69. Transition

[Mercy]

"Mhm, while we're packing up in England, we can take care of Nancy while we're at it. She probably thinks she got off scot-free after everything she did, and if we're leaving everything behind, we're leaving her body behind as well." I said, biting my lip as I waited for Alaric's response. For what seemed like an eternity of waiting, he didn't seem to have one.

"I must say, I was not expecting that, but it doesn't surprise me." He finally responded with a small laugh before laying back on the bed, holding me, so I was laying on top of him. "I would ask if you think you're ready to kill the woman who raised you, but I can tell from the look in your eyes that you are more than ready."

"You think I shouldn't be?" I asked, narrowing my eyes as I glared at him. "That woman-"

"No, that's not what I said, Mercy. I completely understand and stand behind that decision." He said, cutting me off before I could get upset, knowing all too well that I would have over-thought it until we were both unsettled.

"You're worried that I'm a different person now, aren't you?"

"Hmm," He said as he ran his hands down the side of my body before pushing his hands up my shirt, making me gasp out in surprise, unable to stop myself from blushing and pressing my face against his throat. "No, you are still the shy little thing I saw on the front steps of my building a few months ago." He said with a soft chuckle as he ran a hand up my back, unclasping my bra while kissing and nibbling at my throat.

"Only with you," I said with a giggle as I lifted myself so he could push my shirt off, then moaned out as he pushed me on my back, lowering himself between my legs before bringing his lips to mine, kissing me hungrily with a growl as he unbuttoned his vest, tossing it to the side before wrapping an arm around my hips, lifting me, so our bodies were pressed together. I felt myself getting more and more excited, unable to stop the fire I felt running through my veins. *'God damn it, not again!'* I thought, whimpering in panic as I pushed him away, looking at my hands that were glowing bright red.

"Mercy, it's okay," Alaric whispered, taking my hand in his, putting it against his chest. Almost immediately, his shirt started to smoke as I was quite literally burning it off of him, making him rip it off and run into the bathroom, throwing it into the tub so it wouldn't catch anything else on fire.

"I'm sorry!" I gasped out as I pushed myself up on the bed, shaking my head as I stared at my hands, willing the fire in them to go away. *'We haven't been able to spend any time together because of these dumb ass abilities!'*

"Mercy, the only thing that makes it worse is is panic," Alaric said as he walked back into the bedroom, watching me as he slowly sauntered forward, observing my reactions as he pulled off his belt, tossing it to the ground before putting his hands down on the end of the bed. I pressed my legs together, trying to suppress the ever-growing arousal I felt when I saw how he was eyeing me. His gray eyes overflowing with lust and desire, tightening the grip he had on the edge of the bed, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth as he watched me. He knew exactly what he was doing to me, and he was loving every moment of it, reveling in it as I squirmed. "Come here, kitten." He demanded in a whisper, raising an eyebrow as the longer I took to do as he wanted me to, the heavier the passion in his eyes grew, the gray of his eyes darkening until it was hardened like steel.

I already knew that because he had to tell me, rather than me coming to him as I knew he wanted me to, that he was going to torture me in all the most devious ways. The imp inside of me wanted to resist the desire, tempting me to stay where I was, making him come to me, knowing that he would torment me with nearly unbearable pleasure. Although I toyed with the idea for a few moments, somewhat considering doing it, I ultimately decided to crawl towards him, as I wanted him more than I wanted to be a brat. "Yes, Sir," I said with a nod as I kneeled in the space between his arms, sitting back on my legs, putting my hands behind my back as I looked up at him, trying to hold back a smile.

"What are you smirking about, kitten?" He asked as he put his index finger under my chin, pulling me to look up at him as he searched my eyes for a moment. That smirk was short-lived as he lowered his hand to my throat, holding it just long enough for me to know that he was not going to take no for an answer, then watched me as he moved his hand to the back of my head, tangling his fingers in my hair before pushing me forward, bringing our lips together with a soft growl. I moaned out as I leaned into him, putting my hands on his chest as I pushed against him, wrapping my legs around his hips as he pulled me into his arms, lifting me off the bed. I lost myself in his kiss, drowning in the excitement of our embrace, until I felt him tensing against me, making me realize my hands were on fire once again.

"No," He growled when I tried to pull myself out of his arms, tightening the grip he had on me, refusing to let me go. "You're letting your power get the best of you." He said with a groan, trying his best not to grimace as the fire was growing hotter, the more I wanted to hold it back.

