by A. M. Hardin
“You mean about the old seer’s visions of you? Yeah, they told us. How’re you feeling about it?”
I sigh. “Honestly? I’m scared to think of what it means. Without a necromancer or a vampire, there’s no other ways to come back from the dead. Roderick made sure I learned as much as I possibly could about the supernatural world.The fact that I’ll go rogue? That’s definitely not a comforting thought, even if she claims it’s not by my own doing.”
“Maybe there is another way. I know the guys and I are going to be looking into it, so you shouldn’t worry about that.” He pauses. “We’ve already started looking into it, so hopefully, we’ll come up with something soon.”
“Okay, sounds good,” I mutter, though I’m sure I don’t really sound that convincing.
Kai chuckles and wraps an arm around my shoulder, tugging me into his side. “We’ll get this all figured out, Mercy.”
“I don’t doubt you guys, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m just kind of freaking out on the inside. I mean, on top of all of that crap that’s supposedly going to happen, I just found out that my dad’s alive. I only got to talk to him for a little bit before I had to leave again because yet another jackass is after me. I guess I’m just tired of running. Hell, I’m honestly getting tired of being on edge all the time. It’s all I know, so I know that won’t change anytime soon, it’s just tiring.”
I feel his mouth brush the top of my head. “I know, all we can do is hope that all of this shit will be over soon.” He falls quiet for a minute, his hand rubbing up and down on my arm. “So, what’s your plan, Mercy?”
I give him a look. “What do you mean?”
He chuckles. “I know you don’t plan on just sitting there and letting these visions become a reality, so what’s your plan?”
“I don’t really have one. I do have a theory, though,” I admit, picking up a rock and tossing it into the pond. I watch the ripples for a moment, entranced by the movement of the water. “I think the whole turning rogue thing? I don’t know that it’s necessarily me turning rogue. Or maybe not full rogue”
“How so?”
“I mean, think about it. Torn is after me, he also has the ability to control others’ minds. If he miraculously manages to control mine, after so long I’d turn out like Ada and Aiden. There physically, but not mentally.”
“So, you think that it’s all connected to Torn?”
“And Payne.”
“Why Payne? Isn’t he locked up right now enduring whatever the devil has planned for him?”
“He is. For now. Be honest, Kai, do you really think that he’ll be there for very long?” I ask a small smile pulling at my lips.
“I suppose you’re right. But what do you think he’s going to have to do with it all?” His fingers squeeze my upper arm for a moment before loosening slightly.
“Probably more of that baby shit, otherwise Torn’s playing him for a fool.”
“You mean, Torn’s probably acting like Payne will have everything he wants but is just using Payne to get what he wants and then will fuck him over in the end?”
“Bingo.”
He chuckles. “Bingo?”
“Shut up,” I say through a laugh. “It kind of just slipped out.”
“You know we’ll do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen, don’t you?” he asks, looking down at me, his expression completely serious.
I nod once, losing myself in his chocolate-brown eyes. “I know.”
9
Parker
I scratch the side of my head and sigh as my mother continues ranting about having Mercy here. We’ve been here for almost two weeks, and it’s been quiet. Except for the part where my mom’s constantly bitching about having Mercy in her house.
“Mom,” I start, interrupting her mid-rant, “seriously, this is getting tedious. Mercy isn’t going anywhere until we all leave.”
My mom turns and glares at me, her eyes glowing red. “I don’t want her here, Parker. Couldn’t you have chosen someone less . . .,” she waves her hand in the air as she searches for the right word, “common?”
I groan. “I’m not having this conversation with you again, mother. I never even said that I was with Mercy.”
“But you want to be,” she snaps. “I saw the way you looked at her. You’re infatuated with her. You want her,” she sneers.
I blink at her, not responding, since if I were to deny it I’d only be lying. To her and to myself.
“Are you done?” I finally ask once her eyes go back to their natural silver shade, indicating she’s not as pissed as she was a minute ago.
