Mercy's Protectors (Mercy Ashby Book 1)
Page 15
"I don't care, father," Hunter states. "I'll fucking kill Payne and Lucifer myself if it comes to that."
"Even at the risk of turning your brother against you?" Satan asks curiously.
"Even then."
"He won't be alone in it either," I announce. "Our entire team wants a piece of those males for what they've done to Mercy."
"They just took her this one time and made her fight one duel and a few hellhounds," Satan waves a hand dismissively.
"No, father. They held her captive for four years when she was younger. Payne, Torn, and Jerome were a few of her torturers. Her father and uncle got her out, but her father hasn't been seen since," Hunter says.
The devil's expression turns dark and deadly. "What was that?"
"Mercy has scars all over her body, they tortured her for four years. She was twelve when she finally escaped them."
The room shakes as Satan's power leaks through, powered by his anger.
"And you're sure your brother knows about this?" He growls.
"Yes. A demon matching Torn's description was one of the demons that would visit her to torture her."
“He's having a fairly strong reaction for someone he doesn't know,” I say to Hunter.
“It's not that he's pissed they tortured her. He doesn't give a fuck about that. What he gives a fuck is that not only has Payne lied to him, but so has Torn. Especially since it seems like Mercy is some sort of big deal, the fact that she was held under my father's nose? It's an embarrassment that he didn't know about it. They made a fool of him. They will be punished thoroughly now,” Hunter explains.
“Seriously?”
“Dude, he's the devil. He's got his own set of rules.”
I suppose that's true. I've heard stories from several people about the devil. A lot of those stories say that he's a pretty chill guy. Unless you manage to piss him off. Although, they also say that he's not that hard to piss off. The weirdest things have set his temper alight in the past.
"Someone should probably search this place for more of Payne's prisoners," I suggest. "If he was lying about having Mercy here, who knows who else he has here that shouldn't be."
Satan sighs. "You're right. I'll send a few members of the guard to do just that." He leaves the room, presumably to talk to the guards.
I look down at Mercy's sleeping form and gently move a lock of hair off her face. Now that she's healed she looks better, though she's still pale and shaking slightly from the hellhounds poison.
"I had a feeling that things were going to change for you," Hunter says softly as he moves to on the other side of Mercy to perch on the bed beside her.
"What do you mean?"
He chuckles. "How things were with you and Mercy. That wasn't you. I knew that you'd start to see that the way you were acting was fucked up and you'd change it."
My lip twitches into a smirk. "She's different, that's for sure. Honestly, I probably wouldn't be as accepting of her if it weren't for all the talks you and the other guys gave me over the past few weeks."
"You know you should tell her why you acted the way you did."
I let out a breath. "I know. It's still just pretty hard to talk about. When she showed up all that bullshit just came right back."
"Dude, you don't have to explain it to me. You do however need to explain it to Mercy."
"She's still wary of me," I admit. "I can see it in her eyes. There's no guarantee that she'd even believe me anyway."
"You're not giving her enough credit, Talon," Hunter says. "Yeah, she's wary of you and your intentions right now because of the way you acted. She's a pretty understanding person. She won't hold it against you."
"I guess we'll see."
26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Mercy
My eyes flicker open and I take in my surroundings with my brows furrowed. "Uh, who's that?" I ask, rather rudely pointing at a teenage guy at the foot of the bed next to Satan.
Hunter snorts a laugh. "That's the healer."
I purse my lips. "Oh. Um, hi. Thanks for healing me," I say awkwardly, making everyone in the room chuckle.
The guy nods and smiles. "Hi, and you're welcome."
"Well, Mercy, it's my understanding that you were set to duel with the spies of the Order?" Satan asks.
"Yes."
"Even though Payne is gone, you are not being held to that duel unless you wish it so. Do you wish to fight with them before dinner?"
"No." He almost looks disappointed by my answer. "However, I would like to speak to them. I have questions."
"After dinner," he allows. "I'm starving. Let's go take advantage of the feast that Payne had prepared, shall we?"
"Of course, father," Hunter says as he helps me off the bed.
It's an extra hour after dinner is finished before Satan has his guards lead Ada and Aiden into the sitting room after we're seated.
I look up and meet Talon's eyes when he grabs my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. I'm sure my confusion is written plainly on my face.
