Mercy's Protectors (Mercy Ashby Book 1)

by A. M. Hardin

  Bastard failed to mention more than one fight. Fucker.

  Her face falls slightly before an arrogant mask slips into place. "Of course, my love."

  I roll my eyes. "Whatever, let's get this shit over with."

  Hunter's father laughs outright. "She's eager to hurt is she?"

  My eyes cut to him before I make my way to the glass doors that lead outside with Payne and Jerome directing me.

  Outside there's a large pit that I'm assuming will be where I'll be fighting. Movement in the pit draws my attention. I glare at Payne.

  "Are you fucking serious right now?" I demand, pushing away from him. I don't make it far before his hand is clasped around my throat and I'm being dragged back towards him and in his face.

  "Oh, I am very serious, Mercy. I want to see what you can do. Why would I make this easy on you?" He taunts.

  Twin growling sounds from behind me and I instinctively know that it's Talon and Hunter and they aren't at all happy by the way Payne's got hold of me. Payne smirks at them and lets me go.

  I rub my throat to ease the ache his grip caused. "You have hellhounds down there. You expect me to fight your people and deal with hellhounds at the same time?"

  He shrugs. "It should be simple enough for you." His grin turns feral. "That is, if you are who everyone thinks you are."

  "Hellhounds only answer to their masters or to supremely powerful upper level demons. They're also hard as fuck to kill, but you still expect me to do it don't you?" I ask, appalled.

  "Of course. It'll be fun."

  "I can't wait until I kill you," I growl at him.

  "It'll never happen, Mercy. You know that," he says with a smug smile. "Now, be a good girl and go fight."

  I don't get the opportunity to say anything else because he pushes me over the edge of the pit, making me roll down the hill, rather ungracefully.

  I get to my feet in time to dodge a hellhound coming right for my throat. I back away, keeping alert for the other two hellhounds that are in the pit with me and shout up at Payne, "You're one dead motherfucker as soon as I get the opportunity, you fucking bastard!"

  It was bad enough that he is making me do this stupid fight but the fact that he added hellhounds and pushed my already unhappy ass down into the pit without warning? Yeah, now I'm fucking pissed and I want his blood.

  The hellhounds all pounce at me at once. Fuck.

  I dodge quick enough to get past two of them but the third one manages to tackle me to the ground and wastes no time in going in for a bite.

  My mouth opens in a scream as the hellhound bites into my shoulder, red hot pain lances through me as the wound sizzles in its mouth from its poisonous saliva.

  Hellhound saliva isn't poisonous to all supernatural creatures but for some reason it is poisonous to half-demons. At least, it’s poisonous if it gets in their bloodstream.

  It's only deadly if you don't have the antidote within the first twenty four hours. Thankfully, I've got a bit of time to get that damn antidote.

  Yanking my dagger off my hip - thank fuck Payne gave me a few of my weapons back - I reach back and slice into the hellhound's leg. It whelps and lets me go, giving me enough wiggle room to push it off to the side and get up in time to avoid one of the other hellhounds coming at me.

  Jesus.

  A hellhound comes to stand in front of me and growls at me. I snarl and snap my teeth at it. It's head tilts like it's confused by my actions but the growl is still rumbling in its chest, it's blood-red eyes fixed on me.

  The other hellhounds surround me and each of them take turns snapping their teeth and growling at me while circling me, waiting for a weak spot. My legs are a little wobbly from being thrown down here and adding the wound on my shoulder isn't helping at all but I'm still sturdy enough to move when needed.

  From my peripheral I can see the she-demon Damiana make her entrance in the pit, but most of my attention is focused on the hellhounds surrounding me.

  Damiana's brow furrows when she realizes that the hellhounds aren't actually attacking me, just growling and snapping at me.

  "What's the meaning of this? Attack!" She bites out at the hounds.

  I grab the other dagger off my waist on time for the hounds to pounce at the she-demon's orders.

  Lovely, looks like she's one of the few demons who can command them. Fuck my fucking life.

