Mercy Temple Chronicles Box Set 2

by Ciara Graves

  Gingerly, I touched my left eye, snarling louder. She kept on laughing until the bathroom door closed.

  I grabbed an ice pack and took it with me to the couch, cringing at how sore I already was.

  Tomorrow morning was going to suck, but had been worth it. A sparring session had been just what Mercy needed. She was more relaxed than I’d seen her in days. Now, if it would just last for a few days, or longer, I might not get cabin fever along with her.

  I placed the ice pack on my face as I rested my head on the back of the couch, and shut my eyes, content to doze for a while—

  Someone whispered my name, next to my ear.

  I sat up with a snarl, only to come face-to-face with Todd.

  He sat on the coffee table, cross-legged, grinning. If he had been solid, I would’ve decked him.

  “What are you doing here?” I muttered, tossing the ice pack next to me on the couch.

  He frowned, studying my face. “Checking in. What happened to your face?’

  “Sparring with Mercy. Checking in? You have news from Rufus?”

  Todd shook his head. “Bowen sent me. Said you called him, but it only rang twice. He was worried something was wrong with Mercy.”

  “And he sends you, instead of calling me back?”

  “Said he did, but there was no answer.”

  I checked my cell and realized Todd was right. “Why didn’t he come over himself?” I glanced up to catch Todd giving me a pointed look. “They’re going to have to get past this fight they’re having. We don’t have time for it.”

  “What do you think I’ve been doing over there? Having sleepovers?”

  “Not sure.” I glanced toward the bathroom, but the door was closed. “Nothing on any more artifacts or Franklin Monroe?”

  “Honestly, I’m starting to think that name means nothing. And no. No more artifacts. Also, if there are nefaries running around the city, it’s news to the fae. They seemed panicked when Bowen told them.”

  “Great. And the artifacts with Bowen are still safe, right?”

  Todd nodded. “I’d let you know if they weren’t. You got any ideas on how to make them kiss and make up?”

  I bared my fangs at his choice of words.

  He smirked. “You know what I mean. Simmer down. She chose you, remember?”

  “We can’t just bring it up to them,” I told him, moving on. “Any time I mention Bowen, she shuts down and starts yelling about how he’s being an ass.”

  Todd floated off the table and walked around the living room. “He is being an ass.”

  “And have you told him this?”

  “Ha, right. He’s stubborn. He’s still trying to make it all about how Mercy did something stupid, when he and Rufus nearly got themselves killed, too,” he admitted. “If Mercy had gone with them, they might’ve gotten what they were after.”

  “Then he needs to tell her that and admit he was wrong. He’s treating her like she can’t do anything to help anymore. That she’s going to go off and get herself killed on purpose.” Granted, I’d had a hard time not doing the same. At least, I hadn’t done it to her recently.

  Todd raised his brow at my words. “And?”

  “She’s not,” I argued hotly.

  “From what I see, she has her moments. He cares about her, that’s all.”

  “If he cared, he’d be here. Instead of sending you.”

  “I’m not saying you’re wrong, but Mercy could always come bust down his door, too.”

  I pushed to my feet, knowing I was going to have to force the issue. With Damian and Nor still missing, the last thing we needed was our tiny group at war with each other. “Alright, go back to Bowen and get him and Rufus to the Wailing Siren by ten tonight. Tell them it has to do with Wesley. Got it?”

  “This is going to be fun,” he muttered.

  “Todd, just do it.”

  “Hey, no yelling at the dead guy, alright?” He winked, then shimmered out of view.

  I waited, wondering if he was actually gone, but there were no more annoying whispers.

  Now, all I had to do was convince Mercy we were going to the Wailing Siren to check on Wesley.

  She’d become good at discerning when I was lying. I glared at my cell phone, willing Nor or Damian to call and let me know they were alive.

  The bathroom door opened, and she stepped out in nothing but a towel, her wet hair loose around her shoulders.

  “Rafael? You alright?”

  “Yeah. Perfect. Why?”

  “Thought I heard you talking to someone.”

