by A. M. Hardin
Chapter 3
Kai
I look up from the book in front of me when I hear Parker enter the room. Frowning, I take in the dejected look on his face.
“Didn’t go well, I take it?” I ask softly.
He makes his way to the table where the entire team sits. He puffs out a breath. “No, it didn’t.”
“What’d she say?” Talon asks quietly, his hands folded in front of him, his mouth resting on his fists.
“When she gets out she’s going to kill us and enjoy doing it. That she definitely enjoyed killing my parents. She let us live last time we saw her because of what we’ve done for her. She feels great, she doesn’t feel guilty about anything she’s done.” A pause. “She doesn’t want to change,” Parker says, rubbing a hand down his face.
“She said that?” War asks, shocked.
Parker shakes his head. “No. Her expression said it for her.”
Hunter sighs and drops the paper in his hands onto the table in front of him. “She’s saying those things because it is how she feels. Right now. Before she turned rogue? The shit she’s done would have killed her. As it is, when we get her back, it’ll kill her when she’s back to normal.”
“Any news on that front?” Talon asks. “How we’re getting her back to normal?”
Hunter and I exchange a look before I sigh and toss the book in front of me. Leaning my elbows on the table and resting my forehead in my hands, I mutter, “There’s only one way we’ve found.”
Parker stiffens beside me. “Killing her and then bringing her back?”
I drop my hands and nod. “Yeah.”
Parker remains quiet for several moments. “Do you think that if I tried turning her into a vampire, it would work that way?”
“You can’t,” Hunter says calmly. “It won’t work. It’ll just kill her.”
“You sound certain about that,” Talon says, brows furrowed.
War nods. “She’s half-demon. It won’t work. Her demon half will cancel out the vampire blood as it’s put in her system.”
“Shit,” Parker mutters, face drawn.
“There are two things that we’ll need for the spell to work,” I announce. “It involves stealing from my mother and getting into her vault. We have everything else we’ll need for the spell because really, all we need is our blood.”
Hunter watches me for a moment before giving me a brief nod. “Alright. War will take you to your mother’s and you two will get what is needed. We’ll see if we can make any progress on Mercy after we tell her family what’s going on.”
War pauses on his way to my side of the table. “Are you sure that’s wise? They’ll want to see her once they find out. She isn’t the same Mercy they knew before. Seeing her like this will her mother and Xena.”
Hunter sighs. “It needs to be done, otherwise her dad and uncle will be pissed.”
I shrug. “Alright. Do what you think is best. Let’s go, War.”
* * *
Mercy
I roll my eyes when I hear the door to the dungeon open again, but this time, I don’t bother to move off the cot where I’ve been lying ever since Parker left a few hours before. Opting to stay on my back and stare at the ceiling.
Footsteps stop at the bars, but I still don’t move from my position.
“Mercy,” my dad’s voice pulls my attention over to him. I don’t say anything, just flick a glance his way then turn back to the ceiling. I’m done dealing with these people.
They won’t fucking let me out of here. I’ve tried torching the fucking bars, tried shifting into my demon form and couldn’t get out either of those ways. I’m out of options besides just sitting here and accepting I’m a prisoner.
I’m trapped, and there’s nothing I can do to get the fuck out of here.
“Mercy, look at me,” my dad demands.
I don’t.
He sighs. “Mercy. Baby girl, we’re all here for you. You need to fight this. Your mother misses you. Vivi misses you. Even though that little girl hasn’t been with you very much, she loved you from the moment that you saved her from Jerome. Come back to us, please. We miss you and love you.”
“Are you done?” I ask, keeping my tone bored.
“Mercenary,” he starts but cuts off when I glare at him.
“Just stop. Leave me the fuck alone. If I’m going to be a prisoner, at least have the decency to leave me the hell alone so I can plot my revenge in peace. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want you to be here.” He just watches me, his red eyes sad. “Go!”
