Angel Of Mercy (Cambions #3) (17 page)
Alone was how I woke up. At some point last night when I was in a state between sleeping and waking I felt Luke come in. His presence was enough to send me tumbling into dream land.
Now, pushing the hair that had escaped the ponytail from my head, I just felt lonely. It was mid-morning and my stomach gave a growl worthy of a baby tiger. So I got to my feet and made my way downstairs. Strangely, the house seemed far too quiet. Maybe Maggie and Flynn were also gone.
Padding in bare feet across the marble tiled foyer, I heard my mom grumbling. As I neared, I could make out just what she was saying.
“Who does he think I am? As if he didn’t fend for himself before I came along. You’d think he starved until I showed up.” Her rant raised my eyebrows. I was used to her dissatisfaction with me lately, but it was strange to hear her talking about David that way.
Steeling my features, I walked in not wanting to eavesdrop any longer. As expected the kitchen was void any occupants besides the two of us. She slapped a slice of bread on top of the bottom half of a sandwich, leaving finger impressions. “Um, I can make lunch,” I said causally.
Her head snapped up and if her hair weren’t severely short, it would have moved viscously with the movement. With a huge knife now in her hand, she said menacing, “I’ve got this.” And she sliced through the sandwich in one chop. Tossing aside the knife, which made me feel better, she dropped the sandwich on a nearby tray which also held a soup bowl. The white porcelain was strewn with splashes of what must be some sort of tomato based soup. “David isn’t feeling well. And he’s hungry.” There was no way to overlook the sarcasm that dripped from her words. She sounded like she was mocking him. “I have to work tonight. And you all will leave tomorrow morning. Make sure you text me when you arrive.”
Not wanting to be the target of her venom, I said only “Okay,” and watched her walk out of the kitchen with the tray of food and drink. I wanted to tell her that if he wasn’t feeling well, chicken noodle soup was a better option, but I wanted to continue breathing. Instead, I went to clean up the mess she made and what a mess it was. It was easy to see she hadn’t wanted to make lunch and she took out her anger on the food. There was something really wrong with my mother and I didn’t know what it was. I made a mental note to try and talk to David about it when she wasn’t around before we left. I hoped he was okay. He seemed fine last night.
After eating, I was at a loss for what to do next. Luke was planning to stay close to home today. I’d have him for the next several days so I didn’t call him. After going back upstairs, I confirmed that both Maggie and Flynn were gone. Thinking about Flynn only served to get my heart pumping, and not in a good way. I didn’t want that Sara girl to come with us. I was oh so certain she had her eyes on Luke and I was worried his eyes might be on hers as well.
I grabbed my car keys figuring on a drive. Based on last night’s conversation, I assumed I was no longer grounded and I needed air.
To test the weather, I opened my window. It changed drastically from cold spring to almost hot like summer overnight. If I hadn’t wanted to risk a close encounter with Flynn I would have taken a dip in the pool. Slipping into shorts and a tee, I decided to head to the do-it-yourself car wash. It was something to do. The car might get rained on while we were away, but I didn’t have any other ideas. Pocketing my phone and wallet, I headed out.
The sun was like heaven. Something about being outside lifted my mood. I was putting the keys in the car to open the door when I heard a car roll up behind me. Nerves hit me and the key fell out of my hand. I bent down to get them, fumbling with the door lock when a hand wrapped around my bicep.
“Where do you think you’re going?” a rough voice said.
A yelp of surprise left my lips at the same time I jumped. Yanking away, I said, “You deleterious
asshole.” The word escaped me without thought. Well, studying for the SATs had paid off. His confused expression made me grin. But his obstinate stance, with feet spread and arms folded, said he wasn’t moving.
“I maybe an asshole, but your
deleterious
actions will get us all killed.”
My smile faded. So he knew what that word meant. My victory was short lived. “I’m just going to the car wash.”
“Then I’m going with you,” he said with conviction.
