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One
MERCY
Iwake to complete darkness and no memory of what landed me here—whereverhereis. Oh, my God,am I blind? —is my first panicked thought when I realize I can’t see my hand in front of my face. My stomach twists and roils and I pitch to the side just in time to empty my stomach onto the ground. Christ, my head feels like it’s got its own heartbeat and puking doesn’t help. With everything spinning out of control, all I can do is lie curled up on my side and hope it ebbs soon.
I’m not sure how much time passes before I’m finally able to sit upright with my back resting against the wall. My hand goes to my throbbing temple, where a patch of matted hair suggests I’ve been bleeding, and a tender-to-the-touch goose egg confirms that I probably have a concussion.
My memories are murky and trying to bring up the last thing I recall before waking up here is like sloughing through mud. I was talking with Yesenia when the door to her house burst open. Everything after that was total chaos, with shouting, loud pops of gunfire, and dozens of men dressed like soldiers spilling through the ruined entrance.
I eventually convince myself that I’m not blind, but that the room is truly pitch black. The floor is a smooth slab of cement, and the walls are brick or cinderblock, which makes me think I’m in a basement or cellar.When the worst of my dizziness eases, I roll over to my hands and knees and start crawling my way around the perimeter of the room. When I’m sturdier, I push myself to my feet.
There is no furniture that I come across, but I find a door—I think. There isn’t a doorknob that I can find, but it’s made of thick, sturdy wood that hardly makes a sound when I pound, kick, and throw my weight against it.
Rubbing my hands up and down my bare arms I try to ward off the cold, damp air by walking circles around the room.What seems like hours pass and no one comes to check on me. In fact, I don’t hear any noise at all. On top of being terrifyingly dark, it’s also oppressively silent.
Enough time passes for the urge to use the bathroom to hit with dire necessity. I’ve circled and crossed the room enough by now to know there is nothing in here other than myself—not even a bucket to piss in. Reaching the point of desperation, I finally go to the closest corner to squat and relieve the pressure in my bladder that is about to explode at any moment.
A day passes, I think. Maybe two? In this eternal darkness, I have no way of knowing. It’s been long enough for thirst to kick in and my lips begin to crack. Long enough that I catch myself checking the walls for moisture.
I’m licking condensation from my fingers when the sound of a bolt unlatching has me spinning around. The door opens and blinding light floods the room, forcing my hands up to block it from my eyes.
In the silence, I hear the man in the doorway sniff the air and then make a sound of disgust. “Couldn’t hold it, huh? Fucking animal.” Then he tosses a bucket at me and slams the door shut again.
“Wait! No!” I scream. The sound of the bolt latching echoes in the small space, and I stumble towards the door as I’m once again bathed in inky darkness. Tripping over the bucket and landing hard on my hands and knees, I crawl the rest of the way to the door.
“Come back!” my voice cracks from disuse and I pound my fists on the thick wood as terrified sobs tear through my parched throat.“Don’t leave me. Please! Please, come back. Please!”
But he doesn’t and I’m left alone in the dark again.
Two
JARIK
The body hits the ground with a dull thud as I swing my head around to see Luka standing in the doorway.
“Any luck?” he asks, eyes dropping to the vampire struggling to breathe around the mangled mess that used to be his throat before I ripped it out for him.
“If he knows anything, he isn’t sharing.” I growl. We both know how persuasive I can be.
“I’m having the same problem,” my brother grumbles back.
I bring my foot back and howl with outrage as I kick the downed vampire with enough force that he lands across the room with a wet splat.
We need a new plan.
It’s been days since the attack on the coyote faction that left Yesenia near death and Mercy missing. We’ve been making our way through the vampire’s territory, targeting anyone who has anything to do with Marcus, but it seems he’s been careful to keep his soldiers in the dark. What we need is someone inupper management.
“Maybe we should have been a bit stealthier.” Luka sighs as we make our way back to my Bugatti. I don’t even care that I’m covered in gore when I drop into the molded seat.
My teeth gnash as I shove the expensive transmission into gear and crank the wheel, leaving the scene in a spray of dirt and gravel.
When we return to the Den, Jacob—the head of the Grizzly faction—is waiting for us. He has always been neutral, like I tried to be until they thought they could take my mate from me. He’s never sided with one faction over another, so I wonder what he’s doing here, now.
Jacob is a thick motherfucker. Nearly as wide as he is tall, and he towers over me. His rugged looks put him completely out of place in the center of the city. With unkempt brown hair and an equally wild beard, he looks every bit the part of his grizzly bear side.
His eyes slide over me when I exit my fancy car. No doubt taking in the splatters of blood and gore I haven’t bothered washing off. He raises one of his bushy brows. “You’ve been busy.”
“Do not start with me,” I snarl at him in warning. “What do you want?”
