I couldn’t take Lyla’s body again; I’d already put her through enough. And I couldn’t take Jay’s because I didn’t want to be in the body of a guy. That would be weird.
So I chose Kate because she’s close to home and she’s familiar. There’s a twinge of guilt that comes along with this breach, but my self-preservation wins out in the end. Kate is at Jay’s house when I breach her. She looks to be in the middle of gathering Mrs. Sheller’s things. Once the nausea and spinning subside, I stretch out into her skin and finish her task. I’m about to head back to the hospital when I encounter a snag.
I don’t know how to drive. Walking to the hospital will take forever so there’s really only one option. The keys are in Kate’s pocket. The car is in the drive. I could kick myself for telling my dad that I wasn’t interested in learning to drive. Then I say a silent prayer that I don’t kill us both.
Sliding into the driver’s seat, I put the keys in the ignition and turn it over. As soon as the engine is purring, I hear a voice, Kate’s voice, in my head. She knows exactly what to do and she guides me along. Using my left foot I release the emergency break and with my right hand I shift the gear into reverse. I hit the brakes suddenly more than once, but I manage to back the car out of the drive.
Driving to the hospital is tricky to say the least, but every time I start to panic, I hear Kate’s voice telling me what to do. Soon, I’m pulling into a space in the hospital parking lot. After so many setbacks, it feels amazing to accomplish something, even if it is just driving.
I run straight to the information desk and inquire about Mrs. Sheller. The helpful volunteer gives me the room number. Jay and Lyla are at Mrs. Sheller’s bedside when I arrive.
“How is she?” I ask.
“The same, stable,” Jay answers.
Setting the bag on the floor, I move to stand next to Jay. “I’m glad she’s going to be okay, Jay.”
“Thanks,” he says.
Turning to Lyla I say, “Ly, would you grab me a cup of coffee?”
“I’m not your servant, Kate.”
“Seriously? You can’t even do me a small favor?”
“Fine, I’ll be right back.”
With Lyla out of the room I take the opportunity to talk to Jay. “I have to tell you something,” I start. “And you’re not going to like it. But more importantly, no matter what, you cannot tell Lyla what I’ve done.”
“Holy shit! Mercy?”
“How did you know?”
“It’s the way you stand. Your left foot is turned in, that’s classic you.”
Looking down I see that Jay is right. My left foot is slightly turned in. “Oh.” I correct my stance.
Jay backs away from me. “What have you done?”
He’s disgusted by me. It’s written all over his face.
“Jay, I had to. They were going to take me.”
“So you took Kate? Mercy, this isn’t right, you can’t keep taking other people’s bodies.”
It infuriates me that he’s judging me and not giving me a chance to explain. “There isn’t time to make you understand why I did what I did. I need to find Gage and Nathaniel. Do you know where they are?”
He shakes his head. “They’re looking for you, I think. They could be anywhere.”
“And you have no clue? That’s helpful.”
Jay is more than offended by my sarcastic tone. “What’s with you? This isn’t you. This thing you’re becoming. It’s not you.”
“This is the new me. You’ll get over it.”
We’re both stunned by my words. Jay backs away even farther until he’s flattened against the wall.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. There’s this part of me that keeps coming forward and I can’t fight it.”
“I don’t know what’s happening to you, Mercy. I’m your friend, your best friend, so I’m trying to understand. Bur first, you took my girlfriend and then my mom nearly got killed, so my patience for this whole situation is running out at this point.”
“I’m not trying to hurt any of you.”
“I get that. I do. But it’s difficult to understand when you’re standing here in Kate’s body. Your life may have been in danger, or whatever, but that doesn’t give you the right to take hers.”
“Are you blaming me? Because this isn’t my fault. This is happening to me too. I didn’t ask for this.”
“I’m not blaming you, Mercy.”
“Well, it sounds like you are.”
I need to take a deep breath before the anger takes over completely. Fighting with Jay is not productive. He’s scared and frustrated and maybe even right that I shouldn’t have taken Kate’s body. Arguing with Jay is wasting time and I need to find Gage and Nathaniel.
“Jay, I’m really sorry. And I’ll fix this, I promise, but right now I have to go.”
Lyla returns and she senses right away that there’s tension between us. She looks at both of us accusingly, knowingly. “What’s going on?”
Silently, I plead with Jay to keep my secret. By the way he glares at me I can tell that he’s in the throes of a dilemma. He doesn’t want to help me by lying to Lyla, but he doesn’t want to upset her either.
Finally he says, “Nothing. Everything’s fine.”
Thank you, I mouth to him. To Lyla I say, “Thanks for the coffee. I’m going to go check on my … um, Eric. I’m going to go check on Eric.”
As quickly as I can, I duck out of the room and head back to the waiting room. My dad is sitting in a chair with his head tilted back against the wall. His eyes are closed, but I know he’s not sleeping.
“Eric?”
“Is something wrong? Is Sharon okay?” He’s asking about Jay’s mother.
“She’s fine,” I assure him. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about the mix up with Mercy. But I’m sure everything’s going to be fine soon.”
His expression changes. His eyes narrow and he leans closer. “Is that you, Ariana?”