  I dodge one hound, clipping another in the jaw with my foot and slicing at the other with my dagger. Over and over we go through the dance. They get a few good bites and scratches in on me while Damiana stands off to the side with a smug smirk in place.

  Bitch is hiding behind the hounds. I’d laugh if I had the energy to do so while attempting to fight off these damn dogs.

  My entire body is covered in hellhound bite and scratch marks, my blood flows freely to the earth beneath us. Thankfully, I'm not the only one bleeding and tiring out.

  “You've got this Mercy, just remember what your uncle taught you,” Hunter says encouragingly into my mind.

  “I don't know how much longer I can keep this up.” I grit my teeth as one of the hounds manage to bite into my leg, tearing my jeans and skin.

  Fucking shit hole that hurts.

  I bring my dagger down and stab the hellhound in its side. It promptly lets me go and limps backward.

  “Don't give up Mercy.” Hunter's words should have sounded encouraging, but all it did was irritate me. I don't want to give up but I can't keep being these fucking things chew toy.

  "Just fucking stop!" I shout out loud without realizing it.

  The air grows eerily quiet except for Damiana's outraged shriek. Even the hounds have stopped growling. I frown when I notice they're looking at me, panting and wearing an expectant expression. Well, as expressive as they can get, being the dogs of hell.

  "Uh, sit?" I say in an admittedly shaky voice. The hellhounds automatically obey, sitting on their butts and wagging their tails as their tongues roll out of their mouths. Holy shit. If it weren't for the red eyes and their huge size they'd look like a regular dog.

  What. The. Hell?

  24

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Mercy

  "No!" Damiana shrieks. "Kill her!"

  The hellhounds don't move. They merely stare at me. I look around at the crowd gathered around the pit and notice most of them staring down at me in a mixture of shock, awe, and fear.

  What the hell is going on?

  Damiana stomps towards me, pulling a sword out of nowhere. "Fine," she growls, "I'll do it myself."

  The hounds' ears twitch at the sound of Damiana's steps and they turn to face her, growling.

  Uh, what? Why are they suddenly protecting me when a minute ago they were using me as nothing more than a chew toy. I don't get it.

  “Hunter,” I call out while Damiana's steps falter at the sight of the hounds protecting me. “What the hell is going on?”

  “I don't know. Use it to your advantage. I'll talk to my father and see if he can tell me what he knows.”

  Lovely. Well, at least I'm not the only one who's confused by this weird turn of events.

  And what did he mean by "use it to my advantage?" They may be protecting me right now but there's no guarantee that they'll obey me.

  Fuck it. What do I have to lose?

  "Kill her," I order the hounds quietly, hoping that for once I've got luck on my side. One by one they jump into action and attack Damiana.

  I stay rooted in place, jaw dropped and eyes wide, as I watch Damiana attempt to fight off the hellhounds. It doesn't take long before she can't fight them anymore and I have to pull my eyes away from the scene in front of me as her screams and cries echo through the air. She didn't even try to get away from them, thinking that she could get control over them again, but it didn't work.

  Why couldn't she get control over them? How the hell did I, a half-demon, suddenly gain control over them? None of this makes any fucking sense.

  Finally, Damiana's screams quiet
, the only sounds are the hounds eating the body. It sounds suspiciously like a zombie eating flesh in those zombie movies, just with a lot more snarling and growling.

  I look in the direction of Payne, Hunter, and Talon and I'm not at all surprised to see Payne's bored expression. I am, however, surprised to see the unadulterated anger on Hunter and Talon's face.

  No one claps, it's completely silent until the devil himself bursts into loud, boisterous laughter. Everyone turns to look at him with wide eyes.

  "Payne, you said that you didn't believe she was the girl the stories spoke of," he chastises after laughing for a solid five minutes. His expression is no longer showing the laughter he expressed a second ago. Now he just looks pissed.

  I hold my breath, unsure about what's going on. Taking in the faces of everyone at the top of the pit I notice that they're all wearing the same wary expressions, except for Payne. He's still looking rather sick of all of this.

