Mercy: Queen’s Birds of Prey: Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Queen's Birds of Prey Book 1)

by Kathi S. Barton

  “It’s not a wedding invitation, but it is an invitation. To a Christmas dinner. It’s from—” She looked at him, and he knew that something had upset her. “It’s from a man by the name of Duncan Dante.”

  “Honey, are you all right?” She nodded but sat down. “Mercy, you have to explain this to me before I find this guy and knock the shit out of him for scaring you.”

  “There is no address for him.” She looked up at him, smiling. “It’s Dante’s son. He’s around here someplace. The invitation says that he’ll have the address later, for us to join him for a night of fun and games for underprivileged children.”

  “So, presumably this is when he meets his mate, one of the birds. Do you suppose he knows this? Yes, I would imagine he does. That’s why all the cloak and dagger. How long do we have to speculate on who it is?” She told him. “We have six weeks to wait. I’m guessing that we’re not going to talk to the others about this? Are they invited as well?”

  “Yes, that’s why the envelope is so thick. I’m to give one to each of the others. And you’re right, I think he does know as much, if not a great deal more than, we do about this.” Joel nodded. “And I don’t think we should tell any of them. Not yet at any rate. I don’t know what they’d do, but I have a feeling that they’d not go. None of them. What I wonder is, if he knows which one of them it is.”

  “I’d say that if he knows you’re all here and that one of you is his mate, then he will know who it is as well.” Joel laughed. “I’m not sure I’d want to be in his shoes when he figures out which bird is his, and they find out about all this intrigue going on with it.”

  “We’ll have to make sure that no blood is shed around the kids. After that, it’s all up to him.” Mercy laughed. “To see Dante’s son. It will be such a wonderful thing, don’t you think? I mean, it’s been so very long. Do you suppose he looks anything like her?”

  “I would say he must look a great deal like her. I mean, she had some very strong genes, and he would have gotten those, right?” Mercy told him that he’d gotten her magic too. “I bet that he looks like her. It’s too bad that there aren’t any pictures, or I guess paintings, of her around.”

  She paused in moving away from him after getting up. “Wait here. I won’t be but a little while. Oh, I don’t know why I didn’t remember this before now. Wait right here.” She was her bird, then gone in a matter of seconds, only pausing long enough for him to open the door for her.

  Sitting on the porch again, he smiled when he thought of the other birds. Christ, this was going to be epic. She’d be queen. Of whatever was left of the castle, the bird would be queen. Joel thought that was wonderful. That one of Dante’s birds would be queen.

  ~*~

  Finding what she was looking for in the dark cave proved to be harder than she thought it should be. Mercy was about to give up when someone cleared their throat behind her. Turning, she knew right away who he was. Bowing low before him, Mercy pledged herself to him.

  “I’m not so sure that we need to be doing something like that anymore, Mercy. My goodness, you’re much more beautiful up close than you are from a distance. Mother would be so proud of you.” Mercy stood, her eyes filled with tears. “Now, let’s not have any of that either, shall we?”

  “I wondered if you’d look like her. You do. She was my heart for so long, and when the memories began to fade of how she looked, I felt like I’d lost a part of my heart.” She asked if she could touch his face. He nodded, and she touched a single finger to his cheek before slapping him. “That’s for watching us from a distance instead of making yourself known to us.”

  “It’s the way Mother wanted it.” He rubbed his cheek. “You were always so strong. My goodness, how I’ve missed talking to someone about her. I have Mary still, and her son, Cowell. They knew her, of course, but not as you did, I would imagine.”

  “Your mother gave her life to save us.” Duncan said that he knew that as well; she’d told him of her plan. “I never knew about you until I started reading her books. And I might have missed that too if I’d not taken Latin at some point in my life.”

  “I don’t know her name.” She asked him what he meant. “My mate. I know that she is the eagle, but I don’t know her name. Can I please ask it of you?”

  “Jude. Judith. We call her Jude. Her last name is Castle. We all took some part of the world we had to leave behind as our last names.” He sat down on the ornate chair that had been in the castle. “I was looking for her picture. It hung over the fireplace. When your father died, she had one made of just herself to put there. It was a very good likeness of her. Do you have it?”

  “No. But I did move it. It was hurtful for me to see it, knowing that I’d never see her again. It’s just over there.” She walked behind him as he led her to the painting. “I used to think that the smile she had there was for me. But I don’t think I was born yet. Do you know?”

  “You were born just a mere five months after your father was gone. She took you to Mary to raise, not wanting you to be someone that could be used against her should the castle be taken. Which it never could have been. But by the time we were around, you had already been living with Mary. And to have brought you about after that, it would have frightened a great many people.” He nodded, telling her that people would have thought him a fake. “Yes. She took care that no one knew who you were or where you were.” She looked at the painting, the memories of her queen hitting her hard in the heart. “Your mother, she was a good person. Hard, but a good person. And she cared a great deal for those that depended on her.”

  “Yes, I remember that. Even after her death, she took care that everyone was safe.” She asked him if he wanted the crown to wear. “No, I don’t think so. I understand that your daughter has Mother’s. I cannot think of a better place for it to be than with one of her grandchildren. She did think of you all as her daughters, did you know that?”