All the wind sucks out of my lungs and I feel that my legs might give way at any moment. He knows! He knows? He knows about my mother. But that’s no guarantee that he knows about me as well.
Slowly, I shake my head. A small tear worms its way to the corner of my eye and hesitates only momentarily before careening down my cheek.
“Mercy?”
The single tear has company and it isn’t long before streams of moisture drench my face. My dad envelops me up in a hug that I hope will last forever. I’m no longer alone. The fear that he might hate me, or that he won’t accept me if he ever finds out what I am, is gone.
“Daddy,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh honey, I’m so happy you’re safe. I thought for sure those idiots were going to get you killed.”
Pulling back, I wipe my face and dab at the wet stain on his shirt. “What do you mean?”
“Gage and Nathaniel. They’re the reason you’re in this mess.”
My mind begins to reel. It’s one thing for my dad to know about me, but this is almost too much. And he has it wrong. Gage and Nathaniel are trying to help me. True, Gage has lied to me along the way, but I know, at the heart of it, he’s only trying to protect me.
“No,” I explain. “It’s not their fault.”
“Mercy, listen to me. You have to stay away from them. They’re going to get you killed.” He looks around to make sure no one is listening. “Your mother is at the Sheraton Grand, the penthouse suite. Go to her. She’ll help you.”
Oh God. What am I supposed to tell him now?
I have to tell him the truth. He deserves to know that there’s a chance, a real chance this time, that his wife, my mother is dead.
“I have to tell you something,” I begin. “I’ve already been to the hotel.”
The look of hope that spreads across his face is so touching and it breaks my heart to know that I’m about to dash it.
“You’ve seen her?”
I don’t need to say more because he seems to understand what I’m implying, but I need to tell him everything. “She told me The Assembled took Mom and that once they were done questioning her … ” Try as I might, I can’t finish the sentence.
“They’re lying. They won’t kill her. Not until they have you.”
“How do you know that?”
My dad rubs the back of his neck. “I just know, but not all the details. Your mother didn’t want me to know everything, she said it was better, safer for me if I didn’t.”
I already know what he doesn’t. I’m not the average Breacher. If I was, I would’ve killed Lyla. This is the bottom line. It all boils down to me. The reason Gage’s friends were killed, the reason Jay’s mother was attacked, the reason my mother was being held hostage; it’s all because of me. Unlike what I told Jay earlier, this wasn’t happening to me; it was happening because of me.
That means that it’s up to me to stop it all. It’s in my hands to be able to save everyone.
“I have to go,” I say to him. “But first, I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything.”
“Help Kate.”
He understands what I mean and so he waits.
Before I leave Kate’s body, I have to say, in case it’s my last opportunity, “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too, baby girl.”
We hug once more and he holds my face in his hands. I don’t want to let go, but I know I have to, so I close my eyes and try to break myself free. There isn’t any pain this time, only the agony of letting go of my dad.
He holds Kate’s body when she slumps over. I don’t know what he’ll tell her when she wakes, but I know he’ll cover for me.
In truth, I much prefer being in a body, even if it isn’t my own. When this first happened and I found myself in Lyla’s body, there was nothing I wanted more than to claw my way out. The dead body I breached was even worse. There is nothing creepier than that.
But being without a body at all is awful. On the outside looking in, unable to touch or communicate is torture. Of course, even without a body I can feel Nathaniel and talk to him as well, but that isn’t enough to sustain me. I can’t exist in a world where only one person has access to me. It’s too possessive, too dependent, and I want more.
I walk directly to the warehouse. The streets are relatively quiet. Only the occasional car passes me as I walk through midtown. I don’t realize until I’m across the street from it that the fire crews and investigators are gone and all that remains is a charred building.
It’s easy to get in since I don’t have a body to stop me. There’s over an inch of water on the ground. It ripples around me as I walk, but I can’t feel the moisture. I don’t know what I hope to find by coming here, maybe a clue about Gage or Nathaniel, something that will help me figure out their next move. Wandering from room to room I find nothing.
I’m about to make my exit when bolt after bolt of electricity courses through me. Crying out in pain I crash to my knees and flop over onto my back. I try to flee, I try to jump to anywhere, into anyone, but I can’t. The pain is too great. Twitching and writhing, I wish for death.
“That’s enough!” a familiar, but distant voice yells.
“But this is fun,” another voice whines. I recognize this voice as well.
Blinking and trying to focus, two shadows standing over me morph into solid images. Isadora and the girl who looks like Rae.
“Isadora, please,” I beg.
“Bind her,” Isadora instructs.
The Rae look-alike stomps down on my chest and then flips me over onto my stomach. She slips a thin metal strap around my wrists and ankles. They burn against my skin.
“Electricity,” she tells me, as if she’s reading my thoughts. “It makes you whole. This will keep you from breaching.” She jabs a needle into my neck.
It’s strange to be in this much pain and not be connected to a body. I lose consciousness.
When I wake I see that we’re in another warehouse, one that’s very similar to the one that burned to the ground. I attempt to find any means of escape, but even if I can find one, I won’t get very far while tied up. I’m going to have to be patient and wait for my opportunity.
