Have No Mercy

Have No Mercy

Shannon Dermott

This is a work
of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the
author’s imagination or are used factiously and are not to be construed as
real.  Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or
persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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appreciated.  For information address Wicked Truth Publishing.

 First
Edition

Copyright 2014
Shannon Dermott

All rights
reserved.

ISBN:

ISBN-

This
book is dedicated to all the Cambion series fans

I've taken a segment from the
ending of the last book to remind you where Mercy is and why. Only because as I
read the opening of the first chapter, I could see how a reader may be
disoriented from the passage of time from the last book. If you don't need the
reminder, you can skip and head directly to Chapter One.

Angel of Mercy (part of final
chapter) (please note, as the author I took some liberties and changed the
wording somewhat) ;)

Distantly inside myself, I
followed as McKayla took the lead.  We walked downstairs into the kitchen. When
Flynn stepped out of the pantry with a bottle of clear liquid, I felt her
smile. 

Pursing his lips, he held the
bottle out to me. We took it. After taking the cap off, we began to chug away. 
Feeling the burn, I didn't like the taste, but McKayla loved it. Flynn just
stood there looking as dead as I felt. He hadn't noticed I wasn't quite
myself.  Now that McKayla and I were working together as one, my eyes didn't
change.  He had no idea who he was with.

"Mercy," he said.
McKayla was tired of hearing that name. I didn't argue; we were of one accord.
The only person I wanted to hear speak my name was Luke.

"Don't," I said.
McKayla stepped to the side to let me speak. She wasn't the right person for
this conversation. "He's not dead." Flynn just looked at me.
"He's part angel. He's alive somewhere and I will find him."

"I loved him too, you
know." His fixed me with flat gaze that cut me deep. "I lost a
brother."

"He's not gone," I
insisted.

"This is hard for me
too," he continued as if I hadn't spoken.

Shaking my head, I said,
"Yeah, then why were you fighting over me."

"We weren't fighting over
you. I gave you up if you recall even though I know you had feelings for me.
But I loved you and him enough to let you two stay together."

Surprise filled my features.
"You didn't let me do anything. I feel nothing for you."

"Whatever," he said,
shrugging me off. "It doesn't matter. My best friend is gone. He died
trying to protect us and I can never repay him." 

He took the bottle from my hand
and didn't say that Luke had died saving me, not everyone else. Yet he hadn't
rubbed that in my face. I turned to head for my room or someplace to vent my
anger. When I got to the entryway, a knock sounded at the door. I didn't want
to see anyone. 

Then, out of nowhere, my heart
did a little leap. Maybe it was Luke; his dad could have healed him. They could
have been wrong about the funeral. I found myself running the rest of the distance
to fling open the door.

Unfortunately, Luke was not on
the other side of the massive wood door. Instead, familiar faces stood there.
Ones that I hadn't seen in a while but could never forget.

"It's time." A face so
stunning, I would never forget, greeted me with a cold smile. Kathy. She and
her boyfriend Jay had ruled the school as the best looking couple ever. Later,
I learned that they weren't human but Elven watchers of such. They blended into
our society to learn about us or rather the human race.

"Our mistress is
waiting," Jay said.

I was about to open my mouth to
protest but I remembered what I owed to the Elves for saving Luke last time. I
took a step forward. My thoughts began to jumble. They'd helped me before.
Maybe I could ask for another favor. I wasn't beyond begging on hands and knees
if I had to. I would do whatever it took to save Luke, even making another
promise to do anything if they would send me to that place again.

An arm snaked around me, holding
me back from my destination just as a portal opened just beyond the pair. The
light blended in the surrounding making it almost invisible to see with my
human eyes. Yet, it was there.

"This isn't the time,"
Flynn announced with a firm but not rude tone.

"My mistress is well aware
of Luke's fatal blow."

Jay didn't seem heartless when he
spoke. Still Flynn's finger dug deep into my skin. If not for his grip on me,
my knees would have given way. Fatal. So he was dead. Elves didn't mince words.
But they hadn't said gone. Maybe they were seeking to help me again. 

"A promise is a promise.
Mercy's was given help without delay and the queen expect the same," Kathy
said.

My demon and I turned in Flynn's
arms to glance up at the shadows in his eyes. A small smile played across our
mouth. His grip on us relaxed. And she gave him a shove. He stumbled and lost
his footing still weak from the fight and our lack of bonding. I hated to leave
him, but I had no choice. Maybe the distance would help break the bond. Luke's
life was in peril.

So McKayla turned us as one
because she did the hard stuff.  We worked well that way. We took determined
steps forward towards the opening.

