Mercy Temple Chronicles Box Set 2

by Ciara Graves

  She’d be fine.

  She was just going to Gigi’s.

  She’d be just fine.

  Chapter 18

  Mercy

  I ran up the steps to Gigi’s shop and knocked.

  The door swung inward. It hadn’t even been latched. Much less, locked.

  I frowned, reaching for my sword. The lights were on. There didn’t appear to be anything out of place.

  “Gigi? I’m here,” I called as I stepped inside. “You in the back?”

  I waited, but there was no answer. I checked my cell, wondering if Gigi said to meet her somewhere else, but she said here.

  I shoved my cell in my pocket and drew my sword.

  After the night’s events, every little shadow had me waiting for a nefari to attack. That. And I was exhausted. I should’ve listened to Rafael and stayed behind, but with the Hunters getting involved, I wouldn’t be able to do much pretty soon.

  “Gigi?” I entered the back room, but it was empty, too. “Huh. That’s weird.”

  I called her cell, but it went straight to voicemail.

  I was going to text Rafael next when the bell over the front door jingled. Holding my sword behind my back, I crept toward the main shop and stepped out, ready to attack, but all I managed to do was scare Val.

  She jumped and shrieked, clutching her hand to her chest.

  “Shit. Sorry,” I muttered as her eyes grew wide at the sight of my sword.

  “No, it’s okay. I ran downstairs to the deli. Guess I forgot to lock the door.”

  “Right. Did Gigi say anything about my swinging by? She texted me something about Onyx being here,” I said, tucking my sword away.

  “Yeah, I think they had to get something from the magic shop.”

  That didn’t sound right. Gigi bought her supplies from an online vendor and what she didn’t buy, she made herself. She never went to magic shops here. She said they were run by idiots.

  The longer I stared at Val, the more a strange sense of familiarity came over me. And not in a good way. “Which one? The one on Seventh or Tenth?”

  Val tilted her head to the side. “Tenth.”

  My hand crept back to my sword as the other dug in my pocket for my cell. “Yeah, the one on Tenth burned down three years ago.”

  “Oh, my mistake. Must be the one on Seventh then,” she said with a nervous smile.

  “And the one on Seventh doesn’t exist.” The sword was back in my hand and aimed at her throat a second later. “Who the hell are you and where’s Gigi?”

  Val’s hands shook as she raised them, backing away from my blade.

  I followed her, not about to let her escape.

  “I—uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You saved me from the dark covens, remember? I’m just an innocent witch.”

  “Rafael said something was off with you. So did Onyx. I should’ve listened to them. Who are you? I’m not going to ask again.” I needed to call Rafael, but I wasn’t going to take my eyes off Val. Not for a second.

  She kept backing up, sputtering apologies, tears burning in her eyes.

  I didn’t let up and then suddenly, her whole demeanor changed. Her eyes turned hard, and she dropped her hands with a sigh.

  “Yeah, I suck at playing the innocent victim.”

  I moved in closer, the tip of my sword pressing against her neck. “Who are you?”

  “Ah, look at that, you asked again.” She clicked her tongue. “Breaking your own word, Mercy. Damian taught you better than that. I’d say your parents did too, but oops! They’re dead.”

  I flinched my mage flames burst to life in my open hand.

  I didn’t sense any magic coming from her. The scar on my face didn’t sting. Envy wasn’t here. Who the hell was she?

  I raised the fire, ready to strike her down and ask questions later. If she survived.

  I never got the chance. Cold steel pressed against my neck as an arm wrapped around my middle, trapping me against a solid body.

  “Drop the sword,” a rough voice snarled in my ear.

  Hybrid. Why hadn’t I sensed him here?

  I glared at Val.

  He dug the blade into my neck.

  I dropped the sword to the floor.

  Val kicked it aside and glanced out the window. “I’m afraid we can’t stick around. We have a schedule to keep.”

  I planted my feet and when the hybrid made to move me, he stumbled over my foot and tripped.

