Shadow and Serpent were going to attack me today?” I ask, keeping my voice steady.

  I see in his face I was right. He knew.

  “I told them where to wait for you,” he says, not meeting my eye.

  I look back at him with pain and sadness in my eyes.

  “I’m the one who led them to you.”

  It takes a second for Nix’s words to sink in. I must have misheard him, or misunderstood him somehow, because I think he’s just told me that he sent the Shadow and Serpent after me.

  I glance at Milo, and one look at his expression, a mixture of shock and barely concealed rage, tells me I heard Nix exactly right.

  “What did you say?” I ask, squinting my eyes, my voice dangerously low.

  “I’m sorry. I was just trying to help,” Nix says.

  “Trying to help how? By having me killed?” I ask.

  He shakes his head.

  “No. By showing them that I’m not one of them. By saving you and showing them that I’m on your side in this,” he says.

  If that’s his idea of an explanation, it’s raising more questions than it’s answering.

  “Why would they think…” I start.

  I trail off and start again.

  “You know what? It doesn’t matter why they would think you were on their side. It doesn’t matter that you saved us. I don’t care about your explanations. Just go. Now.”

  “But…” Nix interrupts.

  I can feel my temper rising and I know it’s going to get the better of me. Normally, I would try to control it, try to think rationally, but this is too much. He almost got me killed, Milo could’ve been killed, and I think my anger is perfectly justified.

  “But nothing. I trusted you and you betrayed me. I thought we were friends, Nix. Hell, more than that. I thought we were family.”

  I see him wince, but it doesn’t stop me.

  “I guess I was wrong. You don’t know the meaning of the word loyalty. You’re worse than the Shadow and Serpent. At least they know what they stand for, and they stand by it. They don’t betray each other because it suits them. They don’t stab each other in the back.”

  Milo places a calming hand on my arm. I shrug it away. I’m not even close to done.

  “Do you know what went through my head when we were surrounded and I thought we would die? I wished that I had you or Lucas by my side. I figured that way, we would have a chance. Well, the joke’s on me, isn’t it?”

  Nix tries to speak but I carry on. I can feel the stress of the day, of one drama after another, pouring out of me as I shout at him.

  “Lucas is too busy playing husband to the wife he didn’t bother to mention, R.J. and Ryder are barely speaking because of Sabrina, Dylann’s on drugs. And you? You show up to play hero and save the day. I was so relieved to see you, only to find out that you set up the whole thing. What sort of an idiot does that make me? I can’t believe I ever trusted you.”

  “Please, Summit. You can trust me. Give me another chance to prove that to you,” Nix begs me when I finally run out of steam.

  It’s too late. I can’t trust him. Not now, not ever.

  “Just leave me alone, Nix,” I say.

  I turn and start walking away, Milo by my side. He turns back, glaring at Nix, who seems to know better than to try to talk me around now. I hear him launch into the air behind me and see him fly overhead.

  All the fire goes out of me in that moment and I feel every ache and pain. My ribs throb with every movement, and I can feel my face swelling where it got kicked. Silent tears pour down my face.

  I stumble instead of walk, blinded by my own misery as it runs down my cheeks. Milo reaches out a hand to catch me.

  “Did you really wish Lucas or Nix were with you back there, Summit? Instead of me?” he asks, his voice quiet and full of hurt.

  I nod. I can’t lie to him.

  I sniff loudly, forcing myself to stop crying. I manage somehow to get myself back under control. What I said to Nix in temper must have cut Milo to the bone. I did think it, but I would never have let Milo know that if I hadn’t let my anger get the better of me.

  “Yes,” I admit sheepishly, “but I have well and truly learned my lesson, Milo. If nothing else has come out of today, I’ve learned who I can trust and who I can’t. I’m so sorry.”

  Milo shrugs.

  “It’s fine. To be honest, I’d have wanted Lucas or Nix there rather than me if I was you.”

  “But I was wrong, Milo,” I say, my voice sounding more like me.

  “You’re the one person who’s always been there for me. Through everything. I should have known you wouldn’t let me down.”

  We walk in silence for a few minutes.


  “Why do I put my faith in the wrong people, Milo?” I ask.

  “Because you take people at face value and you trust them until they give you a reason not to, I guess,” Milo says.

