Mercy Temple Chronicles Box Set 2

by Ciara Graves

  Envy shoved me toward the door. For once, I was too numb to fight him. The black metal doors shut soundly behind us. The walk back to my chambers was faster than the walk to get there, but with no chains binding me, I sensed a shift within me. I observed every single turn we made, forming a mental map of the corridors. More hybrids filled the hallway this time around.

  As we climbed another set of stairs, I spotted a window.

  Envy’s hand remained around my arm, which meant there was no way I could get to the window, to figure out where we were. The mental map would have to be enough to guide me, if I managed to break free. Big if.

  “You should be celebrating,” Envy said as we climbed the last set of stairs.

  We’d passed countless doors, but they were closed. This damned place was a fortress, an old one. It should be easy to spot from the outside.

  The thing was, I couldn’t recall any fortresses in the entire state. My hopes sank, but that shift of magic within me grew stronger, bolstering them back up.

  “Celebrating what?” I muttered. “Being part of her magical experiments? Watching her kill someone for practice so she can remove a curse you placed on me? I’ll take the curse, thanks.”

  “I believe we should simply kill you.”

  I stopped in the corridor, forcing him to do the same. “You’ve tried and failed, remember?”

  “As have you.”

  We had a stare-down, neither of us backing off.

  “I told Shuval you were a lost cause,” he whispered. “You don’t deserve the gift she’s bringing to the dragonborn.”

  “I don’t want it.” I emphasized each word, stepping closer. “Why not just let me go?”

  His eyes narrowed.

  Would he do it?

  Then his arm wrapped around my waist and trapped me against his body.

  A dagger made of green flames appeared at my throat, digging into my skin.

  If I moved, he’d slash my throat. Green fire burned my skin, licking upward, toward my face. I winced and leaned back, but he only crushed me to him harder.

  “I would much rather end your life here and now. Spill your blood. Make you suffer for all the trouble you’ve caused me.”

  The dagger dug in deeper.

  I gasped.

  He leered at me, his arm around my body like an iron bar. “If only I could. Alas, Shuval wants you alive. And as strong as I am, I am not going to risk her temper by taking away her prized pet. You’ll turn on her, though, and when you do, I’ll be the one to finish you off.”

  His hand gripping my hair, he dragged me cursing and sputtering to my chamber. A hybrid opened the door, and Envy tossed me inside.

  By the time I found my feet and rushed the door, it was locked. I stopped myself from bashing my fists against it and backed away, blowing my hair out of my face.

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m getting out of here. They’ll find me,” I told myself as I walked to the far side of the room, shaking out my hands.

  I rolled my head on my shoulders, contemplating what I was about to try. The magic stirring within me wasn’t fully my own. There was a darkness to it. A malice, as though it had a mind of its own. In any other circumstance, I wouldn’t have dared use it.

  Now, I was out of options. Shuval was going to turn me into one of her monsters. I couldn’t let her.

  I focused on the spell Damian taught me and pressed my palms together, shutting my eyes.

  Fire burst to life instantly, but it was all wrong. The oranges and reds were tinted grey and black.

  Clearly, I’d soaked up the evil magic from the chamber. It wouldn’t last long, but it’d have to do.

  “What are you doing?” Envy shouted from the other side of the door.

  I half-glanced over my shoulder.

  At the tiny window in the door, his face pressed against the small bars.

  “Get this door open, now,” he ordered.

  I returned my focus to the spell as the fire grew and swirled around me. The darkness warred with my mage fire, making my stomach churn. The spell. I had to get through the spell.

  Behind me, Envy continued to shout.

  I tuned him out, seeing Rafael’s face in my mind.

  The spell exploded upward and outward.

  My arms flew up and outward, and my head fell back as my final word turned to a violent scream.

  Heat from the spell scorched me from the inside out.

  “What did you just do?” Envy demanded as he snatched me and spun me around. He shook me hard.

