Demon's Mercy Read online

  Within a second, pain lanced into his neck, and electricity ripped through his body so rapidly he dropped to his knees. Water from a mud puddle washed up. What the hell? Another jolt, and his vision grayed. Stun-gunned? Not a normal jolt, either. This was meant either for vampires or, hell, a brontosaurus. He tried to turn, but a third jolt beneath his left ear bashed through his entire head. He swayed. Mercy. Where was she? He opened his mouth to yell for her to run, but only a croak emerged.

  “Get him in the SUV.” The blonde suddenly appeared and shot an arm beneath his shoulder.

  Then Mercy was in front of him. “Hurry. He should be completely out, but his eyes are still open.” Her voice was crisp, but those pretty eyes looked worried.

  “M-Mercy?” he asked, his brain feeling like Jell-O.

  She winced. “Sorry about this, sport.” The brunette emerged from the side of a dumpster, a black box in her hand. Between the three of them, they managed to drag him to the rear of the SUV and shove him inside, where he landed on his back with a hard thump.

  “He weighs a ton,” the blonde muttered, disappearing around the side.

  Mercy jumped in beside him and quickly shackled his wrists and ankles with iron. The good kind. The door slammed shut, and then the vehicle peeled out of the alley.

  Anger finally spurted through the shock and pain of the electrical attack. Who the fuck were these females? More importantly, what were they? Witches? He growled.

  Mercy’s eyes widened and then she grimaced, sitting on the newish carpet and leaning against the side of the SUV. “I’m really sorry about this, Logan.”

  Sorry? Oh, the woman didn’t understand the meaning of the word. Yet.

  The brunette leaned over the back seat. “You can’t kill him here. We’ll have to take him to the warehouse.”

  Logan kept his focus on Mercy’s angled face as the feeling started to return to his limbs. Kill?

  Mercy sighed. “I know. That’s where I left the sword, anyway. A demon has to be decapitated.” She leaned in, her wild scent filling his head. “I truly am sorry about this, Logan Kyllwood. I wish I didn’t have to kill you.”

  Chapter 2

  “He doesn’t look like a demon,” Trina said, brushing her frizzing hair away from her face as she slowly backed away from the unconscious male chained to the steel-reinforced wall inside the warehouse. They’d had to zap him three more times in the vehicle, until finally he’d passed out. Then they’d had to just dump him out of the SUV, onto the cement, and roll him to the restraints. He really was heavy—and all muscle.

  Mercy swallowed. Purebred demons were blond with black eyes, but Logan had dark hair and green eyes. “He’s part vampire. Maybe that’s the dominant force in his genes.” Though his voice had been full demon. His family ran the demon nation, so she’d think of him as such. She forced away a shiver.

  A gentle rain started pattering down and sprayed inside the open garage-style door. More water dripped somewhere in the recesses of the huge space. Mercy eyed the ancient sword leaning against the wall, several feet down from the demon.

  Sandy shut the back of the SUV and read a text from her phone. “We’re needed on the south side, Trina.” She looked up, her dark eyes worried. “This is a terrible plan, Mercy.” She frowned and studied the unconscious male. “He won’t believe you’re going to kill him. It’d take two of us to get a blade through that thick neck.”

  Logan’s deep green eyes opened, already clear and focused.

  Mercy’s breath caught, and she took an unwilling step back. She was a heck of a poker player, and she could bluff with the best of them. “I’ve got this,” she whispered, her voice shaking just a little.

  Trina came to her side, staring at the male. She slipped the tricked-out stun gun into Mercy’s hand. “We are in so much trouble,” she said quietly.

  Mercy nodded. “I know.”

  Sandy grabbed her arm. “The king doesn’t make idle threats. Get this done and get home. No more mistakes, Mercy.”

  Icy fingers clutched Mercy’s heart and squeezed. Damn anxiety. “I know.” How she was going to succeed here without getting caught was beyond her at the moment. But she had to do it. “Get out of here. I’ll be in contact.”

