Have No Mercy (3 page)

Flynn's fingers were full with
fries and headed to his mouth when I remembered the Elvin queen's warning about
not eating while in Fairy. I reached across the table and slapped at his hands.
"Nadir, you can't be hungry. We just ate." I glared at him, hoping he
got the message. And with a smile I wondered if he got my dig with my choice of
his name. The definition of the word meant the lowest of the low, and I felt
personally satisfied with my swift choice on a good name for him.

Someone slipped into the booth
next to me. I didn't have to see him to know it was the eye candy from the bar.
I swallowed a silent breath, knowing this was a means to an end. We needed the
fairies to lead us into Fairy if we weren't already there. I needed to find
Tristrom and convince him to go home to the Elves. Then hopeful Queen Amavara
would grant me access to the place in between so I could search for Luke. With
my end game fixed in my head, I turned and gave hottie a warm welcome.

"Nadir and Clemency, this is
my brother," the girl said. It wasn't lost on me she hadn't given us names
for either of them. I began to wonder if names had power in Fairy much like it
did for the demons. I remembered reading a book about them. But then again,
would a fictional book have truths about races human had no idea existed?

I drank in the guy. He had dark
hair that brushed his shoulders, compelling eyes, and a kissable mouth. I
hadn’t known how mesmerizing his appearance was until he nodded with a smirk
fix on his face. When I opened my mouth to speak, instead a muffled curse left
my lips. Flynn had kicked me. I glared at him, and he glared back like payback
was sweet.

"Clemency, such a beautiful
name for a beautiful girl." The words purred out the guy and the sexy
spell broke with his use of such a cliché line. Instead, I channeled my inner
fan girl or at least the ones that giggled like mad when they were around Flynn
at school. Mr. Smooth grinned back at me, and I saw in his eyes just how much
he knew what a looker he was.

Putting the duh into dumb, and
continued my best acting job. "That sooo cute, brother and sister. And
we," I said pointing between Flynn and me, "are brother and sister
too. That's so cool."

The two fairies traded rueful
smiles. "But of course," the girl said. Their accents were like music
to my ears, and I continued to wonder if they were trying to spell us. I didn't
feel different. So I continued.

"We’re backpacking all of
Europe and we heard tales of a Fairy Mound near here somewhere." I
purposely used the word Fairy and not Fey to add to my brainless act and maybe
see if they found the term offensive. I didn't know if the word would, but
thought if they did it could also clue us in that we were in the right place.

I started to glance at the
nameless girl when I noticed something dark grow in the guy's eyes. I snapped
my focus back to his, but there was only the glint of a smile in his eyes.

"Ah, the legend of the Fey.
I think I know of the place you’re talking about. We could show you." I
awestruck by the lilt of his voice that sounded Irish I guess, although it
could have been Scottish. However, he didn’t sound much like Sebastian. I
bobbed my head in agreement as if that was the coolest thing ever. "Well,
eat up. It's a long journey, and there won't be places to eat on the way."

A glance over to Flynn revealed
that he wasn't sure how to get out of eating either.

"Eat up, it's real." My
head jerked in response to his statement. "It's authentic American
cuisine." He seemed to correct himself or maybe that's what he meant all
along.

My stomach growled. I hadn't
eaten in what felt like forever. Before the prom, I guessed. And that thought
brought a pang of guilt. Prom, Luke, and here I was flirting with some Fey guy.
End game, I thought.

"You should eat," the
girl cajoled.

In only Flynn fashion, he
captured the girl's gaze. She seemed to melt like all the girls when he gave
them his full attention. "You're not going to eat?"

Her smile was bright, and she
dipped her head like she was shy or trying to be coy. Oh brother. "No, we
already ate."

Flynn smiled back then glanced at
me. Was the fact that they wouldn't eat with us suspicious? The food could be
poisoned or spelled. Or maybe they couldn't eat human food. We couldn't take
the chance. As if reading my mind, he pushed the basket of food to the middle
with one longing gaze at it. "No, I'm not very hungry either. We should go
before it gets late."

I followed suit, pushing my
basket to tap with his. My stomach protested, but there was nothing I could do
about it. We walked out without paying, and no one stopped us.

Outside, the girl glanced at our
free hands and asked, "Where are your backpacks?"

