by Ciara Graves
Damn, I needed to get better with my glare. On several occasions, I almost called Damian out for knowing Nor. They had some sort of connection. Were they working together? I didn’t want to believe it, but why else would Nor, a Fed, be at the hospital checking up on a bounty hunter like Damian? It didn’t help that Bowen, Rufus, and Todd were all on some artifact-seeking quest. They left without telling me. I’d gone to Rufus’s place to find a freaking note telling me they’d be back in a few weeks. The sneaky bastards. Now Damian was running off to follow some mysterious lead he’d received on Shuval. But was I allowed to leave? No. I was forced to remain behind because no one trusted me anymore, whether they said so or not.
“I know that look. Knock it off, right now.”
“What look?” I picked at a fuzzy on the rug.
“The look that says we’re all treating you like a child. You know damned well why they went without you and why I‘m leaving you behind, too.”
“I can handle myself,” I shouted.
He sighed.
“What?”
“You’re a time bomb.” He rested his elbows on his knees, and his expression shifted to one of sympathy.
A look I immediately wanted to smack off his face.
“I know what he did to you hurt—”
“Nope,” I snapped as I hauled my ass off the floor. “No, don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make me sound like some pathetic little girl who got her heart broken. I’m not.”
“Mercy,” he pressed, and walked toward me, “he betrayed you. That takes time to get over, if you ever do, especially when you love him.”
Love. That word was going to drive me up a wall soon enough. “Doesn’t matter,” I said through gritted teeth. “And no I didn’t.”
“The hell you didn’t.” He rested a hand on my shoulder as he added, “You’re really going to stand there and tell me you didn’t love him?”
I whirled around to deck him, but he easily caught my fist.
“This is why you didn’t go with Bowen, and it’s why you’re not coming with me.”
“I can’t afford to fall apart over some freaking, dumbass demon.”
He let go of my fist.
I let it fall to my side. “Shuval is coming, so is her war. I need to be out there helping stop it.”
“And you going out there not clear-headed and able to fight is giving her exactly what she wants. Take some time to accept your new circumstances.” He started for the door leading to his bedroom. When he came back out, he carried a bag. “My ride’s going to be here any second. Do us all a favor and stay out of trouble. Keep your head down.”
“I will if you tell me where you were tonight.”
“Taking care of something, as I said.” He hurried to get past me and to the main part of the office when it clicked.
I snatched his arm.
“Mercy, let it go.”
“You saw him?”
He dropped his bag by the front desk. “I did.”
“And?”
He gently pried my hand off his arm as he said, “He looked as bad as you do.”
“I don’t look bad.”
“You look like you haven’t slept in weeks. Or eaten. You have bruises that haven’t faded from the last fight you started for no good reason. You look terrible. Maybe it’s time you actually look in a mirror. I’m sorry he got to you this much,” he said quietly, “but if it’s any consolation, pretty sure you did the same to him. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He started to go for his bag again, but I hugged him. He held me tight and told me it’d be alright. I wanted to believe him, but every day the pain only grew worse until I thought I was going crazy.
Damian let me go, grabbed his bag, and stepped outside. A black truck pulled up to the curb. The windows were too dark to see who the driver was and then it pulled away leaving me alone.
Bowen was gone. Rufus and Todd were gone. Damian was gone.
I lingered in the doorway of the office, wondering what I should do tonight. Hitting up the Underground sounded like a terrible idea. One of these nights I was going to pick a fight with someone I couldn’t win against. I locked up the front, shut the blinds, and went back to the sitting room. Turning in for the night wouldn’t be a terrible idea. I picked up my cell from the coffee table and scrolled through the news for the day. Nothing too terribly exciting was going on. I checked my texts next, and my thumb hovered over Rafael’s name as my breath caught harshly in my chest.
How hard it would be to text him? Just to see if he’d say anything back?
“Don’t do it,” I told myself firmly. “Just don’t.”
I scrolled further down and remembered Gigi’s message from a few days ago saying she was going to be leaving Sector 13 last night. She would be back at her shop by now. She said she was going to have quite the information dump for me but needed time to sleep and regain her strength. I told her I’d swing by tonight and nearly forgot. Great friend I was.
I’d ride over there and hopefully get someone to tell me what she was up to instead of lying to my face as everyone else did these days. I texted her to say I was on my way then left through the rear door, heading toward where my bike was parked in the alley.
The ride over didn’t take long. Gigi hadn’t texted me back at all, and as I climbed the steps to her shop’s door, the rain turning from a drizzle to a torrential downpour, a cold shiver raced down my back that had nothing to do with the cold rain.
I froze a few steps back from the door and reached for my gun.
Rufus hadn’t finished making me a new sword yet, reducing me to my gun and daggers. Bloody gargoyles just had to ruin everything when they showed up on my doorstep.
Cautiously, I crept up the remaining stairs, keeping my lips closed against the rain running down my face in rivulets. I was soaked to the bone, and the uneasiness hadn’t gone away.
I spotted the door was open a crack. I cursed Damian for picking the worst time to go out of town. Not wasting time to try and get a hold of anyone else, or call Gigi’s cell, I reached the door and tried to peer inside. It was too dark to make anything out.