*'I don't know how to. My power has been more difficult to control since I took that damn potion,'* I thought as I kissed him again, trying to pull the fire back, as I knew he was right. If I didn't try to control it, I'd never be able to. It was so hard, trying to reel my desire back in when he was overwhelming me with his own. Still, slowly, I felt myself succeeding, getting excited when I felt it flowing back into me, rather than radiating on the palms of my hands. He let out a surprised moan as he tilted his head back, closing his eyes as ripples of fire went through his abdomen, chuckling lowly as he looked back down at me.

"I changed my mind; don't make it stop." He growled as he kneeled on the bed, carrying me up towards the top before lowering us down onto the mattress. I pushed against his chest so I could watch as my fire ran through the muscles in his chest, smiling when I heard him moaning again, shuddering from the pleasure. *'Oh, this is new,'* I thought when I saw his reaction, moving my hands down onto his abdomen, grinning when he brought his hand down on the headboard a bit too hard, causing it to crack and dent from the force.

I decided not to push my luck, as the longer I did this, the deeper his growl became as he watched me. I leaned forward and unbuttoned his pants, bringing our lips back together as I pushed them down, gasping out softly as he pushed me back down, kissing a trail from my lips to my throat, gazing at my throat with his fangs before sinking them in much harder than he needed to. The pain subsided as quickly as it began, the feeling of him drinking from me too much to ignore as I pushed my pants down, wriggling underneath his weight to push them off.

He released my throat to pull his pants off, lifting me onto his lap before bringing our lips back together, stifling my cry of pain as he entered me, lowering me down slowly, making sure he wasn't moving too quickly. I gasped out as he began thrusting, putting one hand on my back and the other on my hips to guide me. Once I'd adjusted to his size and was moaning out in pleasure, he broke away from our kiss, pushing me to lay down as he put a hand back on the headboard, leaning back so he could watch me as he thrust. The harder and deeper he thrust, the harder it was to hold myself back, but I couldn't stop myself from moving with him, despite knowing that I was setting the comforter on fire.

*'I'll burn this house down if I can't get control of myself,'* I thought, but still tried my best to reel it back in, as the last thing I wanted to do was to tell him to stop, after not being with him for so long. Not to mention, the last thing in the world that I wanted was for him to stop. I put a hand on his chest, telling him to stop as I lifted myself, then turned around, smiling as he growled and put his hands on my hips, pulling me toward him as he slammed into me, making me cry out in a mixture of pleasure and pain. I thought this would have helped me contain myself a bit more, but that was far from the truth as somehow, this position drove me crazier than the first one did.

"It's okay, kitten, you can control it," Alaric whispered in my ear as he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me, so we were sitting up. He ran his hand down my body until he met the fire between my legs and started circling my clit with his middle finger before wrapping his free hand around my throat, turning my head to the side, bringing our lips back together. He waited until I was relaxed against him before he began stroking slowly, holding me down so I couldn't escape or lessen the force of his slow but fierce thrusts. Though I did everything I could not to, I found it hard not to lose myself in the pleasure once again but tried to contain as much as my fire as I could as I put one hand behind me on the back of his head, and the other on his thigh.

"Alaric, I-" I whimpered out, trying to push against him as I felt myself getting closer and closer to the edge, terrified of what would happen when I did. The thought of hurting him was enough to try to push him away, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get myself to mean it, as it was far from what I wanted at the moment.

"It's okay, kitten, stop holding yourself back." He said, cutting me off as he pushed me forward until I was laying on my stomach, putting his right hand on my hip to hold me to him, and his left he put underneath my head. He leaned down, so his weight was pinning me down, then turned me, so we were laying on our sides, bending my knee and pulling it back over his hip before moving one hand to my clit, and readjusted the other, so his wrist was in front of my mouth, offering me his blood. "Be a good girl," He warned when I started to refuse it, then sank his fangs into my shoulder, making me jerk in surprise.

I couldn't begin to pretend that I didn't want his blood, as he knew just as well as I did, that the temptation wasn't something I could combat, that his blood was a powerful aphrodisiac that no sane woman would reject. I intertwined my fingers with his, pulling his wrist to my mouth, moaning out as I sank my fangs in, digging my nails into my thigh when I tasted his blood.