  I shake my head. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve always found it hard to trust, maybe because all of my life, I’ve been let down by the people who were meant to protect me.

  “I didn’t used to be like that,” I point out. “It’s since I was thrown into this life and my whole world changed.”

  “It’s not a bad thing, Summit,” Milo tells me. “It’s good that you can let your guard down and let people in. But it does mean that sometimes, those people will hurt you.”

  “I can’t keep opening myself up to be betrayed, Milo. It hurts so much. How do you do it? How do you just trust people and then get over it when they let you down?”

  Milo shrugs again.

  “You learn that the people who matter won’t let you down. And the ones that do don’t matter.”

  I sigh. I feel battered, beaten, and broken both physically and mentally.

  I see the house looming up in the distance.

  “I can’t talk to Dylann tonight, Milo,” I say.

  “I know, Sunny.”

  “I’m not in the right place to be giving anyone advice.”

  He gives a half laugh.

  “I guess it’s a no-go all around then, because there’s no way I’m letting RJ see me like this.”

  He gestures at his body. His jeans are ripped and one sleeve of his T-shirt is gone altogether. He’s covered in a layer of grime and bits of blood randomly cover parts of his carefully chosen outfit.

  “Maybe RJ will dig the battle-scarred hero look.” I smile.

  I know I shouldn’t encourage him, but I can’t help it. We both need something to lighten the mood.

  Milo laughs and I join in. And if there’s a trace of hysteria in our laughter, neither of us point it out.

  We all sit together in the clinic waiting room the next morning. All of us except Lucas, who stayed the night with Nikki.

  Knowing that doesn’t hurt at all. It’s not even a little bit like a hundred knife blades are poking into my heart, and it’s definitely not like I want to lock myself in the bathroom and sob.

  We all sit in silence, each of us lost in our own private thoughts. Anyone seeing us would think that whoever we were here for was on death’s door rather than making a good recovery. The tension in the room is almost unbearable.

  Nix and I won’t even look at each other, and I see the questioning glances between the other team members as we avoid each other at all costs, but I pretend I don’t. I’ve already talked to Milo about it. I have made him promise that he won’t mention the battle we had yesterday or Nix’s part in it to anyone. We’ve got more than enough drama to deal with without me adding to it.

  I can barely look at Dylann after I ignored her text yesterday. She asked for my help, and I pushed her away to deal with my own stuff. Maybe that’s why she turned to CP in the first place—because her sister is a selfish bitch who puts her second.

  I shake my head slightly. I have got to lose this victim mentality where all the world’s problems start and end with me. It’s not healthy, and my constant inner whining about the unfairness of it all is starting to get to me.

  When I went downstairs this morning, I noticed the raised eyebrow from Parker at my appearance. I’m the sort of girl who puts on a bit of mascara, eyeliner, and lip gloss and calls myself good to go. Life is way too short to worry about having the perfect face of makeup on each day.

  This morning though, I spent over forty-five minutes getting my makeup just right. Parker’s look told me exactly what she was thinking. It’s some sort of attempt to get Lucas to notice me and see what he’s lost. It’s my way of showing him I’m better than Nikki.

  It isn’t the case. If he doesn’t want me how I am, then he sure as hell doesn’t get me because of a good foundation.

  The makeup is to hide the bruise that covers my cheek. It would raise too many questions if the team saw it. More than I am willing to answer.

  But I really want to tell Parker. I want her to understand that this isn’t about Lucas or Nikki. Plus, if I could tell her, I could have her heal me and I wouldn’t have to force myself to move normally through the screaming pain in my ribs that I can’t seem to shift.

  But I won’t put her in that position. If I tell her about the attack, I know I’d end up telling her everything, and she’ll be left in a dilemma where she has to choose between keeping my secret and her loyalty to the rest of the team. I don’t want her to have to choose, and the way things are going, I’m scared she would betray me too.

  I can’t cope with another betrayal. Not today. Maybe not ever.

  Ryder stands up and stretches, cracking his spine loudly. We all groan at the sound.

  “What?” he says. “It’s good to get the kinks out.”

  “You’re gross,” Parker says, wrinkling her nose as Ryder cracks his knuckles with a grin.

  “That’s rich coming from the girl who once kept a lump of meat in a jar in her room to watch the maggots colonize or some shit.”