  I grabbed his wrist, ready to flip him over my body, but a second dagger suddenly appeared against my side. The point dug in.

  I gasped, biting my tongue against the pain.

  Val held this blade and when I moved back on instinct, she moved with me, digging it in deeper.

  She grabbed my chin in her fingers. “I said we have a schedule to keep. You can either come willingly or you can find yourself in an awful lot of pain. Your choice.”

  I said nothing.

  She narrowed her eyes and twisted the dagger again.

  I screamed this time, falling to my knees. “You bitch.”

  “Such harsh language.” She yanked the dagger free and snapped her fingers.

  Behind her, the door opened.

  I lunged forward.

  The hybrid smashed the hilt of his dagger into the back of my head.

  Everything went dark.

  “Mercy,” said an annoying voice. “Come on, Mercy. You’re tougher than this. Wake up, sunshine. Time’s a-wasting.”

  I grunted, rubbing the back of my head. My side had been bandaged, but it didn’t do anything to relieve the pain from being stabbed.

  “What do you want?” I muttered, mouth dry and vision blurry. I sat up, glanced around, saw metal bars. I couldn’t make out where exactly I was, aside that it was a cage.

  The room was large, but not a dungeon. The walls were adorned with gold torch holders, braziers, and tapestries. The few windows were covered with heavy, red curtains. Where the hell were we?

  “Great. Another cage,” I mumbled as I finished searching for any clues as to where this psycho brought me.

  “Yes, but this one’s much better, trust me.”

  I used the bars to pull myself off the floor.

  Val stood on the other side, just out of reach.

  “What, you think if you bring me to the covens, they’ll give you a reward or something? What did they promise you?”

  Time. I had to buy some time and wait for Rafael. He’d get me out of this mess. Again. Then he’d yell at me for getting myself into it in the first place.

  “It’s more like what did I promise them,” she said as she walked back and forth in front of my cage, her black dress dragging along the ground. “I must say, you’ve become far more troublesome than I thought you would be. So I had to see for myself what the great Mercy was doing to stop my plans.”

  My hands held the bars until my knuckles were white. My heart sank and I heard someone whispering the word no repeatedly. Then I realized it was me and stopped. “You’re not,” I whispered, hating how much my voice shook. “You can’t be.”

  “Can’t I? You’re good, Mercy, but you’re not that good.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  She cackled.

  My scar burned. I covered it with my hand, not about to cry out in pain in front of this witch.

  “Such stubbornness will do you no good. Now, you and I have a lot of work to do. I never wanted to kill you, Mercy. Oh, no, you’re far too important to me to simply kill you. After all, you’re one of mine. And you’re a natural hybrid. I think it’s high time we see what you can truly do with the right push.”

  “You’re not her,” I snapped, shaking the bars. “You’re nothing.”

  Her smile stretched far wider than was natural. She snapped her fingers and black smoke rose from her feet until it surrounded her completely.

  I backed away from the bars, my jaw dropping as a dragon’s roar filled the room.

  When the smoke cleared, a
woman stood in front of me.

  Her long black hair hung well past her waist and was adorned with red beads, black leather strips, and bits of dragon scales. Her black dress was adorned with silver and gold chainmail and clung to her body like a second skin.

  When she approached the bars, the light rippled over the chainmail, like it was made of scales. Her nails were painted black.

  She reached through the bars and snagged my wrist, not letting me get away. She dragged me over and held me there.

  The yellow eyes that had haunted my nightmares for months stared back at me, glowing and filled with dark intentions. I hated to admit there was a beauty to her, but it was a lethal beauty. Her lips spread in a soft smile as she trailed her nails down my scarred cheek.

  Shuval. I’d been taken by Shuval.

  Rafael was going to kill me, if she didn’t.

  “Now then, Mercy, shall we begin? After all, the Blood Moon rises soon.”

  I gulped and shook my head. “It’s not even close.”

  “Ah, but you see, when you have as much power as I do, time means nothing.”

