by Zoe Chant
“Right.” Mercy nodded, before glancing at Dante. “You can help, if you want. Three pairs of hands will get this done quicker than two.” She paused. “Though maybe you should go put a shirt on first.”
She was probably right about that, Dante thought, glancing down at himself. As he made his way back down the corridor to the sofa he’d slept on, he thought he heard Tai mutter something beneath her breath that not even his dragon’s hearing could pick up, followed by Mercy’s strident shout of, “Shut up, Tai! Did I ask?”
It would probably be better if he pretended he hadn’t heard that, he decided. There was no use in making Mercy feel awkward. When the time was right, he’d tell her about himself – everything about himself. Until then, the best thing he could do was try to make good on the commitment he’d made to her: his promise of protection.
He picked up his battered old t-shirt from where he’d left it by the couch, pulling it on over his head. There was a suspicious silence from the kitchen as he made his way back – and when he walked through the door, he found himself looking at a slyly smirking Tai, and a Mercy whose cheeks were burnished an even deeper red than before. Clearly, some whispered conversation had gone on while he’d been away, and from the look on Mercy’s face, Dante thought he could guess what it’d been about.
Our mate is attracted to us – she feels it. Our bond. Her blood knows us. It will tell her the truth, even if you won’t.
His dragon was smug, coiled within him, self-satisfied puffs of smoke rising from its nostrils. Dante ignored it. This wasn’t a case of telling the truth or not telling it: this was a case of needing to be near Mercy until the danger had passed. He couldn’t risk doing anything that might make her reject him. Not just now.
Taking a deep breath, he made his way across the kitchen, to where Mercy and Tai were making up cartons of food.
“What are you making, and how can I help?”
“School lunches,” Mercy said, as she spooned some white rice into the carton, before covering it with beans. “Kids ’round here, their parents can’t always pay for cafeteria food – and if they skip too many payments, there’s no more lunch. I’m not having kids in my neighborhood go hungry if I’ve got the means to feed them.”
Dante felt a welling of respect within him. He already knew Mercy was brave and fiercely protective of her community, but the kindness she was displaying here amazed him. He’d known kids exactly like the ones she was making lunches for now – he’d been one. The manticores hadn’t always seen fit to feed him, and, being both a teenaged boy and a dragon shifter, he’d had a huge appetite.
More often than not, he’d simply had to go hungry. There’d been no kindly restaurant owner to make up lunches for him – good lunches, he could see, as Mercy and Tai added more things to the cartons. A bit of fried chicken, carrot sticks, a slice of cheese, a small bread roll, a snack bar, and a fruit cup with Jell-O. Cheap, and the portions were small, but it’d at least keep a kid awake throughout their classes.
“Just put each of the items in a carton,” Mercy said. “We only have a few more to make up – we’ve got this down to a fine art by now. Kids’ll drop by on their way to the bus stop. They’ll knock on the back door.”
Dante nodded, reaching for a handful of snack bars before dropping one into each of the cartons in front of him. Now the heavy’s comment of last night – She’ll think it’s one of those brats she’s always feeding – made more sense. Clearly, Mercy’s kindness was well-known around here. The fact that Garrick’s men had tried to use it to hurt her made his blood boil.
“Careful not to squash those,” Mercy said, glancing up, and Dante realized that in his anger, he’d reflexively tightened his fist around the snack bars.
“Sorry,” he said, loosening his grip and dropping the remaining bars into the cartons. “You said you have trouble staying in the black, but you still provide these free lunches?”
Mercy nodded, taking a deep breath. “I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s something I have to do. I never went hungry when I was a kid – my momma saw to that – but I knew plenty of kids who did.”
As she spoke, there was a sharp knock on the kitchen’s back door. Dante’s head shot up, his dragon immediately alert.
“Relax, it’s just the kids,” Mercy said, laughing a little. “Right on time, as per usual.”
