Mercy for the Damned

by Lisa Olsen

  “Is everything okay?”

  It took Ben a full thirty seconds to look at me, his expression unreadable. “Yes, I’m fine. You said to stop by the club anytime, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s right. Come on up to the bar, I’ll get you a drink. Or did you want to talk about something?” His behavior started to creep me out, but then he snapped out of it, finding his smile, and I relaxed.

  “I’ll take a beer, thanks. And actually, I came to talk to Parker.”

  “Oh?” My imagination ran rampant, but I didn’t ask why as I escorted him back to the bar. “Hey, Parker? If you have a few minutes, Ben wants to talk to you.”

  “Sure, shoot,” Parker replied equably.

  “I’d prefer it if we could talk in private.”

  Uh oh… That set my nerves on edge, but what could I do? I smiled blandly as Parker invited him into his office, wondering if I could get away with making myself dim to listen in on the conversation. Sure, it’d be a breach of privacy and unethical to boot, but I really wanted to do it.

  As the minutes ticked by, I decided my curiosity couldn’t hold out any longer, and my conscience came up with a compromise. I drew a draft beer for Ben, resolving to bring it to him in Parker’s office in full view. If they were getting along, I’d leave them to it. If things were getting out of hand… then I’d rethink my ethics and do what was best.

  Armed with a plan and a beer, I pushed open the door without knocking, figuring it was my best bet for gauging the real vibe of the room.

  “I know you’ve been sniffing after her,” Ben was saying, his face cold and emotionless. “I want you to back off.”

  “Last time I checked that wasn’t up to you,” Parker returned smoothly and I could tell things were descending rapidly from there.

  “Ben, it’s not like that. Parker’s my friend,” I interjected, closing the door behind me and setting the beer out of the way.

  “This doesn’t concern you, Mercy,” Ben replied without turning in my direction.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, were you threatening Parker over some other girl then?” I snorted. “I’m pretty sure I have a say in this.”

  “Mercy, why don’t you go back to the bar?” Parker never took his eyes off of Ben, his tone forced. “Let us figure this out between us.”

  “Maybe I should call Adam and we can really get the party started,” I muttered, refusing to be put off. “Guys…”

  “I’ll deal with Adam later, but for now, he needs to understand you’re off limits,” Ben interrupted, and I didn’t like the sound of that one bit.

  “Mercy, I really think you should go now,” Parker repeated, eyes still on Ben.

  “Oh for the love of God, I’m not…” the words fell out of my head when I looked back to see Ben standing there with his gun leveled at Parker’s head.

  “Maybe you’ll stop laughing out your ass now and listen to me.” Ben didn’t even look my way, his attention completely focused on Parker. “Mercy doesn’t belong with you, she belongs with me.”

  “Ben, look at what you’re doing. You’re not making any sense. I’m with Adam, not Parker, remember?” Despite the drawn gun, I didn’t think he’d use it, not really, not the Ben I knew. I knew I could freeze him at any second, but it seemed important to try and get him to lower the gun on his own. “Put the gun down.”

  “This is the only way I can get him to shut up and listen to me. You hear me now, don’t you, asshole?”

  Parker didn’t move a muscle, his eyes never leaving Ben’s face.

  “Ben, I want you to look at me.” I approached him slowly, making my voice soothing.

  “Stay out of this, Mercy, you’re too corrupted to think clearly,” Ben growled, and I took a moment to appreciate the full irony of that statement.

  “Ben, I’m warning you…” I took another step closer, but Parker broke his stance, inserting himself between me and Ben.

  “Mercy, I told you to get out of here.”

  “He won’t hurt me, he thinks he’s in love with me.” I did my best to step out from behind Parker, but Ben took advantage of the movement, closing the distance between us to jam the gun into Parker’s neck.

  “I am in love with you, Mercy. That’s why I can’t let this lowlife touch you anymore.”