  “Just myself.”

  She gave me a blank look that told me she saw through that. “Uh, huh. Sure.”

  “I was. You finished in there? I need to take a shower.”

  “Yeah, you stink,” she teased as she grinned. It didn’t reach those icy blue eyes. “Rafael, I’m not blind. You know that, right?”

  “I do,” I said as I approached. “And I also know that we’ve been cooped up here too long. We’re going out tonight.”

  “That so?”

  I nodded and pulled her into my arms. “Thought you’d want to celebrate kicking my ass.”

  “Hmm. Drinks on you then. You sure it’s safe?”

  “You think I’ll let anything happen to you? And with where we’re going, I think it’d be best if you left your new baby behind.” Having a sledgehammer in hand while she faced Bowen was a bad idea.

  She stood on her toes.

  I leaned down to meet her lips, then headed to the bedroom to get dressed.

  She shut the door, and I hung my head, wondering how much trouble I was about to get in tonight.

  I hoped it was worth it.

  Chapter 5

  Mercy

  I looked around the Underground. “When you said a night out, I expected something a bit, I don’t know, not involving seeing Wesley?”

  Rafael said nothing. Looking straight ahead, he held my hand.

  “What are you up to?”

  When he still didn’t answer, I yanked him to a stop.

  “Nothing. We haven’t checked in on him in a while. We’ll go do something fun after this. I promise.”

  “Better. I should get some reward for kicking your ass.” I touched his shiner gently. He caught my hand, kissed my palm, then shook his head.

  We walked on.

  I’d come to let myself believe we had a future once all this shit with Shuval would be over with. Despite attacks from creatures thought to be extinct, the last couple of weeks had been better than I’d ever believed I could have.

  Though there was a dark cloud hanging over our heads, all doubts about our being a couple were long gone.

  I’d essentially moved into his place. Sticking around Damian’s home had started to depress me. What with not knowing where he was, or if he was even still alive. I wanted to believe nothing could kill that tough bastard, but the gargoyle almost had. And now, he was gone. And he’d been gone far too long.

  “Whatever you’re thinking, stop.” Rafael lifted my chin until I had to look him in the eye.

  I hadn’t even realized we stopped walking. “Sorry.”

  “Damian, again?”

  “He’s never been gone this long, not without sending word somehow. I know you’re tired of my saying it, now that Nor’s gone, but something’s wrong. I can feel it.”

  I chewed on my bottom lip.

  Sure, Gigi had attempted a tracking spell, but there had to be more she could try. I’d offer to help her look, but she was recovering.

  The first tracking spell she’d implemented had pushed her too hard, and she’d been weak afterward. She might say she was fine, but I saw the way her hands shook sometimes. Plus, she hadn’t been doing any complicated spells for customers yet.

  When we reached the Wailing Siren, I braced at the entrance, ready to have a stare down with Bowen, but there was no one there. No bouncer, and only a few lights were on inside.

  I frowned, reaching under my long, black jacket
for the new collapsible sword at my lower back. Rafael had given it to me the night after the first nefari attack. One of Rufus’s better pieces, in my opinion.

  “Rafael,” I whispered.

  “It’s alright. Shep’s been closing a couple of nights a week so he can keep Wesley company,” he explained. “The old man isn’t doing too well.”

  “What do you mean? Like on his death bed kind of not doing well?”

  Rafael’s brow furrowed. “Not yet, but I think he’s getting there. That’s why we’re here tonight.”

  My feet refused to move, at first. I wasn’t sure if I could handle going in there and seeing Wesley in a weak and deteriorated state. After all he’d been through, I couldn’t stop my guilt for letting the gobs get their hands on him in the first place. He’d been brutally tortured and kept in a cage for months.

  And now he was dying. The last gryphon alive and he was dying. I did that to him.

  I started forward, stopped, then sucked in a deep breath and reached the steps to the bar. I tried the door, and it was open.

  Shep was at the bar, wiping out glasses, like this was a typical night for him.

  “Mercy.” Shep’s eyes glowed, the only hint he was upset.

