Mercy (9 page)

Finally she turned to Anna, who wordlessly handed her a thin towel dyed sunshine-yellow. It was damp and she was grateful. The spit had likely dried by now and she wanted to scrub away all traces of it. She let Anna lead her to a bench a little apart from the crowd. By the time she was done scrubbing at her leg, Gabriel was standing there. He was breathing heavily and his knuckles looked red.

Wordlessly he held out his hand. She took it and pressed a gentle kiss to the raw knuckles. When she looked up into his face, his gray eyes met hers, questioning and solemn. Iada placed her hand in his and let him lead her back to his people.

Iada opened her eyes to the sight of dust floating in a shaft of light. There were no drapes to keep out the morning sun. The window was propped open by a length of wood, the glass above cracked but the screen was intact. She rolled her head to the side and found Gabriel blinking his eyes open. He rubbed at his face with a hand and sighed. His arm slipped back over his head, exposing his flank.

Not looking at her, he said, “I want to apologize for Steven’s behavior last night.”

She propped herself up on an elbow. “Why?”

“It was unconscionable. He…”

“I mean, why should
you
apologize for
him?
”

He stared at the ceiling for what seemed a long time before releasing a slow breath. “You were the Silveira champion, Iada. You share in their guilt.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. Trust Gabriel to cut right to the heart of the matter. He’d known exactly where she was going with her question. She loved that intelligence and the direct, unflinching way he met every challenge. She hated that it placed him beyond her ability to manipulate. He would never understand her position or the choices she’d made.

“I am not like them,” she said softly.

She didn’t realize that she’d been holding her breath for his response until he turned his head to look at her and then it left her in a rush. He didn’t believe her. The sunlight fell harshly on the flat planes of his face, highlighting the black stubble on his jaw, a creased line on his cheek from the mattress, and those eyes, oddly depthless in the bright light. She could see the truth in the blank set to his features and the stillness in his body. He rolled onto his elbow and brushed his thumb across her lips.

“Iada,” he said gently, and suddenly she did not want to hear whatever words followed that killing tone.

She reached up and pulled him to her, arching to meet his lips. She’d never been so attracted to a man before—his strength and his courage, the decency that went bone deep. She wanted him with a searing need that shook her to the core. She wanted to be someone that he could love.

His warm hands skimmed down over her skin, tracing the under curves of her breasts, splaying flat across her stomach. And then he parted her legs gently and settled himself between her thighs. Resting his weight on his elbows, he curled his arms beneath her shoulders and his hands went to hold her face steady for his kiss, a long, slow slide of his tongue through her parted lips. She sucked at the tip and felt him tremble. He tasted her thoroughly and when he pulled away, he looked surprised, his lips curving into a shaky smile. His eyes moved over her face.

“You are so beautiful.”

She silenced him again with her mouth. She didn’t want to be reminded of that. Her beauty might be the only thing that held him to her but she didn’t want to think about that just now. He had amazing lips, Iada thought, full and mobile with a tendency to curl at the edges. She tilted her chin up so that she could taste them again and that was all the permission he needed.

She felt the tip of him prodding against her, testing her readiness, slipping just inside before driving smoothly into her in one long thrust. She arched her back, pulling up her knees to accept all of him. He held himself steady for a heartbeat, letting her body adjust to his full thick length then he took a ragged breath and began to move.

Her arms curled around his back and she pulled him in tighter, making her own demands. He answered every one of them with a tight flex of his hips and the slow slide of his flesh against hers. She dug her fingers into rigid sweat-slicked muscle as he settled into a rhythm, steady and relentless, full lips pulled taut with determination.

With a rough sound somewhere between a snarl and a plea, he flipped her onto her stomach, his large hands curving around the bones of her hips and using them to pull her back against him. He pushed himself deep, his fingers reaching around to touch her clit with firm strokes that matched the pulse inside her. He buried his face in the curve of her shoulder.

“Give it to me, Iada,” he demanded, his voice raw and deep, a snarl against her skin. He nipped at her shoulder and she came hard, surrendering everything while he held her shuddering body and surged into her again and again.

He slammed himself full inside her and held her hips back hard when he came. At least there was this, Iada thought. This is not a lie.