  Logan hadn’t said a word. He casually tested one wrist restraint and then the other, not seeming concerned that the cuffs were shackled by chains to a wall. And his gaze hadn’t left hers. Not even for a second.

  Warning ticked through her. The kind a smart person would heed. A lump settled in her throat.

  Trina and Sandy jumped into the SUV and sped out of the warehouse, hitting a button and shutting the garage door as they passed.

  Quiet descended except for the drip, drip, drip in the distance.

  Logan finally released her gaze, turned and studied the sword, then focused back on her. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Whoa. So, he’d been masking the full hoarseness of his demon voice. Logan’s tone, set free now, shot past rumbly to rough. Seriously rough. And way too sexy for any male.

  Mercy sighed. “Mercy O’Malley. I already told you that.” Yeah, she was stalling. She wouldn’t let herself look away, though. The male had black hair to his shoulders, thick and wavy. Scruff covered what could only be described as a rock-hard jaw that matched his fierce features perfectly. His shoulders were broad, his chest muscled, and his body incredibly tight. Logan Kyllwood was a warrior among warriors, and she didn’t stand a chance in hell of fighting him should he get free.

  Good thing she’d used real iron cuffs.

  His gaze raked her, leaving sensitivity and an odd tingling in its wake. “You’re more than human.”

  “Aye,” she said softly. There were several immortal species.

  His gaze narrowed. “Not a shifter.”

  “No.”

  “Or demon,” he mused, remaining so still it was kind of eerie.

  She shook her head.

  “You’re a fucking witch.” He knocked his head back on the reinforced steel wall. “Another witch. Damn witches.”

  Her chest hitched and she straightened to her full, rather unimpressive, height. “I most certainly am not a witch.” Did she look like a witch? Hell, no. Witches played with elements and threw fire. That’s all. For Pete’s sake. She was much more powerful than that. “A witch,” she muttered, kicking off the way too high heels that had been killing her all day. Who wore those things, anyway?

  His frown slashed down dark eyebrows. “What’s left?”

  How insulting. Seriously. Maybe he was a moron, and she’d given him too much credit earlier. “I’m Fae.”

  He blinked. Once, twice. Horror crossed his hard expression. “You’re a fairy?”

  Well. Her nostrils flared. “We prefer Fae. Have you ever even met one of us?”

  “No.” He studied her as he would a newly discovered creature. “But fairies are all…”

  “Crazy,” she finished for him, rolling her eyes. “So we’ve heard. Time and time again.” Such a stupid rumor. “Let’s see. What other rumors are out there? I know. Vampires are pale and need human blood to survive. They turn humans into vamps on a whim. Oh, and the sun kills them.” None of that was true. Vampires loved the sun and were their own species. There was no turning of anybody. When a human mated a vampire, she remained human…but did gain immortality through a chromosomal change.

  “Point made,” Logan said. “But still.”

  “Still what? Demons? Oh yeah. They’re hell beasts.” She snorted. Maybe that was rather true. “We are not crazy.” No more than any other species, anyway.

  “Right,” he muttered.

  It was true that her people hadn’t exactly been visible enough to counter the rumor—which was exactly how they liked it. Now, because of him and his people, she had no choice but to be visible again. For a time. “You have no idea what you’re doing,” she
muttered, scrunching her toes over the rough concrete. Those stupid shoes had left red marks across the top of her feet.

  “What I’m doing?” His chin lowered, giving him a predatory look even though he was sitting and shackled. “Oh, baby. You don’t know what you’ve done.”

  The saliva in her mouth dried up. Completely. Her knees weakened, so she forced a hard expression onto her face. Hopefully. “You haven’t left us much choice.”

  Dark amusement filled his ancient eyes. “So I heard. You picking up that sword anytime soon?”

  Her mouth tightened. Shouldn’t he look at least a little bit scared? “Don’t let my size fool you, demon,” she said.

  “It’s your eyes that got me,” he rumbled. “Green and soft and sweet. Your power is there.” He shifted his weight very casually.

  Her power was in her brain, and she knew it. “These are contacts. Don’t get used to them.”

