This wasn’t real. Flynn had tricked her mind somehow.
She moved stiffly to her desk. Maybe she should call for a ride. She could get her car tomorrow. If she left by the side entrance, Flynn wouldn’t see her.
I know where you live, Flynn said.
You can’t get in there. I’m protected. As I am here.
That is somewhat true.
What do you want?
I want to talk to you. Come down here.
Ash’s frozen state eased up. She grabbed her purse and headed out of the office. She tried again to contact Merc, but it was like communicating with a brick wall.
Outside, her car was one of only a few still in the parking lot. She was glad the spring evening was so bright—this would have been terrifying in the dark.
A movement next to the tree near her car alerted her to Flynn’s location. She kept her car between them—not that its physical bulk would help in a confrontation with an astral projection. How was she even seeing him, anyway?
“I’m listening,” she said.
Merc wants to change you.
“So?”
If you decline the change, I’ll make sure my side leaves Merc alone. I’ll invalidate the Matchmaker’s Curse, saving you, saving him. You wanted your old life back. Now you can have it. And your mutant lover can keep his life.
“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”
There are consequences for your decision. Choose wisely.
Flynn disappeared, and the instant he did, lightning struck a car way across the parking lot. It hit another, closer to her. Then it struck hers, tossing her to the ground.
She screamed, then the next thing she was aware of was one of the security guards from her building rushing over to help her. She touched her head, her face, her chest. She was still alive. The guard was asking her in a frantic voice if she was all right. She looked at her car and saw that it was unharmed. She looked at the other two cars farther away—both were fine.
Not one of the cars had been hit by lightning.
The guard helped her to her feet. “Ma’am, are you hurt? What happened?”
“What happened? My car blew up.”
The guard looked at her car, then at her. “Should I call an ambulance? Maybe you should be checked out?”
Ash brushed her arms off and took her purse from him. “I’m fine. I don’t know what happened, but I’m fine.”
Ash kept herself composed as she got into her car. She was shaking too badly to drive, but she had to make a show of starting her car so the guard would quit staring at her.
That was a preview. Merc can’t protect you from me. But I can protect him from my fighters. The choice is up to you.
33
Ash went to the grocery store as soon as she got off work at the end of that week. Merc was coming over for dinner. He hadn’t pressed her for a decision yet, but that time was coming close. She had to tell him what happened earlier in the week and the deal—or threat—Flynn had offered.
She’d seen Merc every day that week, for lunch or dinner. He’d stayed over some nights—which gave her a good excuse for missing her Wednesday night that week with the girls. She’d tried to find the right time to tell him about Flynn every time she saw him, but she hadn’t.
She was selfish. She wanted to hold every moment with Merc close to her heart. Not all memories lived in the brain—some had to live in the heart, and those she hoped to keep after they went their separate ways.
Ash had found a recipe for seared steak medallions in a sweet hoisin sauce. She was serving asparagus and garlic mashed cauliflower to go with it. She didn’t have a grill, so the steaks she was buying would have to be cooked on her stove. She hoped she didn’t screw them up. She was, at best, a mediocre cook.
She’d asked Merc not to come by until seven. She’d been getting ready for tonight’s dinner for several days. The house was cleaned. The table was set. She just needed the food.
Ash turned down an aisle with her cart to pick up a jar of the hoisin sauce. Something drew her attention to the end of the aisle. A man stood there. Light brown hair. Medium build. She felt she should recognize him, but she just couldn’t place him.
He was bent over a deli case. He straightened and turned. He looked right at her, and his appearance shifted. As she stared at him, Flynn’s face overlaid the man’s. This couldn’t be happening. People didn’t shift their appearance like that.
But Merc had in Colombia, she reminded herself, when he was demonstrating a mutant’s ability to look like someone else.
She tilted her head and squinted her eyes. He mimicked the motion, then laughed. If she doubted her eyes, she couldn’t doubt her ears.
