Mercy's Battle (Mercy Ashby Book 3)

by A. M. Hardin

  The guys all exchange looks before letting Hunter take the lead. “Other than looking for you, we’ve been dodging the Order’s summons and searching for any news on Torn. It won’t be long before the Order gets sick of waiting for us to come back and they send someone after us.”

  “Why does the Order want you guys to come back?”

  Hunter hesitates, but lets out a sigh when I narrow my eyes at him. “They know about you turning rogue. They wanted us back so that they could make sure that we didn’t try to save you.”

  I look around the group, frowning. “Uh, why? Wouldn’t they want to know if something like that was possible?”

  Parker runs a hand down my back. “It’s not that simple, Sunshine.”

  I look at their shifty expressions and narrow my eyes.“What are you guys not telling me?”

  “Talon,” Hunter says pointedly, “you’re the one who found out.”

  Talon growls, crossing his arms across his broad chest. “The Order put a hit out on you when they heard you went rogue.”

  I stare at him, stunned and at a loss for words. “What?” I finally choke out.

  “They put out a hit,” Talon repeats. “Orders were to kill on sight.”

  I gape for a minute. “Even though they knew what you guys had planned?”

  “Yeah,” Kai says gruffly.

  “They wanted to get to you first,” War announces. “Thankfully, we managed to get to you before they did.”

  Yes, thank fucking god for that.

  “Are they going to take down the order when they find out that I’m back?”

  Hunter runs a hand through his hair. “Honestly? I’m betting they won’t. Mainly because no good has come from someone turning rogue and it’s damn near unheard of for someone to come back after they’ve gone down that path. They won’t want to chance you turning back into a rogue. I think if it was someone that hadn’t-” He cuts off and I frown when he doesn’t continue.

  “What? Just finish what you were saying, Hunter,” I demand when he hesitates.

  “If you hadn’t caused as much destruction as you did, I don’t think they’d have a problem with you being back to normal,” he finally says, wincing.

  My stomach churns. What the hell did I do?

  I’m tempted to ask, for the simple reason that I’m honestly not sure if not knowing is worse than knowing.

  Chapter 7

  Mercy

  "Are you guys just going to spend all your time dodging me at every opportunity?" I ask my dad and uncle who are apparently hiding out in the library, anger dripping from my voice.

  My dad winces as my uncle sighs. "We're not avoiding you," Roderick lies.

  I glare at him as I cross my arms over my chest. "Bullshit. I've been back for over a week. You said you would talk to me later. I didn't think that meant that you would avoid me like the plague."

  My uncle stands up as if he's going to walk away. He pauses when I growl.

  "No! Sit your ass back down." Roderick raises an eyebrow at me but does as I say. "I'm well aware that I fucked up, but I'm back. It would be nice if half of my family didn't start avoiding me over things I didn't really have any control of." I take a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. "Why are you avoiding me?"

  I did my best to keep the hurt out of my voice but I don't think I managed because my dad's face grows pained as my uncle looks at anything but me.

  "It's just a lot to wrap our heads around," Roderick says quietly.

  "You coming back from being a rogue and staying normal. . ." My dad pauses as he thinks through his next words. He sighs. "It's just not normal, Mercenary. It honestly has both of us on edge. We don't know how you'll be affected by what happened."

  "So, then, why are you guys on edge but no one else is?" I snap. "Hunter's stronger than you both, and you know it. So why does my being back make you guys nervous, but it doesn't affect Hunter in any negative way?"

  "Hunter is stronger, yes," my dad admits before letting his sentence hang out there.

  "But he won't be willing to put you down if it's needed," Roderick says bluntly. My jaw drops. "Your father and I would hate doing it, but if it's what's necessary then we will put you down. I suggested to your father that we keep our distance in case the worst happens."

  A sharp pain in my chest leaves me breathless. Instead of showing them the pain those words caused, I blank my face and make sure my voice is completely deadpan. "In other words, you don't have faith in me." I look between my dad and my uncle. The two men who I've looked up to my entire life. And they didn't believe that I could beat back any darkness left over. That hurt. So much more than I was willing to admit out loud. "Good to know."