  "I didn't believe she was," Payne says, dispassionately. His fingers twitch slightly, indicating that he just lied to the devil. Fucking idiot. I always knew when he’d lie to me because of that tell of his.

  Satan glares at him and takes a step towards him, seeming to relish when Payne takes an involuntary step back.

  "You knew she was who they spoke of," Satan says menacingly. "However, not only did you lie and say you didn't know, you just lied to me again." The devil smirks. "You know what I do to people who make me unhappy, Payne."

  "My Lord," a new voice belonging a man who looks exactly like a slightly older version of Payne. This must be Lucifer. "Please reconsider." He bows his head to Satan as he enters their little circle. "Payne is my only surviving child."

  "Then your children should know better by now than to test me, Lucifer," Satan states, matter-of-factly.

  "Of course, My Lord. May I suggest an alternative punishment?" Lucifer asks. Satan raises an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue. "Perhaps just put him in the dungeons for as long as you desire, instead of killing off my last child?"

  Satan eyes the male in front of him for a moment before turning to stare back at Payne. "You better be glad that I owe your father a debt, and that these are your first infractions, boy. He just saved your miserable life. Take him away," he orders to a couple guards in the room.

  Payne's hands are clenched as he meets my eyes before the guards reach him. "I will have you Mercy," he vows when the guards start pushing him away and out of the room.

  Satan turns to the other guests littered throughout the room, including Lucifer. "Leave us." He motions for Hunter and Talon to stay and I nearly fall over with relief that I'm not going to be expected to face the devil on my own.

  Talk about fucking intimidating.

  And scary as shit.

  He turns to two guards beside him and says, "Collect the girl. Bring her up here. I want to talk to her."

  I narrow my eyes at the guards as they come close, but I order the hounds to stand down as they start growling at the new threats in front of us.

  They reach out to grab my arms. I jerk out of reach. "Don't touch me," I hiss. I slam my fist into one of the guards chest when he goes to reach for me again. He doesn't even blink before trying again. "Get your fucking hands off of me."

  They continue to ignore me. They manage to grab hold of my arms and start dragging me, while I struggle to get out of their grasp, out of the pit.

  Hunters voice stops us all. "Get your damn hands off her! She can walk on her own," he snaps.

  I flip off the guards and walk ahead of them, quickly making my way to Hunter and Talon's sides where they stand in front of the devil.

  "That was a peculiar reaction, son," Satan says with a quirk of an eyebrow and a smirk on his lips. "Explain it to me."

  Hunter reaches out telepathically to me before speaking out loud. “Don't react to what I'm about to say in a negative way. It's not meant as disrespectful in any way.” "Mercy belongs to us."

  The words he spoke confuse me, though I don't show it. It wasn’t necessarily the words as it was the way he spoke them. With finality. No argument.

  "Belongs to who?" Satan asks impatiently.

  "My team," Hunter says casually.

  The devil raises an eyebrow at his son. "Really?" he drawls. "Your whole team?" He cuts his eyes to Talon. "You as well? Even though I know how much you despise half-demons?"

  Talon keeps his gaze on Satan. I bite the inside of my cheek, more than a little confused. I wasn’t expecting Hunter to say the entire time. Him and War, yeah, but not all of them. "Yes," Talon answers. "Mercy's different."

  Satan smirks and looks me up and down. "I'll just bet she is." I stiffen, not at all liking the sound of that.

  “Calm, Mercy,” Talon instructs. His deep voice echoing in my head for the first time startles me to the point that I look up at him, meeting his ocean blue eyes.

  “I'm plenty calm,” I say snarkily.

  His lip twitches in the corner. “Sure you are.” He pauses and I take the time to look between him and Hunter, wondering how long they were planning to tell Hunter's dad that they were all involved with me.

  “How're you doing?” Talon asks after a few minutes of listening to the devil and Hunter talk while the devil eyes me up, making me incredibly uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

  “Honestly? I've been better.” My breathing's becoming heavier and I can feel the hellhound poison running through my body like a painful stinging sensation vibrating through my veins. It hurts like a bitch and I know I've lost quite a bit of blood too, so I feel like shit warmed over. I touch his arm gently before I can stop myself. “Thank you.”

