Devin's Mercy [Shifters of Mystery 4] (11 page)

dangerous mission they were on, and Devin knew that Martin’s men

had multiplied in numbers.

“Does anyone have a phone I can borrow?”

York handed Devin his cell phone.
Shit.
“Does anyone know

Mercy’s number?”

“It’s programmed in. Be quick about the smoochie stuff. I’m sure

once they get to where they are going, they won’t want to be

interrupted.”

Devin set his stick down and hopped up. He walked closer to the

house, finding Mercy’s number and dialing it. He bit his thumbnail as

he waited for the man to pick up.

“What’s up, York?” The man didn’t sound like he was in the best

of moods.

“It’s Devin.”

“What’s wrong?” Devin noticed the quick change in the guy’s

tone. There was a buried part of him that gloried in Mercy’s concern.

Devin was just terrified of that part of him.

“I didn’t tell you about…his men.” He couldn’t bring himself to

say Martin’s name out loud. He didn’t think he would ever be able to

utter that bastard’s name again without the nightmares grabbing hold

of him.

“Are you sure, Devin?” Mercy’s voice was low, as if he didn’t

want anyone hearing him. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes,” he said, “I do.”

“Okay, then tell me.”

“He has ten men that he keeps with him at all times. When we

were fighting in Mystery, his men were hidden. None of you saw

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them or knew just how outnumbered you truly were. I’m not sure why

he backed off, but I promise you, he has them with him.”

“Thanks.”

“And I also overheard him saying that the experiment was to

create the ultimate werewolf. He is using the test subjects until he gets

it right, and then he is going to use the injection on himself, making

himself unstoppable.”

Devin heard the low curse.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, Mercy. I was—” Devin

stopped talking. He didn’t want to admit to this strong man that he

had been afraid to even talk about what he had heard, terrified Martin

would somehow find out and make Devin pay.

“It’s okay, Devin. At least you told me.”

“When…when are you coming back?” Gods, he hated to sound so

weak and hated the fact even more that he was depending on someone

else. Martin had taught Devin with an iron fist that he could depend

on no one to save him. The lesson had been beaten into him over and

over again, yet here he was, trusting Mercy.

What a fucking idiot I am.

“Soon, Devin. I won’t be gone long. You’ll be safe. I promise.”

Devin felt the rough, soft voice of the one man he had truly cared

about before all of this happened ease inside of him, placing a

protective wall around his fears. The feeling was like nothing Devin

had ever experienced before. Sure, he had good parents, but no one

had ever made Devin feel totally safe the way Mercy was doing right

now.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” Mercy asked.

Devin hung up before he fell apart. Mercy was acting as if he was

taking on Devin’s demons. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want

Mercy’s pity, either. It would kill him if Mercy looked at him with

sympathy in his eyes. Devin didn’t want Mercy to sympathize. He

wanted everyone to forget he was broken.

Devin’s Mercy

75

Devin drew in a lungful of air and let it out slowly, turning back

toward the fire. “Thanks.” He handed the phone to York.

“All good?”

Devin nodded, picking his stick back up and shoving the hot dog

in the fire. The crazy thing was, Devin did feel a tad better. Hearing

Mercy reassure him had an effect on Devin whether he wanted to

admit it or not. The thought was crazy that another person could affect

him this way. Devin had thought for sure that he had encased his heart

in ice.

But it seemed like around Mercy, that ice was thawing, and Devin

wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

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Lynn Hagen

Mercy lay motionless in the tree as he glanced through the scope

on his sniper rifle. He counted eleven men, including the alpha. Devin

had been correct that Martin kept ten men with him, but he wasn’t

sure if there were any more inside the cabin.

His eyes slid over to Sage, who was in the next tree over. He

watched as the Sage stretched out quietly on the branch, sighting their

targets.

The only way to win this round would be to take them out one by

one, picking them off until they were sure they could rescue the boys

safely.

Mercy wasn’t chancing any of the captives’ lives. Each one was

precious to him, even if they were strangers. He glanced back through

his scope to see the alpha coming out of the cabin. Mercy had to

concentrate not to pull the trigger and end the bastard’s miserable life.

He wanted to. Oh, boy did he want to. But that would put the

teenagers’ lives in danger, something he couldn’t do.

As one of the guards walked to the back of the cabin and further

into the woods, Mercy took his shot, silently eliminating the man.

Isaac and Monterey were on the ground, pulling the fallen away,

hiding the body.

Now it was four against ten.

The numbers were starting to even out in Mercy’s opinion.

As Mercy watched the men coming and going from the cabin, he

wondered which ones had a hand in torturing Devin. He wanted to

personally pick those bastards off. Too bad he couldn’t make them

Devin’s Mercy

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suffer first. Devin still hadn’t told him what happened to him while

Mercy was in Mystery, but he had a pretty damn good idea.

And Mercy wanted to torture all the men down below. A deep

hatred formed in his chest as he stared at the men laughing, acting as

if they hadn’t done a damn thing wrong. He wanted to shove a pistol

down each of their throats and blow them away, Mercy being the last

person they saw before they died.

He wanted them to know exactly why he was killing them.

But he couldn’t.

He had to take them out quietly, even if the need to bathe in their

blood was riding him hard. Devin had been such a sweet man, and

these monsters had stolen that from the werewolf. They didn’t deserve

to live.