“Gigi?” I waited a few seconds then tried again. Nothing.
I pushed the door open wider and slipped inside. My boots crunched on broken glass.
I quietly called her name again.
Still no answer.
The shop was eerily quiet. No bubbling cauldron, no sound of bottles being shifted around. No fire crackling warmly in the hearth. There was no sound at all. I straightened and marched right through the shop to the back room. The place was deserted. I flipped on the lights and looked around in disbelief.
“Oh, no.”
The place was trashed. The shelves had been knocked over. Bottles were broken on the floor. Her perfectly arranged rows of dried herbs were scattered on the floor. The entire place was torn apart. I sifted through some of the mess with my boot and froze when I found blood.
There was a small pool of it and a trail leading away. I followed it through the shop to the front door, flipping on the other lights.
On the doorframe was a bloodied handprint.
As if Gigi had tried to hold on as she was dragged out of her shop.
Damn it. I told her not to get involved. I told her, and she didn’t listen.
Slowly, I retraced my steps through the shop, searching for a hint as to what happened. Who came to take her? It had to be linked to Sector 13. I should’ve talked her out of going. Should’ve tied her to a damned chair. She could call me a hypocrite all she liked, but now she was the one kidnapped. Maybe even dead. No, I wouldn’t let myself think that yet. Gigi was strong.
And if it was someone from the dark witch coven who took her, they’d want her alive for information. All she had to do was hold out long enough for me to find her.
Except I was utterly on my own. While I continued the search through Gigi’s place, I called Bowen’s cell, but it went straight to voicemail. Rufus d
idn’t have one. And I was damned sure a ghost wouldn’t either. If I called Damian, he might come back, but he was following a lead on Shuval. We needed information on her.
I glanced through my contacts and landed on Rafael. I had no one else to turn to for help. No one. He wouldn’t answer the phone if I called, I believed that. No chance he’d respond to a text either. Even if I asked for help.
A cell rang behind me.
I jumped. “Damn it.”
Gigi’s travel bags were buried under a pile of books. I shoved them aside, rushing to get to the phone before it stopped ringing. I grabbed hold of it just as it went silent, but at least I had Gigi’s phone. I didn’t recognize the number or the name of the person who called, but there were several missed calls and texts.
Gigi’s phone was easy enough to unlock, she wasn’t exactly creative when it came to her pin, and I read through the messages. All of them were from the same person, someone she referred to as Onyx. The chances of that being a real name were damned small, but it was a start. Especially when every message was asking Gigi to please answer her phone and call her back. She told Gigi she messed up and was freaking out. She was worried about them getting to Gigi. Them probably being the dark witch coven.
“This is why you should listen to me,” I muttered to the empty shop.
I had to go to Sector 13 to get Gigi back. There wasn’t a chance they’d keep her here. It’d be too easy for me to find her. And if I was going to be taking on a dark witch coven, going in without any form of backup, or at least telling someone, was a terrible idea.
Then again, what I was about to do was an even worse idea. I was either going to get shot or arrested. Possibly both. No way was I going to let these bastards kill Gigi, though. I’d do whatever necessary to get her back, no matter how much it hurt me in the end. I left the shop and stepped out into the pouring rain as lightning streaked across the sky overhead.
As thunder rumbled over the city, I climbed on my bike, revved the engine, and willed luck to be on my side for once.
Chapter 3
Rafael
At first, I thought it was in my dreams, the loud knocking.
Thunder rolled, and the windows shook in their panes. A storm, that was all it was. I dragged my pillow over my face to get back to another night of restless sleep when the banging came again, louder this time.
I sat upright and reached for the gun in my nightstand, tugged on a pair of jeans quickly. Once partially dressed, I tucked the gun at the small of my back and took measured steps toward my front door.
The banging stopped abruptly.
I frowned. Had I dreamt it after all? Steps sounded just on the other side and with one hand on the gun at my back, I grabbed for the locks and undid them. Holding my breath, I yanked the door open then slammed it shut again. Why the hell hadn’t I checked the peephole?
“Rafael, open up,” Mercy shouted.
She couldn’t be here. This was a nightmare, that was it.
“If you don’t open this door, I swear I’ll break it down.” She kicked it for good measure. “Open up. We need to talk.”
“Go away,” I shouted.
“Not happening. Open the door or I’ll blast it apart.”
“If you use your magic against me, I won’t have a choice but to arrest you.” Why didn’t she get that? Did she want to get arrested? “Go home, Mercy.”
“Fine, have it your way then. Better stand back so you don’t get hit by flying debris.”
Growling furiously, I yanked the door open to find her smiling at me, leaning against the wall, looking in no way about to break down the door. I snarled and went to slam it shut again, but she charged forward and shoved me back into my apartment then shut the door behind her.
“Do you have a death wish?” I yelled even as I took in her face.
She was soaked through from the storm, creating puddles wherever she walked.
Damn, and I thought I looked terrible these last few weeks. Her cheeks were gaunt, and her eyes were colder than the first time I saw her. The scar stood out horribly on her cheek, as if it was freshly made.