“Still, let me answer,” Dante said. The heavy’s words of last night still rang loudly in his ears. If he’d arrived only a few minutes later, he wouldn’t have been there to stop Garrick’s attack on Mercy. They’d banked on her thinking it was one of the kids knocking. He wasn’t about to allow her to put herself in harm’s way.
“You’re being really ridiculous,” Mercy said – but Dante could hear the slight shake in her voice. Clearly, the arrival of Garrick’s thugs last night had shaken her more than she was willing to let on.
But we will protect her now, his dragon said, its green eyes flashing. She will have nothing to fear, so long as we stand between her and danger.
Dante held Mercy’s gaze for a long moment, hoping she could read his thoughts in it – that she could see in his eyes that as long as he was with her, she was safe.
He thought he saw something glimmering in the beautiful black depths of her eyes – an understanding, perhaps, a recognition that he would protect her no matter what – but then she shook her head, looking away.
Dante swallowed, turning toward the door. It didn’t matter if Mercy didn’t quite believe in him yet – she had no way of knowing about their bond. He would simply have to show her how serious he was.
Preparing himself, Dante opened the door – and found himself staring down into the face of one very annoyed-looking fourth-grader.
“What took so long? C’mon, the bus’ll be here soon.”
The kid – barely taller than Dante’s waist – pushed past him to get into the kitchen.
“You watch your mouth, Joe,” Mercy said, though her laughter was clear in her voice. “What’ve I told you about being rude?”
“Sorry Ms. Reynolds,” Joe dutifully responded, his voice only just short of singsong. “But we’re in a hurry. And Kyan hurt his leg yesterday, so he can’t walk fast.”
“How’d Kyan do that?” Mercy asked, as she handed Joe a carton of food. Her tone was casual, but Dante saw serious concern flash in her eyes.
Joe shrugged. “I dunno, I think he was playing basketball, but I wasn’t there. It was with some older kids.”
Mercy frowned. “What older kids?”
Joe shrugged again. “I dunno.”
Dante watched as Mercy hesitated, clearly on the verge of grilling Joe for more information, before she simply pursed her lips. “All right. Well, you tell Kyan if his leg doesn’t feel better soon he should come and see me. Okay?”
“Okay.” Joe took his carton of lunch and, smiling at Mercy before casting a dubious look in Dante’s direction, he headed back out the door.
It was only a moment later that the next kid arrived – a tall girl Mercy greeted as Tamika. Then there were twin boys, Jonathan and Matthew, and after that came Laura, holding her younger sister Jenny’s hand. All of them addressed Mercy as Ms. Reynolds, and though some were shy, all of them clearly adored her. Dante could see it in their eyes as Mercy handed them their lunch cartons and asked how they were, or how their parents and siblings were.
“You tell that older sister of yours if she’s playing hooky from school, she’ll have me to answer to,” Mercy told Laura and Jenny sternly. “I don’t care if she thinks it’s boring, she’s still got to go.”
Laura nodded. “I’ll tell her, Ms. Reynolds. But she’s been going – I promise. I told her what you said last time, and she just laughed. But then she went to school the next day.”
“Good.” Mercy nodded firmly. “Well, off you go, or you’ll be late.”
“Just a few more left,” Tai said. “We haven’t seen Taylor or Jay yet, have we?”
Mercy shook her head. “
No. They don’t always come,” she said to Dante, by way of explanation. “They’re tough nuts, those two, but I’ll get to them.”
“I can believe it,” Dante said, meaning it sincerely. There was no doubt in his mind of that. He’d seen her strength and determination. “I don’t think anyone would be able to withstand you if you decided to try to make a difference in their lives.”
Mercy snorted slightly, but she lowered her eyes, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips, as if she was pleased.
“Well, anyway. Taylor and Jay will show up or they won’t, but either way we have to start prepping to open,” Mercy said. She turned to Tai. “In amongst all the excitement, I forgot to tell you – Debbie quit, effective immediately. She didn’t give a reason, but I think we can guess, and I don’t blame her.”
Tai grimaced, but she nodded. “Fair, I suppose. But still inconvenient. Want me to call Kay? She could fill in for a couple of hours.”