I'd forgotten that lie I'd told.
Flynn however was fast on his feet. "They were heavy.” He shrugged. “We
left them at the edge of the woods so we wouldn't have to carry them."

Flynn pointed the way we came. It
wasn’t a secret. His latest fan girl most likely had spotted us once we stepped
into town and planned her ambush.

"Good, you won't need them
where we're going," the guy said, taking my hand.

"I don't know about leaving
them," Flynn said. I turned to face him wanting to narrow my eyes at him.
We'd gotten away with the lie so far. What if they said go get them, then what?
I gritted my teeth knowing couldn't say any of that to him with them right
there.

"It will be fine. Most don't
travel that way, the road out of town is this way."

I followed the hottie’s finger
ahead, and there was, in fact, a small road. It didn't look new. Weeds grew
through cracks in the payment winding up the mountain side. Only, I didn't
remember it being there when we first walked into the town.Our host walked with
Flynn while I tried desperately to ignore the possible Fey guy next to me. Flirting
had felt like a betrayal igniting the misery within me. It threatened to weigh
me down and once again I struggled not to curl up in a ball and cry. Where was
McKayla? It was hard to imagine me wanting her to take over but there you have
it. After I made a deal with her, my burden felt somewhat lifted.

"Your brother has taken a
shine to my sister," fey boy said.

I nodded hoping he would give up
on making conversation. We'd walked up the road and seemed to be going nowhere
until a gentle fog gathered ahead.

My feet came to an abrupt stop.

Fey boy eyed me and said,
"You seem a bit jealous."

"Of who?" I retorted.

"Of my sister. Is there
something going on between you and Nadir?"

It took me a moment to process
who Nadir was because I was still trying to figure out the fog that came out of
nowhere. Nadir... Oh yeah, that was the name I'd given Flynn. It was a SAT word
that coincided with the depths of Flynn's depravity. 

With incredulity, I said,
"Eww, that's my brother." I hoped I was sufficient in pulling off
disgust. Fey boy looked convinced. Flynn and the girl glanced back, so they'd
heard.  I shrugged. "What's up with the fog?"

The girl answered, "It
happens like that around here time to time."

Her Irish accent had disappeared.
It was like she was trying to sound American while turning a dazzling smile
onto Flynn. Was she mocking us? Anger misplaced or not well in me. I had a few choice
words I wanted to say to her. But this was our mission. We needed to get into
Fairy if we aren't already there.

Flynn who was dauntless most
times turned and walked into the mist without hesitation. The girl moved
quickly to his side. It didn't take long before they were swallowed into the mist
and couldn't be seen.

"Shall we," my guide
asked.

Not having a choice, I moved
forward. I expected to fill a bit chilled. Fog was made when heat made water
evaporate and then the vapor cooled. But it felt like nothing. When we stepped
free on the other side, my first thought was illusion. Was it a security
measure to deter humans from entering?

What I didn't expect was to see
an actual mound jutting out of side of the mountain like an earth sized pimple.
It was maybe a few feet taller than Flynn covered in green grass or moss. It
looked almost like fur. To the sides, the fog lay leaving only one way to go
clearly defined.

The Fey stood like statues as if
in anticipation. I moved forward, weaving passed Flynn. I reached my hand out
to touch the mound wondering if we were meant to climb over it. Before my
fingers could make contact, Flynn was by my side. He captured my gaze trying to
convey silent communication. Although I couldn't' truly read his thoughts, I knew
he was asking if we should do this.

There wasn't any time to answer
him with a simple nod or shake of the head. Shoved from behind, we were thrust
through the mound with the barest of resistance like the one we encountered at
the tree line into the little forest town.

We stumbled inside. Flynn caught
his balance sooner than I and took hold of my hand before I ate dirt or
whatever was below our feet. He yanked me to him and I crashed into his solid
chest. He held me protectively and I caught the murderous glance he was
throwing the Fey that stood just inside the barrier. My brain wanted to touch
the cavernous rock or barrier that stood behind them. Was it now solid, or was
it still an illusion?

With his arm still around my
waist, I watched his mouth open. The Fey had become aggressive and I wasn't
ready for a confrontation. I squeezed Flynn's side as my arm around his waist
too. A part of me wanted to revel in this closeness.

"That was weird. I must have
tripped," I said trying to sound clueless again. "The fog must be
playing tricks on my eyes. But this is cool. A cave."

