by A. M. Hardin
“Considering I’m currently in a fucking holding cell in a goddamn dungeon, no I don’t fucking like your gift,” I snap.
He moves closer to me, making me tense but I don’t move away. I refuse to show this bastard any fear.
“Beautiful, sweet, deadly Mercy,” he muses. “I can’t wait until we’re together again.” He runs a finger down my cheek.
Twisting out of his reach I glare at him. “I want you dead. Why the hell would I ever be with you?”
He grins, an evil, wicked smile. “You will come to me, Mercy. You will,” he insists when I shake my head. “Either you come to me, or I come to you. It’ll happen. However, I feel that you’ll fight the pull to come to me when the time comes anyway, so I may have to come to you after all.”
“I will never come to you, Torn,” I snarl. “Now get the fuck out of my head!”
Opening my eyes with a gasp I run my hands shakily through my hair.
“You alright?” Dax asks. “You sounded like you were having a bad dream.”
“Something like that,” I mutter. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost night. One of Parker’s other trusted guards will be coming to relieve me soon.”
I nod. “Sounds good. Who’s the other guard?”
“Karson. He’s old for a vampire, but he will still guard you with his life. He’s more of a father to Parker than his own dad ever was.”
“I kind of guessed there was a little tension between them. Ethan doesn’t seem to be the fatherly type except when it suits him.”
“That’s an accurate assessment.”
“So, how did–” I cut off at the opening of the basement door.
Footsteps echo down the stairs until Ethan, himself, stalks through. His mouth quirks up when he sees me. “Well, this certainly is an entertaining turn of events.” He looks at Dax. “Leave us.”
Dax hesitates and that clearly pisses Ethan off.
“I said leave us,” he hisses.
“I know, sir. However, Parker entrusted me to stay with her. I won’t disobey my prince.”
“And what of your king?”
“My loyalty is to Parker, your majesty,” Dax says honestly.
Ethan glares at him then waves a dismissive hand. “Fine. But you can stay there. It’s time I had a little chat with Mercy.”
Ethan grabs the key to my cell from where it’s hanging on the opposite wall and moves to unlock the door. I put my hand over the lock, not wanting him to come in here.
“You can talk to me from out there.”
He grins evilly. “No, I can’t.”
He pulls a knife out of his pocket and stabs it into my hand. I cry out and pull my hand back, cradling it to my chest. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
He inhales deeply. “Mmm, your blood is so very tempting,” he says as he unlocks the door. “Unfortunately, I don’t have time to have a taste tonight.”
“You’ll never have the opportunity,” I swear.
He grins and slips the knife back in his pocket once he’s in the little cell with me, crowding my space.
“Care to tell me why you killed one of my subjects?” He asks casually.
“Care to tell me why you’re such a fucking nutcase?” I spit back.
He chuckles. “Oh, I do so love that fire. Too bad I have to extinguish it.”
“What are you–” I cut off when he moves, and I feel the sharp stab of a needle in my neck.
“King Ethan!” I vaguely hear Dax shout before it all goes black.
My eyes flutter open and a moan slips out of my mouth.
God, why do I feel so hungover?
I look around and notice that I’m still in my cell, Ethan is gone, and Dax is passed out on the floor just outside my cell door.
“Dax,” I croak. “Dax,” I say louder. He moans. “Dax, wake up.”
“Parker?”
“What is it?” His voice soothes my nerves slightly, and I wish like hell I knew what the hell happened before I passed out. I remember Ethan coming in the basement and stabbing my hand, but after that it’s a blank.
“Dax is passed out. I don’t know what happened.”
“We’ll be right there.”
While waiting for the guys, I keep trying to wake Dax up. Unfortunately, my efforts don’t get anything more than a few scattered moans and groans here and there. Jesus. Ethan must have one hell of a right hook.
The basement door slams open, and the guys pile down the stairs.
“I don’t know what happened,” I mutter after they file into the room. “I woke up, and he was like this.”