Mercy shook her head. “No, don’t get her all the way out here. She’d have to catch the bus, right? I can just try to make do by myself.”
“Or,” Dante spoke up, “I could help out.”
Mercy frowned, shaking her head. “I don’t think so, mister. You stumble in here bleeding all over the place, and now I’m supposed to put you to work? You need bed rest. You think it’ll do this place any good if the staff starts keeling over in the middle of taking an order?”
Dante paused, wanting to tell Mercy that aside from the slight twinge when he’d bolted awake, the wound would be completely healed by now. He was pretty sure that as an experienced nurse, however, Mercy would know that in a human that just wasn’t possible.
“You said last night the wound wasn’t as bad as you thought at first,” Dante said, hoping it would be an acceptable compromise, even as something within him told him it wouldn’t be. “I’m sure I can manage.”
Mercy raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. “Sure,” she said after a long moment. “And while I’m at it, I’ll just head down to the ER and see if there’s anyone looking for a job there, too? No, Dante. I’m not that desperate. I can handle things without you having to drag your stabbed ass around the restaurant floor.”
Dante wanted to argue with her, but without pulling off the gauze she’d taped to his side and showing her the completely healed wound, there didn’t seem to be much he could do to convince her that he’d be up to the job of taking customer orders.
Despite the fact he knew it’d be likely to raise some awkward questions, Dante was beginning to consider doing just that when Tai spoke up again.
“He looks more like a bouncer than a waiter,” she said. “But he doesn’t look injured. Did you really get stabbed last night?”
“I caught a nick in the side,” Dante said. “Nothing I can’t handle. I’ve had worse.”
“That I can believe,” Mercy said flatly. “But that doesn’t mean I’m such a tyrant as to ask you to drag yourself all over the restaurant just because I’m down a waitress.”
Show her the wound – show her that we’re fully healed and can help her in any way she might need, Dante’s dragon said.
Dante was loath to do it, but if that’s what it took to convince Mercy he was fine, then that’s what it took.
“Mercy –” he began to say, before he was interrupted by a knock at the kitchen’s side door.
“Must be Taylor or Jay,” Tai said. “They’re cutting it fine.”
Mercy shook her head. “They always do.”
Dante turned to open the door, when a sudden, unfamiliar sensation flowed over him. His dragon within him reared up, turning its head this way and that, as if confused. Dante paused, trying to sort out the muddle his mind had suddenly become.
The strange sensation was neither good nor bad – it was like a cloud on the horizon, or a shadow on the very edges of his perception. It was simply there, but it was unlike anything else Dante had experienced before.
He could sense the presence of other shifters, of course, sometimes from quite far away. But this... this was different.
“I’ll answer it,” he said quickly, shaking off the strange feeling and moving toward the door. Regardless of the fact that the sensation didn’t feel threatening, he’d still rather he was between it and Mercy until he was able to figure out what it was.
He supposed it wasn’t out of the question that there could be shifters in this town – maybe even one of these kids, Taylor or Jay, that Tai had mentioned might be a shifter, or have a shifter parent. It wasn’t so strange to find shifters in all sorts of places these days, now that clan rules weren’t so restrictive as they had once been.
What was clear to him was that Mercy had clearly spent a lot of time and effort building up trust between herself and these kids. He knew from experience how fragile that kind of trust could be. He wasn’t about to destroy it by opening the door and giving Taylor and Jay a faceful of suspicion – if he was right, and one or both of them did have shifter heritage, they’d be able to sense it right away.
Steeling himself and doing his best to wipe his unease from his mind, Dante opened the door.
He didn’t think the man standing on the other side could possibly be either Taylor or Jay – he was at least as old as Dante himself, tall and broad, with blue eyes and dark brown hair. He wasn’t smiling.
Dante’s dragon’s hackles immediately rose. Who is this man? And why does he feel like this?