  “No. I mean, she was our maker, so I guess in a way she was our mother too.” She moved to stand next to other items that she now wanted to take back with her. “There is a necklace here. It has the image of your mother in it, along with your father. She had put it in the trunk long before we raided the castle for the final days.”

  “That I have. As well as her wedding dress. I cannot believe that after all this time it was just as beautiful as the day I’m assuming she put it away. I’m going to see if Jude will wear it. What does she do, Jude? I know some of the things that you and the others have done over the years, but not that much about her.”

  “You should talk to her about things like that. If you know all, then it will not bode well for you when you meet her. I’m assuming that it will be at the party.” He nodded and laughed. “I should like to help with that. Not with the plans, but with monies if you’d allow it. I know that you said on the invitation that there was to be an auction, but there has to be something that I can do to help.”

  “There was once a couple of empty trunks here. If you can find them, then I’d very much like to have those to auction off as well.” She said she knew just where they were. “I knew that you would. Thank you. I’ll help you get loaded, if you’d like, with the painting. And someday, if you’d not mind, I’d like to have all of you together and someone paint the twelve of us.”

  “I like that idea. So you think that all the others will find mates as well?” He said that he knew that they would. “I see. And do you know who they are? I don’t want you to tell me, but I would like to know that they will be as happy as I am right now.”

  “Yes, they will all find mates. And Mother knew who they would be. She also knew that Joel would give you her first grandchild.” She put her hand over her belly that was just beginning to show a little. “Not that one, although she would have been thrilled for you both, but Miley. Miley is a great addition to the family, Mercy. And I can tell that you love her.”

  “I do. Very much. Will they all turn to their birds? When Joel and I touched the first time, he beca
me all that I am. Will that happen with the rest of them?” He nodded. “Good. Another thing that I’d like to see for them.”

  After she was able to put the painting in her pocket by shrinking it a great deal, she found the trunks for him and he took them with him. As she stood in the open field waiting for Duncan to close up the caves, she looked around.

  Such a lovely spot here, she thought, and wondered why she’d not thought of putting a nice park here that they could enjoy the view from. As soon as she got home, she was going to talk to Joel about it.

  After hugging Duncan and telling him that she was glad to have met him, he begged her not to tell anyone that he was around. Mercy told him that the only person she’d tell was Joel, and that she’d not be able to keep it from him. Smiling, he left her there. Mercy wondered for a moment if he was a bird already, and decided that if she saw him again, she’d ask. Taking flight, she made her way home.

  She knew just where she was going to put the painting. It was only fitting that it hung over the fireplace, much like it had in the castle. The sword that Dante had used was hanging with hers, and she knew that it would look good there.

  As soon as she arrived home, she noticed the police in the driveway, and went into the house from the rear, coming out the front door just as they were leaving. Joel was sitting on the rocker. She asked him if he was all right and he nodded, then shook his head.

  “Saul died this afternoon. They said that he’d been stockpiling his meds and killed himself with a drug overdose. To make sure that he did, they said that he’d taken his monitors off his chest several times the last few days. It was annoying, Allen said, so they just left them off. I guess that was his plan all along.” She said she was sorry. “I am too. Not because he’s gone, but that I don’t have any feelings one way or the other about it.”

  “He never was a good person. Not just to you, but to anyone that he met.” Joel nodded, and she sat on his lap. “I’m so sorry, Joel. I know that he was a pigheaded jerk, but he was your brother.”

  “He was pigheaded. Allen told me that he’d gone there last week because Saul had called him. Something about the staff trying to keep him from having a good meal. Saul told him that he should take his gun and shoot Miley. That way maybe I’d bring him some cash. Like he needed it where he was headed.”

  Prison—he had been headed to prison. She’d forgotten about that. Not that he might be going, but the date had been set. The week after Thanksgiving, he would have been going away for good. She wondered if that was what prompted him to hoard his meds.

  She took Joel into the house, leading him by the hand as she might have a small child. Putting the picture on the mantel, they both sat on the couch and looked at it. It was a huge painting, but it was very well done too.

  “Most of the time back then, there would have been a hack painting portraits of the royal family. He’d not allow them to see it until he was paid. And even then, he’d make them wait, like maybe picking it up at some other location so that he’d have time to get away.” She looked at Joel. “I saw him. Duncan. He was at the cave. But we’re not to tell anyone.”

  “That’s wonderful, Mercy. I’m betting that he looks like her, doesn’t he? Oh, to have the painting and him in the same place must have been wonderfully revealing.” She said that it was, and that he knew who he was mated to. “Let me guess. I’d say Piper. No, not her. She’d eat him alive if he tried this on her. Remi. It’s Remi, right?”

  “No, Jude. He said that she’s his mate and that, just as we guessed, he’s going to meet her at the party. And he wishes for her to wear his mother’s wedding dress for their wedding. It’s been preserved. Dante did that, for him, I think now. My goodness, Joel, he knows a great deal about our future and that of the others.”