The Fey looked perplexed as if
they weren't sure how to handle my ignorance.

Flynn bought into my script said,
"There's an opening that way."

I turned in the opposite
direction to see light coming from the mouth of the cave. Flynn let go of my
waist so we could turn. I let go of him too. With the Fey at our back, which
wasn't the smartest thing considering they pushed us, we walked and maintained
our dumb human act. Flynn took hold of my hand, not leaving me for the pretty
Fey girl. And for some goofy reason, I smiled.

The proverbial light at the end
of the tunnel didn't lead to what I expected at all. Before us stood a field of
red and it wasn’t necessarily grass. Each blade was shaped more like a leaf as
I stooped down to get a closer look. I swiped my hand across to touch, and the
leaves shivered beneath my hand. I could have sworn they made a shrilling sound
too.

"We should get going?"
the Fey boy said from behind me.

I wasn’t sure based on the tenor
of his voice if that was a command or a suggestion. I stood, not wanting to
step on the leaves. I had a feeling they were more alive than your average
plant. But the red covered everything like a blanket for as far as I could see.
The Fey stepped around us and onto the ground without a glance down. The sounds
of distance wails were faint but there. At least I didn't think I imagined
anything.

Flynn held his hand out, and I
took it. I reluctantly moved forward cringing at the thought that I could be
hurting a living helpless being.

What's wrong
, Flynn's glance seemed to ask.

I pointed at the ground then
mimed tears flowing down my face with my hands. He frowned. I pointed at my ear
and stranded to listen. Then he stopped as if he heard it too.

The Fey immediately noticed we
weren't walking.

"What's wrong?" the Fey
girl asked. Her accent was back. In fact, it had a musical quality like wind
chimes.

I turned my head in time to see
the crushed leaves from our last few steps spring up, back to life. In fact,
you couldn't tell where our previous footsteps were. I wondered if that was a
good or bad thing.

"Nothing," Flynn
answered while I pondered all the questions about his strange place.

"We should keep
moving," Fey boy said taking glances at the ground.

“Wait,” I said, halting everyone.
“This is really Fairy?” It would have been stupid not to point out that we
weren’t in Scotland anymore.

The Fey traded glances and then
the boy came closer all cheesy grin and patronizing eyes. “It’s amazing isn’t
it.”

I gave him an adoring gaze as I
threw up a little in my mouth. Swallowing down bile, I nodded like a bobble
head. His easy smile said that I’d played him well. He moved back to his sister
and I glanced down at the sounds of pain.

Crap, would we kill the leaves if
we stood on them for too long? I jumped forward out of fear. Flynn got into
gear alongside me. Only the Fey had already turned giving us their backs.
Apparently we'd played the clueless humans all too well. They'd given us an edge
by doing that.

As we walked, I kept checking
back. The leaves where we just stepped, sprang up. But the ones where we stood
were still down. "I'm sorry," I whispered under my breath. After two
more turns, I saw the leaves I thought we'd kill slow stand tall. Thank you, I
thought. And did my best to be light on my feet and move fast as to cause the
little guys the least pain. Or so I hoped.

With nothing to see in the
distance, I had no idea how far or long we would be walking. Flynn stuck by my
side but said nothing.

Clueless or not, I asked, “Are we
there yet?” Maybe there was some sort of invisible portal, but saying nothing
might look suspicious.

Goldilocks spun, her hair fanning
out, and said with enthusiasm I no longer possessed, “Yes.”

Finally, we walked up a short
incline. I imagined seeing a huge city or something once we crested it. What I
saw was a tree. Inwardly, I groaned. My feet ached, and it looked like we had
more travel time in store.

Somehow, Flynn sensed my
distress. He squeezed my hand, and I looked up into gentle eyes. It wasn't
often he gave me that look. It was the kind that melted my heart because it was
so sincere. A gave him a half smile then glanced away. His kindness only
reminded me of Luke and all that I lost. The weight became heavy.

"Do you think we can stop
for a while?" I had meant to stay strong, but I couldn't anymore. It felt
like we'd been walking for hours.

The two Fey ahead wordlessly
spoke before turning back. "Sure," the girl said with fake levity.

We headed directly for the tree,
which was fine by me. The place where it rose alone had the appearance of an
island. The little red guys had given it wide berth. Once we reached there, I
collapsed against it. That had been a mistake. The tree groaned out in horror
as if my touch hurt it in some way. I stumbled trying to get to my feet, and
Flynn's hand was there to steady me into his embrace. We turned as one.