  I felt the bile rise in my throat at the sudden turn for the worse, and I swallowed back the nausea, perspiration standing out on my forehead as I tried to figure out how best to handle it without one or both of them ending up shot or worse. “Ben, let’s talk, just the two of us. Let Parker go, I’m the one you want to be with.”

  “No fucking way I’m leaving you here with him,” Parker gritted his teeth against the pain as the muzzle of the gun jabbed him in the throat.

  We were getting nowhere fast. Hell, maybe I was even making it worse by sticking up for Parker? At catching a speculative gleam come into Parker’s eyes, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer; he was dangerously close to trying something stupid. With a wave, I froze them both, closing my eyes with a whispered prayer of thanks it was fast enough to keep Ben from pulling the trigger.

  That left the dilemma of how best to separate them without causing any damage. First things first, I pried the gun out of Ben’s hand and stuck it in the top drawer of Parker’s desk. Then I went to lock the door in case anyone decided to stumble in and saw them frozen like that. I was spared having to figure out how to get them apart in that condition, when they came back to life while I had my back turned. Sure enough, Parker seized the moment and I was glad I’d had enough time to take the gun out of the equation as they grappled with each other.

  “Guys! Knock it off!” I yelled, springing to try and pry them apart. Looking back, that probably wasn’t the best idea. I probably should have tried freezing Ben or even both of them again, but I got it into my head that I could wrangle them apart with my newfound strength.

  I succeeded in pushing Parker backwards, but ended up catching an elbow to the face as Ben swung around. I responded instinctively, blasting him with my Grace with enough force to send him sprawling across the desk.

  “Wow…” Parker gasped at the display of power, catching his breath as I cradled my rapidly swelling lip. “Christ, are you okay?” He tried to get a better look at it, but I waved him off, I wanted to keep an eye on Ben.

  “I’ll be fine, trust me, I heal fast.” That didn’t take away from the pain, but I didn’t let on how much my jaw throbbed. Ben stirred with a moan, and Parker took a step in his direction before I physically blocked him with a single hand. “Do not even think about it,” I growled. “I think it’s better if you go and let me talk to Ben alone now. He can’t hurt me.”

  “Are you serious, look at what he did to you?” Parker’s frown grew in direct proportion to the swelling of my lip.

  “That was an accident. I won’t let him get that close, just go, would you?”

  “Mercy, you can’t expect me to be okay with leaving the two of you alone. That guy’s a whacko.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “What if he gets it into his head that he should kill you to keep anyone else from having you if he can’t?”

  I took hold of Parker’s hand and gave it a squeeze, meeting his gaze evenly. “Just let him try.” I wasn’t afraid of Ben, I’d beaten him with a super charged fallen angel possessing him, a normal human was no trouble at all.

  “I’ll give you two minutes while I go get you some ice, after that, I’m tossing him out.”

  “I told you, I’ll be fine. You won’t even be able to see it by the end of my shift, I promise.” Parker left, darting a last nervous glance over his shoulder before closing the door, and I locked it after him as quietly as I could manage. “How are you feeling Ben?”

  He sat on the edge of the desk, rubbing his chest where I’d blasted him as if it was sore. “What did you hit me with?” he groaned. “God, did I do that to you?” Ben blanched at the sight of my face, and I started to worry how bad it looked.

  “My Grace, and yes.” I watched him caref
ully, but he didn’t seem as hostile. In fact, he looked pretty distraught.

  “I’m so sorry…”

  “I know, I’m not blaming you. It was my fault for trying to jump in between the two of you, but you have to admit, you’ve gone way out of control here.”

  “I only wanted him to leave you alone,” he shook his head glumly.

  “Ben, I think there might be something wrong with you. When I look at your aura, it’s not the same as it used to be, it’s darker…” Not black and splotchy like Weatie’s had been, but not the same, true color of his soul I’d come to expect. “I want to try a little experiment.”

  “What do you mean there’s something wrong with me,” he frowned. “I feel fine.”

  “But this isn’t you. You don’t pull your gun on people without provocation.”