Talon brings my hand to his mouth and brushes his lips against my skin, sending tingles of awareness creeping up my arm. "I'll explain everything to you later," he promises.
"O-okay." I lick my suddenly dry lips. The doors opening at the other end of the room draw my attention as Ada and Aiden walk through.
The guards have a firm grip on their arms as they lead them into the room and I narrow my eyes when I see their vacant expressions. I wasn't paying too much attention to Aiden's face or eyes when he came into the room with Payne earlier so I didn't notice how... wrong he looked.
I walk to them, rolling my eyes as Talon and Hunter stiffen slightly at my actions. Thankfully they don't follow me, otherwise, they'd be getting chewed out. I study Ada and I don't see any of the fire in her gaze that was burning when we fought my first night at the Order. Turning my attention to Aiden I notice that the spark of curiosity and friendliness in his eyes is gone as well.
The lights are on for both of them, but it's like there's no one home.
I turn to face Satan and ask. "What's wrong with them?" Silence greets my question. I grind my teeth and try again. "What is wrong with them?"
Hunter sighs. "If a someone's mind has been controlled for too long or too much by my brother or my father, they have a tendency to turn into something that resembles a zombie."
"Meaning what exactly?"
"They're essentially just vegetables, Mercy," he explains. "Sure, they can move but that doesn't mean they're there mentally."
"How can we fix this?" I ask.
Satan laughs hard. "You can't fix it, girl. The only way to free them from that state is by killing them."
I balk and snap, "Are you fu-"
He interrupts me, his voice hard. "They're practically dead anyway. They already betrayed you guys right? So won't they be dead anyways? I know my son doesn't tolerate betrayal anymore than I do."
I stalk over to him to object but Hunter and Talon each grab an arm, halting me in my tracks.
The devil chuckles darkly. "You're too soft," he says a split second before lifting a hand and pointing his finger at the two beings behind us. The blasting heat and smell of fire fill my nostrils mixed with burning flesh and it's not a pleasant smell in the least. "Take them out of here," he orders to the guards that had escorted Ada and Aiden into the room.
I turn to watch as the guards drag the bodies out into the hall and have to fight to keep myself from snapping at the devil for being such a dick. I know it won't take much for him to turn on me.
Satan wipes his hands together and relaxes back into a chair, holding his arms out. "Now, Mercy," he starts sounding chipper, "how would you like to know about why this stuff has been happening to you?"
I narrow my eyes at him. "Is that a trick question?"
He smirks. "No, not a trick question."
I feel Hunter's hand rest on the small of my back and it makes me feel a little bit better that I have his and Talon's
support. Although it makes me wonder how everything is with the others. I plan to find out as soon as the demon in front of us tells us what he knows. "Okay. I guess it would be nice to know."
"Good," he says with a clap of his hands. "Take a seat and let me tell you a story."
The End
Book 2 of the Mercy Ashby series, Mercy’s Destiny will release in late March, early April 2018. Keep your eye out for updates <3
First, I want to thank my family for giving me the time I need to get this book written and understanding when I just couldn’t stop writing because Mercy and the guys wouldn’t shut up lol.
Cayden, thank you for dealing with my book babbling, even though, I’m quite sure I drive you nuts sometimes.
Edwynna, thank you for taking my two older girls for a few hours every other week while the baby sleeps so I can focus most of my energy on writing instead of breaking up fights lol.
Cece Rose, you’re by far one of the most amazing people I’ve come across in the book world, along with your co-author Gem. You guys have been such a huge help to me in writing my very first reverse-harem novel and I couldn’t love you guys even more than I do now. Thank you so much for welcoming me into your lives.
Elle Cross, dude you saved my ass when I needed a demoness name and I just couldn’t think of one, so you provided Damiana’s name and it was perfect haha. So thank you so much for that.
About the Author
A.M. (or Autumn) Hardin was born and raised in Holland, Michigan. She’s married with three girls. Her favourite books always depends on her mood, though her tastes are very eclectic. As long as it’s romance there’s a high chance she has or plans to read it. When she doesn’t have a book in her hand or spending time with her family she can be found writing in either a notebook or on her computer.
amazon.com/author/amhardin
https://www.facebook.com/authoramhardin/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1473777909406487/