  “For?”

  “For coming with Hunter.”

  His lips curve slightly. “I was here before Hunter was. Hunter had me following you. I was there when Jerome took you and I followed him. Although, I went to a couple other places to see if you were there first. When Hunter discovered where you were he told me and I came straight here.”

  “If Hunter knew where I was why did he send you?” I ask.

  “Because he was dealing with his dad and couldn't get to you before he could convince his father to come crash the party Payne planned on throwing. Satan already knew that Torn would be here. What Satan didn't know was that Payne already knew you were who he thought you were and tried to hide it. After watching you with the hellhounds he couldn't deny it to him any longer.”

  “If Payne knew then there's a high chance that Torn knew too,” I point out.

  “And that doesn't bode well for him. From what I've heard from Hunter, Satan doesn't tolerate insubordination from his sons and daughters. Their punishments are usually more severe.”

  “That's fucked up.”

  “That's the devil,” he says smugly.

  25

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Talon

  “How're your wounds doing?” I ask Mercy, not willing to ask out loud in front of several people we don't know.

  “They hurt like a bitch,” she says and I chuckle inwardly at the slight whine to her tone. “Hellhound poison sucks. Remind me to never get bit by one of those bastards again.”

  I curse. I didn't think of that since she's not a full-demon that the poison will actually affect her body and work faster and harder through her body. Since she's got so many wounds from their bites she's probably only got a short time left before it renders her unconscious and fevered.

  "Hunter," I say, interrupting whatever he was about to say to his father. He looks at me. "We need a healer for Mercy."

  "Shit," Hunter curses as he finally takes a good look at the paleness of her skin and panting breaths.

  Satan gestures to a guard. He quickly leaves the room, presumably to get a healer for Mercy.

  "Let's go sit down," Hunter suggests, lifting Mercy into his arms and carrying her back inside.

  "God damn it, I can walk you know," Mercy groans. "I'm not an invalid."

  Satan laughs. "She's a stubborn one I see. T
hose are always the fun ones. I hope you boys are up for that challenge."

  The devil leads us to a bedroom and Hunter lays Mercy on top of the bed.

  "I'm not made of porcelain," Mercy grumbles, making Hunter chuckle.

  "I know that. It doesn't mean I have to just toss your ass on the bed."

  She shrugs but otherwise doesn't say anything.

  A minute later the door opens again to reveal the guard and a teenage boy, maybe about fourteen.

  "Your healer, My Lord," the guard says before bowing his head respectfully and exiting the room.

  "Ah yes. Come, boy, heal the girl so we can eat," Satan orders.

  "I'm just gonna take a nap, guys," Mercy says softly, drawing our attention to her as she slurs the words, her eyes already closed.

  The boy nods, his expression curious as he comes near the bed where Mercy lays.

  "Are these hellhound bites?" he asks as he lays a hand on Mercy's forehead.

  "Yes," Hunter confirms.

  The boy closes his eyes for a moment before opening again. "She needs the antidote to the poison coursing through her body right now. I can heal her wounds but I can't do anything about the poison without the antidote."

  Satan releases a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. Heal her then go get the antidote and bring it back here for her."

  He nods and we watch as Mercy's wounds slowly close and knit themselves together. He removes his hand from her forehead and looks between us. "She's lost quite a bit of blood so she'll be tired for a while. She most likely won't even wake up until the antidote is in her."

  "Thank you," I mutter as the boy walks past me to leave.

  Satan looks at me for a second before moving his gaze to Hunter. "You understand that I can't kill Payne right?"

  A growl rumbles through my chest.

  Hunter snarls. "I'm aware of that. That doesn't mean you can't make him hurt."

  The devil studies his son as if he was seeing him for the first time as he scratches his cheek. "He's your brothers closest friend. I plan to torture him a little for lying to me in the first place but I can't do much without risk of pissing off Lucifer and your brother."