She grinds her teeth so hard that I can hear it from across the room. “I’m done. For now.” A sly smile spreads across her lips and I narrow my eyes at my mom. The woman can be cunning when she wants to be. “How about I make you a deal?”
“A deal?” I repeat, slowly.
“A deal. I planned on hosting a little get together while you and your team were here, to celebrate having you home, even if it’s only for a short period of time. Your father said no, but if you agree with it, he won’t have a choice but to go through with it.”
“So what’s this deal exactly?”
“I’ll shut up about Mercy, in exchange for you agreeing to the masquerade and hopefully you’ll find a good vamp woman to replace your feelings for this Mercy girl.”
I roll my eyes. “Mom, you’ve been trying to do these stupid parties almost everytime I come home, what’s going to be so different about this one?”
“It’s a masq, Parker,” she says like that’s explanation enough. “Plus, it’ll be fancy enough that your little pet won’t want to come. It’s a win-win.”
I give her an icy glare, and she pales slightly. “First, Mercy isn’t a pet. Second, if she wants to go, she’s more than welcome to, and you will not interfere with that. Third, I’ll agree to this, but I will not agree to looking for anyone else. Mercy’s the only one I’m interested in, and you won’t be able to manipulate me away from her like I know you want to.”
She hisses. “Fine. Agreed. I’ll let your father know. We’ll have preparations started, and everything will be ready for the weekend.”
“No interfering, mother,” I warn her. “I mean it.”
“I swear, there will be no interference with Mercy being there,” she says reluctantly.
I stand up from my chair and make my way to the door. “I’ll be holding you to that.”
I leave without waiting for her to say anything else.
“Hunter, where is everyone?” I ask, my mind brushing against his.
“Everyone’s kind of spread out. Mercy’s with your sister and her guards in the library, last I heard.” I sigh at that. I really wasn’t expecting for Mercy and my sister to get along so well. Though, I guess I shouldn’t be shocked, since they’re so alike in many ways. “Talon should also be with them, the rest of us are all scattered throughout. Why?”
“I have news, figured I’d just tell you all at once.”
“Alright, I’ll let the others know, we’ll all meet in your room then?”
“Sounds good. I’m near the library, so I’ll get Mercy and Talon.”
I turn the corner to the hallway leading to the library, hoping that Mercy, Talon, and my sister are all still there.
I pause at the library entrance, nodding my head to Talon and the other guards in greeting but freeze when I hear my sister talk to Mercy from a corner in the room with their backs to me.
“Mercy? What’s it like to be able to go places?” Farrah asks.
“Um,” Mercy starts, sounding a little shell-shocked. “I don’t know, if I’m being completely honest.” A pause. “What I mean is, I don’t really get to go anywhere, just to, you know, go there. I’ve moved around a lot for a few years, but that wasn’t by choice. Is this about the fact that you’re kinda trapped here?”
“Yeah. I mean, I understand to an extent. I’d like to be able to be a normal person who can le
ave their house to go to a movie or something.”
Talon gives me a weak smile when I meet his eyes, and I puff out a breath.
Mercy chuckles. “Being normal is overrated. It’s more fun being weird, or awkward, or just a pain in everyone’s ass.”
Farrah laughs. “I suppose you have a point, but you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I know. Parker walked in a few minutes ago,” Mercy says, shocking the hell out of me. I didn’t know she had heard me or sensed me. “Maybe he can convince your parents to let us all steal you for a night and go out?”
“I doubt it,” Farrah mutters, barely loud enough for me to hear.
I exchange a look with Talon. When he shrugs, I know he’s thinking the same thing I am. “Let’s just go discuss it with the rest of the team, so we’ll see, Farrah. It’s not a no, it’s a maybe,” I quickly add before Farrah starts yelling at me. “I need all of you guys to come to my room anyway, so we can talk. I don’t want to have to repeat myself more than once.”
