Bold Mercy Read online

  Chapter Three

  Detective Rick Moreno dropped a key into my palm.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “Key to my front door.”

  I stared at him, unsure. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “Beth is coming home soon. I want to know that if the supernatural world finds her, you’ll be able to get to her quickly.”

  “Why would you think anything supernatural would come looking for Beth?”

  “Because you’re in our lives,” he said simply.

  “You think I put your family in danger.” Yeah, my feelings were a little hurt, even though it was because of me that Rick had been tortured and nearly killed. “You think I’d lead them to your door?”

  “Not deliberately.”

  I ran my stare over his face, which, though drawn, looked about a thousand times better than it had even the day before. “You look good.”

  “I feel better. I’m going back to work.”

  “Maybe you should take it easy for a few more days.”

  He almost smiled. “I have a serial killer to catch.”

  “Rick, I need to tell you something.” I’d known all along I’d tell him the truth—at least part of it. He was going to be pissed, but not nearly as pissed as he’d be when he discovered I wasn’t human—and I’d keep that little nugget from him as long as possible.

  We sat across from each other in his living room, and I couldn’t hide from his eyes. I wished I’d brought Ash—then I would’ve had a legitimate excuse to look away from a slightly quizzical stare that would soon turn accusing. “Tell me,” he said.

  “Your serial killer didn’t attack you. The vampires got you. The master shaded you so you wouldn’t remember. He’s dead.” I lowered my gaze, I couldn’t help it. But only for a second. “I killed him.”

  “Vampires,” he said. “Kait.”

  I stared at him until finally, I saw belief enter his eyes. And then he was the one to look away. “Like with Remy Simon’s sister,” he said.

  “Yes. And you were right to worry about me bringing the supernatural to your door. It’s because of me that the vampires took you. Tortured you.”

  I doubted he was even aware of it when he leaned slightly away from me. “Don’t make me drag it out of you. Tell me.”

  “I don’t only hunt demons. I hunt vampires. Bad ones. The vampire master of Clinton County had a grudge, and to get to me, he took you. I got you away from him, but not before he fucked you up. And I hope,” I added fiercely, “that you never remember.”

  “I’ve seen things,” he said slowly. “I’ve fought at your side. I watched a demon possess a human. But we grow up knowing there are demons and possessions and spirits. Ghosts.”

  “But not vampires and shifters,” I murmured. “Not wolves. I know.”

  He ran his hand over his face, and suddenly, he looked just a little more tired. “Wolves,” he muttered. “Shifters.”

  I’m a wolf shifter. I wanted to say that to him, but I couldn’t. Fear lingered. He would reject my wolf. He would reject me. I didn’t want to see his regard turn to revulsion, and I couldn’t say the words. Not yet.

  Eventually, he’d find out all on his own.

  He’d need time to process what I’d told him, so I changed the subject to the reason I’d come. “Lucy’s dreams,” I said. “She keeps seeing your serial killer. She believes he’s going to take her.”

  “Because of me,” he said. “I’ve gotten you and your friends on this guy’s radar.” And finally, his expression softened a little when he looked at me. “Maybe that makes us even.”

  I got up to pace, unable to sit still with the nervous energy inside me. “I have to keep Lucy out of his hands, Detective. She seems to think it doesn’t matter what I do—her dreams have shown her with him, and there’s no way of changing that.”

  “So we need a plan,” he said. “When the killer takes her, we’ll be waiting.”

  “We’d better be.” I slid his key into my pocket. I didn’t ask him if he wanted it back now that I’d told him about my part in his trouble. “I can’t let anything happen to her.”

  “What did they do to me, Kait?” he asked abruptly. He got to his feet, his hands at his sides, his face blank. But I saw what was in his eyes.

  I lifted a hand to my stomach, pressing lightly, as though I could push the dread and pain and fear away. I hurt for him. He only watched me quietly, waiting, and maybe there was a little reluctance in his stare. Maybe he didn’t want to know the answer to his question. Not really.