  Interest sizzled across his chiseled features. “What color are your eyes?”

  One of them was the actual green he’d seemed to like. “None of your business. By the way, we dropped your wallet and phone back in the alley, so you can stop looking for them.” There wouldn’t be any way to trace him to the warehouse. She narrowed her gaze. “My research on you shows you can’t teleport. I figure that’s true, since you haven’t given it a try.” Many demons, not all, had the ability to teleport through dimensions to a different place on Earth.

  “Not yet,” he said calmly. “I’m not even thirty yet, so there are centuries to develop the talent.”

  Odd. Sure, all immortals appeared to be around his age, regardless of their time on Earth. They looked centuries younger than their real years, but this male? He looked older. Early thirties with that tough, I’ve seen shit expression that wasn’t an expression. It also gave him the Don’t worry, baby, I can protect you from all evil if I want sexy look that some males just seemed to have. The wounded ones who also looked like they could kiss. For hours.

  She cleared her throat. “I need some information from you before we continue.”

  “Sure,” he murmured. “Name is Logan Kyllwood, and I’ve been sent to retrieve you since you’re one of the three Keys. A fact you obviously know.”

  She rolled her eyes. “The only reason you know I’m a Key is because we put the information out there to draw you in.”

  “No shit,” he drawled. “Even so, you have a gift, and you need to be protected.”

  Gift? “It’s a curse, demon,” she snapped. “And you’re in no position to protect anybody.” She knew the three female Keys were needed so their blood could be used in some stupid, ancient ritual that would do nothing but cause more problems for everybody.

  One of his dark eyebrows rose. “Curse? How can you say that? You have the ability to rid the world of true evil with one little ritual.”

  Ha. That’s what he thought. Idiot vampire-demon hybrids. Why didn’t he look a little more worried? The guy obviously wasn’t taking her seriously. “That ritual won’t even dent the evil in this world,” she said. “Regardless, it isn’t going to happen.”

  “Sure, it is.” Logan tilted his head. “Why are the fairies declaring war on the demon nation?”

  She blinked. “We’re not. You’re not here because of the demons. You’re here because of the Seven. Right now, your friends are only six strong, and we have to keep it that way until we take out a few more.” The Seven were a group of hybrids who thought they were tasked with protecting the earth from the most evil of Kurjans, the one currently confined in a prison dimension. But they were wrong. They’d messed with physics in a way that was catastrophic, and they had to be stopped. “You can’t be allowed to take part in your ritual and become one of the Seven.” The Seven couldn’t reach full force. It would be the complete package to doom.

  “Mercy,” he said, almost gently. “Even if I disappear, somebody else will step up and take my place.”

  They truly didn’t understand, did they? Nobody should mess with the laws of the universe without freaking understanding them. Was it because they were hybrids or males that they were so arrogant? Probably both. “Not exactly true, demon.” She shook her head. “There’s a reason only ten percent of the males who’ve undergone your ritual survived. Only certain bloodlines can even attempt it.”

  He exhaled slowly. “Yeah. I figured.” He looked way too casual just leaning against the wall, iron bands around his wrists. “What’s the fairy nation’s problem with the Seven?”

  That would take much too long to explain to him. “Let’s just say you’ve screwed things up for us, and now you have to disappear.”

  His lips twitched. “I’ve faced more than my share of killers, Mercy O’Malley. You’re not one.”

  Oh yeah? She moved for the sword and lifted it. It was solid and pure, and the balance was perfect. She hadn’t spent much time learning sword fighting, and cutting through a guy’s throat would be difficult, especially for a novice. The blade was razor-sharp. She moved toward him and pressed the tip to his throat. “I’m stronger than I look.”

  He met her gaze evenly, his lids half lowered. “You think you have time to slide it in before I stop you?” The innuendo in his words wound between them, and she clenched. A trickle of blood dripped down his skin.