Parker’s and Talon’s nostrils flare then both turn to me sharply. “Where are you hurt?” Talon asks at the same time Parker asks, “Are you okay?”
I shakily hold up my injured hand for them to examine. “I-I’m fine. Your dad, I don’t know what he was doing here. He wanted into my cell, I put my hand in the way of the lock. He stabbed my hand, so I’d move my hand. Everything goes blank from there.”
“I’ll kill him,” Parker growls and moves to leave the room.
“Stop, Parker,” Hunter orders, halting Parker in his tracks. “We need to find out what happened first. Let’s focus on waking your guard, and we can decide what to do from there.”
“He’s got a point,” Kai points out, not so helpfully in my opinion, but I also really don’t care what they do so long as someone gets me the fuck out of this cell.
“Please tell me you guys have something,” I say hopefully while War and Kai work on getting Dax to wake up.
“We don’t have proof, besides a note that was left beside Chelsey’s body.”
“A note?”
“It said that her death was your fault.”
My blood goes cold, and I remember Torn’s words from my dream.
Did you enjoy my present?
Moving my gaze to Kai, I ask, “How can a demon talk to someone in their dreams?”
Kai frowns thoughtfully. “It would take a very powerful witch if the demon in question doesn’t already have that ability. Why?”
I bite my lip and meet everyone’s curious gazes. “Torn came to me in my dream last night. He asked if I enjoyed his gift.”
"Enjoyed his gift?" War echoes.
"Yeah. He had Chelsey killed as a present for me, I guess."
I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly cold.
"You okay?" Parker asks.
I nod and sit on the cot. "I'm fine. I really just wish I knew what his game plan was. Is it to kill me? To make me pay? To keep me? I don't get it."
"I don't know. My brother's acting strange even for him. I've never seen, nor heard, him change his mind about what he wants. I have a feeling that once he gets you, he'll do all three."
20
Mercy
"Mercy," Torn's voice whispers through my mind. "Come to me."
"Go choke on a dick," I send back before slamming my mental shields back up. They've been slipping more and more lately, and I can't figure out why.
It's been three days since I've been trapped in this stupid cell. Two days since that weird visit from Parker's dad. Whatever Ethan did to make me forget what happened, he did to Dax too
The door to the basement opens and closes. Footsteps echo down the stairs and out steps Ethan. Again.
Think of the devil, and he may appear.
I don't move from my spot on the bed, I simply narrow my eyes at him.
"Why so glum-looking?" He asks, a smarmy smile firmly in place.
"Why so fucking chipper?" I ask, not in the mood to deal with his shit.
His smile widens. "No reason, whatsoever." His eyes cut to Dax and narrows. Without any other warning he advances on Dax, punching him square in the jaw, knocking him out in no time.
I stand from the cot. "What the hell are you doing?"
He unlocks my cell door and moves to come inside. "Well, you're about to find out. Not that you'll remember it. Or care when you wake up."
I
frown. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You'll see." So fast, I barely see him move, he strikes out and I feel a painful prick in my neck. A sudden sense of déjà vu flares through me as darkness bleeds around the edges of my consciousness.
"You'll die for this," I slur before my body goes limp and darkness reigns.
I'm getting really sick of blacking out.
A moan slips out of my mouth as I move to my side, willing the nausea that's currently running through my system to take a fucking chill pill.
My eyes flutter open, and I frown when I see Ethan sitting in the lone chair beside the bed.
"What are you doing here?"
He smiles. "You're awake. Good."
"What's going on?" I ask as I rub my eyes with a shaking hand. God, why am I so shaky lately? "Why do I feel like I'm going puke?"
"Hmm, you know, I'm not entirely sure. It could be that your body's just not reacting well to the, uh, medicine I gave you."
"You gave me medicine? Why?"
Ethan smirks and moves so that he's looking directly into my eyes. His silver eyes glowing he says in a soft, soothing, and compelling voice, "Give me a kiss."