  “Where is my gun anyway?” he looked around, and I caught hold of his shoulders, demanding his full attention.

  “I want to try to heal you with my Grace, will you let me?”

  “I told you, I feel fine.”

  “Then humor me.” I had no idea if it would work, I’d never tried to heal anyone’s soul before, but I had to take the shot. Before he could object, I centered myself, taking a deep, calming breath. Sending the soothing Grace into his body, I focused on suffusing his entire being with the warm, healing light. After the burst that sent him flying and the expenditure of Grace, I was fairly wiped out by the time I pulled back, but I anxiously looked to see if it had any lasting effects.

  At first his aura was dominated by the soft, golden glow, and I worried I’d given him too much. Gradually, his own indigo reasserted itself though, and to my disappointment, the dark tinge seemed just as prominent as my Grace faded.

  “That was…” Ben swallowed, searching for the right words. “I feel… You are amazing, you know that?” His head dipped as if to kiss me, but I easily held him back by the shoulder.

  “Not so amazing,” I murmured, keeping it to myself that it hadn’t worked as I’d planned. I heard Parker try the door and a string of curses when he found it locked. There wasn’t much time now.

  “I didn’t mean to hit you,” he hung his head miserably.

  “I know, you’re not thinking clearly right now,” I patted him on the shoulder.

  “Of course I am, I see things clearer than ever. I need to take you away from all this. You deserve so much better.”

  And we were firmly back where we started again.

  I stepped away from him, putting some much needed space between us. “I’m happy where I am, Ben. I’m happy with Adam.”

  “But I could make you so much happier…”

  “No, Ben, this is it.” I made my voice cold and strong, needing him to understand I was completely serious. “I wanted to try and stay friends but it’s obvious that’s not going to happen. Stay away from me and stay away from my friends and family.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “I couldn’t mean it more.” I drew my sword to emphasize my point, knowing somewhere deep down he remembered the sting of the blade. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking I won’t hurt you because I feel sorry for you. If you come near me or mine again I’ll shoot first and ask questions later, is that clear enough for you?”

  The door opened, and Parker stepped in, the glower fading from his face at the sight of my sword. “Time to go,” he said firmly, smart enough to stay behind me this time.

  Ben looked like he might say more, but at Parker’s entrance, his face shuttered closed, and he left without another word.

  Slumping against the desk, I drew in a shaky breath, releasing the shining sword as Parker shut the door and approached me with a plastic bag of ice. “Are you okay? Why did you lock the door like that, he didn’t try anything did he?”

  “No, I’m fine. I told you it’s not that bad, I’d heal it if I hadn’t worn myself out again trying to fix Ben.”

  “I take it the fix didn’t work?”

  “Not even a little bit,” my shoulders sagged tiredly. “I’m so sorry for putting you in the middle of that. If I’d known he was that unstable I never would have…”

  “It’s not a big deal. Just name your firstborn after me, and we’ll be square.” Parker nudged my shoulder with his, coming to sit beside me on the desk.

  “What if it’s a girl?” My lips curved into a smile, imagining Adam’s face when I told him I wanted to name our future bundle of joy after my boss.

  “Then she’ll be sassy like her mom and she can pull it off just fine.”

  I laughed at that, before the melancholy returned, clinging to me like a wet blanket. “That’s not something that’s in the cards for me, not for a long time.”

  “I didn’t mean tomorrow, just you know, eventually. Why, can’t angels have kids? Come to think of it, I can’t remember hearing of any half-angels in the bible.”

  “They sure can, that’s why it’s forbidden. Adam’s first wife was pregnant when they…” I drew a finger across my throat. “So now, he’s dead set against the idea, hence, the no kids for the foreseeable future. How about I name my next cat after you?”

  “Hey, I at least rate a dog,” he snorted. “What about you? Are you okay with not having kids in the foreseeable future?”

  “I don’t really have a choice, do I? I don’t want to give birth to a monstrous thing, and besides, can you imagine me trying to take care of a baby in the train wreck that is my life? You don’t exactly have a maternity uniform for me to tend bar in either, do you?”