She hated that Gabriel didn’t trust her. She hated that he could be right not to.

***

They dozed. She was half sprawled across Gabriel’s chest. Her cheek was damp where it had been pressed to warm skin. His arm curved around the backs of her shoulders. The sun had shifted so that light no longer slashed across their pillow and the air had warmed. The scent of their sex was still thick in the small room. She kissed his flat brown nipple laying so close to her mouth and closed her eyes. Then she heard again the sound that must have first awoken her. There were sharp voices coming from the hall. She sat up just before the door to the apartment slammed open. She rolled, gaining her feet as Gabriel sat up and Lucas burst into the room.

She began to relax when she realized who it was but then she saw the look in his eyes. She was against the wall with his hand clamped to her throat before her mind recognized the threat.

“Where is he?” Lucas demanded.

Her eyes shot to Gabriel, climbing to his feet, a snarl on his lips. Clearly he was not referring to Gabriel. Who, then? Her fingers began to curve, claws extending smoothly through her skin. She could gut him before he stepped back. But this was Lucas. Anna’s Lucas, though he did not look much like the man she knew just now. His face was flushed and spittle flew from his lips when he yelled again. “Where?”

Her head cracked against the wall, crumbling the old plaster. Gabriel was standing next to Lucas, trying to pry his fingers loose without hurting him. Iada kept her hands down though every muscle in her body was screaming at her to defend herself. She couldn’t, not without hurting Lucas. Anna was in the doorway and she was yelling too, though by now the words were indistinct and everything was starting to go hazy. Gabriel at last simply tore Lucas away and shoved him to the corner.

“What is this?” Gabriel asked.

Anna pointed at Iada. “They took Michael. Please, you must tell us where he is.”

Anna was trembling with fear. Lucas was trembling with rage. And Gabriel…Gabriel was very still—muscles locked, face blank, gaze steady and fixed on her. They stayed like that for what seemed a very long time glaring at her in accusation with only their panting breath breaking the silence inside the small room.

Finally Gabriel moved, walking toward her slowly and asking in a quietly reasonable tone, “What was the plan?”

She’d known it was coming but still it felt like he’d curled his claws into her soft flesh and tugged something loose. With as much dignity as she could muster, she dropped her hand from her throat and pushed away from the wall.

“I was with you, Gabriel,” she reminded him. “This entire time.”

“Iada,” Anna wailed from the corner. “Please.”

From the corner of her eye, Iada saw Lucas gather Anna up and press her face against his chest. She could hear the soft snuffling noises Anna made as she sobbed. Gabriel let her listen to that awful sound for a moment.

“I know that you’re not as callous as you’d have us think,” he said gently. “I know that your uncles are. Think what they will do to Michael. He is innocent in all of this.”

A shudder ran through her body. If her uncles had taken Michael, it would be a wonder if he still lived. She knew they considered the mutants as less even than human. But she would not say that aloud here with Anna and Lucas hovering nearby listening to every word. She remembered the warm weight of her nephew snuggled on her lap, the trusting way that he looked at her. No one ever looked at her like that. Certainly no one in this room. She was having trouble looking into Gabriel’s eyes. Her own stung and she wouldn’t let him see that.

“I know nothing of their plan. But…”

Gabriel gripped her jaw and angled it back so she had to face him. And when she did look at him, she flinched. He was so angry. She’d become accustomed to the glint of humor always shading his eyes. She’d seen mistrust there and determination. Lust. But never disgust until now.

“Iada,” he growled. “I told you that I would have no mercy for you if you sided with your uncles. Consider your next words very carefully.”

He wouldn’t believe her and they were only wasting time. She shoved aside the hurt and let anger flood its place. She shifted slightly so that his grip slipped and then stepped out of Gabriel’s reach. The hand that had been holding her closed into a fist.

“I can take you to him.”

It was the truth. There was only one place her uncles would take him near here and she could track them once they left the city if for some reason they did go elsewhere. They would not return to the compound until this was ended. Gabriel was correct in that. Politically they could not afford to publicly murder a battle-crowned king. But privately…

Gabriel’s gaze hardened. She had not thought that possible. Lucas climbed to his feet, pulling Anna up with him. She would not look at them.