  “How’s he doing?”

  “Go see for yourself.” He finished the glass he was on, then started on the next one.

  “I’ll give you some time with him,” Rafael said quietly, taking a position at the bar.

  This was bad, really bad. I wasn’t sure I could go in there, but Rafael’s face said if I didn’t, he was going to shove me down that short hallway and throw me inside.

  Rafael and Shep were talking quietly between them as soon as I turned my back. When I glanced over my shoulder, their faces were grim.

  Gut in knots, I hurried down the hall to the back room and opened the door.

  “Ah, there she is,” Wesley called from the far side of the room.

  Seeing him lying in bed, wrapped in his tattered old robe, instead of propped up on that sad excuse for a couch was a kick to the gut.

  He raised his hand and waved me over. He wasn’t as thin as when I saw him last, and his color looked better, too.

  When I was at his side, he took my hand. His skin was cold and clammy, and he could hardly squeeze my fingers.

  “You’re supposed to be getting better,” I reminded him.

  “I’m old. This body wasn’t made for any more fighting.” He coughed harshly.

  I picked up the glass of water beside his bed. I thought it was water until I caught a whiff of it.

  “Booze? Seriously?”

  He chuckled, the sound raspy like paper. “Hush and hand it over. No point in drinking water if I’m going to keel over any second now.”

  He sputtered on the drink, smacking his lips as he sipped on it.

  I set the glass aside when he finished and tried to come up with something to say.

  “You need to stop that now.” His grip grew stronger for a few seconds.

  “I’m not doing anything.”

  “You’re blaming yourself for not getting to me in time. I know you better than you think, my dear. You’re exactly like your parents. Always carrying the weight of everyone else’s lives on your shoulders. As if you have control over everything in this world.”

  I hung my head. “Yeah, and? It’s my fault the gobs got to you.”

  “No, it’s not. It’s that bitch of a dragon’s fault. She did this to me, not you.” He chucked me under the chin.

  I looked into those blind eyes that saw so much.

  “I’m not long for this world, but I don’t want to go out until I know you have everything you need to stop her.”

  “You can’t do that. There’s too much we don’t know,” I argued.

  “True, but I can ensure that you have the right people fighting beside you.” He coughed again, harsher this time.

  I helped him sit up. He struggled to breathe. I was going to yell for Shep when the door opened.

  “Wesley? Shep said you—” Bowen jerked to a stop. “Mercy.”

  Rufus was behind him

  I glared at Bowen.

  Then Wesley was coughing again.

  I was having trouble holding him upright.

  Suddenly, Bowen was there, helping me.

  Rufus came closer, his eyes filled with sorrow, a look I wasn’t used to seeing on the hardened goblin’s face.

  Wesley calmed down and sat back against his pillows.

  “Right, I’ll wait ‘til you two are finished talking.” Bowen turned to go.

  Wesley snapped his name, and the vampire stopped, his shoulders hunching.

  “You’ll do no such thing.” Wesley cleared his throat roughly and reached for Bowen.

  Bowen had no choice, but to take the old gryphon’s hand and be dragged back to the bed next to me.

  The urge to throat-punch him grew with each passing second, but I wouldn’t start a fight, not here, not in front of Wesley who sounded like he was ready to die any second now.

  Bowen’s arm brushed against mine.

  I raised my lip in disgust and willed Wesley to get on with it so I could leave.

  “I was just telling Mercy I’m not leaving this world until I know she has allies.”

  “Wesley, I’m not doing this,” Bowen said with a hiss.

  “You are going to do this. I am dying.” The fierceness in Wesley’s eyes shone brighter. “I am not going to be around to help in this final battle. But you will be, and as much as you might hate each other now, you’ll need each other before the end. I will not sit here and watch you be at odds any longer.”

  “It’s not that easy—” I started.

  Wesley’s blind gaze shifted to me.

  I clamped my mouth shut.

  “It is that easy.” He took my hand and put it in Bowen’s, then held them together. “You two have been through far too much to turn away from each other now. You are friends, comrades-in-arms. You must get over this ridiculous fight of yours before it’s too late.”