Flynn was here, in the store with her.
She gasped, squeezed her eyes shut, then looked again. The man was bent over the counter again, as if nothing in the last few seconds had happened.
Ash grabbed the hoisin sauce, then hurried to confront the guy, but when she looked toward that end of the aisle, he was gone. She checked in both directions, but he was nowhere to be seen.
This week had been a mess. It had taken all of her energy to step back into her world. The truth was that she simply wasn’t normal and might never again be what she’d been before.
Merc’s advice to let her officemates simply be themselves had been a huge help. She’d worked there for years, knowing them as well as anyone got to know the people they spent office hours with. She’d never felt frustrated with them before. She knew her current problems stemmed from the fact that they were living their regular, normal lives. She was a little jealous of them. And afraid as well. None of them were preparing for what Flynn and the Omnis were doing, whatever that was. Merc said that was as it should be.
She wasn’t so sure.
And now Flynn was stalking her. It was odd that as connected as she and Merc were, he never reached out to her when Flynn was near. Was Flynn somehow able to block him, like he had when he kept her from telling Merc about seeing him in her vision of Tina and the girls?
Ash searched the whole store for the man Flynn had taken over, but couldn’t find him. Maybe that was just as well. What would she have said? I saw you shift into another man. What did you mean by doing that?
Shaken, she paid for her things and left, her joy about the night a little dimmed.
Merc scanned Ash’s house as he parked in her drive. She was busy in the kitchen. Tension filled her energy signature. Was that from cooking their meal? Or her situation at work? Or something else entirely?
No matter. The forewarning let him prepare himself—and her. He stepped into her kitchen, sending her calming and healing vibes. She wore white, strappy high heels and a short, floral-print dress that was fitted above the waist and flared below. She’d tied a wide belt in matching fabric into a bow that made him want to unwrap her then and there, dinner be damned.
“Howzit goin’?”
Ash turned from the stove and smiled at him. An apron covered the front of her dress. He caught her around the waist and pulled her against his body, letting his energy pour into hers. He kissed her gently on the mouth, knowing she was too focused on the steaks to give him much attention at the moment.
“Smells divine.” And it did. “If it tastes as good, you may be a rival for Bastion.”
“That would be fun. But I’m generally not much of a cook. I have a few core recipes that I do well, but beyond that, I’d be challenged.” She turned back to the stove and the cast-iron pan she was using to sear the steaks. “I put two bottles of wine on the table—a pinot noir and a shiraz. Pick one and open it for us.”
“Righto, love.”
He chose the pinot noir, then poured their glasses. He brought their glasses back into the kitchen and set hers on the counter next to the stove. He tugged at her apron. “You’re a messy cook.” He kissed her neck.
“I am. Don’t look at the sink.”
“I think we should eat naked, just in case you’re a messy eater to
o.”
She looked up at him. “I don’t think I could eat naked.”
He grinned, liking the vision he had of that. “I would feed you.” He bent close and kissed her, then said, his mouth still near her lips, “And then I would eat you.”
She laughed and pushed him away. He tested the steaks with his fingertip. “These are done.”
Ash put them on a plate, then he helped her carry everything out to the table. “Want something to drink besides the wine?”
“No worries. Wine works for me.”
Merc held her chair for her, then refilled their glasses. Her table wasn’t large. Her whole bungalow wasn’t large, so it was a good fit for the room. He cut into his steak and moaned at its flavor. “Was it difficult making dinner tonight?”
“Not at all. I enjoyed it.”
“You seemed stressed when I got here.”
“I was. Something happened at the grocery store.” Her eyes widened. Merc slipped into her mind, trying to discover for himself what was causing her distress. The odd thing was that her mind was blank to him, as if he were being blocked.
This had only happened one other time—when Flynn had come into her mind at the fort.
“You had a visit with Flynn today, did you?”