I’m pushed into a room. I skid across the floor.
The Rae look-alike unties my hands. “Feel free to try and jump.” She laughs. “I enjoy watching you squirm.”
She slams the door behind her.
It doesn’t take me long to realize what kind of room I’m in. Gage took me to one just like it. It’s jump proof. There’s no means of escape.
I pace. I sit. I stand. The waiting is driving me crazy. The need to breach is eating at me like a craving. My hands are tingling and soon after, shaking. Gripping the sides of the cot, my legs jiggle up and down. I’ll go mad if I stay here.
To calm myself, I sit, pull my knees to my chest, and close my eyes. The vibrating and pulsing worsens and I know I have to fight it. Deep breath in, deep breath out, and count to ten. Repeat.
Soon the rapid beating of my heart slows to a normal rhythm. The craving to breach, the need, it’s still there, but I have it under control and can suppress it. I just don’t know how long I can keep it under control.
Suddenly the door bursts open. A woman is thrown inside. Before slamming the door again, the Rae look-alike says to me, “Happy homecoming.”
Quickly, I rush to the side of the woman on the floor. She’s unconscious, beaten, bruised, and barely breathing.
“Mom!” I cradle her head in my lap and brush the hair out of her face.
“Mercy,” she croaks before her head lolls to the side and she’s out again.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Gage
There are too many abandoned buildings in Midtown. Nathaniel and I have been searching forever and each time we come up empty. We’re losing time. Mercy could be dead by now. It’s time to stop aimlessly searching and think.
“This is useless,” Nathaniel yells, sharing in my frustration. “We’re never going to find her like this.”
“Give me a minute to think,” I tell him.
“To think of what! We could spend the entire night searching and still come up with nothing. God knows what could be happening to Mercy right now.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
“You’re the damn Hunter! Why can’t you think like one?”
Without the mark, I’m no longer a Hunter. But Nathaniel is right. It isn’t as though The Assembled have stripped me of my memories. I still know how to fight and how to plan, how to think like a Hunter.
“I’m an idiot,” I lament.
“Were you expecting an argument?”
“We’ve been searching in the wrong place. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before! We’ve been assuming that The Assembled are hiding in a new warehouse and that’s just what they want us to think. They’re not at a new warehouse, they’re at my warehouse.”
Nathaniel and I set off running.
A block before the warehouse we pull up and do a check around. There are bound to be lookouts. Nathaniel signals to me that he spots one on the roof. He’s heavily armed with weapons I recognize, because they’re mine.
There are two more guards on the sidewalk in front of the building. I assume there are just as many behind. We’re outnumbered and outmatched.
“This is a suicide mission,” I say to Nathaniel.
“Most definitely, little brother.”
Reaching into my jacket I take out my last two guns and hand one to him. There aren’t many bullets, but we also have knives if we need them. Something tells me we will need them.
“On three. One. Two. Three.”
We charge the entrance. Bullets fly in all directions. Nathaniel and I duck and weave. I feel heat in my arm as a bullet slices through m
y jacket. Nathaniel sees it too and he starts to make a move toward me. I shake him off. It’s only a flesh wound. He lays down cover fire for me to advance to the doors. When I’m out of harm’s way, I do the same for him. Once we reach the doors, we have to ignore the bullets from above and hope that the overhang will protect us. The guards are our main worry now. Nathaniel and I fight, trading and taking punches.
The boot of the man I’m battling hits me squarely in the jaw. I go down. My vision starts to cloud. Nathaniel rushes to my aide and defeats my attacker.
Extending his hand to me, Nathaniel pulls me to my feet. Together we dash into the building. Isadora and several guards are standing in a semi-circle just inside the door. Behind them are more men, all armed, all ready to kill.
“Hello boys,” she says with a wry smile. “So glad you could join us.”
We’re surrounded.
“Where’s Mercy?” Nathaniel asks.
Isadora’s smile grows. Her features are disarming, her beauty unmatched by any human I’ve ever seen. She has the greenest eyes in creation, hair like silk, perfect skin, not a blemish or a wrinkle in sight. Beauty like this is never bestowed upon humans. Behind her beauty there’s nothing but evil, and I only have to look deeper to see it.
“He asked you a question,” I say to her. “Where’s Mercy?”
“Paired up with a Breacher,” Isadora says. “How quickly you’ve fallen.”
A day ago, maybe even an hour ago, I would’ve felt guilty over my association with Nathaniel. But things have changed. I know that Nathaniel and Ariana were right all along. The Assembled are the problem. They’re out of control and they need to be stopped.
Unflinching I say, “Isadora, tell me what you’ve done with Mercy.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll have a ring side seat.” Isadora motions to the guard. They respond quickly, grabbing and restraining us.
They force us down the hall and into a large room, one that we previously used for extractions. I don’t like the look of this. There are machines set up and trays of instruments: shiny and threatening scalpels, saws, tweezers, and the like. Nathaniel swallows hard and looks at me, the concern evident in his expression. There’s something else about the way he looks at me, like he knows more than I do.
Into the Dark Page 17
