Mercy Temple Chronicles Box Set 2

by Ciara Graves

  “I let myself forget who I was before my family and my pack were taken from me. I turned into a mindless killing machine.”

  “I can’t show mercy. Not anymore.”

  “Then you’re going to lose this war even if you kill Shuval. What about Rafael?”

  “What about him?”

  “If you care for him, you’ll take a minute to look at your reflection in the mirror. To see who you’re turning into. I wouldn’t let this bit of clarity go to your head.”

  Anger flooded me, and I roared as I grabbed for his throat. My hands passed through him and then he was gone.

  “Fine, you bloody coward.”

  I stomped out of the Underground to my bike, cursing Todd with every word I knew. Why did everyone look at me as though any second, I was going to become unhinged? So I wanted revenge against Envy. Who cared? Could they really blame me? I wanted to kill Shuval too. It was the goal of everyone in that room.

  Yet, I was the one they focused on. They were going to drive me insane with all this worrying over me for nothing. I was fine. The drive home was congested, seeing as it was late afternoon. I’d been up all night and had a hard time keeping my eyes open.

  I parked the bike and dragged my sorry ass upstairs to the top floor. I shrugged out of my jacket and boots then went to the bathroom. The second I flipped on the light, Todd’s words came back to me.

  I looked long and hard at my reflection, but there was nothing wrong with it that I could see.

  “Perfectly fine,” I muttered to myself.

  I blinked, and my reflection smiled back at me, eyes black pits of malice.

  I flew backward, into the wall, but the only face in the mirror was mine. I was not going to lose myself. I could handle it.

  Gold and white flames flickered in my palms as the scar on my face burned. The pain sent me to my knees. I smashed a hand to my cheek, waiting for it to be over. The fire spread up my arms.

  I curled in on myself, willing my power to calm down. So much for having control over it. The agony increased until my vision blurred and then I blacked out.

  When I came to, my face ached and was cold from where I’d fallen to the tile floor. The flames in my hands had gone out, and the place hadn’t burned down around me. Grimacing, I used the sink to pull myself up and glared at my haggard reflection. The scar was bright red and sensitive to the touch. I hadn’t even done anything.

  Gingerly, I splashed water on my face, wincing as it stung, then exited the bathroom to find my phone.

  The sun was going down, and the clock on the stove said it was after six. I scrambled to my jacket for my cell. I told Damian I was going to stop lying to him and I meant it. He’d want to hear about this. There were multiple texts and missed calls from Rafael, but I’d get back to him later.

  I was about to call Damian when a weird scratching noise made me pause.

  When I didn’t hear it again, I shrugged.

  Something heavy crashed onto the roof.

  I drew my gun, aiming it upward as I slowly walked through my apartment. Thuds that sounded as though something heavy moved above me. They went toward the windows and stayed right ahead of my steps.

  Using my thumb, opened my call log and called Damian.

  It rang four times then went to voicemail.

  “Damian, get your ass over to my place. Right now.”

  I hung up and tossed my cell onto the couch.

  The thudding stopped, and I held my breath, waiting to hear it again as my heart pounded.

  I was no longer tired. Adrenaline flooded my veins.

  The scratching sound came again as if something had tapped on the glass.

  I saw nothing but the reflection of my lights on the windows. The tapping came again, and just as I considered turning around and leaving, a massive shape flew into the windows.

  Glass shattered.

  A gargoyle burst through.

  I rolled backward then brought up my gun, not hesitating to fire at the monstrous beast.

  The entire wall was gone, like it’d never been there before.

  The gargoyle huffed as my shots pinged off his shoulders and chest. Crimson blood oozed from the wounds, but I emptied the magazine, and it still remained upright. Still standing.

  “Seriously?”

  The beast opened his mouth wide.

  Damien’s warning about their bites being venomous hit me right as the damned thing charged.

  I dove behind the kitchen table then kicked it with a yell. The flimsy wooden furniture bashed into his legs. But it didn’t slow him down. I grabbed anything I could, flinging chairs over my head.

  He batted them away. As he reached out to grab me, I ducked at the last second and rushed to my coat. I had spare magazines there and loaded my weapon as the gargoyle closed in on me.

  I aimed for his head this time, put a bullet right between his eyes.

  His wings shuddered, and his jaw went slack. He collapsed to the floor breaking through the planks to the subfloor and crawl space beneath.

  “So much for getting my security deposit back.”

  Keeping my gun aimed at his head, I kicked his shoulder, but he stayed down. Blood seeped from the wound on his forehead. His clothes were ragged and torn, rags really.

  “Who brought you guys back?” I didn’t expect the corpse to answer, but it was worth a try.

  Somewhere, I heard my cell ringing. Damian. I turned for the couch to grab it.

  The floor vibrated beneath my feet.

  A shadow loomed over me.

  I hung my head, knowing exactly what I’d see when I turned.

  Heavy breathing filled the strange silence of my apartment.

  With one hand holding my gun, finger on the trigger, I reached around to my lower back for my collapsible sword with my other hand. If a bullet to the head didn’t stop him, maybe taking his head off would.

  I shut my eyes, using my other senses to tell me how far away the gargoyle was.