His jaw tightens and he shakes his head. “I’m not leaving until you have an actual conversation with me.”
“Well, then, you’ll be waiting for a long time,” I bite out, turning my attention back to the ceiling.
He sighs. “Fine. You don’t have to talk. But I do want you to listen.”
I inwardly roll my eyes. Whatever, got nothing better to do. Might as well let him talk himself into a coma.
“When the guys came to us after you left them. . .” he pauses before continuing, “I’ve never seen so much emotion on Hunter’s face. I may know him and Warwick better than the others, but I’m fairly certain that each of them felt lost when you left. Those boys love you, Mercy. Hunter and War haven’t so much as said it to me or your uncle, but it’s written over all of them.
“And judging from the way things were during the short time we were together all those months ago, you love them just as much as they love you. You’re a fighter, my little Mercenary. So why aren’t you fighting? Why aren’t you fighting to be with the people you love?”
I clench my teeth to stop myself from responding.
“Why are you letting Torn win? You didn’t allow him to win when you were a child, no matter what he tried on you. But one little thing happens and you’re letting him win. Why won’t you fight the control that he has over you?”
I sit upright and snarl at him. “No one controls me.”
My dad’s eyebrow arches imperiously. “No? Then explain to me why you aren’t fighting. The Mercy your mother, uncle, and I raised would have fought tooth and nail to stop from turning rogue. But you let Torn control you, even for just a split second, and this is the result. You may not feel like you’re under his control, but until you’re no longer a rogue, you’re under his control. You’re doing exactly what he wants you to do.”
A growl slips from my lips as I smoothly climb off the bed and stomp to the bars separating us. “You don’t know a damn thing, old man. Torn doesn’t control me now. He may have influenced me into going rogue, but he lost control of me the minute that happened.”
Dad shakes his head sadly. “No, he didn’t. You’re giving him exactly what he wants by causing all the pain that you’ve caused the last six months.”
I smirk. “Nah. That was just a bit of fun. I was bored. And I’ll do it again as soon as I’m free.”
“You won’t get free of this cell until you’re back to the person you once were.”
I smack my hands against the bars. “Don’t you get it? There is no way to turn me back to the Mercy you all foolishly loved. She’s gone! Dead! Accept that. The sooner you do, the easier it’ll be on all of you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he whispers, meeting my eyes. “The guys found a way, and they will bring you back. I just hope like hell that you have no memories of the pain you’ve caused because I know that it will destroy you from the inside out. Those people that you’ve hurt were all innocents. You’ve never gone after innocents before now and I know that a part of you will die if you have those memories.”
I snort. “It won’t work. The only thing they can do to stop me is to kill me. I will get out of here eventually and you will all pay for keeping me locked up.”
Chapter 4
Talon
“We’re sure this will work?” I ask again as we all meet in front of the dungeon door.
Kai sighs, looking at the dagger and amulet
in the clay bowl resting in his hands. “No. There are no guarantees, but either way she will have to die if she can’t get back to normal. This is the one way we can find that has the most likely chance of success.”
“You’re sure that’s the stuff we need, then?” Parker asks, tilting his chin at the dagger and amulet.
Kai narrows his gaze on Parker. “Of course, I’m sure. The reason most of the stories we’ve heard using this spell are failures is because they were missing these two things. We aren’t making that mistake with Mercy.”
Parker holds his hands up in surrender. “Got it.”
“Let’s get this done,” Hunter murmurs.
“Who’s killing her?” War asks, stopping us in our tracks.
Everyone’s silent for a long minute before I sigh, my stomach churning. “I’ll do it.”
Hunter opens his mouth, probably to object, but I hold up a hand, stopping him.
“I’m the one least likely to hesitate, other than you, Hunter. And even then, you’ll still hesitate for the simple reason that not only do you have feelings for her, but if it doesn’t work, then you’ll have to face your friends with the knowledge that you killed their daughter and niece.”
Hunter puffs out a breath. “Alright. You’re right.”