  “That’s different. It was science,” Parker defends herself. “Gross would have been dumping it all out on your pillow.”

  Some of the tension leaves the room as we laugh at Ryder’s horrified expression.

  I notice RJ catch Milo’s eye and laugh, rolling his eyes in Ryder’s direction. Milo looks at me and gives me a wink. He’s reading way too much into RJ’s laughter I think, but I can hardly say that now.

  The group begins chatting now that most of the tension is broken.

  “So, what happened to you yesterday? You just vanished,” RJ says in my direction.

  I feel everyone’s eyes turn to me.

  “Jeez, RJ,” I hear Parker hiss under her breath.

  “I just needed a bit of time to process what was happening here,” I admit.

  There’s no point in lying. They all know about Lucas and me and they must know I wouldn’t be okay with any of this.

  “Are you okay?” Ryder asks.

  I nod. “Yeah. Shit happens, right?” I say, trying to play it cool.

  “You should talk to Lucas,” Ryder adds.

  “Clear the air between the two of you or whatever,” RJ adds.

  “Just leave her alone, will you? She’s dealing with this her way, and we just need to lay off her a bit.” Nix says.

  I feel a wash of gratefulness and then I remember what Nix did to me. I remember that I hate him. It’s so hard to hate him though. He is family, and he made a mistake, I can forgive one mistake, right?

  I remember when I first started at the Marcus Cane Academy and most of the school were whispering about me. It was Nix who got how bad it made me feel, and it was Nix who stood up for me.

  He’s always been the one to leap to my defense. I really thought we were getting close. Like family, and family sticks together. I want to just let this go, but I can’t. He almost got me killed.

  I didn’t give him a chance to explain, I know that, but what could he say that would have made it okay?

  Will it ever be okay again?

  He glances shyly at me now, and I want to look away. I want my face to be a blank mask of nothing and just look through him, but I find that I can’t. I give him a half smile, which he returns with a look of relief.

  I tell myself I did it because I don’t want the awkwardness to build back up in the room, but I wonder if there’s more to it than that. I know beyond any reasonable doubt that I’ve lost Lucas, but I don’t have to lose Nix as well.

  I tell myself that I do. Anyone that could do what he did is someone I need to cut from my life.

  Why does it all have to be so damned complicated?

  I’m saved from having to debate with myself about Nix when the healer opens the door.

  “Nikki had a good night. She’s making good progress,” he announces.

/>   “Is she awake?” Parker asks anxiously.

  “Yes. You can go in and see her now, but not for too long. Okay?”

  We nod as one.

  I stand up with the rest of the group, and it hits me that I don’t want to go in there and watch Lucas and Nikki playing happy family. Accepting that I’ve lost him is one thing, but getting the live show of exactly how is another thing altogether. I’m not ready for that just yet.

  The pain in my ribs kept me awake for a lot of last night, and I’m tired and miserable, and I fear I will say something I shouldn’t.

  I hang back slightly from the group. Dylann turns to me with a beaming smile, and I think maybe I was wrong. Maybe she isn’t mad at me for abandoning her when she needed me the most.

  “Are you coming in?” she asks.

  I ignore her question, taking her arm and holding her back with me as the others file out of the waiting room.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t call you yesterday. I wanted to talk to you face-to-face, but then when I got home, I was just empty. I should have made time for you. I’m sorry.”

  She waves my apology away.

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself. I know you had a lot on your mind. I should have waited, but I just thought you should hear what I had to say.”

  I frown slightly. I was right then. This isn’t about the CP.

  “You can tell me now,” I suggest.

  The waiting room door opens as I say it. Lucas stands there, and I hate the fact that my stomach rolls over at the sight of him. He looks tired and his hair stands out all over his head in un-styled clumps, but he still looks incredible.

  Our eyes lock and I feel like time stands still.

  “Summit,” he says.

  I can hear the pain in his voice, and my heart breaks all over again.

  I force myself to look away from him.

  “I need to talk to Dylann,” I say to the empty space between Lucas and Dylann. “Alone.”

  “It’s fine. We can talk later,” Dylann says.

  She slips out of the room before I can stop her. I don’t blame her really. If the atmosphere between the team was awkward earlier, this is a thousand times worse.

  I don’t want to talk to Lucas. Not now. Not about what I know we have to talk about, but with Dylann gone, I’m out of excuses.