  I laughed. “Too late. Too damned late.”

  I considered setting him on fire, but the boost I’d gained from the evil magic was used up. My legs wobbled and when Envy struck me, I took the hit, crashing to the floor.

  His boot met my face next and sent me crashing into unconsciousness.

  Chapter 6

  Rafael

  I stormed into my apartment, throwing the front door open hard enough to dent the wall.

  Damian and Nor were behind me.

  “I told you to do nothing.” Nor kicked the door closed behind him. “And what do I find out you’re doing? Trying another tracking spell to find Mercy. One that destroyed your apartment and could’ve killed Gigi.”

  “I didn’t make her do it,” I yelled back for the fifth time.

  “You could’ve stopped her. Anyone of you could have. The Hunters are going to be here first thing in the morning. I was going to have you there to speak with them, but now, I don’t think I am.”

  I snarled at him, but he only growled back. Nor had the bulk and the height on me. Normally, I would’ve backed off, but not this time.

  “I need to be there to make sure they’re not going to kill every dragonborn on sight. What if they kill Mercy?”

  “I won’t let that happen.”

  I threw my hands into the air and marched away from him, breathing ragged as I fought to keep my shit together. Didn’t work. I kicked the coffee table, the only piece of furniture not yet destroyed. It careened into the far wall and cracked into pieces.

  “They won’t listen to you,” I reminded Nor. “They might not even listen to Rickshaw. If they deem the dragonborn as a threat, they’ll kill them. All of them. That’s what they do, remember?”

  “They’re not mindless killers,” Nor defended them.

  I scoffed. “Any time they’re called in, people die. How would this time be any different?”

  “If you could get a hold of your anger and be there with me to meet them, we could make sure it is.” Nor grabbed my shoulder. “If Mercy is with Shuval, our best chance of finding her is to let the Hunters do their job. We give them everything we have on that bitch. They’ll find her.”

  “You sure about that? We’ve torn this state apart. There’s no sign of her.”

  Doubt wrinkled Nor’s brow. “If there’s anyone that can do it, they can.”

  “I don’t like it. We should leave them out of it,” Damian spoke up. “Rafael’s right. The chances they let any dragonborn live after they catch Shuval are slim. She’s ruining whatever chance those people have of living without the fear of being hunted down and wiped out.”

  “Then we go with them,” Nor suggested. “We don’t let them go after Shuval without us.”

  Damian shook his head, his despair rivaling my own. “This isn’t going to end well for anyone.”

  “We have time. Shuval doesn’t have all the artifacts yet and the Blood Moon won’t rise until October,” Nor pointed out.

  Mercy’s words came back to me. “I don’t think we do.”

  “What do you mean?” Nor asked.

  Damian shrugged when I looked at him to see if I should stay quiet about Mercy’s attempt to reach me.

  “I heard Mercy’s voice. She said she was running out of time. Or we were,” I explained. “The message was jumbled.”

  “She contacted you?” Nor asked surprised. “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “You’ve been too busy shouting at me,
” I muttered. “And because it doesn’t matter. We can’t reach her. She’s too heavily guarded by Shuval’s magic.”

  “There has to be a way to break through it.”

  Damian barked a laugh at Nor’s words. “If you figure it out, please feel free to tell the rest of us.” He worked his jaw, angrily striding toward the door. “I have other matters to see to. I’m assuming you don’t want me at the meeting with the Hunters either?”

  “Damian,” Nor tried, but the half-demon was already out the door. “Damn it.”

  “At least we haven’t killed anyone recently,” I said with a smirk.

  Nor wasn’t amused. “If Mercy reaches out to you again, let me know.”

  “Why? So you can tell the Hunters about her?”

  He growled loudly, turned on his heel, and exited, too.