Kai grasps the dagger from the bowl and holds it out to me. “It needs to be done with this. We need her blood mixed with ours anyway.”
I take the dagger from his hands and nod. “Alright. Make sure you keep the damn power dampening spell in place. The last thing we need is for me to be burnt to a crisp.”
“Duh,” Kai says dryly.
We walk down the stairs, and I frown hearing Mercy’s dad talking.
“As long as you are this way, he will always control you in some way.”
“I’ve already said it once, I’m really not interested in repeating it, but I guess I have to,” Mercy bites out. “No one controls me, you son of a bitch. I don’t want to go back to the old Mercy. I’m perfectly happy as I am, thank you.”
Byrne scoffs. “No, you’re not. I may have missed the last ten years of your life, but I still know when you’re lying your ass off.”
A growl comes from Mercy as we make it to the bottom steps. Her black eyes automatically run over us before going back to her dad. An evil smirk forms on her face.
“Ah, is it time for them to try to turn me back? All they’ll succeed in doing is killing me. It won’t bring me back. You’re all fooling yourselves into thinking that this is going to work.”
“Why do you say that?” Byrne asks, narrowing his eyes on his daughter.
Mercy laughs, making my heart ache. I remember when that laugh didn’t have such a dark edge to it. “During my time terrorizing, and well, just being everyone’s nightmare in general, I looked up any possible ways that I could be brought back. Every single time someone’s tried this way, they’ve killed who they were trying to ‘save’. Sure, they bought a little bit of time for them. But ultimately, I’ll die.” She raises an eyebrow as she runs those eerie eyes over our group. “I hope you guys are ready to have my blood, my death on your hands.”
Byrne turns to Hunter as he moves to leave the dungeon. “I hope to hell you know what you’re doing,” he murmurs.
“We’ll bring her back,” Hunter assures him quietly, not taking his eyes off the angry blonde currently pacing like a trapped animal in her cell.
Byrne leaves, and I step up to the cell, holding my empty hand out for the key as I hide the dagger from Mercy with my body. Someone hands me the key, I don’t know who, since my eyes remain firmly placed on Mercy. Quickly unlocking the door then handing it off, I hear Kai murmuring the spell to prevent her from using her powers at all - for the second time since we’ve brought her here. Eyes sweeping the cell it’s clear that the spell does have a time limit because a lot of burn marks are scattered throughout the cell, indicating she’d been most likely throwing fireballs around, trying to get out.
Mercy snickers and steps back so that I can enter the cell with her. “Really? So, you’re the one that’s going to kill me, huh? I guess it fits.” She tilts her head to the side, dark humor dancing in her eyes. “You’ve wanted to gut me from the start, so this really is fitting. Isn’t it?”
I raise an eyebrow at her. “Think you have us all figured out, huh?”
She snorts. “Of course I do. You’ve hated me from the beginning, Talon.”
I shake my head as I move toward her, crowding her until her back is against the wall. “You’re wrong, little demon. I hated you at first, then I just disliked you, then I started falling for you,” I murmur the last, looking straight in her black eyes, not willing to let her try looking elsewhere. “And throughout all of it, I still wanted you.”
Her mouth falls open, and her eyes flicker back and forth from purple to black a split second before I slam my mouth down onto hers, kissing her hard. I grip the dagger tighter in my hand, hating what I’m about to do.
Mercy’s mouth moves against mine, her tongue flicking against mine, tentatively, almost as if she’s unsure of what she’s doing. Putting enough space between our upper bodies, I bring the dagger up and rest the tip against her heart.
She tries to pull back, but the wall and my hand gripping the back of her head keep her firmly in place.
“Talon,” she whimpers against my lips. “Please, don’t do this.”
I open my eyes and see hers are back to the beautiful purple that they were originally. Unfortunately, I can see the black creeping back in from the sides, attempting to take over again.