Mercy stands and faces me, arms crossed. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, well, depends on your view of things, but it’s not bad.”
Mercy looks at Talon then at Farrah before letting out a sigh. “Alright, fine. Stay cryptic. Hopefully, everyone else is already there, so we won’t have to wait to hear what the hell’s going on.”
“Spill,” Mercy demands once we’re all standing in my room. “I don’t like being held in suspense,” she defends when nearly everyone raises a brow at her or snickers.
Hunter chuckles and shakes his head. "What'd you have to talk to us about, Park?"
"My mother," I start, pausing only when Mercy groans, rolling her eyes and Farrah laughs at her reaction. Giving them a look that shuts them up, I try again. "My mother decided she wants to throw a little party to celebrate me being home."
"This again?" Farrah groans. "What's going to be so different about this one than the others?"
"It's a masquerade party, ball, whatever."
"She trying to hook you up with girls again?" Farrah snickers.
I roll my eyes. "Yeah, that's her main goal. I agreed to this stupid ball because she said she'd stop bitching about Mercy. I'm getting really fucking sick of her bitching at me every time I see her."
Mercy's brow furrows, and her fists clench at her sides. Other than those two things, she doesn’t show any other reaction to my sister mentioning my mom trying to get me to be with girls that aren’t Mercy. "Why is she so against me being here anyway? I don't get it. This isn't like Talon's distrust and dislike of half-demons," she holds up her hand, stopping Talon from interrupting. "I know you don't feel that way toward me anymore, Talon. I'm just saying. This is blinding hatred."
My sister and I exchange glances, and she gives me the look that says that if I don't tell Mercy, she will. I exhale a heavy breath. "My dad hasn't exactly been faithful to my mom. Long story short, my dad has a thing for half-demons." Farrah's guards’ noses scrunch up in distaste, even though they already know all about it, they don't support it. "He had a long-lasting affair with a half-demon before she turned rogue.
"After mom discovered his first affair with a half-demon, she killed her, and told my dad that if he kept it up no half-demons would be welcome around our people, and that she'd kill any that stepped foot on our territory."
"So, it's not that she hates my kind, it's that she's bitter and unhappy," Mercy says, matter-of-factly.
"That's pretty much it. The half-demon that dad had a long-term affair with lasted as long as she did because my mom didn't know about her, but she did know that he was with other half-demons," Farrah explains.
"Your dad sounds like a peach," Mercy drawls then shrugs. "I guess I can sort of understand what her problem is with my kind, but it's not really our fault. It's his."
"In her eyes, it's their fault. They lured him away from her. That's not to say that mom doesn't have her fair share of affairs, too, it's just that she's more subtle about it than dad is. He parades his side pieces around. Mom doesn't like the fact that he makes it so well-known that she isn't enough to keep him in her bed."
"Your parents suck, Parker," Mercy says bluntly, drawing chuckles out of everyone in the room. "Am I to assume that all of you guys are welcome to go, but the dreaded half-demon has to stay in her room like a bad little girl?"
Hunter, War, and Talon all snort a laugh, while Kai coughs to hide his chuckle.
I smile at her. "Nope. You're allowed to come, too. It was one of my conditions that if you wanted to go you could go without her trying to stop you."
Mercy scratches her head. "Yeah, I don't know. I don't really do fancy."
"But you know how to dance, right?" Farrah asks.
"Not fancy ballroom dancing," Mercy says at the same time that Kai says, "She can dance."
Mercy shoots Kai an annoyed look, though there's heat in her gaze, saying she's remembering when they were dancing together at the club not so long ago. The guys and I all stood at the window and watched them dance, while we talked. I can't deny that it's seriously hot as hell watching her move, so I'm really hoping that she agrees to go to this stupid thing.
10
Mercy
I groan as I look at the expectant faces waiting for my answer. "Oh my fucking god. Fine! I'll go. I don't have anything to wear, though," I point out.