  I locked the door behind him, to keep him from coming back tonight. The close relationship I once had with Nor had broken away, bit by bit. If we survived this war, I wasn’t sure I wanted to work for the Feds anymore. Or him. Here we were sitting on a mound of evidence that the world was about to be blindsided by a plot to ruin magic forever and we were struggling to get help. Rickshaw said his hands were tied. If he called in a full force by the state government, we’d have a massive issue with both, the Paranormal Federal Government and the human one. They’d think we were making a play for power to take over the state. Maybe we should. Nor used every contact he had, and they told him until they had enough to condemn Shuval, yet they couldn’t mount a fighting force.

  It would cause panic. That’s the excuse they used. The humans would think we were trying to take over their sectors and there would be a real war.

  If we did nothing, the humans wouldn’t have any time to mount a defense. They’d be slaughtered by the thousands in days, probably hours. Worthless bureaucrats who only worried about their image and votes.

  It was more than that though. If they admitted Shuval had been out there building an army for years, they would lose the trust of the people. They knew this could happen and they stood by, and did nothing.

  I wandered to the bedroom and hit the bed.

  “Come on, Mercy,” I whispered to the emptiness. “I’m here. Just give me a way to find you and I will. On my word, I will.”

  I shut my eyes and waited for morning to arrive, knowing I wouldn’t sleep.

  “Mercy?”

  She had her back to me. We weren’t at my place or hers. Where were we? Fog covered the ground, and dark shapes stretched out all around us. Trees maybe?

  I reached out to her, but she didn’t move.

  “Mercy, where are we?”

  Red flags rose in my mind, but she felt real under my fingertips.

  “You shouldn’t have come,” she said, but her voice was deeper, almost a growl.

  “I had to save you. I am going to save you,” I assured her. “We have to go.”

  “I can’t. You’re late, too late. I’m sorry, Rafael.”

  “No, I’m going to save you,” I repeated.

  Her hand reached up to cover mine. Where her nails should’ve been were long, black claws. They dug into my hand drawing blood.

  I winced at the pain, attempting to get my hand free. “Mercy.”

  “Too late,” she mused and tilted her head back.

  The sky that had been a dull grey turned blood red from the full moon rising over the trees.

  Mercy’s body stiffened. Her growl turned into a roar as she shifted into a massive dragon.

  I backed away, shaking my head in disbelief at the beast spreading its wings and digging its claws into the dirt. Its body crashed into the trees as fire dripped from its gaping maw.

  Those blue eyes I’d come to know so well were ice-cold and filled with malice.

  “Mercy, don’t do this,” I pleaded.

  The eyes narrowed as the dragon’s head reared back.

  Fire shot toward me, ready to consume me in an instant—

  I hit the floor in my bedroom and jolted awake.

  I was covered in a cold sweat, and my skin burned, all at the same time, as if I could feel those flames in reality.

  Mercy’s words repeated themselves in my mind as I climbed to my feet then proceeded to tear apart the bedroom, willing her growling, gravelly voice to stop.

  I smashed my hands to my ears, but all that did was make it louder inside my skull.

  I stumbled to the bathroom and glared at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot and had bags under them. My hair was a ragged mess around my horns. I looked strung out, pale, weak. I couldn’t afford to be weak, not if I was going to have a chance in hell of fighting off hybrids to get to Mercy.

  Gigi had offered to give me a sleeping potion several times. I turned her down, but maybe it was time I gave in. I needed a good night’s rest, to get my mind to think clearly again. These nightmares weren’t helping.

  Rafael…

  My fingers clenched the edge of the sink. This time there was no hint of a growl in her voice.

  “Mercy?”

  A flash of white light flooded the bathroom, then her face appeared in the mirror, overriding my reflection. Fire surrounded her and blocked out any details behind her.

  “Rafael, I don’t have much time. Listen. I’m using a spell Damian taught me. It’ll draw you to me. I don’t have enough strength to send you a mental map, but I’ll send what I can. This place is a freaking maze. There are hybrids everywhere.” She glanced over her shoulder.

  I suddenly realized she couldn’t see me.

