“I’ve never felt this way, Merc.”
“Never?”
She shook her head. “You?” she asked, then wished she hadn’t, because of course he had with his wife.
“No. That was different. We were kids. It was intense, as all things are when you’re a kid. But by the time we were married, I took it for granted. I regret that. I promised myself, if I ever had the good fortune to find someone who filled my heart, that I would be a better man.” He sighed. “I just didn’t want to find my love through the Matchmaker.”
“Because of the curse?”
Merc nodded.
“Do you think we’d be as attracted to each other without the curse?”
“We would. Chemistry is chemistry.” He cut into his burrito. The plastic fork and knife looked like kid utensils in his big hands. He nodded at her plate. “Eat. Or I will have to take you back to the fort and force-feed you.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I would. I take your health very seriously.”
Ash cut into her burrito and took a bite. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. She managed to eat half of it before being too full to finish. She pushed her plate toward Merc, who’d eaten all of his.
“How did you end up with your name?”
He took a bite of her burrito. “I’m moody, they tell me. Mercurial. And mercenary. And merciful. All the ‘m-e-r-c’ words.”
Ash nodded. “All of them fit.”
“Yeah. So they shortened it to Merc.” He grinned at her. “We had, like, a day for branding, so it is what it is. I’m just glad they didn’t pick Mercy for me.”
He polished off the rest of her burrito in a few more bites, then wiped his mouth and took a long draw of his strawberry lemonade. The straw made a slurping sound. He kept sucking up what he could, laughter in his eyes for how it irritated her.
Finally, he set his drink down, then took their trash to throw it out. “Want to head back?”
“No. But yeah.”
He reached for her hand. They walked away from the tables and the people gathered around the food truck. “I felt your panic this morning.”
Ash sighed. She wasn’t surprised, but when he hadn’t communicated with her, she thought he’d unplugged.
“Consider it a blessing that they don’t know what they don’t know,” he said. “It’s the only way they can live in peace, just as it’s why you can’t.”
“I’m afraid of what you’re asking of me.”
“I’m only asking that you be true to yourself. Whatever outcome that might bring.”
Merc wasn’t the only mutant who visited her office. Flynn was outside her office window later that afternoon. She’d watched as people walked past him. No one seemed to see him—one person almost appeared to walk through him.
Astral projection, Merc had called it. She tried to reach out to Merc in her mind, using their ever-present connection, but she couldn’t. Flynn was interfering with her mind again.
Come talk to me, Flynn said, speaking right into her mind.
Ash shut the blinds and stepped away from the window. It was late. Almost everyone else had already left for the day. She thought about calling Merc, but she seemed frozen in place.
This wasn’t real. Flynn had tricked her mind somehow.
She moved stiffly to her desk. Maybe she should call for a ride. She could get her car tomorrow. If she left by the side entrance, Flynn wouldn’t see her.
I know where you live, Flynn said.
You can’t get in there. I’m protected. As I am here.
That is somewhat true.
What do you want?
I want to talk to you. Come down here.
Ash’s frozen state eased up. She grabbed her purse and headed out of the office. She tried again to contact Merc, but it was like communicating with a brick wall.
Outside, her car was one of only a few still in the parking lot. She was glad the spring evening was so bright—this would have been terrifying in the dark.
A movement next to the tree near her car alerted her to Flynn’s location. She kept her car between them—not that its physical bulk would help in a confrontation with an astral projection. How was she even seeing him, anyway?
“I’m listening,” she said.
Merc wants to change you.
“So?”
If you decline the change, I’ll make sure my side leaves Merc alone. I’ll invalidate the Matchmaker’s Curse, saving you, saving him. You wanted your old life back. Now you can have it. And your mutant lover can keep his life.
“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”
There are consequences for your decision. Choose wisely.
Flynn disappeared, and the instant he did, lightning struck a car way across the parking lot. It hit another, closer to her. Then it struck hers, tossing her to the ground.
She screamed, then the next thing she was aware of was one of the security guards from her building rushing over to help her. She touched her head, her face, her chest. She was still alive. The guard was asking her in a frantic voice if she was all right. She looked at her car and saw that it was unharmed. She looked at the other two cars farther away—both were fine.
Not one of the cars had been hit by lightning.
The guard helped her to her feet. “Ma’am, are you hurt? What happened?”
“What happened? My car blew up.”
The guard looked at her car, then at her. “Should I call an ambulance? Maybe you should be checked out?”
Ash brushed her arms off and took her purse from him. “I’m fine. I don’t know what happened, but I’m fine.”
Ash kept herself composed as she got into her car. She was shaking too badly to drive, but she had to make a show of starting her car so the guard would quit staring at her.
That was a preview. Merc can’t protect you from me. But I can protect him from my fighters. The choice is up to you.
33
Ash went to the grocery store as soon as she got off work at the end of that week. Merc was coming over for dinner. He hadn’t pressed her for a decision yet, but that time was coming close. She had to tell him what happened earlier in the week and the deal—or threat—Flynn had offered.
She’d seen Merc every day that week, for lunch or dinner. He’d stayed over some nights—which gave her a good excuse for missing her Wednesday night that week with the girls. She’d tried to find the right time to tell him about Flynn every time she saw him, but she hadn’t.
She was selfish. She wanted to hold every moment with Merc close to her heart. Not all memories lived in the brain—some had to live in the heart, and those she hoped to keep after they went their separate ways.
Ash had found a recipe for seared steak medallions in a sweet hoisin sauce. She was serving asparagus and garlic mashed cauliflower to go with it. She didn’t have a grill, so the steaks she was buying would have to be cooked on her stove. She hoped she didn’t screw them up. She was, at best, a mediocre cook.
She’d asked Merc not to come by until seven. She’d been getting ready for tonight’s dinner for several days. The house was cleaned. The table was set. She just needed the food.