Have No Mercy (24 page)

"It's okay Tom. I get it.
You don't have to keep reminding me you're not into me. It's a good thing. I
need at least one boy in my life who's just and only a friend."

He smiled, but I could see the
fatigue in his eyes.

"I have to go back to get
word to Flynn. I'll tell him of your troubles, and maybe he'll help. But when I
get back, I'll come with you and be your pretend girlfriend or whatever you
need me for. So many times, you've come to my aid. No way I wouldn't do
anything to help you."

His face softened. "Thanks. I
know I have shit timing."

"Not so fast. What's going
on with Brent? And does Maggie know?"

"Does Maggie know
what?" My best friend stood in the doorway glancing between us. And Tom
closed his eyes.

Chapter Forty-Seven

Green eyes that would never give
up pricked me with disbelief that I hadn't clued her in during the last several
seconds since her entrance.

"There are things I need to
tell you."

When she didn't immediately ask
us about Brent, I assumed we'd dodged a bullet, and she hadn't heard that part.

"What's going on? Neither
one of you has been in school the last couple of days. And I know—," she
trailed off not wanting to bring up Luke. Was this how it would always be? No!
I would get Luke back.

There was another question that
needed answering though. "How long have I been gone?"

Maggie's gave me the look that
asked if I needed to be put in a padded cell. Tom already had the details
chimed in. "It's Friday. Prom was less than a week ago."

That meant that time was moving
slower here or about the same.

"What the hell Tom? You
skipped school to go get pierced and shit. Do you have tats now too?"

Tom flushed under Maggie's
tirade.

"I mean it's working for you
and all. But hell, you guys left me to the wolves. What am I talking about? No
wolves. What did you all some secret meeting where humans weren't
allowed?"

"Maggs."

"And that's bullshit. I've
been this as much as you guys. I put my life of the line, and I have to say I
kicked some major butt. You guys shouldn't be shutting me out."

"Maggs," I tried again.

"I can't even get in touch
with Brent. What the hell is up with that? We've shared life changes moments.
You'd think he would return my calls. What if I had something major to tell him
like I was pregnant? But no, I can't get in touch with my boyfriend."

"You're pregnant," I
asked softly taken aback by her statement.

"No," she said barely
taking a breath. Her finger was pointing while she continued. "And then
you bring a Luke lookalike home. I mean what's up with that. I know you are
hurting and all, but trying to replace him isn't the way to heal."

"MAGGS!"

That was enough. Bringing up Luke
snapped my patience. My shout had its intended purpose. She shut down and put
her hands in her lap like a scolded child.

"I wasn't finding a
replacement for Luke. I was in Fairy."

"Fairy as in
Tinkerbelle?"

 I nodded although that was far
from the truth. But I needed her attention. So I began with the tale. I gave
her the extra short version because Maggie would have too many questions, and I
didn't have time to answer them all. I gave her all the important parts
including why, where, with whom, and the boys. I told her about what I'd done to
Sebastian and of Flynn's decision to stay. And I gave her a quick hit on how I
ended up here with Tristrom.

Of course, Maggie's jaw was
slack. If I'd heard about it, I would be flabbergasted as well, at least the
part about Flynn. Which is what she'd zeroed in on.

"So he's not coming
back."

I shook my head. It hurt deep in
my bones making me feel weak to think about it.

"I'm going back. David wants
me to take him a letter. I can't force him to come back. Especially..."

"Especially if you're not
going to be with him and he dies." Maggie tried not to accuse me, but the
edge in her voice was there.

"Yes. I'm going to find
Luke."

"This isn't fair," she
pleaded. "You can't sacrifice one for the other."

"You are right about one
thing. It isn't fair. But neither one deserves their fate because of me, and
I'll do all I can to make it right. Flynn is safe for now where he is. But
Luke…"

I stood and allowed my fingers to
wrench at my hair. I went to the window to look out. There was nothing to see
on the side of the house but grass. I turned back to Tom.

"Is Brent okay?"

His eyes went wide, and he
quickly glanced at Maggie, who wore the same expression. He took her hands and
spoke to her like I wasn't in the room. He was probably pissed that I'd brought
it up, but Maggie had the right to know. We'd just been getting to that point
when she'd come in.

"Brent isn't returning your
calls because he's blowing you off." Maggie clutched at his hand expecting
the worst. I couldn't blame her based on his choice of words. "He can't."

Tears formed trenches in her eyes
before they began to spill over. I was numb. But I was pretty sure he was still
alive. Tom had said Brent was rabid not dead.

"Oh my god," she cried
out.