"Oh, kitten," Alaric purred with a soft chuckle before pulling his wrist from my mouth, turning my head to kiss me, swallowing my scream as I came. After waiting until I'd calmed down, he broke away from the kiss and put his hand over mine, prying my nails out of my thigh. "My god," He gasped when he saw how deep the marks were, scoffing as he lowered himself down the bed, then licked softly at the wounds.

"I- I couldn't help it," I said, biting my lip as I laid on my back, propping myself up against the pillows as I watched him.

"I see that. Are you okay?" He asked, kissing his way up the inside of my thigh, chuckling when I tried to push him away, raising an eyebrow as he positioned himself between my legs, lifting me to readjust the pillows, then set me down on top of them so our faces were even. "You didn't answer me."

"I'm okay, but your blood is, like, ten times stronger." I breathed out, moaning as he put one arm along the headboard behind me, and the other he wrapped around my waist, lifting me, putting my head against his arm, using it as a bumper so my head wouldn't hit the wall as he thrust into me. "Fuck," I whispered as I grabbed his arm with one hand, the other I put on the back of his head, biting my lip before kissing him, smiling as he started sucking on my lip. I gasped out when he began to pull away, curious as to why he was doing it, as he didn't seem to have any intentions of pulling away before.

"Someone's coming down to the guest house," He said with a long and drawn-out sigh, shaking his head as he carried me into the bathroom, setting me down on the tub before turning on the water.

"Who?" I asked as I put my hand under the water, waiting until it heated up before stepping into the shower, looking up at him as I stood under the water.

"Don't know, don't care," He said with an indifferent shrug, putting his hands on the wall behind my head, closing his eyes as the water washed over his face. I watched him for a moment, drinking in the sight of his handsome features, feeling my heartbeat increasing as his eyes fluttered open, his once steely eyes now soft and caring as he gazed down at me lovingly. A small smile played at the corners of his lips when he saw the way I was watching him, that smile turning into a grin as he picked me up and pushed my back against the wall, readjusting the showerhead so we could share the water. "I never got to respond to you, as I was not in control of my body at the time."

"Respond to what?" I asked him, furrowing my brows in confusion as I looked up at him. *'What am I forgetting?'*

"I love you too, kitten." He whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. "It's alright. I know you didn't mean to say it, so I've no expectations.-"

"No, I love you, Alaric," I said, cutting him off as I took his face between my hands, bringing our lips back together, unable to stop the frantic pounding of my heart. It felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest, pounding so loudly in our ears. I found myself thankful for the distraction when I heard a soft rapping at the front door, telling me that our guest had arrived. *'It has to be either Maeve or Leena, as the vampires would know that we were busy, as they'd be able to hear us the moment they stepped onto the grass. Either that or a mimic, no, actually, they would hear us too.'* I thought as Alaric set me down so we could wash up, growling his dissatisfaction as he stepped out of the shower to get dressed.

"It's Bast," Alaric said after coming back into the bathroom, pushing the shower curtain to the side so he could have an unobstructed view of me as I washed, tsking at me when I tried and failed to use the curtain to hide.

"Are you going to answer the door?" I gasped out, eyeing at him as I washed as quickly as I could so I could wrap a towel around myself, glaring at him as I walked past him and into the bedroom.

"Hold on a moment, Bast!" He called over his shoulder, his eyes not leaving me for a second as he did so. After watching me for a few more moments, he closed the distance between us, wrapping an arm around my waist to pull me close. "You are mine, and as such, you shouldn't hide what is mine."

"I-" I started to object but thought better of it and nodded before tilting my head back to look up at him. "Yes, sir."

"Good girl, now, get dressed. You will pay for your disobedience later." He said before walking out of the bedroom to answer the door.

Any sane person would probably be scared about what he'd said, but I found myself nothing short of excited, wondering what he would do. Upon further thought, I found that I was both excited and nervous. I knew he'd let me off easy now, as he knew I was having issues controlling my abilities, but now that I'd proven that I could, there would be no leniency in his punishments. *'I should probably be scared, and very much so. Now that he's stronger than a recreant, I can't escape anything he wants to do, but I can't lie to myself and say that I want to. Fuck, I should probably get dressed. The longer I sit here and daydream, the longer I'm disobeying his command, and the worse my punishment will be. Knowing him, he'll probably deny me himself, knowing that's the worse kind of punishment he can inflict on me.'* I thought as I brushed off my thoughts and turned my attention to getting dressed.

