Ugh. Why is it so cold all of a sudden?

I open my eyes and frown when I’m back at the house I shared with my mom and automatically tense.

Another dream.

Nightmare.

Whatever.

“Mercy,” Torn’s voice pulls me away from staring at the house in front of me. I turn around and see him leaning against the mailbox with a satisfied smile on his lips. “Did you enjoy my present?”

“Present?”

“Yes, the dead girl at your vampire’s estate. I heard about your little squabble with her, and I sent one of my men in to handle her for you.” His tone is smug, and I really, really want to smack the grin off his face.

“You framed me for it. How is that a present?”

“Ah, but I didn’t frame you. That would be the jealous little girls that were friends with her, that framed you for her death.” He straightens. “You don’t like my gift?”

“Considering I’m currently in a fucking holding cell in a goddamn dungeon, no I don’t fucking like your gift,” I snap.

He moves closer to me, making me tense but I don’t move away. I refuse to show this bastard any fear.

“Beautiful, sweet, deadly Mercy,” he muses. “I can’t wait until we’re together again.” He runs a finger down my cheek.

Twisting out of his reach I glare at him. “I want you dead. Why the hell would I ever be with you?”

He grins, an evil, wicked smile. “You will come to me, Mercy. You will,” he insists when I shake my head. “Either you come to me, or I come to you. It’ll happen. However, I feel that you’ll fight the pull to come to me when the time comes anyway, so I may have to come to you after all.”

“I will never come to you, Torn,” I snarl. “Now get the fuck out of my head!”

Opening my eyes with a gasp I run my hands shakily through my hair.

“You alright?” Dax asks. “You sounded like you were having a bad dream.”

“Something like that,” I mutter. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost night. One of Parker’s other trusted guards will be coming to relieve me soon.”

I nod. “Sounds good. Who’s the other guard?”

“Karson. He’s old for a vampire, but he will still guard you with his life. He’s more of a father to Parker than his own dad ever was.”

“I kind of guessed there was a little tension between them. Ethan doesn’t seem to be the fatherly type except when it suits him.”

“That’s an accurate assessment.”

“So, how did–” I cut off at the opening of the basement door.

Footsteps echo down the stairs until Ethan, himself, stalks through. His mouth quirks up when he sees me. “Well, this certainly is an entertaining turn of events.” He looks at Dax. “Leave us.”

Dax hesitates and that clearly pisses Ethan off.

“I said leave us,” he hisses.

“I know, sir. However, Parker entrusted me to stay with her. I won’t disobey my prince.”

“And what of your king?”

“My loyalty is to Parker, your majesty,” Dax says honestly.

Ethan glares at him then waves a dismissive hand. “Fine. But you can stay there. It’s time I had a little chat with Mercy.”

Ethan grabs the key to my cell from where it’s hanging on the opposite wall and moves to unlock the door. I put my hand over the lock, not wanting him to come in here.

“You can talk to me from out there.”

He grins evilly. “No, I can’t.”

He pulls a knife out of his pocket and stabs it into my hand. I cry out and pull my hand back, cradling it to my chest. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He inhales deeply. “Mmm, your blood is so very tempting,” he says as he unlocks the door. “Unfortunately, I don’t have time to have a taste tonight.”

“You’ll never have the opportunity,” I swear.

He grins and slips the knife back in his pocket once he’s in the little cell with me, crowding my space.

“Care to tell me why you killed one of my subjects?” He asks casually.

“Care to tell me why you’re such a fucking nutcase?” I spit back.

He chuckles. “Oh, I do so love that fire. Too bad I have to extinguish it.”

“What are you–” I cut off when he moves, and I feel the sharp stab of a needle in my neck.

“King Ethan!” I vaguely hear Dax shout before it all goes black.

* * *

My eyes flutter open and a moan slips out of my mouth.

God, why do I feel so hungover?

I look around and notice that I’m still in my cell, Ethan is gone, and Dax is passed out on the floor just outside my cell door.

“Dax,” I croak. “Dax,” I say louder. He moans. “Dax, wake up.”

“Parker?”

“What is it?” His voice soothes my nerves slightly, and I wish like hell I knew what the hell happened before I passed out. I remember Ethan coming in the basement and stabbing my hand, but after that it’s a blank.

“Dax is passed out. I don’t know what happened.”

“We’ll be right there.”

While waiting for the guys, I keep trying to wake Dax up. Unfortunately, my efforts don’t get anything more than a few scattered moans and groans here and there. Jesus. Ethan must have one hell of a right hook.

The basement door slams open, and the guys pile down the stairs.

“I don’t know what happened,” I mutter after they file into the room. “I woke up, and he was like this.”

Parker’s and Talon’s nostrils flare then both turn to me sharply. “Where are you hurt?” Talon asks at the same time Parker asks, “Are you okay?”

I shakily hold up my injured hand for them to examine. “I-I’m fine. Your dad, I don’t know what he was doing here. He wanted into my cell, I put my hand in the way of the lock. He stabbed my hand, so I’d move my hand. Everything goes blank from there.”

“I’ll kill him,” Parker growls and moves to leave the room.

“Stop, Parker,” Hunter orders, halting Parker in his tracks. “We need to find out what happened first. Let’s focus on waking your guard, and we can decide what to do from there.”

“He’s got a point,” Kai points out, not so helpfully in my opinion, but I also really don’t care what they do so long as someone gets me the fuck out of this cell.

“Please tell me you guys have something,” I say hopefully while War and Kai work on getting Dax to wake up.

“We don’t have proof, besides a note that was left beside Chelsey’s body.”

“A note?”

“It said that her death was your fault.”

My blood goes cold, and I remember Torn’s words from my dream.

Did you enjoy my present?

Moving my gaze to Kai, I ask, “How can a demon talk to someone in their dreams?”

Kai frowns thoughtfully. “It would take a very powerful witch if the demon in question doesn’t already have that ability. Why?”

I bite my lip and meet everyone’s curious gazes. “Torn came to me in my dream last night. He asked if I enjoyed his gift.”

"Enjoyed his gift?" War echoes.

"Yeah. He had Chelsey killed as a present for me, I guess."

I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly cold.

"You okay?" Parker asks.

I nod and sit on the cot. "I'm fine. I really just wish I knew what his game plan was. Is it to kill me? To make me pay? To keep me? I don't get it."

"I don't know. My brother's acting strange even for him. I've never seen, nor heard, him change his mind about what he wants. I have a feeling that once he gets you, he'll do all three."