Page 17 of Property of Mercy
“Oh, Little Lamb, defeat doesn’t look good on you,” Mercy croons.“Where is the woman that burns hot and lets her mouth run unchecked?”
“At this point in my life, fighting seems about pointless,” I glare at him, over the games and ready to just be done.
“Awww now you’re just making this too easy,” Mercy drags his nose along my jaw.
“Listen asshole, my head hurts, besides feeling like I’ve been blown up and shot.Oh wait!That’s because I fuckingwas—on both accounts!I’ve had the ever-loving hell scared out of me more in the last … however many days I’ve been here.”I sigh, sagging in his hold.“I’m fucking tired.Tired of fighting.Tired of trying.Tired of running, and most of all, tired of failing all those who loved and trusted me.So do your motherfucking worst as long as you promise that in the end you snuff me out.”
I finally look up into the dark pools framed by long lashes, and what I see there is shocking.I see understanding, acknowledgment, and even some respect reflected back at me.That look seems to be what my psyche needed because suddenly my world spins and once again I’m swallowed by blackness.
“Fucking hell.Remedy, when will she stop fucking passing out at every turn?”I hear Mercy snap.
“Man, I don’t fucking know.She’s been through more than most, so I’m surprised she hasn’t completely lost it,” Remedy answers from somewhere far off.“Were you able to find out anything before she passed out?”
“Fuck no.”
I feel the bed dip and Mercy sighs.“There’s something about her though.I can’t put my finger on it, but I feel as if this isn’t the first time we’ve crossed paths.”
I fight to not react to his words.I know there is no way that I’ve crossed paths with this man or any one of them.
“You know Blender and Rhino said the same thing after you walked out of the meeting earlier.They mentioned that something about her was familiar, but they didn’t know what.Hermes is still digging and we should have something soon.”Remedy chuckles before I hear him moving across the floor.“We both know that motherfucker will figure it out one way or the other.I just hope you don’t get too attached to our little lamb before we have the answers.”
“What a fucking joke,” Mercy’s sarcastic tone is like a knife to the soul.“We all know that the only two people I’ve ever been attached to are Blender and Jenny.”
I hold my breath at the sound of her name.No, no, no, there is no fucking way.Why would the universe do this to me?Is this truly my penance for failing all those I’ve loved?
“I don’t know, brother, it seems Little Lamb, here, has you enraptured,” a new voice says.
“Considering what’s going to have to be done, we better all hope not.Because if so, we’re going to have to turn her over to Blender.”
Mercy stands from his place on the bed, and I hear him pacing.Fear like I’ve never felt before snaps my eyes open.“I don’t know what you’re wanting to know.”
Mercy stops his pacing as Raider holds a hand up, keeping him away.Raider sits on the edge of the bed, eyeing me closely.I sit up, pulling the blanket to my chin as a shield.I try not to react to the fact I’m in nothing but one of Mercy’s t-shirts.We sit there as the silence stretches until I break eye contact, looking at my hands fisted in my lap.
“Paisley, we truly just want the answer that we need to lead us to the assholes running a sex trafficking ring in this area.”
My eyes snap up to his and I suck in a sharp breath.“I don’t know anything about a sex trafficking ring or anyone involved in one.It was just the wrong place, the wrong time.”
I pray to whoever the fuck is listening that they hear the truth in my words.Only as I watch Raider’s eyes turn to stone I know that I’ve lost him.I don’t know how to prove things to them,but I know I have to.
“What do I have to do to prove to you I’m not a part of this?”I look each man in the face, doing my best to plead with my eyes.
“That’s just it, Little Lamb, the only way to prove it to us is to tell us the truth,” Mercy says in a way that is meant to calm me, but from him it incites terror.He leans down so we’re nose-to-nose, “We all know you’re lying about something and until we know what it is, we can only assume that you're a part of the sex trafficking.”
I try, I truly do, but I can’t stop the words, “You know what they say about assuming things, right?”
Mercy’s hands snap out, one fisting my hair and the second one closing around my throat, forcing my head back.“Are you certain you want to finish that line of questioning?”
My eyes burn with the tears from the pain of my hair and once again my brain-to-mouth filter fails me.“I mean, my momma always said it just makes an ass out of you and me.”
Remedy bursts out laughing before heading for the door.“Little Lamb, I don’t know if you are the bravest person or the daftest person I’ve ever met.Either way, this is going to be fun.Raider let’s go and leave Mercy to tend the little lamb.Don’t forget, she needs to hydrate and eat.”
Mercy says nothing, giving a jerk of his head in acknowledgment as he watches me study me.I notice for the first time that behind the steel in his eyes is curiosity and just a touch of fear.The sound of the door closing seems to be what my body and mind needed to finally relax.
I know it sounds crazy—don’t fucking ask me.
At some point Mercy decides on something.“You’re going to eat, take something for pain, and then you’re going to sleep.”
“And if I don’t want to do any one of the things you’ve just commanded?”Again, why am I poking the bear?I have no damn clue.
