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Mercy's Destiny (Mercy Ashby Book 2)

Page 3

by A. M. Hardin


  Hunter gives me an exasperated look, while Kai, War, and Parker all chuckle. “In any case, my brother is M.I.A.”

  “Okay, cut to the chase, Hunter,” I say impatiently.

  “I have a spy who works under my brother, he feeds me information as it’s needed. I made contact with him after I heard Torn was missing. Turns out that my brother wants you to suffer because of the simple fact that he knows if he hadn’t gone missing, our father would have had him imprisoned and tortured until my father deemed he was suitably punished for making him out to be a fool.”

  My mom glances around the room. “Suffer how?”

  I swallow hard as Hunter’s gaze bores into me. “There are many ways to make someone suffer,” Hunter says quietly. “Especially someone who has as big of a heart as Mercy.”

  “Sorry for having a heart,” I mumble irritably. I may be a bitch and can be cold, but to those important to me, I’m anything but.

  War’s chest vibrates against my back, and I know he’s chuckling inside. Ass.

  “He doesn’t know that Mercy is under the protection of my team, or if he does, he’s hiding it.”

  I bite back a growl. “I don’t need protection,” I say between clenched teeth. My uncle laughs.

  “Mercy girl, you’re a badass, we know this. That doesn’t mean you don’t need help,” he says, still chuckling.

  I narrow my eyes at him. “I never once said that I didn’t need help. I said I don’t need protection. There are two very different meanings there.”

  He rolls his eyes, but my mom flashes me a smile, while my dad watches with a ghost of a smile on his lips.

  “Why do you have to be so goddamn stubborn?” my uncle shoots at me.

  “Why do you have to be such a dick?” I shoot back, smiling sweetly.

  “Enough, both of you,” my mom snaps, clapping her hands together. “God, it’s like everytime I turn around you two are bickering.”

  I grin. “It’s so fun, though.”

  “She’s got a point there, Lilly,” Roderick agrees.

  “Can we focus?” Hunter asks, a smile on his face despite the annoyance in his tone. Weirdo.

  “If we must,” I grumble.

  “As I was saying, he doesn’t know that you’re getting help from my team,” Hunter says, emphasizing his words with a pointed look in my direction. “The most likely way he’ll go after Mercy is to attack you three and Xena,” he says, looking at my family. “Possibly even Vivian if he knows about her.”

  “So, what are we going to do?” I ask. “We can’t all stay one step ahead of your brother. There’s too many of us to not look suspicious.”

  “My father has a home not far from here. It’s warded against everyone. I asked for his permission to allow your family, Xena, and Vivian to hide there until all of this crap is over. He granted it, and he’ll have the home spelled so even my brother can’t get in. We’ll still be staying with them when we need to, but for us, it’s best to keep moving.”

  “Okay, when does this happen?” I ask, leaning back in War’s arms, finally letting myself relax slightly.

  “As soon as possible. We’ll be going to Parker’s home next. We won’t be able to leave until nightfall, though.”

  “Good.” My uncle says. He turns and points at me. “You and me in the basement. I need to be sure that you haven’t lost your touch.”

  I groan. Damn it. Today’s a big ball of suck already.

  5

  Mercy

  “Do you mind if we join you?” Mercy’s dad asks. “I would like to see what my daughter can do.”

  “Joy, Mercy on parade,” Mercy mutters as she stands up from War’s lap, stretching her arms. “Let’s get this ass kicking over with.”

  “Who’ll be doing the ass kicking?” War asks, a smile on his lips as he looks between Mercy and her uncle.

  “Depends on the day, depends on who kicks whose ass,” she says distractedly.

  “She’s managed to kick my ass a few times,” Roderick admits, though he doesn’t look at all happy about it, there’s still pride on his face.

  Hunter chuckles. "I must admit, I'm curious about seeing you two go at it, Roderick."

  "Then let’s invite Mr. Damn, Mrs. Damn, and the whole Damn family to watch." Mercy laughs and leads the way to the basement with everyone in the room following behind her.