  With my sword in my left hand, waiting to be used, I tuned out the honking cars and the few random yells of panicked bystanders on the street.

  The air shifted around me.

  The heavy breathing sucked in as the gargoyle made ready to attack.

  I spun around, the blade extended to its full length. I slashed at its neck, gritting my teeth, waiting for its head to come off.

  Only the blade became stuck halfway through. The gargoyle jerked, taking me with him.

  “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

  I tugged hard on the blade, then gave up and fired in its face until those arms closed around me in a bone-crushing squeeze. I gasped for air as the gargoyle turned, spread his wings, and made for the opening.

  “Mercy.”

  I craned my neck around in time.

  Rafael burst through my front door. He drew his gun, sprinting to get to us.

  I reached out, as far as I could, for his outstretched hand.

  The gargoyle whipped his heavy tail around, catching Rafael in the chest. He sailed backward and then we were in the sky, flying away from my apartment.

  Bullets whizzed past us, tearing through the gargoyle’s wings. He grunted but didn’t slow down.

  My sword jutted from his neck. I was not going to be taken to wherever this thing was headed.

  I wriggled in his grip, managing to get an arm free, even as he squeezed me harder. Several ribs had to be broken by now, but I pushed through the pain and grabbed hold of my sword’s hilt.

  “Right, you bastard,” I muttered, using the sword like a saw. “Time to put us down.”

  He growled and tried to bite me, but the sword stopped his head from lowering enough.

  We thrashed around in the sky.

  I told myself not to look down.

  Rafael shouted my name.

  The gargoyle shrieked as blood spurted from his neck. The moment his arms loosened their hold on me, I swung around to his back, holding onto the sword with both hands now. His wings pumped hard t
o keep us aloft as those clawed hands reached around to snatch me.

  I made the mistake of glancing over my shoulder.

  The ground was very, very far away. The notion that this was a terrible idea struck me, but then it was too late. The sword sliced through the rest of the gargoyle’s neck like butter and we plummeted to the ground.

  Screams sounded below.

  I shut my eyes, not wanting to see the end.

  Heat rushed through me, and as I counted off the seconds until I hit the pavement, that heat exploded outward.

  My body jerked to a sudden stop, then I fell the rest of the way, slamming into the hood of a car and cracking the windshield.

  The gargoyle’s body smashed into the pavement nearby with a sickening thud, the head landing next to it.

  “Mercy, can you hear me? Don’t move.”

  “Rafael?”

  “What were you thinking?” His face appeared over mine as he yelled into his phone. His words were muffled.

  I stretched my jaw trying to pop my ears.

  He hung up then scowled when I attempted to sit up. “Lie still.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not. Stop moving. You realize how far you just fell?”

  I started to shake my head, then stopped when my vision swam. “Maybe you’re right. There. Not moving.” I rested my head on the hood of the car, listening to the chaos around me. Sirens howled. There were cops yelling at everyone to get back, then someone else asking what the hell that thing was.

  “Help’s here,” Rafael informed me, not letting go of my hand.

  “How did you know I was in trouble?” I mused.

  “Didn’t. Was worried when you didn’t return my calls.”

  Paramedics surrounded me, but Rafael stayed nearby. He was talking to someone on the phone as I was carefully removed from the car and laid on a gurney.

  “No hospital,” I said, waving my hand as they rolled me toward an ambulance.

  “We need to check your wounds.”

  “I’m fine. Check me here.”

  The two paramedics, both fae, exchanged a look then sighed. “

  If that’s what you want, we’re going to take you into the back of the ambulance to see your wounds. Then we might let you go. How does that sound?”

  “Whatever you say.”

  Chapter 5

  Rafael

  “Is she alright or not?” Damian shouted in my ear.

  I winced, pulling the phone away. “They’re checking her out now. Seems to be fine.”

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know. I got here right as a gargoyle took off with her.” I stood by said gargoyle’s remains as Mercy was checked out by the paramedics. I wanted to argue with her. To tell her that she should go to the hospital, but it wasn’t worth the fight. “She decapitated it mid-air.”

  “I’ll be there in five. Do not let her out of your sight.” He hung up.

  I glowered at my cell. As if I would up and leave Mercy right now.

  I walked around the body, nudging its broken, mangled wings. I found my bullet holes and the few from Mercy, but most of the body was a mess.

  I texted Nor to let him know I was on the scene. He was going to be here ASAP, along with more agents, to take care of the head and body. If I’d shown up a few minutes later, Mercy would be long gone. She would be dead. I’d come here to let her know what we found out about Greg Sherwood, but none of that mattered now.

  I could have sworn that the gargoyle that first attacked us targeted her. This occurrence only added to my suspicions that whoever brought these creatures back was after Mercy.

  When I reached the head, I crouched low, using my knife to spin it around. There was a bullet hole in its forehead. That shot should’ve killed it. Too bad it wasn’t alive, or we could ask it questions. Decapitation seemed to be the only way to kill them.

  “Right. That’s enough medical treatment. I’m fine.” Mercy yanked off a blood pressure cuff and held up her hands in protest when the paramedics tried to put in an IV. “Said I’m fine.”