I inwardly scream and curse at him as my body moves forward of its own accord and kisses the jackass across from me.
Ethan breaks away with an evil chuckle. “I can’t believe it worked.”
I snap out of it and have control over my body again. Wiping off his saliva from my lips I glower at him. “You’d better be fucking glad that I don’t have any fucking weapons in here.”
“Hunter, Parker’s-”
“No, no, no. No calling for help,” he tsks in that same tone, taking control over me again before I finish what I was telling Hunter.
“Mercy? Parker’s what?” Hunter’s telepathic voice answers back. I try to reach out to him again but unfortunately, fuck face still has control over me, so I can’t fucking respond.
“Hold on a moment, would you, dear?” Ethan asks, sounding so sugar sweet, he’s giving me a toothache. Pulling away from me, he digs his hand in his pocket, producing a cell phone. He presses a few buttons and then holds his phone to his ear. “Hello. Yes, it worked. She’s ready for you.”
I narrow my eyes at him and stand up from the bed quickly, ignoring the wave of dizziness that flashes over me. “Who did you just call?”
Before the last word even left my mouth, I back up into another body and freeze.
“Hello, Mercy,” Torn says, his mouth against my ear as he wraps his arms around me tightly. A shiver of apprehension rolls down my spine. “Thank you for giving Mercy her medication, Ethan. You’ve been such a great help in bringing my Mercy back to me.”
I open my mouth to snap at those words, but Torn’s hand comes up and covers my mouth. I bite into his hand hard enough to taste blood, but he still doesn’t move his hand. Ick.
“You said you’d give me what I asked for,” Ethan says.
Torn snickers in my ear. “Do you know what it was that he asked for, Mercy?”
I say nothing.
“He asked to have you to himself for a night.” My stomach rolls as Torn drops his face to my neck and brushes his lips against it. He drops his voice down to a whisper, so only I can hear, “However, I have a feeling that you’ll be too much for him to handle, my dear.” His hand runs gently down my arm and I muffle a gasp when I feel him press the hilt of a blade into my palm. “Kill him,” he murmurs into my ear, and my mind fogs over, even as I’m aware of all that I’m doing. I have no control over my own body whatsoever.
It feels like I’m a ghost, watching from the sidelines as I take the blade firmly in my grasp. No matter how hard I fight it, I just can’t get myself to stop. Without any preamble I use it to stab Ethan in the heart, twisting the blade in a circle before withdrawing it. Bringing the knife up, I cut into Ethan’s neck until his head is no longer attached to his body.
“Such a good girl,” Torn purrs from behind me. “Shall we go have fun with some more of the vampire’s here?”
It wasn’t a question, I knew. I also know that he’s going to make me kill more of the people in this house, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do to stop it.
21
Mercy
Torn let me leave Dax alone, simply because he was already unconscious, and it wouldn’t have been any ‘fun’.
Before entering the hallway above the basement Torn turns my body to face him and looking directly in my eyes, I can feel him stripping away more barriers of my mind. My shields have been weakened so badly just by the two doses of medicine Ethan gave me, that I can’t do anything to fight him.
“Now, Mercy,” he says softly, almost cooing at me. “Don’t you think it would be fun for you to go rogue? I think it’ll be loads of fun to watch you murder everyone in your path.”
No, you sick son of a bitch, it wouldn’t be fun!
“I want you to remember who you are, but know that it’s not important anymore, and focus only on how good it’ll feel to kill indiscriminately. How good it’ll be, ruling by my side. You will have no conscience. You will feel no regrets. You will have no mercy.”
My eyes flutter closed, and when I open them again I feel pretty normal, except for the burning desire to create havoc and spill as much blood as possible. Also, the desire to kill Torn isn’t there anymore.
“So, how’re you feeling?” Torn asks.
I grin. “I feel great.”
