Sacrifice of Mercy

by Shannon Dermott

  I hated all the secrets. They’d caused the hell that I found myself in.

  “I can tell you what I was researching. What I found out?”

  He was talking about all the time he’d spent at his father’s house in the Hamptons with the majestic library. He’d been searching through ancient books trying to help me find the prophecy.

  “Okay,” I said because something was better than nothing.

  “All Cambions are born of a human and an incubus or succubus that we know. None are born with souls. You, on the other hand, are different. You have a soul.”

  All of that was elementary. I hoped he had more than that.

  “One that Mom bargained for.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “Souls are indigenous to humans, and yours fit in your human body. Your demon should fit too. But McKayla doesn’t, not really. And she isn’t a separate entity.”

  We called her McKayla because she took over my body whenever she could. Those times I was left as a passenger unable to stop anything she did.

  “Flynn doesn’t live separately from his demon essence. You shouldn’t either. I believe because your demon essence shares space with your soul, it took on a personality as a way to survive. It wanted to manifest its powers, stretch its arms so to speak. We wanted it to be someone else, so gave it a name. But it isn’t someone else. It’s part of you and who you are. It just doesn’t easily fit your body.”

  I didn’t like the idea that I was somehow evil like McKayla and her wayward schemes.

  “But it fits Flynn… My mother… David.”

  He nodded. “True, but they don’t have souls that compete for the space within their bodies.”

  “So I’m an abomination.” Not that was news. I was just frustrated.

  He shook his head, and his eyes sparkled with wonder. “You are different but special. You have the power of heaven and hell within you. I think that day, you, your soul and your demon all came together as one, kind of an unholy trinity. I believe together, you can do great things.”

  It made sense in a messed up way. “I don’t know how.”

  “That’s the thing. You can’t view McKayla or that part of yourself as some sort of parasite or leech within your body. You need to accept that it’s part of you.” His thoughts cut off as he glanced up, then back at me. “I have to go.”

  “Wait,” I said tired of him leaving so quickly. The way he kept coming and going made me question if he was a merely a manifestation of my imagination.

  “Remember, you need to get Sebastian on our side. He is the key.”

  Then he was gone. I advanced on space where he stood only to walk through air. I fisted a hand in my hair needing the reminder that I was awake and not dreaming.

  A knock came at the door. I stood straight ready to tell whoever it was that I wasn’t up for company.

  The door opened, and Maggie peeked her head in. “There you are.”

  She stepped fully into the door. Wide-eyed, she glanced around. “You’re room is so much bigger than mine. Don’t get me wrong, mine is nice but not as grand as this.”

  If she’d only seen Tom’s grandfather’s room. “We can switch. Personally, I feel more alone in this big room. I kind of wished I could go back in time and appreciate Mom’s little yellow house and my room there. It was big enough for me and never made me feel as though life were getting the best of me.”

  When Maggie stared at me, I realized that I had vomited a bunch of words. She came over and hugged me. “God Eme, you’ve been through a lot. I can’t imagine. All that time I had no idea why you weren’t dating anyone. I get it now. Even though I tease you, having a bunch of guys wanting to be with you when they are all just pretty fantastic has got to be hard.”

  I stared at her. “You’re just saying that.”

  She smiled. “Okay, just a little, but I see how it’s tearing you up inside to decide between Luke and Flynn. They’re best friends, and anyone would think you’re a skank for it. Except for me.”

  She showed me all her teeth in a megawatt smile. I had to love the girl. And even though she’d told me as much on the plane, it was good to hear it again.

  “Yet, here I am. I should be overjoyed that Luke is alive. I mean, Flynn doesn’t need me anymore. He has Mia. It should be easier, but it’s not. Luke is acting weird. And I’m trying not to let it bother me that Flynn has so easily replaced me with someone else.”

  “Replaced you?” She shook her head. “No, my friend.” She slung her arm over my shoulder. “Flynn’s eyes were practically glued to the door of that room. He barely paid attention to Mia.” I felt the demon stir within me. “Anyway, let’s go exploring. You need to forget all about the two of them. It’s not like you can do anything about it right now. According to everyone here, you’re Tom’s girl.”

  I groaned.

  She added, “Don’t you act put out. I never really noticed before, but Tom’s is pretty hot. He’s got those tats on his arms now. And his piercings, I swear if Brent wasn’t his cousin, I would so…” As my eyes narrowed on her, she said, “Well, he’s hot.”

  I shook my head and tried to contain a grin. “Hot seems to be your magic word these days.”

  She lifted both her shoulders. “You got a better word?”

  I didn’t want to think about it. “Where do you want to go?”

  “I don’t know. It’s a castle. I’ve never been in a castle before,” she replied without calling me out on my change of subject.

  “This is my third one,” I said smugly, containing a laugh.

  “You say that so casually like that’s an everyday thing.”

  I cracked up and busted out laughing.

  “You’re mean.” She grinned, though. Then, she tugged my arm. “Let’s have a look around.” Pulled out into the hallway, I nearly bumped into her when she came to a sudden halt. “Which way?”