"No, he's okay, sort of.
He's kind of stuck in animal form right now."

"What?" She searched
his eyes for meaning, and I came back to the chair and sat. "What doesn't
that mean?" she repeated.

"It means the clock is
ticking and if he doesn't change back to human soon. He'll be stuck
forever."

Chapter
Forty-Eight

There just wasn't enough time to
solve the problems of the world let alone my friends. I was tuning into what
Tom was about to say when David appeared eyes red and slightly swollen. My
heart broke again, and I just wasn't sure how much more I could take. I stood
as Tom continued to speak, but I didn't hear his words.

When I joined David in foyer, he
gripped my hands. "Please get this to him." There weren't times for
words as he clutched me in a death grip. All the emotions tied in his embrace
weren't totally for me. I knew there was a wordless message embedded in his
grip solely for his son.

Once he let me go, he held me by
the shoulders for a second before he let go and turned away. Mom stood in the
hallway near the kitchen watching the exchange. The same sad smile played on
her face. "Don't leave before saying goodbye." Then she followed in
David's wake.

I went upstairs to check on
Tristrom. Time possibly moved faster in Fairy. I needed to get back to Flynn
before it was truly too late for him to make the decision to come back. I
wouldn't make that choice for him, but I did hope that something in David's
words may sway him to come back.

I’d glanced at my wrist in my
room in Summer. I had about half the time left to get in out and out Fairy and
get Tristrom to his mother if that’s what he wanted.

All the doors were closed, and it
was a check of each one before I found one occupied. Tristrom eyes were closed
as he lay flat on top of the duvet. A soft call of his name was enough for me
to know he was still out. I had no idea how much recovery time he would need.
But I decided not to wake him yet.

My room was only another door
down on the opposite side. I opened the door, and ghost of the past wafted over
me. The bed remained unmade where I'd laid for a few days lost in my sorrow. A
bed that Luke had shared with me for many nights. I moved past it to the window
and opened it.

Memory of dancing on air in the
arms of an angel filled my mind. I collapsed in the window seat. Whispered
words fell from my lips like a prayer.

God, I miss you. I'm lost without
you. You always knew what to do. And now...

I forced myself to stand and
close the window before I lost it. I had things to do. I ignored the pillow
Luke used as I exited the room and headed to the opposite end of the hall.

The knob felt cold under my
touch. After a moment’s hesitation, I turned and entered Flynn space. I thought
I would really loose it in there. Flynn's scent and remembered times of Luke
and Flynn playing on the couch in front of the gaming setup caught a breath in
my throat. So much had changed.

However, it was an envelope with
my name on it that sat on Flynn's bedside table that held my attention. I
plopped down with the eagerness of a cat wanting a bath. I held a staring
contest with the perfect script that called my name.

With robotic movements, I finally
dared to pick it up afraid it was a bomb that would blow up in my face. I slid
a reluctant finger to unseal it. A paper cut fitting for the pain dulled the
emotional one as blood welled up and dropped on my pants before I sucked it in
my mouth. I used the time to steady my rapid heart rate.

Mercy,

If you are reading this, then I'm
not with you. You have no idea how much I regret this. But then again, I guess
you do.

There are so many things I want
to tell you. But first is you have to know how much I love you. I don't even
think that is adequate. I think I've been a little bit in love you the first
time I saw you. It's that shy way you smile when you have no idea someone is
watching. I could go on about that. But there are other things that I have to
say.

This is important. You must know
that none of this is your fault. Fate has a way of making sure life happens the
way it wants. I could tell you the whys of it, but none of that matters now.

And this is equally as important.
I need you to live. Don't worry about me and what will happen, move on. I can't
do what I need to do if I don't know you're happy.

Always and forever

I stared at the signature for a
long time as the paper crumpled in my fingers. I dropped it like it scalded me
because it had.

The room tilted as I came to my
feet. But somehow I found the will not to fall, and I headed out the room. And
there stood Tristrom heading in my direction.

"How are you feeling?"
I asked when I met him somewhere in the middle.

He rubbed his neck. "I don't
know. That's never happened before."

"Maybe you should rest some
more?" He hadn't been down long.

"I'm fine," he said
while shaking his head no.

"I think we should
talk."

His eyes narrowed. I supposed he wouldn't
expect to hear those words from my mouth. They sounded suspiciously like a
relationship conversation. I didn't wait for him to respond. I headed back
towards the room he'd occupied.

I sat on the bed with not a lot
of choices for seating. There was one chair, but it was close to the window.
With my hands underneath me, I gestured with my head for him to take a seat. He
did and left some distance between us. It wasn't enough, so it felt like he was
shunning me, but he wasn't close enough to make it seem like we were friendlier
than we were.