  Her laugh surrounded me and all I could do was stand there and stare into those yellow eyes promising me pain.

  Promising me the end.

  Chapter 19

  Rafael

  I paced around the living room, checking the time on the stove again.

  It’d only been an hour, but I was anxious, with no explanation why.

  I fought the urge to call Mercy. She’d tell me I was overreacting and hang up on me. I grabbed another beer from the fridge.

  There was a knock at the door.

  Thinking Mercy forgot her keys, I rushed to answer it and panicked at the sight of the person on the other side.

  “Rafael? You okay?” Gigi asked. “You look like someone just throat punched you.”

  “Why are you here?”

  She gave me a confused look. “I wanted to check in with you guys. I went to the Underground, but Damian said he sent you both home. Rafael, you’re freaking me out. What’s wrong?”

  “She went to see you.”

  Gigi shook her head. “What do you mean?”

  “She said you texted and told her to go to the shop because Onyx was back. You didn’t text her?”

  “No, I didn’t know when you guys would be back—Rafael, what’s going on?”

  I was grabbing my boots and once they were on, I reached for my holster, my sword, and anything else I could grab, then was out the door.

  Gigi chased after me, asking me again where we were going, but I didn’t have time to slow down and tell her.

  I wasn’t even sure I could get the words out of my mouth.

  Mercy was going to be fine. I’d get to the shop and she’d be there wondering where the hell Gigi was.

  I ran, Gigi keeping up with me, barely, and when we reached the bottom of the steps at her place, I froze.

  “Rafael, talk to me, damn it? What’s wrong?”

  “Mercy said you texted her. She came here over an hour ago.” I studied the bottom step to Gigi’s shop and the dark stain on the metal. Stomach clenching in fear at what it meant, I knelt and touched the stain with my fingers. “Blood.”

  “What? Whose?” Gigi stared at the door to her shop. “No. Val. I left Val here.” She started up the steps.

  I caught her arm. “I go first. Gigi, I don’t think Val is who we thought she was.”

  “What do you mean?” She shook her head. “No, she didn’t do anything to Mercy.”

  I walked up the steps, pistol in hand. All I kept seeing was Mercy’s dead body on the floor. When we entered the shop, there was no body, but there were signs of a struggle. Mercy’s sword was on the floor. Open, with no blood on the blade.

  However, there was blood on the floor. A lot of blood.

  Gigi rushed in behind me and clapped a hand to her mouth. “No. No. She’s not gone, she can’t be. Mercy!” she shouted, running into the back room. “Mercy, you answer me.”

  “She’s not here,” I snapped, glaring at the blood on the floor. “Gigi, she’s not here.”

  “Who… who took her? Rafael, where is she?”

  My pulse pounded in my ears, drowning out the rest of Gigi’s ramblings.

  Mercy was gone. They’d taken her from me. Only one name came to mind and I bellowed enraged as I bashed my fist into the wall.

  Shuval had stolen Mercy from me.

  She was gone.

  And I had no way of knowing if she was even still alive. If I’d be able to find her.

  Mercy was gone and I was going to tear this world apart until I found her again.

  I prayed the gods helped anyone who got in my way. There was only blood and death and I would be more than happy to dish it out. No enemy would be shown mercy.

  I had one job.

  One mission.

  Saving Mercy.

  “I’ll find you,” I whispered to the night. “Just hold on long enough for me to find you.”

  The blood stain on the floor mocked me.

  I studied it for a minute longer, then I scooped up Mercy’s sword, and took off out the door.

  Having Mercy

  Mercy Temple Chronicles Book Seven

  Mages. Sirens. Demons. Dragons. Gryphons. A Federal Paranormal Unit. Attackers of magic. The Mercy Temple Chronicles will hook you!

  Mercy’s disappeared and no one knows where she is. Rafael’s been told not to look for her, but by the gods, he has no intention of obeying that order.

  Rafael’s going to find Mercy and kill the one who took her. Hopefully, he won’t die in the process.