Taking in a deep breath and letting his personal interest in this

mission go, Mercy concentrated on the task at hand. Sage shot the

next man to wander away from the cabin. This was going too slow.

The alpha would notice his men missing before they picked enough of

them off.

Sage must have been thinking the same thing because he

backtracked from his branch and started descending. Mercy followed

suit.

“What’s your plan?” he asked low enough for Sage’s ears only.

“Not sure, but at this rate, we’ll never get those boys out of there.”

They moved further into the copse when a guard came perilously

close to where they were standing inside the woods. Mercy and Sage

remained silent, both watching to see what the guard would do.

Mercy moved quickly when the man began to crumble. He didn’t

stop to see if it was Monterey or Isaac who had taken the guard out.

He pulled the slumped body into the woods and stuck it under a fallen

log.

“Eight to go,” Sage said quietly.

“I like those numbers a hell of a lot better.” Mercy raised his rifle,

looking through the scope to see if he could spot any more vulnerable

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men. A wicked smile pulled at his lips when Isaac took another man

out.

“Seven,” Mercy told Sage.

“Getting better.”

Mercy cursed under his breath when the alpha began to look

around, as if finally noticing that all of his men were not accounted

for. Martin may be an insane alpha, but the man wasn’t stupid. Mercy

just wished Martin had waited a little while longer before noticing his

men were disappearing.

“I think the cat is out of the bag,” Sage said as he began to move,

circling around the forest to meet up with Monterey and Isaac, Mercy

quickly following.

“Check the surrounding area!” Martin yelled. “I want them

found.”

“You can’t go in there seeking revenge, Mercy,” Sage warned as

they moved closer to the other two men who had come with them.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You have an edge in your eyes that says you are barely leashed.

This is a rescue mission, not a slaughter.”

“Why can’t it be both?” Mercy asked and then ran ahead, not

wanting to hear Sage’s lecture at the moment and hating to see the

disturbing intensity in his dark eyes. He wasn’t going to lie to Sage

and tell him that Mercy wasn’t thinking of torturing every last man

with Martin, so he remained quiet.

“Because,” Sage answered as he caught up with Mercy, “the boys

are our number one priority. You can seek your revenge once they are

safe.”

Mercy knew Sage was talking logically, but for some reason,

Mercy was thinking illogically where Devin was concerned. The

beast that rested inside of him was stirring, letting Mercy know that it

was there and well aware of Devin. That should be impossible. Mercy

had never felt his beast when the full moon cycle wasn’t close, but he

didn’t have time to examine the reasoning behind it.

Devin’s Mercy

79

“What now?” Monterey asked.

“We get in there as quietly as we can. I know the cabin like the

back of my hand,” Sage answered. “There are three bedrooms to the

right of the front entrance, and a bathroom and kitchen to the left. I

would assume Martin is keeping the boys in the bedrooms. Since

there are at least four men outside, that leaves two guards and the

alpha inside.”

“And Martin?” Isaac asked.

“Leave him to me,” Sage replied as they began their covert move

toward the back of the cabin, where it was less guarded. They waited

until the outside guards rounded the corner, going out of sight, and

then moved quickly. Sage held up his hand and then pointed to the

window on the right. Since this was Sage’s childhood vacation spot,

Mercy figured the man knew which window would make the least

amount of noise when opened.

Mercy checked the window quickly for any alarms that might be

attached. Finding none, he gave the signal for Sage to continue. Once

all four were inside, Sage shut the window just as quietly.

There were in the kitchen, which made them vulnerable as fuck.

Mercy crouched down when he saw a guard through the doorway.

Thankfully, his presence had gone unnoticed. He was itching to shoot

the man, but reminded himself that this was a rescue mission. The

boys came first.

Sage gave a signal, and the other three crouched down. Mercy

soon found himself following behind Sage, into what looked to be a

living room. The move was so quick that no one saw them. They were

now hiding behind a large stuffed sofa.

Sage pointed to Mercy and then bedroom door number one. He

next pointed to Monterey, giving him the second door. Isaac had the

third. Sage pointed to himself and then the floor, telling them he was

staying right there to guard their backs.

Peeking out from behind the sofa, Mercy waited until the two

guards and Martin were engaged in conversation, their backs to him.

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With a stealth that came naturally to Mercy, he vanished from sight

and was inside the bedroom, closing the door before anyone noticed

the disturbance in the air.

The sight he was met with Mercy was not prepared for. His

thoughts whirled for a moment as he saw a man in a lab coat standing

between the beds. Just as quickly as he had snuck into the room, he

snapped the doctor’s neck, lowering him silently to the ground. He

didn’t have time to find out whose side the doctor was on, and at the

moment, Mercy could give a shit less, especially when he took in the

sight of two young men strapped to a bed, naked.

The sight turned his stomach and shot his anger to an all-time

high. The fear in their eyes was making Mercy’s head hurt. Never in

his life had he harmed an innocent. He wanted to reassure them, but

didn’t want to make a sound since the alpha and his men were on the

other side of the door.

He lifted his hand, pressing a finger to his lips. The two men

nodded. Mercy could scent that they were human. He just prayed they

hadn’t been given the injection. From what he had witnessed with

Sylvester, Jeremiah’s mate, side effects would soon follow, and it