Page 27 of The Price of Mercy
Not Zane.
Mercy.
“Siren,” I whisper, carefully maneuvering around a coffee table to swoop in on her. She’s unconscious but muttering in her sleep, her eyes rapidly darting back and forth behind closed eyelids. Are you supposed to wake someone from a nightmare,or does that make it worse? I puzzle over the best way to approach her when she inhales sharply, her mouth hanging open. No sound comes out, but her eyes squeeze tightly shut, and she stops breathing.
Fuck this bullshit.
“Mercy,” I call out, quickly scooping her up and cradling her in my lap. The chair hasn’t held her body heat, and she shivers the moment she comes into contact with my chest. Fuck. How long has she been here? All night? Why didn’t she sleep in a bed? There have to be a half dozen scattered around this place. I’d made a mental note to check how many places I could enjoy her company this week, and the list was long.
Brushing my hand over her forehead, I grimace at the cold layer of sweat at her hairline. “Shhh, sweetheart. It’s okay. I’m here.” I don’t know what she’s dreaming about, but it must be bad if she won’t wake up. Dark circles linger beneath her eyes, like she’s had trouble sleeping for a while. It’s not like I watch her twenty-four seven, but one of us has to have been paying attention while she was sleeping. Surely,someoneknows that she gets nightmares.
Which means that someone knows the best way to wake her.
I grit my teeth as she trembles like a leaf. Is she cold? Scared? Shit. What do I do?
The only other person I’ve comforted is Zane, and that’s not the same… or is it?
Carefully, I wrap her snugly in the blanket and haul her against my chest, brushing my fingers through her hair until she takes steadier breaths. Even then, she doesn’t wake up. This is normally when Zane nervous talks himself to sleep to block out the roaring thunder shaking the windows, but there isn’t a storm outside—it’s inside Mercy’s mind.
I swipe my thumbs over her cheeks and lean in to brush my lips over hers. A silly flare of—I don’t know—something lightand bubbly in my chest makes me smile. “I’ll be your Prince Charming,” I murmur, “just this once.”
The kiss is gentle, but the explosion of sparks inside my heart isn’t. I vibrate from head to toe as it overwhelms my senses, creating a buzz in my ear and a pitter-patter thump of my heart. Deepening the kiss, I swipe my tongue over Mercy’s lips and hum into her mouth, craving more. Needing it like I need oxygen. This isn’t healthy, whatever this is. A fuzzy feeling surges through my veins and crackles like candy, all from a single taste of her mouth.
It’s not like this when I kiss Zane—that’s a different kind of crescendo, starting in the marrow of my bones and building into an unbearable heat. I’m used to that with him: the slow burn that’s as addictive as it is painful.
But kissing Mercy feels like… the softest shade of moonlight on a canvas, whose beauty sneaks up on you over time. It’s always been pretty, but the longer you stare, the more you see its depth. A hint of lavender or a brushstroke of a royal blue. Subtle, majestic, captivating. Until all of a sudden, you’ve been staring at it for so long that you need more. One canvas isn’t enough. You create a dozen, two dozen,five dozen.All with the same color palette. As excited for this painting as you were for the last. Dreaming of the composition, falling in love over and over again as you bring each one to life.
That’swhat kissing Mercy is like.
Realizing that you’re falling in love.
Chapter 12
Zane
I don’t remember stumblingoutside last night, but I remember jumping into the lake. Frigid water engulfed my body, numbing it to whatever the fuck Mercy’s done to me. There’s this…thinginside my chest. It prickles and stings like needles, digging into my lungs and making it difficult to breathe. I’m used to my anxiety spiking until I crash out and Kane comes to my rescue with gallons of water and handfuls of meds, but this is different. It’s sharper. Impossible to grasp. Painful.
That’s what she is to me.
Pain.
Whether it’s my head or my heart, she knows how to fuck with it. Dancing in the dark corners of my mind, digging her talons into my tainted heart, making me miserable with every breath she takes.
As I lie on the shore in nothing but my boxers as the sun rises over the horizon, the numbness is a welcome change. Ever since she invaded my life, it’s been one tumultuous feeling after another. Loathing. Desire. Agony. Confusion. Twisting my soul into knots. One second, I hate her, and the next, I don’t mind what I see when I look at her. Of course, part of that couldbe Kane’s influence. He’s completely infatuated with the idea of her.
Whether or not the version in his head matches up to the real thing, I have no idea, but it’s enough to make me wonder.
Would I be happier if I just… let go?
“Zane!” Even Sam’s voice, faraway and unpleasant, isn’t enough to rouse me. I stare up at the sky as its darkness fades away, completely overpowered by the oncoming morning. A laugh catches in my throat as, yet again, I think of her. Have I been fooled into believing Mercy is as empty as the night sky, when in reality, she’s as bright as the blazing sun?
It would make sense since my world suddenly revolves around her.
Blowing out a breath, I ignore Sam as he trudges across the back lawn towards me.
“You’re going to freeze out here,” he huffs, hugging his arms closer to his body. Somewhere between taking shots at the bar with Kane and his descent towards the lake, he found a sweater two sizes too small. How cute. “What the hell are you doing?”
Dying.