Her eyes were big as she nodded. “But it wasn’t him,” she said. “It was someone he overtook, like an image set over a man’s face.”
“I need to stay here with you. I don’t know why, but he’s taken an interest in you that we haven’t been able to shake.”
“Like he did with your wife.”
Merc ground his jaw. “Possibly.”
“Why me? Why you? What’s he up to?”
“We fought many times in the training camps. He didn’t often win. I think I represent his flaws to him, what he isn’t, what he’ll never be.”
“He has issues.”
Merc laughed. “Understatement of the year. But beyond being a fuck-up, he’s also extremely dangerous.”
“Will he leave me alone if you wipe my memory?”
Merc froze, his fork halfway to his mouth. “Not necessarily. If he’s found a use for you, he’ll use you. You’re safer with your memories so you know to be aware.”
“So I’ve picked up a mutant stalker. And no regular police force can deal with him.”
“Correct. Whatever you do, don’t get them involved. You will just be the cause of their deaths.” He took the last medallion. “You do you, love. I’ll deal with him.”
“You’re never around when I see him.”
“I will be. From now on. Until he’s gone.”
Ash was just settling in for the night when her phone rang. It was Kiera. She thought about not answering, but knew Kiera would drive over if she didn’t. No one got to blow off a Wednesday dinner for the second week in a row without repercussions.
She took the call. “Hi, Kiera.”
“Hey, sweetie. How have you been?”
“I’m okay. How are you?”
“I’m good.” Silence.
Ash waited for Kiera to talk first.
“Dammit, Ash, we’ve never had an awkward phone call in all the time we’ve been friends. What the hell’s going on with you?”
“I don’t know. But you, Merc, my boss, just about everyone would like to know.”
“I’m coming over.”
“No. I’m just getting ready for bed. I told you I wasn’t up for doing anything tonight.”
“Too late. I’m in your driveway. Open the door.”
Ash sighed, then hung up and went to her kitchen. She put the outside light on just as Kiera got out of her van. She walked into the room like an avenging angel, ready to battle for Ash’s sanity.
The two women took one look at each other, then hugged. God, it felt great to see her friend. Ash was glad that Kiera hadn’t listened to her request to stay away.
“Tea or wine?” Kiera asked, holding up a box of Earl Grey and a bottle of shiraz.
“Wine.”
Ash got two glasses out of her cabinet.
“Better make it three,” Kiera said, seconds before a knock sounded on the kitchen door.
Ash knew who it was—and what they were doing. Summer had come too.
“Having an intervention, are we?” Ash asked, giving Summer a hug.
“Seems so. I mean, what else were we to do?” Summer asked. “You haven’t been taking our calls. And you ditched our meetup tonight—again.”
Summer and Kiera exchanged looks as Kiera handed them their glasses. “It’s not like you to isolate yourself, Ash,” Kiera said. “You’re a social butterfly. You need people like you need air.”
Ash set her glass down on the coffee table and started pacing around her living room. “I have a big problem.”
“Summer said you were hurt in Colombia,” Kiera said.
Ash lifted her hair away from the bug bite. It seemed worse today. A large scab had formed. “Just a bug bite. And no, that’s not it. It’s much worse.”
“Okay,” Kiera prompted. “You’ve got our full attention.”
“I’m in love with Merc.”
Summer giggled. “That would be a big problem. But you’ve got to know, he’s a wonderful man.”
“He’s not the problem. What he is is the problem.”
Kiera and Summer exchanged a worried glance. “What is he?” Kiera asked.
“A mutant.”
“Oh,” Kiera said with a sigh.
“You both knew, and you didn’t tell me? You let me prattle on about live-action role-playing game nonsense and didn’t stop me? You knew about ghouls and the Matchmaker and the Omnis. You knew all of it and just let me fall into his whole world.”
“It’s my fault,” Summer said. “I tried to tell you about all of it, but you laughed, convinced it was a Halloween prank. And then something happened to you in Colombia and you somehow connected with Merc. After that, Sam said we had to back off and let you two figure things out.”
