Page 38 of No Mercy
Flynn takes a cautious step toward her. “Mandy, please?—”
She spins to face him, her voice breaking. “Stop calling me that!” She presses her hands to her chest. “You don’t get to say my name. You don’t get to act like you care after everything you’ve done.”
Her words are a knife, slicing through the tension, leaving nothing but jagged edges in their wake.
My chest tightens, the air refusing to fill my lungs. I’m breathing too fast—short, shallow gasps that do nothing to ease the weight crushing me from all sides. My hands tremble, clammy and useless at my sides, as my skin prickles with the heat of panic.
Calm down. Pull it together.But the words echo uselessly in my mind. She’s here, and I can’t escape it, not any more. The way she stands there, hurt and disappointed.
She doesn’t even know me, but I feel like I know her. Since the day Axel asked me to look into Eva, Mandy was the first picture I saw. She has the face of an angel, one that I want for myself.
The pressure in my head builds, a relentless, pounding rhythm that blurs everything else—the room, the voices, even my brothers. My legs feel weak, unsteady beneath me, but I manage a step back. Then another.
I need to get away.
Turning, I retreat, my movements clumsy and frantic. I don’t look back. My brothers’ voices call after me, growing louder,sharper, but I don’t stop. I can’t stop. The hallway stretches in front of me, impossibly long, until I finally reach the door to my room.
I shove it open, my pulse roaring in my ears, and slam it shut behind me. My back hits the wood, and I slide down to the floor, pulling my knees to my chest as though I can make myself small enough to disappear.
The muted thud of fists on the door breaks through the haze. Axel. He’s on the other side, shouting something I can’t focus on. I press my hands to my ears, trying to block him out, but it doesn’t help.
His voice carries a raw edge, a worry that tugs at me, but I shake my head violently. My chest heaves, the panic still clawing at me.
No. Not now. I can’t face this. I can’t face them.
The door rattles again. My hands dropping to my sides, trembling as they clench into fists. I want to scream. To make him stop. To tell him to leave me alone. But the words are trapped, stuck in the void where my voice should be.
Instead, I curl tighter, my forehead pressing against my knees, willing the world to go quiet. The only sound is the pounding of my heart, drowning everything else out.
Axel’s voice fades, leaving a heavy silence in its place. I let out a shuddering breath, my mind spiralling with questions I can’t answer.
Why her? Why now?
I don’t know how long I sit there, locked in the storm, waiting for it to pass.
CHAPTER 21
AXEL
I bangon Ant’s door, “Let me in Ant.”
Pressing my ear against the door, I listen for any sign of movement but it’s as if he isn’t even there. A shadow casts underneath his door from the light inside, it shifts slowly confirming he is just behind the door.
“Come on Ant, It’s just me… Please open up.” I beg, resting my head against the door.
It’s been years since I’ve seen him have a panic attack, the last one was at our parents funeral and it took about a week to bring him to us. Seeing Mandy triggered this and I need to find out why, but for now. It can wait. The only other question remaining is, why did they both look so shocked to see each other?
“I’ll be back soon, I’ll bring you some food.” I tell him before walking back towards the living room.
Mandy sits in the middle of the sofa with Carter and Flynn on either side of her. Gunnar is standing in the corner of the room, coffee in hand, staring at me as I enter. He knows something is wrong.
When he first arrived, I sent him to his room informing him that I will tell him everything in the morning, exceptthe commotion between Ant and Mandy caught his attention. Pushing himself off the wall, Gunnar walks towards me with determination, “Are you going to tell me anything yetbrother?” He stands in front of me, arms crossed as he stares me down.
Normally this would be seen as a challenge forLeaderbut seeing as he doesn’t know anything, I’ll let him off. Next time though, I’ll kick his ass.
I match his stance, keeping eye contact as I stare back, “You’ll know soon.” I tell him sternly before walking away to face the pissed off woman on the sofa. I think back to the training my father gave me but this, this is something completely out of my league. She’s an innocent, not someone we’ve taken to torture. I take a deep breath, offering my hand out to her, “Welcome, I’m Axel.”
She looks at my hand is disgust before swatting it away, “WellAxel,what the fuck do you want?”