“No you’re not, I said, moving back to my door, prepared to leave. I wasn’t a child. “Where is Luke?”
“Luke is at home and I’m not a baby.” My hand was shaking with rage. How dare he. He was always trying to act like he was the boss of me.
Snagging the keys from me, he held them up over my head. But I refuse to take the bait. I wasn’t jumping up and down. He was far taller than me. I looked away from him when I said, “What do you want from me?” I said sounding somewhat defeated and somewhat miffed.
“You don’t want to know,” he said and licked his lips.
My eyes flamed over him like I could burn him to a crisp. “Your life can be an ephemeral one if you don’t give me those keys.” My tone was deadly until I caught the dark stains that marred his perfect features. Flynn was still not better. “Please,” I tacked on sounding like a wimpy dog. Way to go Mercy. Give him hell then come off as weak.
“We can do this two ways, doll face.”
Locking with his glacial stare, I said, “And what would that be?”
“The easy or the hard way.” When I didn’t answer, he gave me knowing smirk before he said, “Easy way is you agree to let me come with you.”
“And—” I gritted my teeth; I didn’t want him to go with me. I might as well just go to my room. But then that would mean that I’d totally admitted defeat.
“Or, the hard way.” He took my keys and moved them closer to the waist band of his jeans.
“You…wouldn’t… dare.” The pauses between my words punctuated my utter loss of a good comeback.
He grinned. Of course he did. I reached deep for something to say. But the longer I waited the more his hands moved further to dropping the keys down his pants. “Fine,” I gritted out.
His grin ballooned and his hand reversed. I reached my hand out but at the last second, he snatched them in his clasp. “I’ll drive. I can’t trust that you will follow through.”
I stomped to the other side of the car like a temperamental child. I didn’t care. “The egotistical perfidious hedonist,” I muttered on the way.
“I know you are but what am I,” he sing-songed just as the car beeped to signal the doors were unlocked. That beep reminded me I had been stupid beyond reason. Why had I been trying to unlock the door the old fashioned way?
So I lashed out. “So what are you, twelve?”
“Webster, you’re the one name calling. And if I’m a hedonist, then so are you.”
“Am not, and how do you know what that means?” I ranted.
He folded his hands over the roof of the car placing his chin on top to look at me. “I know a lot of things doll.”
Cutting him off, I asked, “Why do you insist on calling me everything but my name?” I was breathing hard. My anger came to a head. If I hadn’t been so idiotic, I could have been gone before he caught me.
“I could say that I like pissing you off. Or maybe I don’t want to be like every other guy. Or maybe I just call them like I see them.” He ducked into the car leaving me wondering over his words. When the car roared to life, I quickly buckled up.
“Where are we headed?” he asked.
“Self-car wash,” I answered mildly. I was too busy over thinking what he’d said.
“Wait, Princess,” Flynn uttered.
Turning, I aimed the broom at him unwittingly like I was holding the launch mechanism for a long range missile. ‘Princess?’ Why was he calling me that? I raised a brow.
“Mercy. You need to pay,” he said as if he were chiding me like a small child.
“Oh,” I said, disarmed and once again I felt foolish in front of him.
“Give me a minute,” he said before ducking out and heading to the left towards the center of the building.
While he was gone, I moved back towards where I’d picked up the broom thingy and read a sign that explained all the instructions. Well duh. When I finished, a gurgle of noise came from the brush. I lifted to inspect it. That’s when I was hit in the face with a fist sized bubble of foam. I aimed the brush towards the ground while I used my other hand to wipe the foam away.
His chuckles only made his rancorous actions more murder worthy. “I’m going to go help this girl wash her car,” I heard him tell me, just as I’d gotten the last of the foam off my face. And when he began saunter away he advised, “You don’t have a lot of time so you shouldn’t waste it.”
