Angel Of Mercy (Cambions #3) (28 page)

If there was one thing I was clear on, it was my love for Luke. Looking into his eyes, I couldn’t imagine life without him. I still was confused about Flynn, but that didn’t take anything away from what I had with Luke.

It was crazy to think that my heart could belong to more than boy, but in some ways it did. And I needed to get Flynn out of my system and not allow Sebastian to worm his way in. A girl could only handle so much.

“It hurts,” I said, coming out of own thoughts and to the reality of the pain burning inside.

His eyes widened. “Here,” he said and put his hand on my chest. Even with his fingertips on the tops of my breast, there was nothing sexual about his touch.

I saw when the concentration hit. His brows furrowed. A glow spread from his hand to my body. Just when I planned to lie to him if the pain didn’t subside, it did. The tightness left and I was left able to breathe with no discomfort. “Better?” he asked.

“Yeah.” He’d been so close. It only took minimal effort before his lips touched mine. There was just something about his kiss. It was a lightning bolt to my soul. God I loved him.

His hand moved from my heart to the side of my body gripping my ribcage before his hand glided to my waist. Breaking our kiss, he said, “Please don’t leave me.”

The look of anguish on his face pained me. “Why do you think I’d leave you?”

Closing his eyes before opening them again, he said, “I know something’s going on between you and Flynn.”

“No,” I protested.

His hand left my side and I longed for his touch. Sitting up, I now supported myself having been healed. He held up a hand. “You don’t have to lie to me. I know. I have eyes. I feel it too.”

My eyes closed. And it was truth time. Biting my lip, I said, “You’re right.” He’d saved my life. I wasn’t dying anymore, but if he left after afterwards… Looking away, I couldn’t bear to see his hurt when I told him. “Flynn took so long to heal because apparently we are forming a bond.”

A loud exhale preceded Luke’s total abandonment of my body. He was no longer pressed to my side. When I ventured a look, he lay flat on the ground with his forearms folded over his eyes. “I don’t know how it happened even though Flynn explained it to me. He said –”

“I know how it works,” he choked out. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to hug him but thought better of it. He’d moved away from me obviously needing space. He sounded wounded which I expected. “And Sebastian.” There was finality in his voice. “What’s this about you being his?”

Placing my palms on my eyes, I decided that hiding my vision seemed like a good idea. “My dad apparently betrothed me to him before I was born or something like that.”

Silence. He said nothing. I guess that was the best I could hope for. He hadn’t stormed off or told me goodbye forever. “I don’t know Mercy. How can I possibly compete? I had no idea it would be this hard to love you.”

His words stung like a swarm of bees. “There isn’t any competition. It’s you I want,” I pleaded, getting close to him but not brave enough to touch him yet.

“So you don’t love Flynn?” he asked. There was a pause before I could answer. I wanted to be totally honest with him. It seemed the only way for this to work between us. “And don’t forget I know how the bond works.”

Taking time to say it right because I knew I only had one shot at this, I said, “I don’t love him the way I love you. I’m not even sure you can call it love.”

“Some part of you does, otherwise you wouldn’t have bonded,” he said flatly.

“We aren’t bonded. I haven’t sealed the deal and don’t plan to. Flynn thinks there may still be time to stop it.”

Huffing out a laugh, he said, “And Flynn is such a stand up guy.”

That made me a little angry. Flynn was a lot of things, but I didn’t think he planned this out especially to hurt Luke. “He didn’t want this. He tried to get away from me when he went to that demon school. He doesn’t want to hurt you. You have to believe that.”

“Really, you don’t know the half of it.”

“I don’t?” I hissed. “Why don’t you explain it to me? And now that I’ve told you everything, why don’t you tell me about your feelings for that Seroff girl.”

His arms fell away from his face. Turning, he looked me dead in my eyes. “That was a long time ago. And I never loved her. I didn’t even know her long enough for that.”

“Well, she seemed to think she had you in the bag. And you have been spending a lot of time with her.”

“If I wanted her, I could have had her. I want you. But you are making it so damn hard to be with you,” he said. Hurt lanced his handsome face. There was weariness in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. If ever there was a time I thought I may lose him, it was now.

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. My voice shook. “Now I’m asking, please don’t leave me.” And hot tears caressed my face. The tightness returned to my chest but this time there was no glowing hands that could heal this. Only his trust, his love and his words could heal the wound opening in my chest.

Rolling on his side, he wiped my tears with the pads of his thumbs. “Tell me you’ll marry me.”

That was the last thing I expected him to say. “We’ve talked about this. And even if I said yes, I’m only seventeen. How can we get married?”

“Just say yes,” he pleaded.

“Luke,” I said. My word was pain filled. “You’re going to college. You’ll probably meet someone else.”

“We’ve gone through this Mercy. There is no one else but you.”

“Why then?” I said, more out of insecurity.

“You’re bonded to Flynn,” he said holding out a hand again to stop me from interrupting. “You’re betrothed to Sebastian. And what do I have?”

“I’ll find a way out of it.” I had to. I picked up a rock and slung it towards the water. “I never asked for any of it. My love for you is freely given.” I hadn’t had a choice with the other two.

“So say yes,” he pleaded. “We can wait until you graduate.”

The ache that was still in my chest at the thought of losing him said why not. It wasn’t like we were getting married tomorrow or that I even had a ring on my finger for anyone to question. What mattered was that I loved him and would do anything to wipe the sorrow from his face. “Yes.”

What happened next was a surprise to me and I wondered if it was also a surprise to Luke. He had his phone to his ear. “Flynn, meet Mercy and me at Dewey. Now.”

He hung up and looked at my surprise. “We have things to settle,” he said ominously answering my silent question.