  I was going to keep arguing and from the look on Bowen’s face he was too, but then Wesley’s hands slipped from ours, and he sank into the bed.

  “Wesley?” I gently shook his shoulders.

  His eyes barely fluttered.

  I panicked. “No, you can’t die like this. You pain in the ass old gryphon.”

  “Wesley.” Bowen tried to rouse him.

  Finally, Wesley’s eyes opened, but his breathing sounded hollow.

  “You two… you must stand together… You must… Promise me, you will,” Wesley uttered, each word strained. “Promise… me.”

  “I promise,” I said, angry tears burning in my eyes. “We’ll fight together.”

  “Bowen? Say it,” Wesley whispered, hardly any life in his eyes. “Promise to keep her safe. To stand by her and uphold the vow we all made.”

  Bowen’s glowing red gaze flicked to me. “I swear, Wesley. You have my word.”

  “Good. That’s good.” Wesley’s eyes closed and his breathing stopped.

  Bowen searched for a pulse, but when he hung his head, I knew Wesley was gone.

  I swiped at my eyes.

  Bowen wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, then hugged me. “Sorry for being an ass.”

  “You were trying to keep me alive. I get it. It’s alright.”

  Our fight—that had carried on far too long—ended abruptly.

  I was about to ask Bowen if he wanted to go tell Shep, or if I should, when Wesley sucked in a breath and started laughing, startling us both.

  Bowen and I stared at him as he sat up, cackling like a madman. He threw his legs over the side of the bed, and stretched his arms over his head.

  “About damned time, you two.”

  I blinked at Wesley then shoved at Bowen’s chest to get him away from me.

  “You bastard,” I yelled at Wesley. “Did you just fake your death so we’d make up? Did you?”

  Bowen looked
as pissed as I felt.

  Wesley patted both of us on the shoulder. “Extreme measures were called for. You two have no time to be at odds with each other. Get over it and move on. There are bad guys to kill, reapers to destroy, and the good fight goes on. Now then, how about a drink?”

  I sputtered.

  Wesley continued to smile.

  Rufus stood off to the side laughing until I glared at him. “What? He’s got a point, ugly.”

  “Oh, he does. Does he?”

  Rafael. I knew he did this. With a furious glance toward Bowen, I stormed out of the back room with Wesley yelling after me.

  Rafael and Shep stood at the bar, drinking beers and having a grand old time, judging from the smiles on their faces.

  Todd was with them, but he pointed toward me as soon as I appeared.

  Shep’s smile fell. He cleared his throat loudly.

  Rafael barely managed to duck out of the way of my swinging fist. He caught it when I struck toward him again.

  “You asshole,” I snapped. “You told Wesley to fake his death just to get us in the same room together?”

  “What else did you want me to do? This bullshit fight between you two has gone on long enough.”

  Bowen, Rufus, and Wesley joined us in the main room. Bowen was muttering heatedly under his breath, and when he stood next to me and Rafael, Rafael growled.

  “You two didn’t make up?”

  “We did until we realized Wesley wasn’t dying,” Bowen hissed.

  “I am dying,” Wesley called from behind the bar as he reached for a few bottles, seemingly at random. “We’re all dying, and that’s the point. You gave your word. You both did. Can’t go back on that now, can you.”

  “The hell I can’t.” Bowen scoffed, then turned for the door. “I’m not doing this.”

  “Right, just walk away and act like it’s all my fault,” I shouted.

  Bowen stopped at the door, his shoulders tensing. “You think this is my fault?” He whirled around. “You’re the one who finds different ways to try and get herself killed every other week. What are we supposed to do? You have been a mess ever since you found out the truth.”

  “And you don’t think I have a right to be?” I shot back. “You do not get to stand there and tell me how to behave.”

  “You could stop acting like you’re the only one about to lose it.” He blurred out of sight, then stood only a foot away from me. “We’ve all lost people. We’re all fighting to stop this monster.”