  “They chained you,” I said, finally, “and they hurt you. They beat you, cut you, terrorized you.” I swallowed hard. “They bit you.”

  “They…” He shuddered. “They drank my blood?”

  And so much more. But I didn’t say that. I only nodded. He still hadn’t really grasped the truth, not completely. He didn’t quite believe that real vampires had taken him. That they even existed. He hadn’t seen one yet.

  But he would.

  “So…” He shook his head and laughed, a harsh bark of sound that hurt my heart. “Does that mean I’ll start growing fangs and craving blood?”

  “No,” I whispered, then cleared my throat and tried again. “No. He didn’t turn you. He would have, I think, had I not found you.”

  “I should thank you, then.”

  “No,” I said again. “God, no. You should not thank me.” My lips trembled and I pressed them together, forbidding myself to allow so much as a single tear to spill over. “I’m sorry you were hurt. And I’m sorry you were hurt because of me.”

  We stared at each other silently until finally, I turned to leave. I’d give him time to process what I’d told him, and he would call me. When he did, we’d discuss a plan for catching the killer who was going to take Lucy.

  We had time. I had a feeling that bastard was going to fuck with us as much as possible before he came after her.

  We just needed to be ready when he did.

  Chapter Four

  My mother called me when I was on my way back home. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

  “I tried to stay in bed, Mom. Ash woke me up. There’s no ignoring that dog when he gets going.”

  “What got him riled up?”

  I hesitated. I really didn’t know how to explain to my mother that I had a “handler” who was sending me protective vests to guard against the fangs of a bloodsucker who wanted revenge. “He thought he heard someone at the door,” I said. “Last night was good.”

  She let me change the subject and when she answered, her voice was soft. “I’m so happy for you, honey. There’s nothing like your first full moon shift.”

  “And I’m sure the ones that follow won’t be so bad either.” I was still giddy from the experience, and already looking forward to the next time the full moon came. Funny how different things were now. It wasn’t long ago that the looming full moon scared the shit out of me and filled me with dread. But those days were over, thanks to Jared Walker.

  My alpha. My wolf’s alpha.

  “I met someone last night,” my mother said, interrupting my thoughts before they could venture too far into sexy alpha territory.

  “Met someone,” I said. “Like a guy?”

  “Definitely like a guy,” she said. “He is tall, muscular, and has long hair. And if the bulge in his—”

  “Mom! For God’s sake!”

  She snickered. “Fine. I’ll just say he’s all that and a—”

  “Mom.”

  “—bag of chips. Like one of those party packs of chips, if you know what I mean.”

  “Ew.”

  She laughed. “Bye, Kaity.”

  I pulled into my driveway and sat there for a few minutes frowning at my house, unsettled. The demon had been handled. I’d trapped him in a spell jar. And then Remy Simon had stolen it from me, the bastard. I was disappointed that the hunter I’d been in awe of for years had turned out to be a common thief. I wasn’t afraid he’d free the demon. Remy h
ated the supernatural. He wasn’t going to give one of them its freedom.

  So yes, the demon had been handled. But now I had to worry about Axton’s vicious human servant and a serial killer who was going to try to hurt Lucy. I had to wonder how she’d gotten on his radar. Had he seen her out somewhere and followed her home? Maybe he’d been watching Detective Moreno and had seen her with him.

  Serial killer during the day and twisted vampire psycho during the night. I was going to have my hands full.

  Before I could leave my car, Max pulled in behind me, Zach riding shotgun. Relieved, I went to meet them, trying to appear casual. I didn’t want Zach to think I was suspicious of him, and I wasn’t, not really. I just didn’t completely trust him. I didn’t know him well enough to trust him. I was afraid that even though his master—his tormentor—was dead, he’d crack beneath the awful magic and dark addiction inside him.

  Apparently Max trusted him, though, and that should have been good enough for me. Max could find out anything about anybody, and I knew he would have already investigated Zach. Still, I was nervous. Max was just so…tender.