  Parker took long seconds to process before he spoke again. “Wow, there are so many things in that reply, I don’t know where to start. Go back to the part where you said you’d have a monster baby.”

  “Maybe not a monster, but children between angels and human women were supposed to be ‘monstrous’,” I made little air quotes. “I didn’t take that as a good thing.”

  “Oh come on, who can’t use a third eye? Or a tail? It could be very useful on the playground,” he teased, drawing a smile to my lips again. “And I happen to think you’d rock a maternity vest in the club,” he cupped his hands about a foot away from my belly.

  “Not exactly my first choice. But who knows? Maybe in a couple hundred years, Adam will change his mind, and he keeps saying I should quit my job and let him take care of me anyway…”

  “Again, you’re tossing them out faster than I can field them,” Parker shook his head. “How can you talk about a hundred years or more so casually?”

  I gave a half shrug. “It’s something I might have to contend with. The more Grace I absorb, the more likely it is I’ll live at least longer if not indefinitely.” Not that I’d be able to tell for a good ten years for sure. Of all the things I had to worry about, it was one aspect that didn’t keep me up nights.

  “And the thing about quitting? When were you going to tell me about that?”

  I could hear the vulnerability in his voice even though his gaze focused on the floor. “I haven’t made any decisions yet, he mentioned it the other day for the first time. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you high and dry without a bartender, but it does sound nice not to have to be on my feet all day dodging guys looking down my top or up my skirt.”

  “If you didn’t like your job so much, how come you never said anything before?”

  “Don’t get me wrong, you know I love working here. But come on, Parker, what girl doesn’t fantasize about a rich, good looking guy who wants to take her away from all of this? I have to admit, it wouldn’t suck to be taken care of for a while.”

  We were both silent then for a while, lost to our own thoughts. “Hey, what do you have going on for Christmas? I just realized I’ll need to throw something together, especially with my mom in town. What do you say? Ready to come and play fiancé again for Christmas dinner?” It was my turn to nudge his shoulder with mine.

  “Actually, I have plans,” he patted my knee, launching himself off the desk with a little shake.

  “You do?” I
blinked.

  “Luz invited me to come spend the day with her and her kids. They’re cute little buggers. But maybe I can swing by later if you need me to make an Adam appearance.”

  All at once I realized how thoughtlessly demanding I was being. “No, of course not, you should spend the day with who you want to. I’ll tell her he’s away on a business trip or something.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. You really like Luz, huh?” I was genuinely glad for the pair of them, they were both good people and it was for the best that Parker get over his crush or whatever he’d had on me.

  “She’s pretty great,” he admitted freely. “Plus, I figure you’d clue me in if her soul was black and tarnished like my last foray into dating, right?”

  “After the way you bit my head off, you’re on your own, pal,” I snorted. “No seriously, she’s one of the good ones, witch or no. I just… forgive me if this sounds insulting but… doesn’t she come with a lot of baggage? I’ve never known you to date a woman with kids before.”

  “Hey, I like kids. That wasn’t a line of bullshit to your mom. Especially since they’ve already gone through the messy years, they’re old enough to fetch and carry now, a beer here, pass me the remote… kids are pretty handy to have around.”

  I couldn’t help but smile faintly at that. “I’d better get back out there, it’s probably starting to hit the busy time and Jilly needs to get back on the floor.” I’d almost forgotten I was on shift. I’d have to add an extra handful of awesome to her Christmas stocking for helping me out.

  “I’d better get back to my books. I’ll be out in a while to give you a break.”

  “Parker?” I paused by the door. “Be careful, okay? I’d hate it if anything happened to you.”

  “I’m too pretty to get hurt, darlin’,” he winked, pulling open the desk drawer, and I remembered sticking the gun in there. “Unless you keep dropping weapons in my lap.”

  “Oh right, leave that alone. I’ll take care of it later.” That was two of Ben’s guns in my possession now, what an odd collection.