"I won't let you go alone.
Luke would never forgive me," we heard Flynn say. But there was no thought
or care in our brain other than getting to the Elves. I think Flynn called out
to my mother and his father. My mom. I thought of her for a moment before that
thought flittered away. 

Stepping into the golden light of
the portal, I had to believe I was one step closer to seeing Luke again.

People assume that breathing was
easy. But I knew better. It was by fortitude alone that I was able to will my
broken soul through the golden sphere of light.  My body may have moved, but my
heart was left far behind. I never really understood love. Maybe once I thought
I did. However, knowledge gained by time told a different story. One where
comprehension dawned too late to let me know just how far I was prepared to go
or even give up for another. That was how I understood what true love was.

With the light of day at my back,
I stepped through the threshold and into the shadowy dark. Immediately, I
recognized the place. I'd been there before. The clearing atop an unnamed
mountain stood shrouded by ancient trees that had long since erupted from the
bowels of the earth. They created a Stonehenge like ring around the center of
power. Off in the distance, a boat that would make a pirate envious was
tethered to a dock of air with fluffy clouds that stood as waves.

"Mercy," came a regal
voice I recognized as well.

My focus aimed towards the woman
or rather the Elven queen. A striking woman with waist length hair the color of
midnight stood taller than I bathed in light that haloed her stoic form. I
glanced passed her, passed the wall of trees and up to the sky then back at
her. I wasn't sure how the light distributed focus on her as if she were spot
lit on a stage. Yet, that was what it looked like.

"I'm pleased to know you
honor your promises," the Elven queen said, inclining her head slightly.

I nodded unable yet to form
words. So far, my demon had given me free rein of speech while she controlled
our movements. It was a bit odd, but I was fast becoming accustomed to being
the spokesperson in this duo.

"Lady Amavara." I bent
my head along with my knees in a curtsey as a show of respect. When our gazes
connected again, I saw her waiting. And a memory struck. The last time I'd come
into her presence, she'd made me kneel before her. As much as I wanted to balk,
I was hoping to find favor and ask her to grant me another request. So before
she could ask, I knelt on one knee with bowed head.

A moment later, she said,
"Stand tall, young Mercy."

I held my teeth tight (clamped my
mouth shut) as I got to my feet. McKayla was spoiling for a fight. She didn't
believe that anyone was above her, ever. And she was itching to say something
to challenge the queen.

"I have to say, you look
rather together for one who just lost someone."

Her words ignited fire behind my
eyes. And it wasn't McKayla who put it there. It was my turn to feel the need
to hit something or someone. I immediately took over full function of my body
and strode closer to the royal. The pair of Elves whom I'd once thought
classmates, moved between us. I stopped and instead let murderous intent fill
my words. "Who says I'm together." My voice may have been tight, but
rage made the edges of my words tremble.

"Ah, yes, I see it now. It's
a matter of control and not indifference."

"Indifference," I spat.
My voice was fast becoming a shrill. "Luke may be lost to me at this
moment. But he is not gone forever."

The queen stared at me with
patience and nodded. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders as if she were
in a shampoo commercial and sparkled like diamonds in the light which didn’t
seem fair at all. "Please forgive me."

I answered with a tilt of my head
and tried to dial back all my emotions.  Oddly enough, I felt no tears, not
even a hint.

"Well, we should get down to
business then," she announced before signaling to her guard to step aside.
They acquiesced in silence communication. They shifted to stand back and off to
either side of her.

"Yes," I agreed.
"I do have a request once we finish with yours."

"And that request," she
prompted.

"I would like to ask for
another favor," I boldly admitted.

The queen quirked a brow, before
she commented. "I cannot promise you anything. I am sure that regardless
you will honor our original bargain."

I nodded and gave a small bow
because I didn’t sense that pressing her would change the outcome.

"My, I wouldn't have pegged
you as someone who would know the rules of court. Although this is not my usual
court." She spread her arms wide to signal the forest that felt held back
somehow from swallowing us up. "You have honored it as such. And I am very
impressed."

What she didn't know was that my
demon had won that battle and caused me to keep my mouth shut and bow.
Apparently, McKayla wasn't opposed to bowing, just kneeling. Whatever, it
worked. We had a lot to work on when it came to sharing my body as one unit.
But so far, we had done a pretty good job of fooling everyone around us.

The Elven royal clasped her hands
together and glanced in turn Kathy and Jay before turning her eyes back to me.

"I need you to get my
son." Her words were barely above a whisper, yet the news was deafening.