  And Zach had lived in hell for a very long time. It would have changed him. Warped him, even.

  “Hey,” I greeted. “Where were you two at the crack of dawn on a Sunday?” I was genuinely curious. Okay, yes. Nosy.

  “Finding you a house,” Max said.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?”

  “Um, you said you needed a bigger place?” He grinned. “We were house hunting.”

  I crossed my arms. “And did you find anything?”

  “Several things. I sent them to your phone.”

  “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to live somewhere without neighbors calling the cops every time Lucy wakes up screaming,” I admitted. “I’ll have a look at what you sent.”

  “But?”

  I looked at him. “How’d you know there was a but?”

  “A hunch,” he said dryly.

  Zach laughed. It was just a chuckle, really, but it was the first time I’d heard him make such a sound. It was good to hear. “At times you’re easy to read,” he told me.

  “Fine,” I huffed. “But I need you to find me something else, Max. I can’t concentrate on houses right now.”

  “You do realize,” Max said, “that it’s perfectly acceptable to think about two things at once?”

  I ignored that. “I need you to find out everything you can about a woman named Avis Vine.”

  Zach stopped walking. “Axton’s human servant.”

  I nodded. “She’s got a grudge.”

  “How much trouble can she cause?” Max asked, unconcerned. “She’s human.”

  “Axton and Kaloni warped her,” Zach said, and his eyes were full of nightmares. “She’s not human. Not anymore.”

  Max shivered. “You two need to associate with nicer people.” He turned back to his car. “I’ll go home and dive in. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  “Thanks, Max. Be careful.”

  He stopped walking and squinted at me. “And why should I be careful, exactly?”

  I was still trying to figure out how to delicately let Max know that the angry Avis might go after those I cared about when Zach took care of that for me. “Because Avis will come for everyone Kait loves. Her goal is to take everything from her. Possessions, money, family.” He gave Max a long look. “Friends. You won’t want to end up in Avis Vine’s hands. So be careful.”

  “Damn you both,” Max muttered. “I don’t get paid enough for this.” But there was eagerness in his voice, too. Max liked to dig. He liked to find things. And he was damn good at it.

  “Why didn’t she die when Axton died?” I asked as I watched Max hurry away.

  “Magic was strong in that clan,” Zach said. “Bad magic. Blood magic, death magic. You need to get some wards up to keep her out of your house, at least. She won’t need permission to enter like a vampire would.”

  I nodded. “My house may be small, but we can make it mighty. Maybe I can get a spell to muffle Lucy’s screams, as well.” It was good that it was a small building. The magic protecting it would be stronger if it weren’t diluted over a huge area. I got a few steps in before I noticed that Zach wasn’t beside me. I walked back to him. “Zach? You okay?”

  “I wish the thought of Avis didn’t scare me,” he said. “Before the vampires took me, I wasn’t afraid of anything.”

  “It’s good to be a little afraid,” I told him, anger surprising me with its intensity. I hated what they’d done to him. “Fear will keep you safe.”

  I hadn’t known him long, but already I could see the changes his freedom had created. He’d put on a couple of pounds, his hollow cheeks were beginning to fill out, and he no longer walked just a little hunched over, darting his eyes at the threatening world around him. His long hair was beginning to lose the brittle dullness, as were his eyes. The man who had mastered him was dead and the awful, debilitating magic forced inside him was fading. He could allow himself to heal and to regain some confidence.

  I’d seen him fight. I’d seen him use a blade. He was crazy good—but the vampires had ways of getting around crazy good. They could shade a man. They could use magic a man couldn’t stand against. They were fast, strong, and nearly unbeatable.

  And if a man were human, no matter how awesome he was, he was not going to be stronger than a vampire. Unless that man was Remy Simon, maybe. The bastard. Remy could have been good for Zach, I believed, if he hadn’t stolen my demon and disappeared.

  “She won’t get to you,” I told him. “I won’t let her get near you.”