I started to pull clothes out of my suitcase, then noticed that he'd already set a change of clothes on the bed for me. *'Of course, he wants me to wear a skirt. Ha! I'm so fucked.'* I thought as I got dressed, tossing my towel in the washer as I walked out into the living room where Bast and Alaric were waiting for me.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked Bast as I sat next to Alaric, trying to ignore the way he was looking at the exposed skin just below my skirt. *'At least we won't be alone on the jet, not the whole time, anyway.'*

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to interrupt the two of you, but we need you, Mercy," Bast said with a sigh, scoffing as she shook her head in disbelief. "Maeve isn't a light fae anymore, and she's freaking out."

"Wait. What?" I gasped as I jumped to my feet, looking back and forth between Bast and Alaric, unsure what to think about this newest development. *'She's not a light fae anymore? How? She smelled the same, and she didn't seem any different when she came up from the basement. Then again, Alaric and I left only a few minutes after that.'*

"Is she alright?" Alaric asked as he stood, taking my hand as we followed Bast out of the guest house, making our way to the main house.

"I don't know, but Leena won't go anywhere near her, and... you have to see it for yourself."

I shook my head in disbelief, unsure of what other reaction to have, as I still didn't entirely understand how or why this was happening. To be honest, I barely understood what was happening, leaving no room to try and comprehend how or why. "What do you think either of us can do about it?" I finally asked as we entered the house and walked into the kitchen where the table was halfway disintegrated, and Maeve was sitting on the ground in front of it, hugging her knees to her chest. When I saw the way Maeve was sitting, I assumed she would look sad and upset, but I found myself surprised when she was neither. The only thing I could read on Maeve's face was anger and a lot of it.

"Maeve, what the hell happened?" Alaric gasped as he looked back and forth from the table to Maeve.

"I don't know. I got mad and put my hand down on the table. Next thing I know, it's turning to ash." Maeve said with a shrug. *'Oh, that must be why she's sitting like that. She doesn't want to risk touching anything else.'*

"What made you mad?" I asked her, looking past Sinclair to where Leena was standing on the other side of the counter, her bright blue eyes locked onto Maeve with intense hatred.

"Damien and Sinclair were filling me in on what happened while I was gone, and Leena said I shouldn't be allowed back into the light faeverse, as what happened should have turned me into a dark fae," Maeve said with a spiteful laugh, motioning to the table in front of her. "Turns out she was right; it did."

"Sorry, and no offense, but I still don't see what I can do to help?" I said, turning to look at Bast.

"You're the strongest sister, Maeve. I couldn't put up a border around her that she didn't deteriorate with a single touch." Bast said, throwing her hands up in a show of defeat, motioning to Maeve. "Octavia and Kerr aren't back yet, so she can't help."

"Oh, right," I said with a nod, putting up a border of air around Maeve, watching as she hesitantly touched it with her index finger, gasping out in relief when she saw that the wall didn't disappear. *'Duh, what else would they call you up here for? Maeve's destroying everything she's touching, and you're the one who can put up a border that no one else can bring down. Why wouldn't the same go for Maeve?'*

"It all makes sense now," Leena suddenly said, turning our attention to her rather than Maeve. "You had enough power in your body to heal from the broken back that your boyfriend gave you, so it made no sense that you didn't have enough to return from the faeverse. The reason you couldn't return is that your mind went to the light faeverse, but your power and your body is that of a dark fae."

"How? When I gave the kids my power, I was a light fae!" Maeve gasped as she took a step towards Leena, wincing when Leena took a step back.

"Those people died at the hand of your power. It doesn't matter who was holding it when they died. It was still your power at the hands of their deaths, so all of those deaths are on you." Leena said with a scoff, shaking her head as she looked around at us. "I'll find my way home, but thanks."

"Leena, please, isn't there any way you can help me?"

"I don't help dark fae, Maeve. I warned you to walk away from this fight, and you didn't. It's your own fault, and no one else's that you choose to ignore me." Leena said, shaking her head as she walked out of the kitchen, slamming the door closed as she left.

"This is just grand," Maeve said sarcastically, throwing her hands up with a huff, watching as Sinclair crossed the room to stand next to her, testing the border cautiously. "I don't think I can get out of it, Sinclair. That was the entire point in having Mercy put it up. Will you bring me the book? I want to read the pages on dark fae that you wouldn't let me read before."