  Her stomach dropped. Could she? The male didn’t even look worried. More like slightly interested and possibly sleepy. “Yes,” she bluffed. With the stun gun in one hand and the sword in the other, she should feel a lot more in control of the situation than she did. “Why aren’t you attacking my mind?” Demons could mentally slash through brains like a crop reaper if they wanted.

  He lifted one massive shoulder. “Meh.”

  “Meh?” she snapped. Seriously? The insult was just too much. Pressing the button on the stun gun, she let the charges attach to his chest with a powerful jolt. The smell of burned cotton filtered up.

  His eyes darkened, flashing black and returning to that intriguing green. “Ouch,” he said, his voice mild.

  She took a step back, her hand trembling. “Your body has already figured out how to counteract the charge.”

  “Yep.”

  Okay. That was fast. Much quicker than her scientists had said it would happen. This was no ordinary demon, a fact she’d already figured out. “I don’t want to kill you.” She let the tip of the sword drop to the pavement.

  “Yeah. I got that.” The small nick on his neck healed and closed. “Am I your first job as an assassin?”

  “I’m not exactly an assassin. We were just trying to get your attention with the threat.”

  “Oh, baby. You definitely have my attention.”

  She shivered from the rough tone and then started to calculate scenarios in her mind. “In fact, I’m going to get in some serious trouble for warning you to stop this nonsense with the Seven. My people don’t want to work with you, and they’re more powerful than you can believe. I don’t suppose you’d lie low for the next couple of decades until I can figure this out?”

  “I don’t suppose I would,” he said, too agreeably.

  “Well.” She bit her bottom lip. Why wasn’t he buying her bluff? “If I let you live, my people won’t stop coming for you. Ever.”

  His expression lost the lazy amusement. “Let them come, Mercy. Unlike you, I have no problem killing.”

  She shuddered before she could stop herself. “You’re really not giving me a choice here.”

  His eyebrows rose. “You’re going to try to kill me?”

  “No,” she sighed. “You’re right about that. I don’t want to kill anybody.” She tossed the sword and stun gun across the cement and they clattered away. “There’s only one logical conclusion, and it’s risky, but you’ve left me no alternative.” Moving toward him, she walked alongside his extended legs then dropped to straddle him, pressing her hands to the burn marks on his shirt. She
couldn’t afford the loss of energy this would cost her, but there was no choice.

  His smile was more wolf than demon. “I like where this is going.”

  She rolled her eyes and tried to look calm, even though his thighs were warm and so damn hard. The guy had sleek, strong muscles everywhere. “Have you ever teleported? With somebody who could?”

  Interest crossed his expression. “Can you teleport?”

  “Yes.” She closed her eyes and drew on the forces of time and space, the power in the universe. She’d take him somewhere he couldn’t escape. Power trilled through her, and she concentrated. Something detonated in her solar plexus, and the power sputtered out and dissipated. She gasped and opened her eyes, still in the damn warehouse.

  Green eyes drilled into hers. “You’ve got some gifts there.”

  Her mouth gaped open. She snapped it shut and lowered her chin. “How did you just stop me?” It was impossible.

  He shrugged, nearly dislodging her. “I may not be able to teleport yet, but I can sure as shit stop anybody from teleporting me.”

  Huh. She hadn’t realized demons could do that. Must be a state secret or something.

  “Where did you think you were taking me?” he asked, his thighs tightening just enough to give warning.

  “Somewhere you’ve never been,” she said, not willing to reveal any more information than she already had.

  “Hmm. Maybe next time.” In a move that was as graceful as it was powerful, he threw both arms out and snapped the chains holding him to the wall.

  Oh, God. She bunched to jump off him and he manacled her arms, the cuffs still around his wrists. He tugged her farther up his thighs until they sat groin to groin, his face only an inch from hers. Heat cascaded off him like a volcano.

  She froze. Completely. Like a deer reaching a ravine. The power dynamic had shifted so quickly, she hadn’t even had time to breathe. Control. She had to keep control somehow. “I don’t want to hurt you, Logan,” she breathed.

  His chin lifted, and his lips twitched. “That’s too bad, because I do want to hurt you right now.”