Page 6 of Eternally Theirs

She nodded once more, gathering her courage. “It was in Barcelona. I moved there from San Francisco with my parents a few years ago, when I was fifteen. My father is a diplomat.”

“How old are you now, Mercy?” Ever asked her. “And Deo?” “I’m twenty-one,” she answered. “And I’m twenty-three.” Ever nodded, and she went on.

“He came into our house,” she said, her throat tightening at the memory. “I don’t know how he got in. We had the best security system, we had guards everywhere, but he got in—he came into my room as I slept and he… he took me.”

Deo wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder. She’d only ever told the story in detail to him, and only once. Thinking of it now, of her parents, whom she knew she’d likely never see again, broke her heart. Tears stung her eyes, but she wiped them away.

She didn’t want to cry in front of these powerful strangers.

“It’s alright, Mercy,” Deo told her, his thumb stroking the back of her hand.

Aleron leaned forward in his chair while Ramsey sat quietly beside him, his gaze moving from her face to Ever’s and back again.

“Go on,” Aleron prompted.

She glanced at Deo and he nodded.

“He took me away, just carried me over his shoulder to some old abandoned house. He drank from me. And drank from me again. And again, until I thought I was dying—I think I was dying. Then he bit into his own wrist and held it to my mouth. I… I couldn’t help myself. I drank from him. I did it.” She shook her head. “I didn’t want to but I did. This is my own fault.”

“It’s not,” Deo said, his tone fierce. “This isn’t your fault, Mercy.”

She turned to look at him once more. His aquamarine eyes were full of sympathy. Love.

“But it is, Deo. And you, that’s my fault too. I did this to you!”

“Shh, love. You didn’t understand what it was you were doing. You were afraid, and you thirsted. I understand now.”

She shook her head, and he pulled her in, brushed a kiss across her lips, and for a moment, everything, everyone else disappeared, and all she knew was Deo’s touch. Comforting and searing her at the same time.

“It’s not Mercy’s fault,” Deo said to the three other vampires, his eyes blazing. “You can’t blame her.”

“We don’t,” Ever assured him. “We are only interested in finding out what we can about this Gaius.”

“I will not be separated from her,” Deo said, his voice a low growl.

“And you shall not be,” Aleron told him. “Did Ramsey not tell you so?”

“I did,” Ramsey said with a shrug, “but apparently they didn’t believe me.”

“It’s only that this is our worst fear now,” Mercy explained. “To be apart, when for the last few months all we’ve had is each other.”

“You will never have to be apart again, if that is what you wish,” Ever said once more, leaning closer. “What else can you tell us of Gaius? Do you know his age? Where he came from?”

“He’s old. Maybe as old as you are, Ever. I’m not very good at sensing these things yet. He said something to me at one point about Rome, and I saw into his mind…” She paused, shivering, not wanting to remember all the ugly, twisted things she’d seen there. “I saw what looked like ancient Rome to me. I recognized the names of some of the places, the gods he still prayed to. Cursed. But he never spoke to me as much as he sort of muttered to himself, and little of it made sense. He was with me only a few days before he left me.”

“And that’s when you met Deo?” Aleron asked.

“I found him camping on the beaches of Valencia, south of Barcelona. After

Gaius left, I just… wandered. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I couldn’t go home again. Not like this. And I was so alone. It was terrible, everything so blindingly bright and loud and confusing, and I never thought I’d feel any sort of relief again. Until I met Deo.”

“We traveled around Spain for a few months,” Deo said, “learning what we could do with these new bodies, this new life. We’d both heard of the vampires, of course, but neither of us knew much. We… I’m afraid we did some violence learning to feed. We didn’t know, until Ramsey showed us. Until we heard of the Midnight Playground and made our way to Madrid to ask for his help.”

“You met Mercy in Spain, yet your name, your accent is Greek, is it not?” Ever asked Deo. “You look Greek, with that dark, curling hair. Except for your eyes. They are most unusual.”

“My family is Greek, yes.”

“Ah, you have family, then.” Aleron nodded, stroking his chin with long, pale fingers.

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