On impulse, my hand lifted toward her.
Her eyes narrowed, and I let it fall, forcing myself away from her.
“What do you want, huh? Come to yell at me some more? Did Damian not relay the right message for you?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
I tilted my face toward her and tapped my cheek. “Go on, I’ll even give you first punch.”
“I didn’t tell Damian to talk to you,” she spat. “I didn’t know he was going to talk to you, alright? I’m sorry if he gave you trouble.”
“Really? You’re sorry—”
The punch caught me off guard and my head whipped to the right.
“You’re such an asshole. You know that? God, I’m sorry I lied to you, alright,” she ranted, panting for air as she came at me again. “But you know what, you’re the one that’s full of shit. You’re the one that betrayed me. You can live with that guilt for the rest of your life. I’m done feeling sorry for what happened. Done. I saved your life, and you saved mine. We’re done. Neither one of us owes the other a damned thing.” She ran her hands madly through her sopping wet hair, and the coldness in her eyes shattered to reveal a lost look that bordered on madness. “Just, never mind. Forget I came here. Or you can go ahead and tell Nor. I don’t give a shit anymore.”
She muttered under her breath about going on her own.
I stayed where I was, ready to let her walk out that door without another word when I caught her saying the words Sector 13.
“Wait, what did you say?”
“Nothing.”
I snagged her arm as she reached the door. “Sector 13? Why are you going there?”
“None of your concern. Let me go.”
“Never,” I let slip.
She tensed in my grasp.
Where had that come from? It was too late to take it back now, not that I wanted to. “Mercy,” I started.
She tore herself free and backed to the door, the hurt in those blue eyes cutting me deep.
“I’m going to Sector 13. With any luck, I won’t come back, and you can officially put me from your mind.”
“Who’s going with you? Is this about Shuval?”
“No, it’s not.” She turned to leave.
I rushed around and planted myself in front of the door.
“Move, or when I deck you this time, you won’t get back up.”
With the fury burning in those blue eyes, I believed her.
But it was Sector 13. No one went there alone unless they were crazy or had a death wish.
“You never answered my question. Who’s going with you?”
She worked her jaw, and the urge to lie was evident in her movements, but she gave in. “No one.”
“You can’t go there alone.”
“No choice. Move.”
“Tell me why, if it’s not about Shuval.”
She did crazy shit in the past, but walking headfirst into Sector 13, alone, that was pure suicide. A growl erupted in my chest imagining her being captured by the reapers or worse. They wouldn’t kill her, not outright. They’d torture her. She’d suffer. I couldn’t let that happen.
“Tell me,” I repeated.
“Gigi,” she blurted then looked like she hated herself for it. “She’s missing.”
“What? When?”
“Tonight, I think. Doesn’t matter. I have to go after her.”
“Where’s everyone else? Or are you just in the mood to pick a fight with an enemy who will kick your ass?”
Her lips curled in an evil grin.
“Mercy, you can’t go attack a dark witch coven alone, if that’s even remotely what you’re thinking.”
“Everyone else is gone. They’re chasing leads. And I don’t know who took her, but I’m not sitting around to hear of her death. Move your ass.”
“You can’t go alone.”
“
Why do you care, huh?” she shouted.
I braced for the backlash of her magic, but there was no glow to her eyes. No flames erupting in her hands.
She shoved at me when she caught me studying her hands.
I’m sure confusion was written on my face.
She managed to shove me aside and grabbed for the door. “You can at least do me one favor. If I don’t come back, let one of the others know where I am. I’d prefer those assholes not to have my dead body.”
She stormed out my door and I let her.
I had no idea how long I stood there, staring at it, willing her to come back, but she didn’t. And if I didn’t stop her, she’d go to Sector 13, alone. She’d get herself killed, and no one would ever know what happened to her. Going back to sleep wasn’t an option. I paced around my apartment, muttering to myself about how I should stay right where I was. I didn’t want to care for her, but the more I paced, the more the truth slammed into me over and over again.
She told me to let her go, and I said never.
“Damn it,” I snapped and rushed to get dressed and geared up.
This changed nothing, that’s what I told myself after I marched out the door, aiming for Gigi’s shop, not sure where else I should look for Mercy. I’d walked by her apartment a few days ago, mostly by accident, and the wall was still missing. She was probably staying at Damian’s, or Bowen’s. A white-hot knife of jealousy stabbed me in the chest thinking of her rooming with that vampire. He had feelings for her, and with me out of the picture, what was to stop him from moving right back in? Except he wasn’t the one she went to for help each time she needed it. He wasn’t here when she needed him.
I was.
Standing outside Gigi’s shop, I shook the rain from my hair and quietly stepped up to the open door.
Lights were on inside, and I heard furniture shifting around.
I started to reach for my gun just in case, but then a familiar cursing met my ears.
Mercy. She was here after all. Glad I knew her as well as I thought. Not that it made any difference. We couldn’t be together, not anymore. How could I ever trust her again?
“Find anything?”
Mercy didn’t even look up as she hefted a large table upright and pushed in the chairs around it. “What do you want?”