My eyebrows shot up. I hadn't
been sure what I expected my task to be, but this hadn't been anywhere in my
range of possibilities.

"His father persuaded him to
leave our lands and venture in where I cannot go."

Now I was more confused. How old
was her son? Maybe a better question was how old was she?

Oblivious to my thoughts, she
continued. "Our time on this realm has come to an end. We leave soon and
with our departure a way to get to our homeland. If my son isn’t here for the final
departure, he will be trapped here forever."

"You're leaving?" I
asked. What I really meant was for good. And this realm, she said it like there
were dozens. Did she really mean planets? And if so, did that make them alien?
"And how am I to get him? Why can't you? And where is he?"

I clamped my mouth shut when I
realized I had started to babble. There were so many riddles that needed
answers. I couldn't understand why this would be her request. Then her words
circled in my head,
a place where she couldn't go
. But if she couldn't,
how could I?

"I should start from the
beginning." She hadn't moved other than the exhale of breath. "My son
is unique, much like yourself." Her head bowed in my direction. "He
is the bridge between two races. Just like you." She sighed like she
didn't want to tell more but had no other choice.

"Let me begin again.” There
was another paused as she closed her eyes and took in what I would define a
cleansing breath. When she focused on me again, her words spilled forth. “I met
my son's father believing him human.”

Another pause and I almost
thought I should fill the empty space with some acknowledgment of what she’d
said. Thankfully, she continued. “Like how many of the great romance stories of
your world begin, he had been the most glorious man I'd ever seen. It was a
time when we Elves walked among you more freely than we do today."

What did that mean? But I didn't
give voice to my question.

"Although he was human, I
was bespelled by his charm, his looks, and his words.” She smiled to herself,
and her next statement began with a slight laugh as if she didn’t believe what
she was about to say. “I hadn't been allowed to date back home and the need to
be wanted was great. Free of my father’s scrutiny, I was able to be won over.
And in a weak moment, and I gave into the wanting. By the time I realized that
the man I had fallen for was not actually a man, it was too late. His seed had
taken root within me. As future queen, my father would have banished me if he
ever found out of my transgression. Thus, I sent a request to extend my time on
earth to live among the humans and luckily got my father's approval. He was
never the wiser to my condition. During this hiatus, I’d moved away from the
town in which I'd met my son's father. As far as I knew, he did not know that
his plan to get me with a child had worked. Eventually, I gave birth to a son.
Tristrom. A son I wouldn't be allowed to raise lest I wished to be found out
and banished. No Elves were aware either except for a pair of trusted servants
who watched over Tristrom while human adoptive parents raised him here on
earth. And I was forced to leave him here or worse could have befallen us
both."

The story was beginning to sound
like daytime drama on TV. But I said nothing.

"When my father passed onto
the afterlife, I immediately sought out my son and brought him here for the
truth. Let's just say, he wasn't thrilled with the idea he wasn't human."

I could relate to that given how
I'd found out about my origins.

"After much time and discussion,
he seemed to accept his fate. So when he requested to go back and say goodbye
to his human friends and family, how could I deny him."

Well, she was a better in that
situation than my mother. Maybe the two should get together and compare notes.
"Who is his father and how did he find out about him?"

She looked down at the ground as
if she was ashamed. "His father is the Fey King or Queen's consort
depending on who you ask."

“The King?” I stammered.

“Or the consort as he truly rules
nothing. He was once human.” She paused for a second while I was still
digesting the words once human. “But when the Queen took for a lover and long
exposure to the Fey realm and their food, he was transformed into Fey.”

“A human can become Fey?”

She nodded. “And now she wants my
son. I should have known the day would come. Why else would she have sent her
husband to seduce me?” She asked absently.

It was a rhetorical question, yet
I opened my mouth to at least throw out some expletives. Instead, I asked,
"And why do you think I can get him back for you?"

I thought I had an idea. And I
hated the queen for a second. But the somber lost expression on her face gave
me pause. She gave me a glance like I was her only hope.

"You are a beautiful girl.
You aren't only just human, but you are a succubus." And there it was. She
thought I was some kind of lure because I was a lust demi-demon. "The Fey
honor beauty almost above anything else. And with your unique charms, you will
be able to fool them into believing you're just a harmless human and then use
your charms to convince my son to come home."

"No," a voice said from
behind me. A look back and I found that Flynn had followed me here through the
portal. I hadn't heard a sound come through other than the two Elves, Kathy,
and Jay. But there he stood with indignation written all over him. "You
want her to seduce your son and get him to go with her. And that's never going
to happen. Mercy is no slut for hire."