From my lap, I met his eyes.
"I need to tell you the truth about certain things."

There wasn't anger in his
expression but confusion.

"First I need to say that my
intention was always to give you a choice."

I held his expression waiting for
his acknowledgment that he understood. When he nodded, I continued. "Your
mother sent me to Fairy to get you."

He let out a half laugh before
shaking his head. I pushed on. "I'm not a detective or anything. I owed
her a favor, and she called on me to pay up."

"So this whole time,"
he began.

"No, don't make this much
worse than it is. I went to Fairy, but you must remember, I never forced you or
tried to convince you to go home."

"When I told you that she
had something to do with the death of my girl?"

"I only tried to get you to
look at the facts. I have no idea if she did it or not. But why would the Fey
have a look-a-like waiting for you?"

He thought about it as his hands
fisted on the edge of the bed. Then he nodded.

"I never asked you to
transport me anywhere either. You offered, and I chose. But never once did I
take you to her, and I could have."

"Why then? Why are you
betraying her?"

"I wouldn't call it
betrayal. She said I needed to get you to her before time ran out." I held
up my wrist showing him the hourglass that was now a little more than half
full. "I've had choices taken away from me. I wouldn't do the same to
someone else."

"What are you? I can't
imagine she would send a human there? Are you part Elven? And your eyes, they
were black."

We had come to the hard part. I
didn't know if he knew about my kind or if he did what he thought of them.
"I'm a Cambion."

He laughed again, his response
remarkably quick. "Of course."

"What is that supposed to
mean?" I snipped.

His hand came up and started from
the top of my head, then made a right to left wave towards my chest, and swept
down to my feet. "I should have known."

He had every right to be mad, but
I wouldn't be pigeonholed because of how I look.

"I never once tried to come
on to you. You were the one that kept showing up in my room and everywhere
else. I never flirted with you."

"So I'm not good enough for
you. Only guys like Flynn."

Luckily, I didn't fall into the
trap of where this conversation was going. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Wait, this is dumb. It has nothing to do with anything. I wasn't going to
trick you into going to your mother by seduction."

He didn’t say anything. “I can’t
take you to her. There is still time, and then I’m going back to Fairy,” I
continued.

“How?”

“The scepter. So you decide, it’s
your choice always has been.”

“Why?”

“Why is it your choice?”

He shook his head.

“Why am I going back?”

He nodded.

“I sighed. I told you that Flynn
and I weren’t married. I told you I was in love, am in love, with his best
friend. But I’m also very much in love with Flynn. And our relationship is
complicated. We are fated or mated, whatever you want to call it. But because
of our species…”

His eyes went wide.

“Yes, Flynn is Cambion too. And
we are linked. If we aren’t together, he will die. Normally, I would die too,
but I got the whole other side of me that's too complicated to explain. And
Flynn is safe in Fairy. He’s human there and won’t die if I choose Luke instead
of him.”

“Luke?”

He was managing this conversation
with his one-word questions. I didn’t comment, just answered what I knew he
wanted. He’d done the same for me. He always answered my questions in detail,
and I would try my best to do the same.

“Luke is Nephilim. He died
because some of the Fallen, whatever they're called, slayed him. But I don’t
believe his is true dead if that makes sense. He’s alive somewhere. And you’re
mother helped me before to go to this place called the in-between. There I
found him once, and I’m hoping to find him again. I can’t have him die because
of me. And that’s another long story. I just need to know what you want to do.”

We sat in companionable silence.
I wanted to rush him, but he deserved a moment to figure this out. His life’s
direction was on the line. He had the choice to go with his mother and learn
about that side of him. Personally, I thought maybe he should. He’d spent time
in Fairy. And they were bat shit crazy. The Elves seemed like logical people.
There could be a lot to learn. And I had to believe that their realm wouldn’t
remain closed off forever. But I kept my opinions to myself.

“I’ll go with you. The scepter
will most likely take you to Summer as Summer rules right now, and you are of
Summer blood if we are to believe Tatiana. I will take you back to Winter.
There I will get Molly, and you’ll rescue Flynn.”

“Rescue?”

“Yes, because I’ve seen and heard
enough to know that you too belong together. He’s martyring himself for you. I
don’t know of this Luke. But he may be lost to you. Don’t give up this chance.
I’m not either. I will forever love the one I lost. But she’s better off
without me. She’d never be safe. And Molly isn’t safe in Fairy.”

“Well let’s go then.”