  Tom and I had been hustled up here in such a rush; I didn’t have a true idea of the way out. “Stairways are usually in the corners. At least that’s been my experience in castles.”

  The way she looked at me, I knew I sounded strange. I mean who really had experience with castles. I gave her a sheepish grin.

  She turned to the left, which was the opposite direction of Tom’s grandfather’s room. It was a good thing. I didn’t want to run into anyone who would tell us we weren’t allowed to explore and make us feel like prisoners.

  “You’re right,” she said when we came to an arched alcove in a corner that housed winding stairs.

  I followed her in, and we began to make our way down. On the first landing we encountered, she poked her head out into the hall.

  “More bedrooms I think,” she said when she glanced back at me.

  “It’s probably going to be that way. We should go all the way down to the main area and check out that first.”

  She nodded. As we continued down, I poked my head into the halls just to get a sense of the place.

  “You didn’t tell me what happened between you and Brent.” When she didn’t respond, I added, “You know before he made the change and got stuck in animal form.”

  Chapter Nine

  She stopped and leaned against the wall. I waited. She wanted all kinds of truths from me. It was time for her to spill. She closed her eyes and blew out a breath. When she opened them again, she surprised me by straightening and heading downstairs, only slower.

  Her voice drifted back to me. “It happened at the last baseball ball game when you guys were away.”

  She meant Fairy. I gave her points for not speaking that out loud for others to hear.

  “Brent, Tom, and I were just trying to maintain normal at first.”

  She stopped at the next landing, and her eyes darted around. Not wanting to discourage her, I waited for her to continue.

  She headed down again. “We won by the way.”

  She paused in speech and movement before resuming. Her odd behavior made me more curious.

  “I headed to the field to
congratulate Brent and this random guy… this really cute random guy stopped me. He said something about how he loved the fire in my hair because it brought out the green in my eyes.”

  Total pick up line, but she didn’t need me to point that out. Brent was a good guy and crazy jealous. I almost didn’t need to hear what happened next.

  “I remember the way his smile turned up at the corners just before I saw Brent barreling towards us. I didn’t have a chance warn him before Brent was there with my back pinned to his chest and his arm around me. Brent’s marking me as his only made the guy laugh before he walked away.”

  She stopped in the middle of the stairway and faced me.

  “You know how he gets. I tried not to be mad and put myself in his place. Girls still talk to him like I don’t exist.”

  I nodded because the same was true for Luke and me. Nina had caused Luke’s near death just because she was determined he wouldn’t be with anybody but her.

  “I didn’t fight. I let him do his growly thing about how I gave the guy too much face time. And honestly, I’m tired of his shenanigans. As jacked up as it was, I held my tongue.”

  She glared as if to dare me not to believe her.

  “We ended up at a party after, which sucked by the way. Without you there I was hit up all night with girls crushing on Tom and wanting me to put in lip service for them.”

  Tom was becoming the latest it boy in school outside of Flynn.

  “Anyway, while Brent was busy with buddies, I totally ignored how the girls fanned around him. I’m so not jelly. I’m secure in our relationship.”

  She puckered her lips and cocked out a hip, so I nodded in agreement.

  “It was hot inside. That’s totally why I headed outside. Not because some freshman girl had the nerve to sit on his lap. And who cares if he laughed like it was funny.”

  I reached out and hugged her.

  “No, it’s okay. When he saw me watching, he removed the skanky bitch. But I would a liar if I didn’t wonder if he would have let her stay if I wasn’t there.”

  I wasn’t so sure of that. Brent was so into Maggie; he turned Doug by accident because of his jealousy. But, I wasn’t there. It was times like that I thought it best to keep quiet.

  “I reached for the door, and it opens on it’s own. He’s there. Did I mention, he had the cutest hair that curled around his ears and begged for my fingers? ”

  She was talking about the guy again, not Brent.

  “Begs for your fingers?” I asked, chancing cutting into her story.

  One corner of her mouth springs up and is apparently tethered to her shoulder on that side because it lifts at the same time. “I know, but he has these golden eyes. I mean they were brown but when the light hit them, they appeared almost gold.”

  “You realize your fangirling this guy, right?”

  She paused and stared through me. Her mind must have drifted back to the night. Her next words sounded haunted as if she weren’t there with me but back in time at that place.

  “It’s not like that. Our eyes met, and it was as if he called to me. You know I’m not a cheater. But there was something.”

  Her eyes focused back on me, and she blew a breath out while shaking her head to clear cobwebs.

  “Anyway, he came over to where I stood and put a hand on my shoulder.” She wrapped an arm around herself. “I swear he peered into my soul when he said, you can do better, in this Batman like raspy voice.” She glanced up at me. “I know it sounds crazy.”

  She drifted back in time again with her eyes going a little unfocused.

  “Brent came out and pushed the guy’s hand off my shoulder.” She smiled some then. “The guy told Brent if he didn’t want someone to poach on his girl, he shouldn’t leave me alone.” He made some impression on her. She bit her lip. “Brent was having none of it and told him they could settle it outside like men. More like a caveman,” she scoffed. “And he agreed. I didn’t even know his name, yet he was ready to fight over me.”

  I could hear a little excitement in her voice.