  “You really should go to the hospital. A fall like that, you could have internal injuries.”

  “Didn’t fall that far.”

  The paramedics looked horrified as she hopped out of the ambulance and walked away.

  She’d made it nearly ten feet when her knees gave out.

  I rushed to catch her before she hit the ground.

  “When are you going to let people take care of you?”

  “I’m not spending the night in a hospital room.” She didn’t shove away from me, but instead, leaned into me. At least, she let me do that much. “I want to see the body.”

  “What for?”

  “Humor me.”

  Praying for patience, I wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her to the gargoyle’s body and head. I wasn’t sure what she was looking for when she hauled off and kicked the body with a yell.

  Several cops stared at her, worried looks on their faces.

  “Feel better?”

  “Not even close.” She leaned back, craning her neck to look at her apartment. “Damn. Pretty sure my renter’s insurance is not going to cover damages done by gargoyles.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about your apartment.”

  “Why the hell not? Don’t exactly have anywhere to go now.”

  I was going to tell her that wasn’t true, but then Damian appeared, shouting for Mercy. He ducked around the cops.

  I waved them off when they seemed ready to apprehend him. She told him what happened. She clearly wanted to say more but hesitated as I was standing so close.

  I made an excuse to see if Nor had arrived yet and gave her space.

  Something bothered her and from the way she crossed her arms so tightly, the way she leaned closer to Damian, it had nothing to do with the gargoyle attack. I wanted to be the one she talked to, but we were on shaky ground, and pushing would only make it worse between us. I circled back to the body. There was no sign of Nor yet, so I examined it for any more clues as to who might’ve sent it. To see if I could ascertain if it was under someone’s control. I was back at the head, ready to check the eyes when smoke started to rise from it. The body did the same.

  Mercy yanked me backward with a shout of warning right.

  Suddenly, it was engulfed in flames. So was the head. The flames stretched high into the air then sucked back down. Nothing remained of the body except a burnt outline on the pavement. Both gone, just like that, taking with them any chance we had at getting any leads in this case.

  “How did you know?” I turned to Mercy.

  She looked at where the body had been. “I sensed magic, dark magic,” she whispered, searching the gathered crowd. “I think he’s here.”

  “He who?”

  “Whoever’s behind this.”

  “We need to talk about this, but not out in the open like this.”

  “My place,” Damian suggested, “it’s only a few blocks away. We can go there.”

  “Is it safe?”

  “Warded. Heavily warded. We’ll be safe there. Let’s get moving.”

  I held fast to Mercy’s hand as we followed Damian away from the crime scene.

  She slipped free of my grip, and I let her, for now.

  I texted Nor to let him know where I was headed and that there was no longer a body to examine. Then I shoved my cell away and didn’t check it when it went off again. I was too focused on Mercy’s hunched shoulders and paranoid glances at the sky. There were more gargoyles. We knew there were more of them. They could come back and attack at any time.

  Damian veered right four blocks over, and we stepped inside what served as his place of business.

  “Back room. I’ll lock up the front,” he instructed.

  Mercy led the way, through a curtain.

  We stepped into a cozy sitting room, nothing like what I expected Damian to have.

  Mercy bypassed the chairs and the couches and stalked to t
he far wall, then back again, circling the room.

  “You sure you’re alright?” I asked on her fifth pass.

  “Fine.” She drew one of her daggers and angrily picked at her nails so hard I waited for blood to appear. “Not every day I nearly fall to my death.”

  “I didn’t think you were going to make it.”

  The dagger paused, and her cold blue eyes narrowed on me. “What?”

  “Your magic. It barely caught you in time. Then it gave out in a blink. You’re damned lucky. That’s what I’m saying. Anything else happened today you want to talk about?”

  “I’m just tired.”

  “Tired? Mercy, I’ve seen you tired, and your magic worked fine. What’s going on?”

  She went back to picking at her nails and turned her back on me. “I was attacked by gargoyles twice in the last what, twenty-four hours? You’d be shaken up, too.”

  I wanted to push, but Damian came through the curtain. So I switch the topic. “What exactly did you feel back there?”

  “I told you, dark magic.”

  “Mages?”

  She shook her head at my question. “No, something different. Something worse.” She sheathed the dagger in a flash and raised her hand like she was going to touch her scarred cheek, then she dropped it. “I don’t like this, any of it.”

  “I might have some information to get us headed in the right direction,” I offered. “The apartment belonged to Greg Sherwood. A member of the Gathered. Told you I went there. I talked to the guy. He wasn’t too keen on discussing the incident, although he said one thing that sticks out.”

  “And?” Damian demanded.

  “I asked if he knew of any reason why the gargoyles would attack his place. If they were drawn to magic or mages. He said they would never attack him. Exact words.”

  Mercy’s gaze darted to Damian. He shook his head subtly. They were hiding something. What was it?

  “Was that all he said?” Her words were strained. Her cold blue eyes only grew colder.

  “From him, yeah. Says he’s been out of his place for a month. Only stopping at his apartment for a few hours here and there. We talked to another guy, Joseph Sycamore. Gave us a bit of history on gargoyles.”