  Roderick removes his jacket and tosses it to the side, while Mercy stands in the middle of the room, waiting for him to join her.

  The rest of us take up posts against the wall to watch as Roderick moves toward her.

  "You're too tense, Mercy," Roderick barks at her.

  Mercy narrows her eyes at him. "I'm not tense. You're seeing shit, old man."

  He chuckles then in the blink of an eye he moves. Roderick attacks Mercy with standard punches and kicks, and she manages to block most of them, but he doesn't give her a chance to go on the offensive.

  Mercy grunts as her uncle gets a kick into her midsection, and she stumbles back slightly. Bracing herself, she thrusts herself at her uncle and punches him square in the jaw, the impact slinging his head to the side. Roderick doesn't take a minute to steady himself, instead he goes low, sweeping his legs out and knocks Mercy off her feet. As her feet are swept out from under her she takes advantage of the move and does a backflip away from her uncle.

  "You're getting sloppy, Mercy," Roderick scolds.

  "Yeah, well that fight from last night still has me beat, so fucking bite me," she snaps.

  Roderick scowls at her and goes to the wall with the weapons and tosses her a dagger before grabbing one for himself. "Focus, Mercy."

  Mercy closes her eyes, and breathes deeply, centering herself before opening her eyes and nodding at her uncle.

  Roderick launches himself back at Mercy with the same force as before, not giving her even a little bit of leeway.

  I flinch as Roderick's dagger slices into Mercy's side, turning that area of her white top red with her blood.

  They continue going at it, both of them sporting deep slashes all over their bodies. I can see bruises forming on Mercy's pale skin from when they were only using fists and feet. It's another several minutes before Mercy manages to get the advantage and, as she holds her uncle’s wrist that's gripping his dagger away from her, she brings her dagger up to press against his neck.

  Roderick nods, and Mercy lets him go, stepping away from him.

  "Are we done?" Mercy asks, breathing heavily.

  Roderick snickers. "We need to work on your powers still."

  "Seriously?" Mercy pouts, and my mouth kicks up in a smile.

  "Seriously. You haven't been working on shifting have you?" he asks.

  I frown and look at Mercy's dad who's beside me. "Shifting?"

  "I'm a kadorika demon. We have our true form, and we also have the ability to shift at will into whatever we want," he explains. "It doesn't give us the power of whatever species' we shift into, but it does give us the advantage if we need to hide in plain sight."

  "Mercy's only ever been able to partially shift," her mom explains.

  "I didn't know half-demons could shift at all," War says from the other side of me.

  "Most can't. As I'm sure you've all figured out, Mercy's different. Special," her dad says. "It's why we did our best to keep her hidden."

  Mercy sighs and glares at us. "You know, I'm right here, you could just ask me. I've been able to fully shift once. Haven't been able to do it again."

  "When was that?" Parker asks.

  "It was when I was with Payne when I was a kid."

  "How'd it happen?" I ask.

  Her expression darkens. "They brought someone there to force my change. I don't remember much of how or why they did it because it was shortly after I was taken. I just know that I didn't initiate the change willingly."

  "Which is why she needs to work on it," Roderick says, giving her a pointed look that she completely ignores. "Answer me this, Mercy. Why haven't you been working on it
while I've been gone?"

  She stares at him for minute, almost as if she’s debating on what to say. Finally, letting out a sigh, she explains, "It doesn't hurt you or dad to shift because you're meant to shift. When they had me fully shift it was another form of torture. I preferred the other ways they tortured me than shifting."

  Mercy's dad frowns. "What do you mean?"

  "Half-demons aren't meant to shift, but I have the ability to shift. It feels like I'm being torn apart from the inside out when I shift. Even partially shifting feels like my whole body's being torn to shreds. I'm not exactly eager to repeat the experience."

  "Why didn't you ever tell me that?" Roderick asks.

  "I'm not weak, and I don't like having a weakness. The fact that I can shift but don't for the simple reason that it feels like I'm dying, is a weakness."

  "You never showed any pain, so I didn't think it hurt you either," Roderick swears, cursing under his breath.