  “I had to stop it. I got in between them which did nothing. They kept saying things.”

  “What things?” I asked.

  She took in a deep breath, then exhaled it. “I don’t remember. Whatever it was made Brent madder. Doug showed up and used his dominant thing on Brent. He didn’t yell and only said it loud enough so Brent and I could hear. He told him to back down and take me home. Brent huffed and puffed like the big bad wolf, but he couldn’t refuse a direct order, which only pissed him off more.”

  She paused again, lost in her thoughts.

  “Then what happened?”

  “He did what he was told. He drove me home all agitated and wouldn’t talk about it. When I tried to press him, he told me to mind my business and not to worry about it. He hates Doug. He thinks because he’s bigger and older than Doug, that he should be the alpha.”

  The more dominant wolf was considered the alpha, the leader. Somehow, skinny skateboarder, Doug, had won the dominate battle. He ruled over Brent in both human and wolf form.

  Maggie's voice broke. “He didn’t even kiss me goodbye when he dropped me off, and that’s not even the bad part. When I closed the door, he rolled the window down and told me if I ran into that guy again, I should go out with him. I mean who says that. Did he break up with me?”

  I wrapped her in my arms again. Her emotions were all over the place.

  “You didn’t talk to him after that?” I hedged, not wanting to give my opinion.

  She shook her head. “No, the next-day Tom called and asked what happened. I told him the short version of what you just heard.”

  “Did you explain the guy was someone you’d never seen before, like ever?”

  “No,” she said defensively. “I was still upset and wasn’t sure why Tom was calling. I thought maybe Brent had talked to him and was sorry for everything. When he told me he found Brent in wolf form and couldn’t get him to change; I was worried about that.”

  I pressed on. “Where did they find him?”

  “I don’t know. You have to ask Tom. All I know is Brent went back to the party.”

  “He did?” I asked because Doug had sent him away.

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “Doug had told him to take me home, not that he couldn’t come back.”

  Something about this whole thing didn’t sit right with me. I knew if Maggie hadn’t had her head in the clouds over that guy, she might have seen it to.

  “We need to talk to Tom.”

  “Why?” she asked. Her face was puzzled showing how human she was.

  “That guy may not have been human. You said it yourself. Why would he fight over you, and he didn’t even know you?”

  Maggie’s eyes narrowed, and I realized how my words must have sounded.

  “You know what I mean. It wasn’t like Brent was being an ass, and this guy stood up for your honor. Or that he’d talked to you long enough to know if he fought Brent, he would stand a chance with you. He was obviously attracted to you and all that. Why wouldn’t he be? You’re beautiful. Still, you have to see how crazy it sounds that any guy would fight over a girl he’s barely said two words to?”

  My regurgitation of words was enough because Maggie’s puffed-up chest deflated.

  “You right. I guess I didn’t think that maybe he wanted to fight Brent for another reason.”

  She turned, and we finally began to head towards the bottom again. I peered out several cutout windows as we continued to get closer and closer to the ground. When we finally made it, we stepped out into what had to be the kitchen based on the aromas that made my stomach growl.

  “Aye, good mourn to you dears.”

  Maggie and I jerked in the direction of the voice and found a short, squat woman.

  “Hi,” I said awkwardly.

  “Are ye hungry dears?”

  “Um.” I didn’t have to answer because my stomach did it for me.

  The woman glanced over her
shoulder when a guy, precariously carrying several baskets, walked in trying to maintain balancing what he held.

  “Just a minute. I need to help my grandson.”

  The woman walked over to the young man whose face came more into view when he glanced towards his grandmother.

  Maggie yanked me around by my arm to face away from the pair. “That’s him.”

  Puzzled, I asked, “That’s who.”

  “The guy,” she whispered with widened eyes. “The guy from the party I was just telling you about.”

  It was too coincidental. Talk about timing. What were the odds? On autopilot, I steered us towards another opening. It wasn’t the one we came from, but I hoped it led anywhere but there. If it didn’t, whatever reason that guy just happened to be at a party in Maryland of all places, and ended up in Ireland at the same time we did would be out and the open. Since the guy hadn’t introduced himself to Brent or Maggie, my guess was that he hadn’t been there to make friends.

  We lucked out. It turned out to be another passageway that led down. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  “This looks like a dungeon,” Maggie muttered when we stepped out on the bottom.

  “I’m thinking the bars with locks on them are a dead giveaway.”

  It was dark. Only a little light came from a tiny window behind us. I glanced back to see the opening wasn’t bigger than an average shoe box. It also wasn’t covered with glass, so the outside air breezed in.

  “Do you think they use this?”

  Before I could answer her, a growl came from the other end of the long narrow corridor. Maggie didn’t hesitate. She took off in that direction.

  “Wait?” I called after her.

  She wrapped her fingers around the bars and called out, “Brent.”

  In answer, she got snapping jaws and warning barks. She let go and stepped back as the anger animal continued to snarl at her.

  “Do something Eme,” Maggie begged over the rumbling growls of the feral animal.

  “What?” I proclaimed not liking how the animal threw himself at the bars.

  “Can’t you do that mind vampire thing?”