  I turn around and without another word walk out of the library, ignoring my dad's attempts to call me back.

  I keep walking until I find the little pond on the edge of the property. Sitting down and staring at the pond, I pull my legs to my chest, wrapping my arms around them as silent tears fall down my face.

  I know I fucked up. I may not know exactly what I did, but when I sleep I get flashes of a lot of disasters, destruction, and a lot of death. I don't know what I can do to prove to them that I'm me again. I feel a little off still, even after almost two weeks of being back to normal, but I'm still me.

  Footsteps rustle the grass behind me, but I don't turn to look to see who it is, figuring it’s one of the guys. The smell of brimstone follows a gust of wind and I tense before turning my head slightly to look behind me.

  About ten feet away there's a hellhound pup walking towards me. It doesn't seem to be hostile, but not wanting to take any chances, I quickly stand up and watch it move towards me. It lets out a little yip and bounds to me, it's tail waving excitedly. What the hell? I've never seen a hellhound act that way.

  I take a step back but don't move again when the pup whines at me. I frown. That was weird. It's acting as if it was hurt that I would back away from it.

  The hellhound sniffs the air around me as it moves closer, slower this time. Once the pup gets close enough it licks my shoe once then rests it's two front paws on my legs and whines up at me, his red eyes begging. "What?" I ask it, still thoroughly confused.

  The pup barks once and pants, letting it's tongue flop out of the side of its mouth.

  It almost looks like it's smiling.

  "You must have bonded to him," War says from the side of me. I look up and see War and Talon standing a few feet away. I was so distracted by the hellhound that I didn't even notice them walking up to me.

  "What?" My brows furrow as I run his words through my head again.

  "The pup. It's bonded to you, Mercy," War repeats. "It had to have happened when you were rogue."

  I look down at the pup as it yips at me, seeming to want my attention. I bend over and pick up the pup. "I didn't even realize that they were so small when they're pups. They're fucking huge when they're fully grown."

  "Yeah, that one looks like it might have been a runt though," War muses, tilting his head to the side as he watches the puppy lick my neck. Weirdly, it wasn't irritating or painful in the least like it would have been a few months ago.

  "How did it find me?" I ask quietly, meeting his eyes.

  "If it bonded with you, it can find you anywhere, at any time."

  "How are the others going to react to him?" Talon asks, almost sounding reluctant to ask the question.

  War sighs. "I honestly don’t know. Hunter probably won't give a shit either way, but everyone else might be a little wary."

  "I'm wary," Talon admits. "But I'm not going to demand that the hound leave. Cats and dogs can live together peacefully. Sometimes."

  I snicker and bite my bottom lip to try and swallow it back down. "They can, but he might not like your cat form."

  Talon smirks at me and shrugs. "It is what it is. I don't like the dog now, but that could always change. As long as it doesn’t bite you, I won't have an issue."

  War chuckles. "He won't bite her. If anything,
the bond helps with that little issue."

  I frown. "What do you mean?"

  "Your body won't react as harshly to the poison in their saliva as it would have before. With hellhound saliva being poisonous to half-demons, if it's potent enough or the hound is old enough, just being licked by a hellhound can have some nasty consequences. But now, you won't be affected unless you're bitten by a hellhound. And you control them anyway, so it won't make a difference. You're able to stop them before they bite you."

  I tilt my head, conceding that. "You have a point."

  Not that I really want to be able to control freaking hellhounds, but I guess I can't be too picky about my abilities, because they’ve saved me once before.

  Wanting to change the subject from my freaky abilities I look between them. "What brought you guys out here?"

  "We felt your pain," War says simply.

  "We figured that it was better if only one or two of us came out to check on you," Talon admits.

  Speaking of freaky abilities. Whatever the guys did to bring me back? It made it so that we were all connected and they could feel what I was feeling. So far we don't know of any other side effects, but I'm not convinced it's the only one.