  Warning: Unputdownable action-packed fantasy, with mages, sirens, demons, dragons, gryphons and a Federal Paranormal Unit

  Chapter 1

  Rafael

  Soft flesh met my hand as I punched the bastard in the stomach.

  He toppled into my arms.

  I slammed him into the wall, bashing his head into the wood paneling. It cracked and splintered from the impact.

  Blood dripped from his mouth and nose in a steady stream. Torn at his shoulder and elbow, his dark red shirt hid most of the blood.

  There was a grunt behind me.

  I ignored it, focused on the asshole in front of me.

  “Where is she?” I demanded, my voice hardly forming words through the growling.

  My demon rage, which usually came in bursts had not faded since the day Mercy was taken. It had been over three weeks, and there was no news of her. No hint of where she was. Or if she was even alive. My rage grew daily, and there was no reducing it, unless I was beating the shit out of someone.

  The hybrid laughed in my face. “You won’t find her.” He cackled madly, probably from too many hits to the head. “You’ll never find her.”

  I wiped my face of the spittle he’d released when he laughed.

  The dim lighting in this seedy, hole-in-the-wall bar made it difficult to make out the beating I’d given the mage-dragon hybrid.

  I’d kicked his ass bad enough he had to use the wall to hold himself up.

  Glancing around, I took note of the damage to the building itself. The main bar was split down the middle, both ends torn from the floor and broken into pieces. The glass shelves on the wall were shattered. Booze dripped down them in rivers, covering the floor in a sticky mess. The room stank of blood, vomit, booze, and greasy food.

  Burning my clothes might be the only way to get rid of the stench clinging to me.

  The neon lights were the only source of light, highlighting the mirrored shelves with bottles liquor. Most of the ceiling lights were shot out or shattered when the fight broke out.

  We’d walked in peacefully enough.

  That lasted a whole ten seconds.

  Now, some bodies were draped over upturned tables. Others were laying on the floor in heaps. Most of them were breathing. The others, well, too bad for them.

  Damian stood to my left, resting his shoulder against the wall. He wore all black
and was armed with more knives than I’d ever seen him carry. He cleaned one with a rag from the bar, wiping the blood from it. His face was hardened. Mercy’s kidnapping hit him as hard as it hit me. If he’d been a full demon, instead of a half-demon, the building wouldn’t be standing now.

  His leads on hybrid activity had brought us to Sector 76, at the far edges of the state. Probably for the best, because if Chief Nor found out what we were up to, he might have no choice but to call in the Feds and arrest us.

  He had enough shit to deal with. He didn’t have to know about my nightly outings with Damian. No one did.

  Damian glowered at the hybrid. “We’re not leaving until you talk.” He flipped the knife over in his hand, gripped the handle, then drew his arm back and let it fly.

  The knife thudded home in the wall, piercing the hybrid’s ear, and sticking him to the wall.

  The hybrid screamed, tugging at the blade to free himself. No luck. It was stuck.

  The door to the back room swung open, and Horace stomped into the main bar, joining us, carrying a limp body over his shoulder. He was dressed exactly like his brother Damian, except he also had two bandoliers of knives crisscrossing his chest. His small horns peeked through messy long hair.

  “Found this one trying to hide in the cellar.” He tossed the body to the floor, where it lay still “No other hybrids here.”

  “There’s a cellar?” Damian’s interested seemed piqued.

  “Yeah. A trap door in the kitchen. Caught him on the stairs. He was heading down. Didn’t get a chance to see what was down there yet,” Horace told him.

  The hybrid tugged on the dagger pinning his ear to the wall. He wasn’t going anywhere. For a hybrid, he was certainly weak. Must’ve been a newly-created one.

  Horace had mentioned he’d heard about rituals that gave Shuval’s followers the power of two races. He’d skipped over some of the details. Whatever magic Shuval wielded now was evil, pure and simple, and driven by the blood and souls of the dead.