“Well, I’m glad we can agree on one thing,” she bit.
“I...I don’t feel so good...”Mercy said as she held her stomach.
Valory shifted her attitude, turning to face Mercy with a look that would have rivaled a mother hen.
I watched as she ran her fingers down Mercy’s arm, how she pulled her this way and that.I wanted to storm over her, pull Mercy in my arms, and end this drastic edging session, access what weneeded.
But I was frozen in place as I watched the color drain from Mercy’s face, as she started to cough.
I watched as she grabbed onto Valory, her fingers sinking into the angel’s pale, soft flesh, and then her eyes...glowed.
Green, the color of the lifestream that flowed through Hell.
And that was all I needed to snap out of my temporary paralysis as I took my seat on the bed, pulling Mercy into my arms, calling my power.
“What are you doing...”Valory said as golden energy pooled at her fingertips once more.
“She’s receiving a vision, and I’ll be damned if I let you stop me, stopusfrom accessing what she’s seeing.This could be the answer weneed,” I said as I brushed some of her dark hair off her warm forehead.
To my surprise, Valory didn’t argue as I touched my fingers to her temple.She only set her hand on Mercy’s stomach and said, “I’m coming with you.”
I’d never done this sort of thing before, but I wasn’t about to let Valory or Mercy know that.
Of course, it was an ability all demons possessed, but lower-level demons such as myself, didn’t come into contact with as many mortals as say, a reaper would.Still, I knew the logistics ofhowto read and access mortal memories, even if I’d never done it before.
But nothing prepared me for the onslaught of combining my power, my own consciousness with Mercy.
I was pulled through her neural pathways like a vacuum.The scent of burning, scorching, was prevalent around me as I made my way through the blinding light like a ping-pong ball.
And when I’d arrived in darkness, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, until I saw a golden, faint ball of light in the distance.
“Endor, is that—”
Of course, the angel hitched a ride, too.
Though I suppose if the situation were reversed, I wouldn’t have trusted her to venture into Mercy’s consciousness alone, either.
“Yes, I’m here, Valory.”
I walked toward the light, slowly as the sounds of thunder rumbled in the distance.
“Can she...can she hear us?”Valory said, her voice echoing in the cavernous darkness.
The silence between us answered us.“I don’t think so,” I said as we met in the middle of a...puddle.
My shoes absorbed water, and all at once I felt the rumble beneath the earth.
The smell of petrichor was prevalent, and I looked around us, trying to discern just exactlywherewe were, or more accurately, where Mercy’s mind had taken us.
Bright, white LEDs sped past us, accompanied by a roaring engine.
Without thinking, I took off in the direction it came.
“Endor...what are you—”
I picked up my pace, keeping up with the steady, slow drive of the car.The ground beneath my feet was moist and muddy.
“Arkansas,” Valory murmured.