“That’s fantastic.” He looks up as footsteps echo down the hallway, showing just another guard, the one that had pushed me to get down to the dungeon. “Go have your fun, I’ll be right here watching.” He sticks his hands in his jeans pockets and moves to lean against the wall.
Infusing the blade he gave me with fire I toss it into the vampire guard’s chest and let the fire take him out from the inside out, relishing in the screams echoing off the walls.
I walk to his body once he’s finished screaming and pull my blade out of his chest, wiping the blood from the blade on his own jacket.
I walk down the hallway, Torn staying a few feet behind me and find a group of vampires hanging out in the living room. A grin I know looks extremely feral spreads across my face.
I put more fire into the dagger and throw it directly into the throat of one of the vamps. The fire eats away at him as he gurgles through a mouthful of blood. The vampires surrounding him turn to me with a hiss, but whatever they see makes them pause and back up a few steps.
“Where you going guys?” I sing. “The party’s just beginning.”
“Call Parker–” One of them starts to say, but he’s cut off by a choking sound. I turn to find Torn holding his hand out, as if he’s actually gripping his throat but he’s not. With nothing more than what I’m guessing is a psychic hand Torn rips the vamps head right off his shoulders.
One of the male vamps pushes the only female in the group at the door and shouts, “Go!” Smart girl booked it out of the room with no time to spare.
I walk towards the group and pout at the male that pushed the female to leave. “Now that isn’t fair.” I bend down to grab the dagger from the other vampire’s throat. “I want to play. You guys don’t want to play?” I purse my lips. “Pity.” Shaking my head, I shrug. “Oh well, you’re all going to die anyway, so . . . might as well get it over with, right?”
“Bitch,” one of the vamps bites out a second before he rushes me.
I roll my eyes and slit his throat, dodging out of the way as soon as he gets close enough. I laugh as the others make their moves to attack me at the same time but they get the same treatment as the other who was dumb enough to do it.
I hold my arms out in front of me and examine the blood covering my skin and my clothes. I’m literally soaked in blood from the handful that I’ve killed already.
Torn comes up behind me and chuckles when he slowly circles me. “You look fantastic covered in the blood of your enemies, Mercy.”
Enemies? I frown as a foggy thought flit
s briefly through my mind telling me that those I killed were not my enemies, but it’s gone as soon as it entered.
“Let’s go find others,” he whispers with a conspiratorial tone.
I grin and walk beside him as we make our way through the halls and various rooms, killing anyone we see.
I pause only when I see Farrah standing there, eyes wide open in shock as she takes in the bodies scattered through the library, me covered in blood and Torn standing off to the side with a smug grin on his face.
“Mercy? What’s going on?” She asks carefully, stepping closer towards the entrance at her back eyeing the destruction around her.
“I’m having fun,” I say simply. As if that explains it all. “Don’t you want to have fun with me?”
She shakes her head, her mouth gaping open for a moment before she finally speaks. “Not-Not like this, Mercy. God. Did you do all of this? Is this why so many of my people are freaking the fuck out?”
I shrug. “It’s not my fault that they can’t handle one measly little half-demon.”
“This isn’t you, Mercy.” Farrah’s focus goes straight to my eyes, and she blanches slightly. “That’s why you’ve done this. Oh, Mercy,” she whispers. “You’re not yourself.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say, tilting my head as I watch her take another step back. “I feel better than I have in a long-ass time, Farrah. In fact, I feel great.”
“But this isn’t you,” she insists. Her eyes dart to Torn for a moment, and she frowns. “Who’s that? Why have you let him live while you killed the others?”
“Because Torn made me this way, and I owe him for that,” I announce with a smirk. Her face pales, and she honestly looks like she’s going to pass the fuck out.
“Mercy, you have to stop this,” Farrah insists, putting her hands together, pleading. “Please. Come back. I want my friend back. This isn’t you.”
“The friend you once had is gone. She’s dead,” I announce without any emotion. “There is nothing you can do to bring her back. Although, I’m kind of amused and entertained watching you try. It’s quite funny.”