I press a soft kiss against her lips and murmur against her mouth, my voice cracking slightly with emotion, “I’m sorry.” With a smooth thrust of my hand, the dagger slides home. A gasp escapes her mouth before she sags against me.
“Lay her on the cot and take the dagger out,” Kai instructs from directly behind me. I nod once and do as he suggests.
Kai pushes past me and lays the amulet over her chest, near the wound from the dagger.
“What are you doing?” Parker asks as the rest of the team enters the small, cramped space.
“The necklace will keep her soul in place. The dagger is a ceremonial dagger. We each have to put our blood in the bowl and then we have to make her drink it.”
“Are you serious?” War asks, disbelief clear in his expression and tone.
“Yes,” Kai says simply as he holds his hand out for the dagger after setting the bowl on the bed beside Mercy. I hand it over to him. He cuts into Mercy’s palm, placing the bowl underneath so the blood makes a small pool in the bowl.
Kai swiftly cuts into his palm and lets his blood flow into the bowl. He hands the knife back to me. I repeat the cut on my own palm, the pain barely registering since all of my attention is on the very still female laying in front of us.
I hand the dagger off to Parker and he does the same before passing it off. One at a time, we let our blood mix together in the bowl.
“Take your shirts off,” Kai orders. I exchange glances with the others but we do as he says. Kai dips his finger into the blood and rips the top of Mercy’s shirt just enough to get to the center of her sternum without disturbing the amulet. He quickly draws a quick spiral looking design over her bare skin, muttering quietly as he works.
He then does the same on himself before moving to each of us and drawing the same symbol on us. Stepping away from Hunter, who was the last to receive the symbol, Kai carries the bowl back to Mercy.
Instead of putting the bowl down, he slips one hand under head and slowly brings her head off the bed while he brings the bowl to her lips, muttering words that I can’t hear or even understand. Probably the incantation needed for this all to work.
I frown as I watch Mercy’s throat work. Is she back? I strain my ears to listen for her heartbeat, but I don’t hear any heartbeats coming from the cot besides Kai’s. How the hell is she swallowing the blood if she’s still dead?
My chest burns as my brain loops through th
e what ifs. What if she doesn’t wake up? What if I really killed her? What if killing her didn’t get rid of the rogue inside her?
Kai stepping back from the bed and laying Mercy’s head back down pulls me out of my own thoughts.
“We’ll find out soon if it worked,” Kai says quietly.
“She’d wake up so soon after being dead?” Parker asks. “I mean, vampires take a few hours to come back at the very least. If not days.”
“Yeah. She wasn’t dead for long. Since we got the spell started right away she should only be out, at most, a half hour.”
“I thought this was dark magic? I’ve seen you do spells similar to this before. Well aside from the killing and making the victim drink blood,” War says, sounding confused.
“That’s kind of what makes it dark magic, War,” Kai says. “We aren’t supposed to bring people back from the dead. Nearly everyone who has tried, it’s gone wrong in one way or another.”
“What should we expect when she wakes up?” Hunter asks quietly, his eyes on Mercy.
“She’ll probably be a little confused. I honestly don’t know if she will have any memories of being rogue or not. There’s a high possibility she will.”
“What about for us?” I ask.
Kai sighs. “For us? If it works, not much. We’ll be able to feel what she feels, it’ll create a bond between all of us. She will need to be near us almost constantly from what I’ve read. I don’t know if that kind of dulls with time or not. There are a lot of unknowns about this situation, guys. You have to remember that as far as I found, no one has succeeded at this spell. At least not succeeded enough to have it stick more than a day or two.”
“Guys,” Parker says, getting our attention. “Her heart’s beating again.”
I strain my ears and catch the faint thump thump of Mercy’s heart starting again. Relief rushes through me, almost taking me to my knees. She’s alive.
Our eyes stick to her, watching for any movement. We wait for another minute and are rewarded with the sweet, sweet sound of Mercy taking a deep, gasping breath.