Read Mercy for the Damned for Free Online

you’ve had your fun.”  She turned back to her magazine.
    “No, I’m deadly serious.”  I came back around to the front of the counter.  “I’ve heard that some witches know how to get into the demon realm and I need to know how they get in without the gate guard seeing them.”
    “I don’t have time for this…”
    “She’s not kidding, we really do need to find a way in there, it’s a matter of life and death.” Daphne joined us, the crystal unicorn in hand.
    “Look, I get it.  You think it’s fun to come in and make fun of the pagans, call us all devil worshippers.  Well, it’s not funny to us, it’s our religion!” Her voice rose in indignation.  “You’d never think of going into a church and making fun of nuns, or into a monastery to taunt monks, but Wiccans are free game, right?”  She was getting herself all worked up, and I decided I’d had about enough of her tirade.  With a wave and a scowl, she froze mid sentence, and Daphne stared at her in shocked surprise. 
    “What did you do to her?”
    “I just wanted her to shut up for a minute so I could think.  There has to be something else here than can help us…”
    “You’re really good at it,” she murmured, waving her hand in front of the girl’s eyes. 
    “I don’t know how long it’ll last.  Come on.”
    “Where are we going?”
    “We’re gonna check out the back room, see if there’s anything back there that looks like it might be useful,” I called over my shoulder, pushing past the hanging curtain that led to the small office and storage space behind the store. 
    “And then what?  Take it?”
    “I don’t know, I’m making it up as I go along, now come on!”
    “I don’t know about this, Mercy.”  Daphne lingered at the doorway while I pulled open the drawers of the roll top desk.  I had no idea what to look for, but I was running out of ideas. 
    “Fine, then I’ll search, you keep a lookout.  If she unfreezes, or anyone else comes in let me know and I’ll zap her again.”  Only I didn’t find anything useful in the desk or on the stock shelves.  I even looked through the tiny bathroom in the back.  All I found was extra boxes of books and figurines. 
    “Ugh, that was a total bust.”  I wiped my hands on my back pockets. 
    “I don’t know, I think this is really cute. I think I’m going to get it.”  Daphne held the crystal unicorn up to the light.
    “Are you serious?”
    “I think Sam will really like it.  He’s very into fantasy creatures, I think he’ll get a kick out of it.”  Digging through her pockets, she pulled out a wad of crumpled bills and smoothed them out on the counter. 
    Surprised to hear she planned to give the figurine to Sam instead of keeping it for herself, I watched her count out the right amount and slide them across the counter where the girl was sure to find them.  “Daphne… about you and Sam…”
    “What about us?”
    “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great you two are getting along so well, but…”
    “It’s fine.  You don’t have to worry for me,” she insisted, a placid smile fixed in place as she helped herself to a little paper bag to wrap it up.  “We should really get out of here before she wakes up.”
    “Daph…”
    “There’s nothing to worry about.”
    Damn.  That’s what I was afraid of. 
    * * *
    After the complete debacle at the witchy shop, I was in poor spirits when I got to work that night.  I gave Walter a wan smile at the door, but no sooner had I crossed the threshold when Parker wrapped his arm around me, hauling me close for a big, noisy kiss right on the mouth.
    “Parker!” I squirmed in his grasp, but he instantly smothered me with another kiss before I could get another word out.  That time I felt his tongue snake into my mouth, and I resisted the urge to bite him to make him let me go.  I started to rethink that stance when I felt his hand on my