  "I'm fine," I lie. I'm not really sure why I'm lying, I just don't want to talk about it right now.

  "We know you're lying," Talon says with a smirk.

  "But, we won't bug you about it," War finishes, flashing me a smile.

  I smile sadly at them. "Thank you." Still cuddling the puppy, I move to stand between them. "Let's go see what the others are up to."

  "As the lady wills it," War says in an overly dramatic voice.

  I laugh as they lead me to the garden on the other end of the house where the rest of my men are talking with Xena. Xena's animated, waving her hands around as she talks, and I know when she gets like that, she's either had a vision or she's pissed.

  My guess is she had a vision.

  Xena's eyes catch on me as we get closer and her mouth snaps shut. I narrow my eyes at the movement, realizing that whatever it is, it's something that they don't want me knowing about.

  Suspicion and hurt war within me. War rubs his hand up and down my back soothingly, but my emotions must have warned the others that I was here because they each turn to face me, their faces carefully blank.

  "What's going on?" I ask as we approach, a small smile on my face as I try to push my feelings aside.

  "Nothing," Xena answers quickly, before the others can even open their mouths.

  I grind my teeth together, in an attempt to not snap at my best friend. "Really? It didn't seem like nothing."

  Xena opens her mouth to say something, but Hunter holds up a hand, cutting her off. "She deserves to know."

  "Know what?" I ask suspiciously.

  Xena sighs. "I had a vision." Ha. I was right. "About Jerome."

  My jaw drops. "What?"

  I haven't heard or seen anything of Jerome in a long time. Well, to my own limited knowledge of the past six months, I haven't.

  "What about him?"

  "He's meeting a demon at some warehouse not far from here. Tonight. The guys wanted to know about anything that could be a potential danger to you so I was just telling them about it."

  "And you guys were planning on going?" I ask, looking directly at Hunter.

  He nods. "Yes. We're going to get him and bring him back here for questions. He has to know where Torn is since he was also his lackey, not just Payne's. I need you and Xena to stay with your family while we-"

  "No," I snap, cutting him off. "I'm going with you. You can't just shove me aside, Hunter!"

  "That's not what I'm doing," he says patiently.

  "Yes it is. I'm not going to hide behind you guys. You know that’s not the kind of person I am. I can take care of myself. You're not going to keep me in some stupid little bubble."

  "Mercy, we don't know how you'll react if there's fighting involved," Kai says, bringing my attention to him.

  I glare at each of them. "I'm going. There's not a damn thing you can do to stop me. I'll follow after you assholes and you know I will."

  Hunter sighs. His eyes fall to the hellhound puppy I'm holding and he frowns. "Why are you holding a hellhound?"

  "He's just a puppy." I frown at the distaste in his tone.

  "I'm aware that he's a puppy, Doll, but that doesn't explain why the hell you're holding one."

  "He's mine," I snap, getting annoyed at the tone he's using. Like I'm a naughty child, bringing home stray animals that no one wants.

  "What do you-" Hunter cuts off as realization dawns on his face and he shakes his head, chuckling silently. "Ah. I suppose that makes sense."

  "What makes sense?" Parker asks, looking from the hound, to me, then to Hunter.

  "The pup bonded to her. Most likely when she was rogue because she didn't have a bonded pup when she was last here."

  "What does that mean?" Kai asks, eyeing the hound warily.

  "Pretty much that he's her guard dog. He can find her anywhere. He can feel what she's feeling. He will do whatever he has to to protect her," Hunter explains.

  "Shit," Kai says with awe. "That's kind of awesome. I didn't know hellhounds did that."

  "Neither did I," Parker adds quietly.

  I look at Xena and find her watching me closely but she doesn't say anything. We haven't talked as much as we used to, but I think it's mainly because she's been busy with my mom and Vivian. Without a word, Xena turns and walks back into the house.

  I ignore the bite of pain that causes, because god knows, I probably deserve it.

  Chapter 8

  Mercy

  I clench my teeth to try to keep myself from snapping at my mom. I know she's just worried and she means well, but damn it. I am not a little kid.