  Mercy shrugs. "I didn't want anyone to know. Even mom didn't know I was struggling that badly with it." Everyone falls quiet at that for several minutes. She claps her hands and pastes a fake smile on her face. "Alright, can we please stop talking about this shit and go do something else? I need a shower to get all this sweat and blood off me."

  Roderick nods, and Mercy leaves the room.

  "Why wouldn't she tell you guys she was struggling with it?" I ask, confused.

  "Like she said. She doesn't like having a weakness," her dad says. "For a demon, half or full, it doesn't matter what they are, they don't like to parade their shortcomings. From what I know of the Mercy she is now, she's strong and doesn't have many weaknesses. The fact that she has any is probably infuriating when she's had to fight for her life since her uncle and I got her out of Payne's dungeon."

  "She doesn't trust that it'll stay secret," Roderick explains, rubbing at the bruise Mercy left on his jaw. "Even when we were alone, she was always paranoid that someone was listening in because it always seemed like someone showed up daily."

  "Daily?" Parker asks, his voice portraying a shock that I feel.

  "There were times when she got to heal and recover, but they weren't often," her mom says quietly. "She kept trying to tell me it was best if I just left her to handle it on her own, because she didn't want me to get hurt. She even asked Roderick to take me somewhere to hide me. I wouldn't go. I wasn't going to be pushed away from my daughter like that just because these people wanted her for themselves."

  Which was admirable in a human who has no hope against the kind of people that we figure were sent after Mercy. The only way a human would have a chance in hell of defeating one of them is if they were a trained hunter, or trained in general.

  "In any case, be flattered that she admitted that with all of you in this room," Roderick says, eyeing every one of us. "It means that she trusts you."

  6

  Mercy

  I stare at the huge-ass mansion in front of us and give Hunter the side-eye. "Your dad doesn't do anything by halves does he?"

  "No, he doesn't," he confirms. "We've got to make this quick, though. Parker's mom is expecting us within the hour."

  "How exactly are we going to get there?" I ask. Holding Vivian's hand, I follow behind him as he leads us inside the mansion.

  "Teleporting," he says with a shrug. "War can teleport two of you, and I can teleport the other two."

  "I didn't know you could teleport," I say to War. His mouth quirks up.

  "There's a lot you have yet to learn about all of us, Mercy."

  "Clearly." I try to ignore the pang in my chest at the memory of finding out that Hunter had hidden more shit from me than I thought. Not even knowing that War could teleport, which not all demons can do is kind of a big deal.

  "Mercy, you know we don't keep things from you to hurt you," Hunter says, his voice a soothing whisper in my mind.

  "I'm not talking about this now. We'll talk later." Yes, I'm avoiding this conversation like the plague. Do I really care right now while the hurt is still fairly fresh? No.

  Hunter sighs and directs me and Vivian to a room for Vivian to use while they're here. Ignoring the guys, and everyone else, I enter the room with her and place her bags on the bed. Apparently, someone arranged for her to have new clothes. I vaguely register Hunter directing mom, dad, and Roderick to rooms they can have, before they all disappear back down the way we came.

  "You're leaving again, aren't you?" Vivian asks, watching me pull her clothes out of the bag and put them in the dresser next to the bed.

  "I am, but hopefully, it won't be for long." Finishing with her clothes, I crouch down in front of her and meet her gaze. "I'll be back, okay?"

  She nods and looks away, but otherwise doesn't say anything.

  "Vivi," I mutter, making her meet my eyes. "I kept my promise last time, didn't I?"

  A small smile graces her lips. "Yeah," she whispers.

  "I'll keep this one, too. Just make sure you stick with my mom, dad, and uncle, okay? They'll do everything they can to keep you safe."

  Completely shocking me, she throws her arms around my neck and squeezes me tightly. I freeze for a minute then return the hug, holding her to me just as tight.

  "You'll be fine, honey. Listen to my family and everything will be fine. No one's going to get to you again," I swear.

  She pulls back and places a kiss on my cheek. "You'll be careful, right?"

