Page 71 of Club Blood

Mercy growled, a guttural sound that made Warren step back with widened eyes. “Donotquestion me or think of me as unable to control myself. I will have your throat, friend, if you test me again.”

Warren inclined his head and left the room in a hurry, Mercy turning to me with her anger already dissipating into something unusual…

Pity.

“Mercy, tell me what’s wrong.”

She took my face in her cool hands, placing a tender kiss to my lips. I recognized her preemptive measure to soothe me. I pulled back, hoping she would see the look in my eyes, pleading with her to go on.

I hadn’t seen Mercy like this before. She looked frazzled, her usually put-together appearance suddenly messy and unlike her. I gripped her hands tightly in mine, pressing myself closer to her. If I couldn’t offer her comfort for whatever was going on, I could at least let her know I was by her side.

“Little flower, I have some unsettling news.”

“Merc, just say it.”

“We found out the identity of the person Wade killed. Baby, the LVPD determined the victim was Laura Anderson…”

Mercy kept talking but all I could hear was the blood pounding in my head.Laura Anderson.Laura was dead. That sick fuck of a bartender had killed my best friend.

I’d never see her smile or hear her laugh ever again. Laura was the only family I’d ever known, and now I was going to be without her forever. All because she had been trying to cheermeup; wanting to celebratemybirthday. It was my fault that I was never going to see my best friend and there was nothing I could do about it.

I should have insisted we never stepped insideAmbrosia. Or maybe I should have dragged her ass out when she started flirting with Wade. The devious glint in his eye that night should have alerted us both that it wasn’t going to end well. Maybe if I hadn’t gotten fucking kidnapped, I could have saved her.

But no, this wasn’t all on me. I wasn’t the only one responsible for what transpired that night. There was someone else to blame.

I yanked my hands out of Mercy’s, clambering onto my feet and putting distance between us. For someone usually so stoic and unreadable, I could see the hurt in her eyes almost immediately. But I didn’t care. No matter how hurt she was, I was hurting more. She had played a part in me losing my best friend.

“Cecelia–”

I held up my hand, cutting her off. “You did this. This is your fault.”

“I know you’re hurting but–”

“NO! You donotget to tell me how I’m feeling. Because as hurt as I am, I’m fucking twice as angry,” I yelled, my voice hoarse as tears streamed down my cheeks. “You did this, Mercy. There’s so much blood on your hands and I could have forgiven it all but you let that psychopath into your club and he killed my best friend right under your nose. I can’t let that go.”

Mercy stood and made to move towards me, but I stepped further away, slowly making my way to the door. I didn’t want to be in the same room as her. I couldn’t look at her without seeing my friend, lifeless and broken. The mind was a cruel thing, conjuring images that nobody would ever want to see.

“Please, Cece, I know you blame me. There will never be enough apologies in the world for what has happened to you and I would love to take that pain away, but I can’t.”

I threw my hands up, resisting the urge to scream. “Then what are we doing here, Merc? We can’t move past it.”

“Queenie?”

Warren came up beside me, stepping slowly as though he was scared of frightening me. The worst part about it was that he was right. I couldn’t look at him and Mercy, the people who had quickly become irreplaceable in my life, without feeling betrayed and terrified. They had allowed something horrible to happen to the person I loved most. Even if Warren wasn’t there when it happened, he was still one ofthem.

“Cece, I know how much you loved Laura. But Mercy isn’t to blame for this. Wade, that weak, vile, son of a bitch – he’s the one to blame for this. And he’s dead too.” He stepped towards me and I moved back again, my back almost flush against the door which he had left open. One more step and maybe I could sprint to my room, lock myself away until I could figure out how to leave.

“So what? He’s dead and I’m just supposed to get over the fact that my best friend wasmurderedfor no reason? Your boss here hired that bastard and look what happened.”

Warren winced and I hated how much it pained me. I didn’t want to blame him, but I couldn’t help the rage boiling inside of me. I looked at Mercy, my heart aching at the detachment on her face.

My voice broke, my eyes burning as even more tears felt. “I never wanted to be a part of this. I… I should be the one who’s dead, not Laura.”

“Well, I couldn’t agree more.”

Mercy’s eyes widened and I screamed as I was yanked backwards by my hair, my throat being gripped so tight that the person’s nails cut into the skin.

“Maybe I should fulfill your wish. I don’t mind helping you join your little bloodbag friend.”

---