  She turned back to me. “If you die trying to save me, I’ll never forgive you.”

  “Stop her.” That was Envy’s voice.

  I reached out, as if I could drag Mercy through the mirror and into my arms.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  Then Envy was there, yanking her away from me.

  Mercy’s reflection vanished, and I was left looking at my own haggard face again.

  “No,” I bellowed, planting my hands on the mirror. “Mercy!”

  Did the spell work? I had no idea how to find her.

  The mirror burst into flames.

  I leapt back as those flames reached out and slammed into my face. The heat made me break into a sweat.

  A strange tugging struck my stomach. Images filled my mind. Corridors of stone lit by torches. A room with no windows. Then another, bathed in moonlight followed by stairs. The flames disappeared, and I was left with the knowledge of exactly where Mercy was. I couldn’t say the place, but I saw it, and I knew how to get there.

  My relief was short-lived as the tugging in my gut twisted sharply. I hunched over the toilet, heaving violently.

  A bitter taste filled my mouth. Blood and darkness spewed from my mouth. What the hell was this? I was feverish. Instinct told me this was evil magic at work and I realized that really had been Mercy in the mirror.

  I stopped heaving and hurried to my room to find my cell amongst the wreckage of furniture. I called Damian, but never had a chance to form any words because I was bent over again, snarling at the sharp pain tearing through my gut.

  “Rafael?” Damian yelled through the phone.

  “Get here,” I snapped. “Mercy… I can find… Mercy.”

  “What? Rafael, I can’t hear you.”

  I dropped the cell and hugged the toilet again. I was finally able to get to Mercy, only now it seemed I was dying. What had she done to me? Had it been Envy?

  Black spots filled my vision. I became light-headed then crashed into the tub and hit the cold, tile floor.

  Damian’s voice came through my phone, but I was too weak to pick it up.

  Everything went dark a second later.

  I didn’t remember the bathroom floor being this soft.

  “You sure she used the right spell?” Gigi’s voice.

  That meant she was here, but wait, where was here?

  “I’m going to assume it’s not supposed to do this.” Yeah, definitely Gigi�
�s voice.

  “No, I don’t know what the hell she did. He just called and said he found her.”

  My eyes wouldn’t open like I wanted them to. I couldn’t get my hand to move either. My energy was drained, my stomach ached, and my chest was tight.

  At some point as Gigi and Damian continued to argue quietly.

  At another point, I noticed my teeth chattered from the fever rampaging through my body.

  “We need him to wake up,” Damian finally said.

  “What do you think I’ve been trying to do?”

  “Move, Gigi.”

  “What are you going to do? Damian, don’t—”

  Too late. Damian’s hand connected with my face and whatever weird daze I’d been in broke.

  I gasped, shooting upright on the couch. I was in my apartment.

  Gigi and Damian hovered over me. She glowered at him.

  “What? It worked, didn’t it?” he said as she sighed. “Rafael, can you hear me?”

  “Yeah, thanks for that,” I grunted, shaking my head. “How long was I out?”

  “Couple of hours. I called Gigi when I found you passed out in the bathroom.” He grimaced. “You said you could find Mercy.”

  “I saw her,” I said quietly, shivering violently.

  Gigi darted away.

  Next, I heard the clinking of glass in the kitchen.

  “Mercy appeared in the mirror. Her fire seemed wrong, though.” I relayed her message and what occurred after.

  Damian rubbed a hand down his face as he cursed. “Dark magic.”

  “What?” I asked through chattering teeth.

  “Whatever she’s going through, she must’ve used dark magic to contact you. It’s the only reason you’d be sick like this.”

  “How long will this last?” I didn’t have time to deal with a fever.

  Gigi handed me a glass filled with a green sludge and told me to drink it.

  My stomach tensed. “I can’t.”

  “You will, or that fever is going to keep getting worse. Drink it,” she ordered. “Don’t make me force it down your throat.”