  “You need to be careful, too. She wants to fuck with you. She wants to see your agony.”

  “But she won’t want to kill me,” I said.

  He looked at me with empty eyes. “There are worse things than death.”

  And I averted my stare, because his darkness was unbearable. “I won’t let her get near you,” I said again, stubborn and determined. “You need to believe me.”

  “I have a kill pill hidden on my body,” he told me. “I won’t be taken alive.”

  My heart stuttered. “Zach…”

  “As I said.” He looked at me then and smiled grimly. “There are worse things than death.”

  “You have to fight,” I said. “You’re amazing. You can’t just swallow a pill and die. You have to fight them.”

  “I plan to fight. But if they manage to take me, then I’ll go out my way.”

  “Bastien is now the county master.” I took my phone from my pocket as we walked through the front door. I’d leave the vampire a message and he’d return my call when he awakened tonight. “He’ll control her. You just need time to regain your strength. You fought a wolf after I took you from the council. And you defeated him. Vampires aren’t stronger than wolves, Zach. You just need your confidence and a blade.”

  But as I left him and went to my bedroom to call the new Clinton County vampire master, I wasn’t sure either one of us believed my words.

  Chapter Five

  I was going to need to see my pack’s seer, Lennon. She could help with wards and protection, not only for me and my house, but for the man I saw as the most at risk. Zach Keller.

  It was turning out to be a very busy Sunday.

  When I drove into Shadowfield, it was quiet and appeared empty. Some of the wolves would still be sleeping after last night’s festivities. They’d all be resting. All except for the alpha, beta, and, I hoped, the seer.

  I bypassed the community building and drove straight to Jared’s house. I’d never been inside it, but I figured it was time. For a second, after I climbed from my car and stood staring up at his house, my stomach clenched. Not because I thought he’d be pissed when I told him a vampire with a grudge was possibly going to try to hurt him and his wolves, but because I was afraid I might find a woman in his house. In his bed.

  My wolf growled, and her possessive anger brought me to my senses. The alpha’s private life wa
s none of my business, just as mine was none of his. He could sleep with whomever he wanted. I didn’t care at all. It was simply my wolf causing trouble.

  Right.

  His house was big, gray, and sprawling, but not flamboyant. I stood on the sidewalk staring up at it until a woman I’d never seen before came out the front door and motioned for me. “Kait,” she called. “Come in, please.”

  She held out her hand until I walked to her, then took my arm and pulled me in through the open doorway. “I’m Nell,” she told me. She was probably around sixty years old and had a kind smile. There was curiosity in her eyes as she looked me over, and her grip, though firm, was gentle. “I’m glad to finally meet you, Kait. I wondered when you’d pay us a visit.”

  “Are you…”

  “I’m the alpha’s housekeeper. I take care of everything around here, including Jared. Someone has to make sure he eats and rests. He thinks he can run on anger and fierceness alone, but no one can do that.” She gave me a long, considering look. “Can they?”

  “Nope.” I didn’t ask what the alpha was so angry about. I was pretty sure he was born angry. “Is he here?”

  “No, but I told him you were visiting. He’s on his way.”

  “Thanks.” I looked around the foyer and then the sitting room she led me to. It was the cleanest room I’d ever seen. No clutter, nothing out of place, not so much as an awkwardly turned cushion. The wood floors gleamed, and I couldn’t see a single scratch or smudge. “It’s a beautiful house.” And there wasn’t a hint of Jared in it.

  “Thank you. Jared’s mother took great pride in this house, God rest her. Jared’s father took pride in the land.”

  “And Jared?” I couldn’t help but ask.

  She shot me a quick smile. “Jared takes pride in his wolves. In our pack family. And someday, he will take great pride in his mate and his children.” Her sigh was deep and full of longing. “Someday. Perhaps…”

  Seemed like she was wanting me to ask, but I wasn’t touching that. I sat gingerly on the white couch and hoped I didn’t have any of Ash’s hair clinging to me. Or blood.