  They talked about the likeness of Dante’s painting, and with her face coming back to Mercy, the memory of how beautiful she’d been, other stories about Dante came to light as well. Some she told to Joel, others she left for another time. When he brought up Saul again, she listened while he told stories of the other man.

  “I can’t think of a single time, not in all our lives, that he was ever kind to someone. You know what I mean. There would be times in most people’s life that made them seem as if they were human? Not him. He was a horrible person about everything and everyone.” She again told him she was sorry. “Don’t be. I know that I should stop talking about him. But with you, I feel like I can tell you how my heart feels, and you won’t judge me about how I feel about him. I was thinking of the reason why he’d never gotten anything from my grandma.”

  “I would think you’d have to be a pretty bad person for even your grandma not to give you anything for your birthday. I’d like to think that no matter what my grandchild did to me, I’d still want them to have a gift.” He said that it wasn’t for lack of trying on her part. “What did he do to her?”

  “Saul’s birthday was in January, just after the holidays, and his card was late coming to him. I was about four or five then. Not too terribly old, but I remember him being so pissed at her. When the card came, two days late, he had a fit. I mean, like he destroyed the mail box and all the mail in it with his fit. Then when he went into the house, Grandma was there, and as I remember now, he picked up a fork that was on the table and stabbed her in the hand with it. It was so bad that it had to be pried from the table.” Mercy asked him how he explained himself for such behavior. “He told Grandma that next time she thought to send a card to him, she’d see the scar and remember never to be late again. Then he told her that it would be worse if she was. Grandma stood up and slapped him so hard he fell to the floor, then drew a gun out and pointed it at him as he laid on the floor. I don’t know who was more shocked about it, Mom, who was there, or Saul.”

  “Oh Christ, I wish I could have met her. She sounds like someone that I would have loved.” He told her that she’d love her too. “What did she say to the little pisser? I’m sure that it was classic.”

  “She told him that if he ever drew his hand back to harm her in any way, shape, or form again, she’d come to his bed and blow his head off. Mom told me later that he’d tangled with Grandma before. Then when Saul started to get up, she shot a hole into the floor right between his legs, and told him that next time, she’d not fuck around—yes, she said fuck around—with his twig and berries—they were worth very little anyway—and that she would indeed kill him. After that, there was never a word spoken between them, and he never got another card. Grandma had to have forty-four stitches in her hand. I was both terrified of her and in awe of her at the same time.”

  Mercy laughed about that several times throughout the rest of the day. She wished she could have met the elderly woman. Mercy would have made her an immortal just to have her around to have fun with. And there wasn’t any doubt that they’d have had a blast.

  Chapter 13

  The funeral was very quiet. No one had shown up but the women and he and Miley. Miley had wanted to stay home, not caring for her uncle, but Mercy talked to her and she was ready to go by the time they were. But she refused to wear black and had worn the most colorful outfit that she could figure out to wear. Joel loved it.

  There was no sermon at the graveside. None of them thought that it would have done Saul’s soul any good to have had someone pray over him. As they stood there, the grave workers putting the last of the dirt over the casket, he looked around at the place that Mercy had picked out for his brother.

  There were no flowers around his grave like the others, and Joel didn’t think that there ever would be. The markers at the other sites were old, some of them as old as the town that they lived in. The place, he’d figured out just an hour ago, was for the indigents, as well as prisoners that hadn’t any family to claim them. Mercy had been true to her word on finding him a place in the cemetery. It was just as bad as he might have found for him. It wasn’t that he hated his brother—he just had no feelings for him. No love, no hatred, just nothing at all. Saul was l
ike a stranger to him.

  When the service was over, the last of the dirt piled on his grave, he took a single flower, a daisy that he’d seen in the window at the shop and put it on the grave.

  “Maybe you’ll get some niceness out of this.”

  They all walked away, heading to their cars. Mercy had arranged for them to have a nice dinner in town, and then they’d go home to watch an old movie. Even the other birds were going to join them.

  He’d not realized how much they all loved popcorn until the other day, when he’d made some. They had eaten six bowls of it before the movie had even begun. It took him several trips to make more before he figured out they were seeds. Laughingly, he made them as much as they wanted, and had purchased a case of it for the next time they came over.

  Dinner was at Remi’s place. That was what it was called, and the old jukebox had fit well in with the décor she’d come up with. All the stools were covered in red leather, as were the benches, and each table had a small music player at it. Not the old ones—they were very hard to find, not to mention expensive—but new models that entertained as much as the older ones might have.

  There were treats after dinner. The malt machine was up and running now. There were apple and cherry turnovers, as well as ice cream that was hand scooped. Everything that a person would need to have a child’s, or even an adult’s birthday party, Remi told them. To him, it was a perfect ending to the day that they’d had.

  “I’ve been thinking about what you said, Dad, about becoming an attorney. I think I’d be good at that. One for the family. If we’re going to be around for a while, we’ll need someone to fix the ins and outs of living this long.” He told Miley to do what she wanted. “I am, and I do. I have been looking up on it, and there is a great need for good attorneys. And I want to be the best.”