  "Sweetie, I think that maybe you should just sit this out for now. There's nothing wrong with waiting."

  "I actually agree with your mother," my dad says softly.

  I glare at him. "Yeah, you would." I shake my head, holding my hands out. "I'm not arguing with you guys about this anymore. I'm going."

  My mom sighs and nods. "Alright. I know better than to try talking you out of it again. Just make sure you stay safe, okay?"

  I give my mom a warm smile. "I will be fine. There's nothing to be worried about. We'll be gone and back before you know it."

  A tic starts in my dad's jaw and I know he's trying to keep his mouth shut before he pisses me off. I look up and meet Roderick's eyes a split second before he turns away, his jaw clenched just as tight as my dad's.

  I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from saying anything about their lack of trust in me or about how much they hurt me by not believing in me.

  "Let's get going," Hunter announces. "We'll be teleporting there instead of driving. Xena was able to figure out exactly where their meeting is happening, but I don't want to take a car and alert anyone watching that we're on our way."

  War grabs my hand and sets a hand on Parker's shoulder a split second before the library around us disappears. We appear on the roof of one warehouse in the middle of nowhere next to Hunter, Talon, and Kai.

  "Because this isn't sketchy at all," I send the thought to everyone.

  "What? Us showing up on the roof?" War asks.

  My shoulders shake as I laugh quietly. "I mean the warehouse in the middle of nowhere. Aren't there usually warehouse districts? Like areas where there's pretty much nothing but warehouses?"

  "Yeah, but I don't think this is that kind of warehouse, Sunshine," Parker says, a slight smile on his lips.

  I frown. “What do you mean by that?”

  Hunter’s chuckle flows through my mind. “There are places like this that are made for the sole purpose of a demon’s work or meeting place. I actually forgot that Torn and Payne had made this one.”

  “They made it?” I ask, shocked as hell. I can’t imagine those two fucktards making anything unless you counted death and destruction.

  �
�Yes, Doll. They made it.”

  “How long do you think it will be before they get here?” Parker asks, moving to the edge of the roof and peeking down.

  “Should be soon,” Kai answers, his eyes closed. “I’m getting some demon vibes that aren’t the three of you” -meaning me, Hunter, and War- “coming from the east and the north. Should be here within the next twenty minutes or so, if I’m reading the energy and the distance correctly.”

  I purse my lips and point at Kai. “That’s cool as shit. Why the hell can’t half-demons do shit like that?” Kai grins as he opens his eyes enough to peek at me.

  War’s lips spread into a wide grin. “That would be because most demons don’t have the ability, so the chances of their half-demon spawn having it? Slim to none.”

  I pout. “Fine. Party pooper.” I stick my tongue out at War. Before I even have a chance to put my tongue back in my mouth, War is there, claiming my mouth, gently sucking on my tongue, before deepening the kiss. The kiss doesn’t last long, but it lasts long enough to leave me breathless. Panting, I stare up at War who’s looking incredibly smug. Kinda makes me want to smack the smugness away, but then again, he’s a fantastic kisser, so I can’t blame him for being smug.

  “Don’t stick your tongue out unless you intend to use it, Mimi,” he says with a smirk.

  I narrow my eyes at him before rolling them and flipping him the bird. “Whatever.”

  “Alright, you two,” Hunter says. “Knock it off for now. You guys can flirt all you want when we’re done.”

  I look up at Hunter and my breath catches at the heat I see there mixed in with the amusement.

  “Someone’s close,” Kai warns. “Get ready.”

  “You don’t know who it is?” Parker asks.

  Kai shakes his head, eyes still closed as he concentrates. “I know there are a few of them, but we don’t know if Jerome was going to be alone or be bringing people.”

  “He’s most likely alone,” I let the thought whisper through everyone’s minds.

  “Why do you say that?” Hunter asks.

  “It’s who he is. He almost never goes anywhere with back up. He thinks he’s too strong for it. That he doesn’t need anyone’s help.”