They regarded each other in silence a moment – a silence that Dante would not have described as friendly. His dragon, usually so clear and direct, was unsure within him. It was clearly rattled, but it was uncertain as to what exactly it was looking at – friend or foe, shifter or... not shifter. Dante felt as if his dragon was circling warily, trying unsuccessfully to get a proper read on what it was dealing with.
“I was looking for Mercy.” The other man finally broke the somewhat uncomfortable silence. His tone, while not cold, still fell short of friendly.
Dante narrowed his eyes. “And your name is?”
“Roy? Is that... Roy Wilmore?”
Dante turned at the sound of Mercy’s voice behind him. She sounded surprised, but far from displeased. She had come forward and was looking around Dante’s shoulder at the man, her eyes wide.
At the sight of Mercy, the man’s face broke out into a wide smile, revealing white, even teeth.
“Mercy Reynolds,” he said, all the coolness vanishing from his tone. “So it is you. I didn’t know if you’d remember me.”
“Of course I remember you,” Mercy said. “I just... well, I just never expected to see you here again.”
Dante glanced back at the man – Roy Wilmore, apparently – hoping to get a better read on him now that his guard was down. But there was still nothing: aside from the vague sense of unease, of some kind of shadow on the edge of his senses, he couldn’t make anything out.
“True, I can hardly believe I’m back myself,” Roy said. “I got out quickly. Turned out to be the best decision I’ve ever made. But I’ve never forgotten this place. I’ve never forgotten you.”
Mercy blinked, her mouth falling open slightly. “Oh – well, that’s – that’s nice to hear,” she stuttered, clearly surprised by his words.
Immediately, Dante could feel his dragon surging forward. Who is this man? What’s his connection to our mate?
“We should catch up, if you have time,” Roy continued smoothly, apparently oblivious to Mercy’s surprise. He glanced down at his watch. Dante’s instinctive dragon’s sense for anything valuable knew immediately that the watch was an expensive one – real gold, real diamonds – to go along with Roy’s clearly expensive suit. “You wouldn’t happen to have a moment right now, would you?”
Mercy hesitated, glancing at Dante. “I don’t know – I’m just about to open.”
“We’ll be fine,” Tai cut in. “I know what I’m doing, and doors don’t open for another hour. Anyway, I have excellent help.” She turned to smile at Dante. “Right?”<
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Dante hesitated, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Roy. There was something about him he just didn’t like, though he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.
He was clearly someone from Mercy’s past, however – someone she’d once known well. That was the only thing that was stopping him from getting up in this Roy’s face and asking him some questions – like What’s your business here, and Just what the hell are you, anyway?
With effort, he pulled his dragon back. Dragons were innately possessive and jealous, but being a shifter meant tempering the beast’s baser instincts with human logic and rationality.
Whatever the case, Dante knew that getting up in Roy’s face or warning him away from Mercy was likely to cause more problems than it solved – and Mercy was not the kind of woman who’d take kindly to such antics.
Taking a deep breath, Dante stepped back, eyes narrowing as Roy threw a charming smile at Mercy, his blue eyes twinkling. “I promise I won’t take up too much of your time. It’s just that when I realized I’d be in town... well, how could I resist coming to see you?” He paused, his eyes flicking over Mercy’s figure appreciatively. “You look gorgeous.”
A small smile tugged at the corners of Mercy’s lips as she shook her head. “Don’t bullshit me, Roy Wilmore. It didn’t work in high school, and it won’t work now.” She hesitated, glancing again at Tai, before her eyes moved to Dante. He returned her gaze steadily, hoping she could read his unspoken warning to be cautious on his face.
Maybe she could, because for a moment, he saw a quizzical expression enter her deep black eyes.
“I don’t want to hold you up – come on, let’s talk,” Roy said, gesturing in a gentlemanly fashion toward the door leading out to the restaurant floor.
“Okay, sure,” Mercy said, after a moment’s hesitation. “But not for long, okay? I’m busy.”
“It won’t take long,” Roy assured her.
Just for a moment, Mercy glanced back at Dante yet again, a question clearly in her eyes – but then she turned away, leading Roy out of the kitchen.
