“What the hell is going on around here?” Kai asks as we see another few vampires exit the house quickly.

I frown when I see Parker’s sister leave the house after them like hellhounds are hot on her heels.

She frantically looks around then relief flashes across her face when she sees the five of us standing beside the large oak tree in front of the house. Using her vampire speed, she’s standing in front of us in less than a second.

“Parker, oh thank god,” she pants.

“What is going on?” Parker asks.

“It’s Mercy.”

Just like that, every one of us tense.

“What about her?” War asks, jaw clenched.

“She-she’s gone rogue. And there’s a guy with her. She’s killing everybody, Parker,” she says quickly.

“Shit,” Parker hisses.

“Let’s go,” I bark. We all start moving, but before we even get to the sidewalk the door slams open with a bang.

Mercy walks out with a giant smile plastered on her face. My brother is standing behind her, grinning evilly.

My mouth dries up as I stare at the little half-demon that’s turned all of our lives around, covered completely in blood, looking completely untroubled by the havoc that’s been caused.

Her step doesn’t even falter when she sees us. She stops after a few slow steps and runs her gaze over all of us.

She’s close enough now that I can see her eyes. They’re pure black. The ultimate sign of a rogue half-demon. There’s absolutely no sign of the breathtaking purple eyes that I fell in love with.

“Mercy,” Talon breathes. I flick my gaze to him to make sure he’s okay, since he’s the one who’s had his life completely torn apart by a rogue demon once before. I’m not sure how he’s reacting to Mercy’s turning.

“Brother,” Torn says, a cocky smile in place. “You look shocked to see me.” I clench my teeth as he moves forward just enough to lay a hand on Mercy’s shoulder, and she doesn’t shake him off, shocking the hell out of me, and I’m guessing the others. “Though, I suppose you wouldn’t have expected Ethan to be the one to invite me here, either.”

“My father?” Parker gapes. “He’s not that stupid.”

Torn grins. “Oh, he was. He wanted one night with our girl here,” he explains as he pats Mercy’s shoulder once. Looking at her expression, she doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that Ethan had essentially betrayed Parker at all. In fact, she looks kind of bored. “Of course, I couldn’t allow that, so she killed him.”

“My dad’s dead?” Farrah asks, shocked.

“Mhm, so is your mom. She tried putting Mercy through a wall. I’m sure she regretted that decision.” Torn chuckles.

“You son of a bitch,” Parker bites out at my brother.

“I’m more concerned with how you turned rogue, Mercy,” I finally say.

Torn laughs. “Oh, that’s not her fault. She really had no control over it. Just like she has no control now.”

I tense and feel the others vibrate with anger around me.

“What is that supposed to mean?” War demands.

“Ah, yes. Well, Ethan has been quite helpful the last few days while Mercy’s been imprisoned.”

“What?” Talon growls.

“See, we learned long ago that I couldn’t control Mercy. Her mental shields were just too strong.” Torn shrugs before taking a lock of Mercy’s hair and twirling it around his finger. “So, I had all of these years to create a solution to that little problem. Ethan was kind enough to give the drug to her while she was without her precious guards. All it took was a couple injections, and Ethan was able to control her without any problems.”

“When the hell did you and my dad become conspiracy buddies?” Parker snaps.

“When he found out you were here with Mercy, and he decided he wanted her for himself. Anyway,” he stresses, sending Parker a pointed look, “before I was interrupted, I was saying, Ethan called me and told me it worked. I showed up, took control of Mercy. Made her kill your dear old dad, then made her go rogue.”

Mercy sighs impatiently. “I’m getting bored with story time.”

Torn chuckles and runs a finger down her cheek, smearing the blood there. “In any case, doesn’t she look absolutely beautiful? Like a warrior goddess.”

“You made a mistake coming here, brother,” I spit. I move to attack, but Mercy puts herself in front of him, stopping me in my tracks. “Mercy, what are you doing?”

“Sorry, Hunter. I can’t let you hurt him,” she says, not sounding sorry at all.

Torn smirks. “She is indebted to me now. She won’t let anyone get to me.”

“How the hell is she indebted to you?” Kai grinds out.

“He helped me see the light,” Mercy says slowly, almost as if she’s not entirely sure of what she’s saying.

“Mercy,” Farrah starts, “please fight this. This isn’t you.”

“It’s me now,” Mercy says with a grin.

“Mercy, why don’t we get out of here?” Torn asks, putting his mouth right next to her ear. She looks at him sideways like she’s not impressed, but still she nods.

Mercy meets my eyes with her black ones. “The only reason I’m not killing you all right here, right now, is because of what you’ve done for me. This is the only opportunity you have. Don’t even attempt to find me.”

“Mercy,” we all say at once, but then Torn grabs her hand and they disappear.

Farrah drops to her knees in the grass. “I-I don’t understand what’s happening.”

I meet the eyes of each of my teammates. “Some things are apparently set in stone. Now we need to figure out how to get Mercy back.”

“What about the warning she gave you?” Farrah asks.

“We’re not just going to listen to her,” Talon growls.

“Exactly, we’ll find her and we’ll bring her back to herself,” War says, complete conviction in his tone. Everyone murmurs their agreements.

“Now we just need to find a way to explain to her parents what happened,” Kai mutters.

“That definitely won’t be easy to do,” Parker says, his voice devoid of any emotion. I think he’s in shock. Especially when learning the girl that you’re involved with killed both of your parents. That’s got to be screwing him up inside.