“You just do that,” I said in a prosaic tone, ignoring the rest of his statement. I watched him walk away. The image of him in dark jeans and a black tee that had a picture of bunk beds in white with bold words that said,
I like it on top
, seared into my memory. My goodness, was it possible for him to be any more arrogant? Damn girls always played into his ego.
Finding my IQ, I pulled it together and used the brush to wash my car. He was going to help some other girl and not me. Of course he was. That’s the nature of the hedonist.
When the brush timed out, I had just finished lathering the car. From the instructions, I knew that I would need to get the sprayer located on the other wall. So I attached the broom back to its hook and headed to the other side when Flynn walked in. His hair was wet, his lips looked swollen and his shirt looked damp not soaked.
A car pulled to a stop in front of our stall revealing the side of a car with all of the windows rolled down and several girls’ heads popped out. “Bye Flynn,” they crooned and waved, giggling like he was some sort of rock star. Turned to them, he nodded casually. I couldn’t see his face, but I was sure he had a grin on it. He might have said something but my ears were ringing. I noticed then that the back of him wasn’t wet except for what look like dark wet hand prints. However, he was wearing black; I couldn’t be sure.
When he moved to face me, he asked, “Do you need some help?”
The sprayer that I’d grabbed turned on with my finger on the trigger. I hadn’t consciously intended on wetting him. But there you have it. “No,” I said. Then I directed the water stream to rinse my car.
He simply wiped the water off his face and pushed back the limp mass of his hair. It stuck up still in some places and I couldn’t help but to laugh. He left without saying anything to me only to return later with a towel of some sort. By that time, I’d put the sprayer back.
Holding the towel around his neck, Flynn said nothing. He just stared at me. I began my stroll back to the passenger side of the car. “Mercy,” he called. I should have known but I’d used up the time with the sprayer. When I turned I caught a mouthful of water and held up my hand as Flynn super soaked me.
I tried to run but again, reason left me. This opened my dry back to be drenched like the rest of me. I made it out to the back of the building but the damage was done. Behind the place, there were vacuum cleaning contraptions spaced out to allow vehicles to parallel park close to the wall. I headed right and hopefully out of Flynn’s range when a motorcycle pulled up behind me.
The rumbling sound got louder bringing along with it a gang of bikers with a couple of trucks. The lead motorcycle guy stepped off. He wasn’t wearing a helmet and his arms were covered in tattoos.
“Well, what do we have here?” He wore mirrored shades that he plucked off when he spoke. He wasn’t handsome, but he was certainly striking and intimidating. Getting to his feet, he had impressive height. Pulling out a towel from a side bag, he said, “You look like you need some help.”
Not speaking seemed like the best idea. Instead, I shook my head no. The rest of his crew was in the midst of getting off their bikes and out of their trucks. My body jerked when demon decided she wanted out.
Time to go
. I had no delusions that this biker would take whatever offer my demon gave. Without thought to where I was walking, I moved keeping one wary eye on the guy I was leaving behind. Only then did I barrel right into Flynn as I made my escape. The biker guy just watched in amusement.
If not for that man’s eyes on me, I would have shot out of Flynn’s grasp. Instead, I let him walk me back to the car. Then, taking the towel from around his neck, he gently dried my hair, my face, and my exposed arms. Bending down, he even dried my legs from thigh to calf. He did it so reverently, I was stunned speechless.
When he stood to his formidable height, I stepped back so I wouldn’t have to crane my neck to look at him. I was still unsure about his sudden sweetness. He reached out his hand and stroked it down my cheek just as a spark shocked me. His eyes went wide and he looked at his hand. Reacting from the sharp pain, I jumped back.
“Static electricity,” he said, still looking at his hand. I had no idea where that could have come from but didn’t argue. “We should go.”
My will was focused on keeping my demon at bay because she wanted out. She was pushing really hard and it took all my concentration to keep her down. Flynn blasted metal through the speakers but I said nothing. I needed to get home and away from him.