Farrah holds up a hand. "You can borrow one of my dresses."
I shoot her a grateful smile. "Thanks." I turn my attention back to Parker. "Now that we've got that out of the way. Can we bust your sister out of here for a night out?"
Parker hesitates then looks to Hunter. "If the guys are okay with it, I'll talk to mom and make sure she doesn't cause any problems for us."
Farrah's eyes light up with unshed tears. She runs to Parker and wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly as she shrieks, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You're the best big brother ever."
Parker chuckles and returns her hug. The guys all agree that we can go do something, and I laugh as Farrah gives all the guys a hug, spouting thank yous to each of them as they awkwardly accept the hugs.
I never noticed it before, but the guys don't really seem to be very tactile with anyone. The only times I've seen them accept any kind of touch that didn't consist of training or fighting was with me. My chest tightens as a happiness and a feeling of contentment pours through me at that thought.
"We'll go tomorrow," Parker says. "That'll give me time to warm mom up to the idea, and dad should be home some time tonight, though he'll probably shut himself up in his office until mom's little party."
"You said that you need an outfit for tonight?" Farrah asks as we take a walk around their huge ass territory.
"Yeah, I doubt my usual jeans will cut it," I say with a chuckle.
She laughs. "Most likely not. We'll raid my closet, so we can find you something to wear tonight, and something to wear for the masquerade tomorrow."
"Do you think your mom took the news that Parker plans to take you off the territory well?"
She snorts. "Hell, no. She's probably been throwing a tantrum at him ever since then. I talked to her earlier this morning before Parker came in, and she tried telling me that you were a bad influence on me, making me want things I can't have."
I frown. "Like what?"
She pushes a tree branch out of the way, leading me towards the forest located near the back of their land with her guards close behind us. "A life, for starters. She called you a slut and a whore, saying that if I were to be friends with you I'd become those things. She stopped saying that when Parker walked into the room and laid into her about saying those things about you.
“She tried saying that the only reason she thinks you’re a slut is because you apparently hang all over the other guys on Parker's team. She told him that you're unfaithful."
I raise a brow. "I haven't even seen your mom since the night I came here. How could she possibly know I hang all over the guys?" Which is not a f
air assessment in my opinion. Do we frequently touch each other in innocent ways that make my blood heat with need? Yes. It's not like we're groping each other and making out in her hallways for all the world to see.
"She's got everyone around here reporting back to her about what you do. So, if you see anyone, whatever you're doing will be reported to her."
I chuckle. "Your mom is nuts. She's seriously that upset about me being here?"
"Oh, yeah. She didn't tell Parker, but she's seriously pissed that you're going to the masq tomorrow."
I roll my eyes. "I'm honestly not that surprised she's pissed about that. She was probably hoping I wouldn't come."
"There's no doubt about that," she confirms. "She wants Parker to pick a noble vampire to settle down with so that she and dad can retire, giving him, and whoever he chooses as a mate, their throne."
Once we're back at the front door of their home, she stops and turns to face me. "Parker won't do it because the females mom had paraded in front of him weren't ones he wanted to be involved with. Now that he has you, I highly doubt that he'll be looking any further. Mom is extremely upset about that because she does not want a half-demon on her throne."
I blink completely thrown off guard. "What?"
"Parker told mom that he didn't want anyone else but you. I think mom's having a hard time dealing with that because she doesn't want to have to end up answering to you when he takes the throne."
My mouth drops open slightly. "I-I didn't really know that," I admit. "Xena mentioned that all the guys wanted to be with me, but I don't think I really believed her. Hell, who am I kidding? I know I didn't believe her. A small part of me still doesn't."
She tilts her head to the side. "Why do you say that?"
"I guess I'm just having a hard time understanding why the guys would be completely fine with me being with all of them."
Her mouth curls into a smile. "I can assure you, even if there is any jealousy between them, they won't let it get in the way of having you."