I gave a little headshake and got to my feet. Selfishly, I wanted a few more minutes of possible peace with Luke. I walked towards the water lost in thought. There was just way too much going on. Arms came around me. Having him close again was a welcome respite. When he spoke, his words tickled at my neck. “What’s wrong?”

Pent up frustration leaking out, I said, “I wonder if my life will ever be normal.”

Stepping out of his comforting embrace, I knelt and picked up a stone near the water’s edge. Chucking it, it made an unsatisfying plop into the water.

“This is how it’s done.” I didn’t have time to look back at Luke before something went skipping off the water. Two, three, four times it bounced before disappearing beneath the water.

“How do you do that?” I asked. Grinning, like a kid in a toy store, he stepped over to me.  And that what we did for a while, skipped rocks of the water’s surface.

“So, he brought me here because you finally told him,” said a voice from behind us.

Luke and I turn in unison. I didn’t have to see Luke’s expression because I felt his body tense up. Flynn was looking at me. I shook my head slightly and closed my eyes trying to remember Luke’s warmth. He would be cold and distant in less than a minute. He knew about the bonding; he didn’t know about the dreamwalking.

I took a step towards Flynn when Sebastian materialized in front of me. “Lass, are you hurt,” he asked, taking my chin in his hand. His vacant eyes held a rare depth. It was an intimate moment with two other pairs of eyes watching.

Luke stepped behind me and pulled me from Sebastian. With the connection broken, I breathed. “She’s fine. So it was you two years ago,” Luke declared.

Sebastian’s face turned to stone. “Yes, and I should have figured it was you with that fecking light,” Sebastian echoed.

“Your sister nearly killed Mercy,” Luke fumed.

Sebastian stilled. “She’s only a sister in that she was created by my maker. But she is no kin to me.”

“Your sister has a death warrant,” Flynn said stepping over, create a little triangle of testosterone.

“Aye,” Sebastian agreed. “But she will be dispatched in short order.”

“So where is she?” Luke asked gravely. “And why did you let her live?”

Sebastian’s brogue became thick. “I couldn’t do what I wanted. I had to take her to Father to answer for her crimes.”

“And we should just trust that she won’t be back?” Luke asked.

“Aye. She won’t. You can believe me when I say so.”

Sebastian reached for me but Flynn stepped in front of me. “What is she really? Has she been doing this to me?” Flynn pointed to the shadows in his eyes.

Sebastian stared at Flynn. “It’s possible. Like me, she has many talents. She feeds off strife and anger. She creates mischief and discord.”

And it all made sense. She was creating problems in all our lives and feeding on it. “If you’d been here, this would have never happened,” I complained, stepping out from behind Flynn and out of Luke’s embrace.

“If I’d been here, demons would have been after you every second of the day. I was doing the best I could to protect you,” Sebastian retorted, his eye sticking on me like glue. There was still the matter of the dagger he’d given me.

“And why? Why are you protecting me if you know that if I were to die, I would be in your clutches.” I couldn’t think about how tense the air got around me. I needed answers.

“Lass, it would be easy to claim what belongs to me. It would be better if you came willingly.”

Luke moved so fast, I had no time to counter his move. “She is not yours to claim.”

“She’s been mine before you even met her. She was promised to me at her birth. I think my claim is far reaching.”

“That’s bullshit,” Flynn said.

I wanted to echo the sentiment.

“You think because the two of you are bonding that your claim outweighs mine,” Sebastian countered.

I wanted to become small at that moment. I thought Valentine’s Day had been the most awkward day in my life, but this was far worse. The ground looked like an appealing place to crawl into until I felt the eyes on me. 

“I didn’t ask for this,” I barked pointing between them. “I don’t care what my bio dad promised you, I am a person. And you can’t have me. Even if it means you won’t help protect me.”

Swiveling, I stared at Flynn. “And I’m sorry that I cared enough for you that this is happening. But I don’t love you.”

Flynn held up his hands. “You know the truth, Luke. I didn’t want this. I didn’t ask for this. I’ve been pulled in her direction from the beginning. Remember I was the one that mentioned her to you. I can’t help that we are a match and you two are opposites. I didn’t want to want her, let alone need her. I’m tired of lying about this. I never meant to dreamwalk with her but she didn’t stop it.” I couldn’t see Luke’s reaction. Flynn continued to speak like he hadn’t dropped a bomb. “This is fucked up for all of us. I tried to get away from her, but he brought her to me. Why don’t you ask him why? Maybe he and his sister have strife in common.”

We all shifted to look at Sebastian. He was like stone. No emotion showed; he was a cool facade of coldness. “I do not live off of strife. Yes, I knew what was happening between you two.” He meant Flynn and I. “But you were in danger at that school, my friend. You cannot live off of demon essence. Those female demons would have kept you there and used you until there was nothing left.”

“So why save him? Why help Luke? What is your game?” I demanded.

“For you. It is what you wanted. You want me to keep them safe, so I did. I did everything you asked and asked nothing of you.” He spoke as though I should know all of that.

“I never ask you to do any of it,” I declared.

“You didn’t have to. I know what makes you happy.”

Luke hadn’t spoken, I didn’t know if he was still there. Out of fear, I kept my eyes on Sebastian.

“If you want to keep me happy. Leave me alone.”

Sebastian nodded. “As you wish.”

“The dagger,” I began to explain.

“Keep it.” And he was gone.

I looked at Luke, then Flynn and swallowed. I would clear the decks and tell them about the dagger Sebastian had given me.

Flynn, however, looked over my shoulder and then at me. “All we need to do is to stay away from each other and maybe this shit will end.”

I understood and nodded. He started to walk away. “Wait,” Luke commanded.

Flynn took a slow turn. I held my breath afraid of Luke’s next words. “We still have a problem.”