"I wouldn't do that if I
were you," the Fey guy said with a grin that would look at home on Flynn's
face. Great, the only two guys as far as I could see and both were arrogant.
Good thing they weren't fighting for one girl. I didn't think I wanted to see
that show.

"Where are we?" Flynn
growled. Gone was his dense act. He was all fierce fighter ready to pounce with
a possessive arm around me.

"Ah, so we're not playing
games anymore," Fey boy said. His eyes traveled to the spot where Flynn's
hand clutched my side.

Flynn surprised me though.
"We asked to see the Fairy Mound and you walked us to the middle of
nowhere."

The girl walked and invaded
Flynn’s personal space. I wanted to gouge out her eyes. She stared at him just
long enough so his arm would fall away from me. The way he stared at her made
me want to hurl. I walked a few steps away, and a gazed out in a different
direction.

I wasn't alone for long; Fey boy
sauntered over. I only had a second to decide how to play this. Whatever Flynn
and the girl were or weren't saying, I couldn't hear. I was grateful for that.

"Beautiful isn't it."
His voice held that tinkle in it, giving it that lyrical sound.

"It is," I said not
taking my eyes off the landscape. "I've never seen red ivy before."
At least not that blood red color, that I didn't say.

"There are many things I
could show you." His hand swept my hair to the side and cupped the back of
my neck. I had no choice but to look up in his green eyes. "You are the
most beautiful creature I've ever seen."

Off balanced, I said, “You say
that and I can’t thank you properly because I don’t even know your name.”

Suddenly, my hand was in his
making a journey to his lips. “My name is but a shadow in the face of your
beauty.”

His eye sparkled in ways that
reminded me of the facets of what I imaged the most expensive diamond did. I
was so fascinated; I didn't notice his lean towards me in what was possibly a
move to kiss me. I gasped when his mouth was a second away from mine.

The kiss never happened. Flynn
yanked me back in the nick of time while I panted like a dog. For a second, the
anticipation was an urgent need in my belly. Had he compelled me?

"You two stay here. We will
be right back." I turned to see the girl. Her words and tone had changed.
She didn't seem at all happy. What happened between her in Flynn?

We watched them walk off for a
minute or two before it became boring to do so. There was nothing ahead but a
flat landscape of red. We would be watching them for hours.

Flynn turned my head with gentle
pressure of his thumb on my chin. "Are you okay?"

I nodded but turned back, and the
pair of Fey were gone. I gasped. Flynn looked out and sighed.

"We should sit down. I have
a feeling we will be here for a while."

I glanced over my shoulder at the
tree, which had calmed down. Everything here was alive in a real way. I
switched my focus to the ground wondering what creatures we might harm for
standing here. Thankfully, there was nothing but what looked like ordinary
brown dirt. So I sat.

"We should talk before they
get back," he said eyeing me as I tried to avoid his gaze.

"You said they'd be a
while." It was my way of avoiding what may become an awkward conversation.
Was I attracted to that Fey guy or had I been under his thrall?

"Who knows how long a while
is." He lifted my wrist to take in the hourglass etched on my skin. It
showed we had more than enough time still left to find Tristrom. "Why
didn't you tell me what happened with Sebastian?"

It was easier to shrug then come
up with an explanation.

Flynn pressed on. "We've
left our parents and friends with no warning."

That hadn't been what I expected
him to want to talk about. "I thought I killed him. I didn't think he
would come back."

He shook his head clearly annoyed
with me. He pulled out his phone. After a moment of consulting with it, he
sighed. "I didn't think it would work but I had to try."

We stared at each for long lingering
moments. Neither of us wanting to say what needed to be said. He reached out a
hand and touched my face. "You have to know I miss him too."

I nodded feeling the well of
emotions spring up.

"I would gladly go back in
time and give my life for his," he continued. "But I can't. And I
can't lose you too."

Not wanting to cry, I wrapped my
arms around him and pressed my face in his chest. "And I couldn't live
with losing both of you either," I admitted honestly.

He lay back on the ground with me
perched on his chest. I closed my eyes hoping to hold back the well of pain. At
some point, I must have fallen asleep because it was Flynn's frantic whisper of
my name that woke me up. "Mercy… Mercy."