"I have no other choice," Sinclair said with a sigh as he walked out of the kitchen, returning a few moments later with Nia's book in his hand. "She doesn't need it anymore, may as well use the original." He said before turning to look at me, waiting for me to drop the border so he could hand Maeve the book.

Maeve took the book quickly, doing everything she could to make sure she didn't so much as graze Sinclair's hand, then sat cross-legged in her bubble as she flipped through the pages in the book. "There's three pages of fae in here that you didn't have in the binder!" She gasped before looking up at me curiously.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I recognized the name at the top of the pages and skipped over them because I didn't think they were important, and I didn't want to keep her book too long, in case she noticed that it was missing." I said, shaking my head in disappointment, as I honestly had forgotten about it, and now I felt like shit for neglecting to remember such an important detail.

"Oi, it's no harm done. Really, no need to get so worked up about it." Maeve said as she stood, giving me a soft and reassuring smile as she tried to take a step forward, seemingly forgetting that she was in an impenetrable border. "Right, if I touch you, you disintegrate. When you leave, will the border go away too?"

"I can hold it up in the back of my mind, but I'm not sure if there's a distance limitation on it."

"It's okay, aunt Mercy. You and uncle Alaric can go and take care of your stuff. Ciaran and I can hold up a border." Azeneth suddenly said, making me turn around to try and see where she was, but I couldn't find her anywhere in the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Alaric asked me, furrowing his brows in confusion as he watched me.

"Are you fucking kidding me? They can put their thoughts in my head?" I gasped out, looking around at everyone else, realizing that I was the only one who'd heard Azeneth's voice. "Azzie told me that we could go ahead and leave, that she and Ciaran would hold up a border around Maeve."

"She said that?" Damien said, raising an eyebrow before shaking his head with a laugh. "I knew the two of you were pretending to be napping. Get your butts down here."

"Yes, daddy?" Azeneth and Ciaran said, peering around the doorway to the kitchen, smug little grins on their faces as they looked at each other, then back at Damien.

"The two of you are going to tell us what you're capable of, and that is not a request," Bast said, crossing her arms over her chest as she snapped, then pointed at the chair across from her, telling them that it was even less of a request than her words were. *'I do not miss having my mom look at me like that. Jeez, I forgot how scary moms could get when they want to be.'*

"Okay, mommy." The twins said in unison, pouting as they shuffled their way across the kitchen, taking as long as possible to sit where Bast had told them to.

"I wish we could stay and hear this, but the pilot just messaged me, and the jet is ready to go. Bartholomew has already packed up his things, and the two of them are eager to leave." Alaric said, smiling apologetically at me as he motioned for us to head out, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Very well. Safe travels." Damien said as he stood to shake Alaric's hand, pulling me into a hug before stepping to the side so Bast could do the same.

"I know you're only going to be gone until tomorrow, but I'm still going to miss you. Be safe, alright?"

"I will. Is Octavia coming back, or did she go home?"

"She and Kerr were leading the pack back home, but she said she's going to come back when they're done."

"Perhaps we can wait until everyone is back together before the children tell you their seemingly endless secrets?" Sinclair asked after pulling me into a quick hug, kissing my forehead before clapping Alaric on the shoulder with a chuckle.

"I suppose we can, yeah. In the meantime, we could try and find out a way to help Maeve and make sure she doesn't turn the entire house to ash." Bast laughed out, giving Maeve a grin as she, Damien, and the twins walked us to the car, waving goodbye as we drove down the driveway.

"I thought our world was going to get less hectic after we finally brought an end to Edward, but it just seems neverending." I laughed once I was sure we were far enough away so that no one would be able to hear me.

"I should have warned you when I asked you to come with me to meet Damien. This world is never calm. It doesn't matter how much you fight and try to escape it, as there will always be something lurking in the shadows, awaiting the time to rear its head." Alaric said, shaking his head with a sigh. "Do you regret coming with us?"

"If I didn't agree to come with you, then I wouldn't have met my sisters, I wouldn't have had help when I came into my abilities... Jesus, if I didn't go with you, my life would be in shambles!" I gasped out, realizing just how much had happened in a matter of months, turning my life completely upside down.

"Mercy, I-" Alaric started to say but cut himself off as he pulled the car over onto the side of the road, crossing to the passenger side door where he kneeled, taking my hands in his as he gazed into my eyes. "I've been waiting, searching for the perfect moment, but there never seems to be one. If I keep waiting for a time I think is right, it will never come. Mercy Krysanthe Roberts, will you marry me?"