“They’re only drawing you out, away from human eyes into the jungle where they are strongest,” she warned Gabriel. She couldn’t help it even though he was looking at her now with hatred. He’d never wanted a wife. He certainly did not want her now. She should be helping her uncles. They would spare her life when this was through if she helped them now. She thought of Michael and looked back at Gabriel.

“It is a trap,” she told him.

“I know.” He grabbed her by the wrist, painfully tight, and pulled her with him toward the door.

***

The jungle had been cleared here decades ago and was now growing back a tangled, treacherous mess. It was nearly impassable even in jaguar form. The ones who could not shift had to remain behind. Even armed with machetes and guns, they could not keep up or protect themselves here. Lucas had been furious but Gabriel had eventually convinced him to stay with Anna.

Iada had shifted as soon as they left the city and now watched Gabriel hug Anna tightly one last time and clap Lucas on the shoulder before shifting himself. She lay on a thick branch above the scene and tried to ignore the deep ache inside her chest. Anna glanced up at her once and then reached for her husband. Iada leapt nimbly to the jungle floor and followed Gabriel into the brush. He could scent them now too, she was certain. The trail was clear—a dozen Yaguara and one mutant human. Michael’s scent was strong enough that she thought he might grow to be a shifter like Gabriel if they found him in time.

She ducked under a vine, belly to the ground. There were only four with them, plus herself and Gabriel. Enrique was there, even old as he was. The other three, two men and one woman were shifters she had not met who had come in response to Gabriel’s call for a guard. This, she supposed, would be a good test of their abilities.

She recognized the scents of the Yaguara they tracked. Vin and Arturo had brought with them only the best, of course. Mateus was there as well, which was surprising given his age. But the rest were young men and women in their prime.

Gabriel was only a few feet ahead of her, weaving through the shadows silently. Dusk was short and brutal and within moments the darkness was complete. Iada heard the sharp cry of a harpy eagle and paused, thinking at first that it might be Michael. Frightened. Maybe hurt. She would kill her uncles for this. For what she now knew they had done to Anna. For what they had made of her. A killer—callous and mindless. That was what Gabriel believed. That was what her uncles had created. It was only just that their weapon be turned against them.

And then what?
a small, scared part of her asked. Thorns hooked into the thick skin of her flank and ripped free. She drew in a sharp breath at the flare of pain and saw Gabriel’s head cock slightly, registering the sound. He did not look back at her and she was grateful. She could smell her blood and the Yaguara would too, but there was no help for it now. Stealth would not aid them. The Yaguara had baited their trap well and would be waiting. Iada wondered what Gabriel intended. He’d not shared his plans with her. Knowing her mate, he would hand himself over to her uncles’ mercy in exchange for the child. Perhaps, given what he thought of her, he would first attempt to threaten Iada to force an exchange that way. Foolish. Her uncles had always been willing to sacrifice her for their ambitions. Only one thing would satisfy them—Gabriel’s blood.

As they passed through the last of the tangled new growth, their passage became easier and their pace increased. The trees were taller now and the floor relatively clear. The sounds of the jungle were muffled and distant, making the sound of their breathing echo unnaturally in the still night. Close now. There was a light ahead—the orange flicker of torchlight.

Gabriel slowed, making a low snarling noise to ready his warriors. Iada could not see them spread out as they were but she knew that each now advanced on the ruin. There was a single torch set in rock with a still wrapped bundle lying directly below it. The Yaguara were well hidden, possibly behind them now. Iada could sense her uncles nearby, waiting in the shadows as always, waiting for their prize. She intended to give them what they wanted.

She blocked Gabriel’s advance with her body. When he snarled at her, she shoved him off balance and darted forward before he could stop her. That was not Michael there. She would bet money on it. His scent, though, was on the blanket. She snagged a corner with her teeth and the dead monkey rolled out, bouncing off the raised rock on which she now stood beneath the flickering torch, alone and completely exposed. There was nothing else to do. She shifted. A familiar shudder of pain shaded pleasure and moments later, she was standing there trembling slightly, naked and watching a shape part from the shadows of a hidden cave. Blood from her scratch slipped down her rib cage. Her eyesight was not as sharp in human form and it took her a moment longer to focus.