“I did know, it’s true,” Kiera said. “I found out when I went to the fort to check on Summer. Sam told me everything. I asked him to keep all of this from you, leave you your innocence as long as possible.”
Summer took Ash’s hand and led her to the sofa. She sat next to her, and Kiera took the side chair. Kiera liked the advantage of being able to watch them as they talked, like a counselor.
“Ash,” Kiera started, “we’re your friends. Your best friends. We’ve been through so much together. We have so much more to get through in our lives. You can rely on us, lean on us. Let us help you.”
Ash sipped her wine. “All right. Merc’s talking about having me become a mutant. What’s that like, Summer?”
“The change was hard. I got very sick. And waking on the other side of it is strange. All of my senses are enhanced. I can hear the thoughts of some people. I’m stronger. I’m different.”
“Are you going to do it?” Kiera asked.
Ash shook her head. “I’m afraid. I saw what he’s up against. I saw the fiends you tried to tell us about, Sum. I want him, but I don’t want that world.”
“You mentioned a matchmaker. Who or what is that?” Kiera asked.
“He’s some kind of urban legend in the mutant world,” Summer said. “Remember the weirdo guy who crashed our ladies’ night before I started dating Sam? The guy with the red hair who kept popping up out of nowhere? He’s the Matchmaker.”
“Uh-huh,” Kiera said, doubt heavy in her voice.
“The legend goes that if the Matchmaker pairs a human and a mutant, and both accept the match, then the human will die,” Ash said. “I don’t want to die.”
“And if you don’t join him, the legend says he will die,” Summer added. “I don’t like the legend. I hope it’s not real. Our guys are trying to figure it out, but I’m afraid the Omnis are light-years ahead of them.”
“You guys do realize you’re not making any sense, right?” Kiera said.
Ash shook her head. “It doesn’t make se
nse, Kiera. Not any of this. On top of it all, I keep seeing Flynn. I think he’s stalking me.”
“Brett Flynn?” Summer asked. When Ash nodded, Summer said to Kiera, “He’s the guy I told you about. My former boss’s business partner, the guy I thought roofied me. He used Clark to attack me.”
“Flynn killed Merc’s family,” Ash said.
Summer covered her mouth, shocked. “He kidnapped and attacked Selena—twice. Once when they were kids, then just recently.”
Ash thought about what Flynn had promised, that he’d leave Merc—and the guys—alone if she agreed to not take their changes. That offer was something she was genuinely considering. Merc deserved to have his life, after nearly losing it mourning his family.
But who should she believe? The Matchmaker’s urban legend or Flynn’s promise to call the Omnis off Merc?
Could any of them be trusted?
“I don’t want to become a mutant,” Ash said, staring into her glass. “I’m afraid of the shift from human to mutant. I’m afraid my joining Merc in his world will kill one of us. I’m afraid of the monsters he keeps fighting. I’m afraid of crazies like Flynn. I’m tired of being afraid. I want my old world, where up was up and down was down. I want my life back.”
The room was silent for a long moment.
“So this is the battle you’ve been fighting, then,” Kiera said. “I had no idea. And I can see why you withdrew from us to make your decision.”
Ash nodded. The energy in the room now felt like they were mourning a big loss. And they were. The decision she was leaning toward meant she’d have to lose Merc.
It felt like a death.
Summer reached for her hand. “Be certain about this. Merc’s a wonderful man.”
“He’s my heart, and my heart’s now screaming.” Ash had a suspicion that it always would, for the rest of her life.
“Ash, I know you aren’t making this choice easily,” Kiera said. “I don’t know what I would do if I were in your shoes. I don’t know that I could pick life over love. I loved once, and it was wonderful. Losing my husband almost killed me. This may kill you—or Merc—just from being brokenhearted.”
O-Men: Liege's Legion - Merc Page 32