  "I'll be careful," I promise.

  "Pinky swear?" Her soft voice trembles as if she's trying to keep back the tears I can see swirling in her vibrant green eyes.

  I laugh and hold out my pinky. She wraps her pinky around mine. "I swear, I'll be careful. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

  "Yeah." Her eyes take in the small toy box in the corner of the room, and she grins. "I'm going to play if that's okay."

  "Go ahead, Vivian, I'll tell my mom that you're in here playing."

  She races around me with a squeal and practically dives at the toy box. Straightening, I turn toward the door and nearly jump when I see Talon there. His expression is soft, and I know he saw me make my promise to Vivian, if he saw more than that, I'm not sure.

  "Hey," I say, suddenly feeling nervous.

  "The others are gathering in the living room, ready to go."

  "Which living room? We passed like five of them on the way to this room."

  He snorts a laugh. "Yeah, that's true. Just follow me."

  I follow after him into the nearest living room to Vivian's room. Walking to Hunter, I ask, "So was there already a small thing of toys here, or did your dad have them put in when you told him about Vivian?"

  "I told him that he should make sure that there are toys for her if he didn't want his house wrecked by a five-year-old upon his return," he says with a smile.

  "Just a heads up, Mercy," Parker starts, drawing my attention to him, "my mom, she doesn't like half-demons, so I apologize in advance if she tries starting shit with you. She also doesn’t know that a half-demon is coming with us."

  I laugh. "Parker, I think you need a reminder about how Talon acted when we first met."

  Talon scowls at me. "Things are different now."

  "Yeah, now. Back then, you were kind of a dick." I give him an impish smile.

  Talon rolls his eyes. "Can we just go?"

  "Mercy," my mom says, approaching with her arms held out wide. I walk into her embrace and bury my face in her neck. "Be safe, honey. I love you."

  "Love you too, mom," I mutter into her neck. “Vivian’s playing in her room.” Looking at my dad and uncle I say, "Please, for the love of everything, make sure nothing happens to any of you."

  My uncle glares at me, and my dad's lips twitch at the sides, indicating he's trying to hide a smile.

  "Be safe, kid," Roderick says gruffly.

  Dad comes to me and wraps his arms around me tightly. "Come back to us, yeah?"

  I smile as I pull away. "I will."

  Stepping back, Hunter grabs my hand and puts a ha
nd on Talon's shoulder. I look over to watch as War places his hands on Parker and Kai's shoulders.

  Before anyone says anything else, everything fades around us, and in the blink of an eye we're in yet another lavish home. I frown as I wait for the slight dizziness to fade, thankful that it wasn't as bad as it was when Jerome teleported me to Payne's place in hell.

  "Where are we exactly?" I ask, glancing around the spacious entryway.

  "Nevada," Parker answers. "Near Vegas, but you can't find this place on a map or even accidentally because of the wards."

  A handsome man, who is no doubt older than he looks, dressed in a tailor-made suit enters through a door and pauses when he sees us. Bowing low, he says, "My Lord, I wasn't aware you were going to be here, or that you'd be bringing guests with you."

  "It's fine, Val. Where are my parents?" Parker asks.

  "Your mother is in the study. Your father is on a business trip."

  "Thanks. Can you have some rooms prepared for us?"

  "Of course, sir."

  When the man disappears I look at Parker. "'My Lord?' 'Sir’?"

  He shrugs. "I don't know how much you know about vampire hierarchy, but my mom and dad are the king and queen of vamps."

  I eye him for a minute. "You don't act like a prince."

  He grins. "Much to my parents’ disappointment, I'm sure."

  I didn't have Parker pegged as a rebel, though if he's supposed to be prince of the vampires and doesn't really act all princely, then I should probably reevaluate that thought.

  Parker sighs. "Let's get this meeting with my mother over with. The sooner it's done, the sooner I can apologize. Again."

  I raise a brow. "You really think she'll be that opposed to my being here?"

  "Honestly? I think she'll probably try to do her best to keep me away from you while you're here, since I'm not giving her a choice about you being here."

 

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