Chapter 88: Amberlynn

[Mercy]

“I know you said that you wanted to leave after dinner, but why don’t you wait until the morning?” I asked Sinclair, cocking my head to the side as I watched him pull his shirt back over his head.

“What difference does the time in which we leave make?” Sinclair asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

“Well, Octavia and Kerr are most likely going to camp the night before heading back because they have to take the baby with them, so they can’t run there,” I said with a shrug as I stood to help Bast set the plates out, watching Octavia as she stood to get the twins.

“It’s fine, aye? Spend the night and get a fresh start in the morning? How are we going to get there?” Maeve asked him as she took a dinner roll from the plate, tearing off a small piece of it, peering up at Sinclair as she chewed.

“Take my jet. It’s the fastest way to get there, and you will not need to worry about the human officials.” Alaric offered as he stood and picked up my plate, putting a slice of lasagna and a roll on it before holding his hand out for Azeneth’s plate.

“Are you quite sure? What if you will need it before we can return it to you?” Sinclair asked as he watched Alaric, then handed him Maeve’s plate so that he could serve her as well.

“I doubt we’ll need it. If we absolutely must take a flight, I will buy a new one.” Alaric said with an indifferent shrug, then laughed out when he saw the look of bewilderment on Maeve’s face. “You are with a man with more riches than we could count, so perhaps I would have you buy me a new one instead.”

“Hand me down, jets; this is my life now? Bloody hell,” Maeve mumbled with a shake of her head, looking from Sinclair to Alaric, then to Sam, before finally landing on Damien. “Do you all have jets?”

“No, of course not. Sam and I share one, as we would rarely need to use it at the same time.” Damien chuckled, grinning as he watched the look of wild hysteria growing on Maeve’s face.

“If one of you wants to buy us a jet, I wouldn’t oppose it.” Kerr snorted from between bites of his dinner, then coughed out when Damien agreed with a nod. “I was not serious.”

“Regardless. A jet would likely be of much use to you, and so I will purchase you one.” Damien said with a chuckle as he pulled out his phone to send a message, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the response.

“Just like that, you’re going to buy us a jet? Jesus, what if I said I wanted to buy all the land around my town?” Octavia gasped, throwing her hands up in a show of defeat.

“I’ve already purchased the five nearest hotels, or I am in the process of doing so. That reminds me, Mercy suggested that we vampires’ name you as the leader of mimics and run all mimic related cases through you.” Alaric said as he sat in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked around the table, furrowing his brows in confusion as he looked over at Hanna. “Amber did not wish to attend?”

“Hmm? Oh, she is on her way. She was heading back into town, and she should be here within the hour, but likely not before you’re done with your meal.” Hanna responded with a smile, then turned to watch Rafferty as he poked curiously at his lasagna with his fork.

“You’re supposed to be eating it, Raffey, not playing with it,” Maeve whispered before taking a bite of hers, giggling when Rafferty followed her lead. “You’re so weird.”

“Name me as the mimic leader? What would that entail, exactly?” Octavia asked after a few moments of silence, shaking her head at Rafferty before looking back at Alaric.

“The details we can work out, but as it stands now, we must try to track down the history of the mimics who’ve committed the crime and turn them over to a pack. If we ran everything through you, we would not need to research a mimic who may not have joined a pack.”

“If we do that, their trial would be unbiased, and they’d stand a fair chance of stating their cases,” Kerr agreed.

“Alright, we can do that, sure,” Octavia said with an exhale, then nodded before returning her attention to her dinner.

“Now that we’ve sorted that, Hanna, I would like to abdicate my throne to you,” Sinclair said, looking around the table curiously as everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at him. “I do not see why you are all shocked by this news.”

“Because you’re Sinclair!” Ciaran gasped, speaking for the first time since sitting down; his electric blue eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

“Of course I am Sinclair, but I do not see your point?”

“They’re surprised because it doesn’t seem like you to give up the throne you’ve waited centuries to get, love,” Maeve said, patting his arm with a shake of her head.

“Hmm, is that so?” Sinclair responded thoughtfully, then gave a disinterested shrug before looking up at Hanna, raising an eyebrow as he waited for her response. “Will you become the new leader of recreants in my place, Hanna?”

“I- Yes, of course!” Hanna gasped, nearly vibrating from excitement as she nodded happily.

“Amber is here,” Alaric said, turning his head to the side as he listened to the sound of her car coming up the driveway, chuckling softly as Hanna left the kitchen to greet her.

“It’s always funny to me when the recreants drive somewhere, like, I swear Sinclair used to run everywhere, but now he drives,” Bast commented, smiling to Amber as she and Hanna came into the kitchen, waving hello.

“We cannot run everywhere. To humans, it would be like we appeared out of nowhere. It’s nice to see you all again.” Amber said with a smile, bowing deeply to Sinclair before sitting in the chair that Hanna pulled out.

“You need not bow to me, Amber. You are sitting next to your leader,” Sinclair said, closing his eyes as he shook his head, then began chuckling as he looked from Hanna, then to Bast. “You are sitting between your two leaders, actually.”

“I’m not the recreant leader, Sinclair. Now that you’ve passed on your throne, Hanna is.” Bast said, waving her hands back and forth as she shook her head.

“You are human, are you not? A human with a power I cannot quite place, but human?” Rafferty asked, cocking his head to the side as he gave Bast a once over, narrowing his eyes as he watched her. “The power I see in you is remarkable, but I do not know of what they consider your species.”

“Oh, we haven’t told you about the sisters?” Alaric asked, clearing his throat as he readjusted the way he was sitting to watch Rafferty. “They are royal elementals. The highest-ranking amongst those who can control the elements.”

“Control the elements, you say? Yes, your kind used to be powers. The powers were the sixth highest in the celestial hierarchy amongst the angels and granted the power to bend the earth to their will.” Rafferty gasped, looking from Mercy to Bast, then finally looking at Octavia as he got to his feet, then dropped to one knee, putting a fist above his heart as he bowed.

“I’m sorry, what?” Octavia gasped, squirming uncomfortably in her chair as she watched Rafferty, looking to her right at Kerr, begging him to help her with the look in her eyes.

“You are not mere humans. You are the direct descendants of the powers, which puts you above me in the celestial hierarchy. It is quite amazing that none of you knows from what you’ve come.”

“Did you say the sixth ranking?” I asked him, taking Alaric’s hand and squeezing it tightly as if that would somehow calm the erratic rhythm of my heartbeat.

“Yes, out of the nine factions of angels, or angelic beings, the powers are the sixth in the ranking.” Rafferty agreed with a nod but did not lift his head to look at us and instead stayed in his bow, waiting for us to relieve him of his position.

“Please, stop bowing, Rafferty. I’m tired of beings more powerful than me bowing to me. It’s weird, to say the least.” Bast groaned with a roll of her eyes, looking over to the twins who’d remained silent, and instead watched the scene before them with a mixture of excitement and confusion.

“No, there is no being you have met is more powerful than you, Bastet. Not a being at this table contains more power than you could summon, should you desire to do so.”

“Hmm, yeah, I don’t like that. Please don’t call me Bastet. Only Sinclair can do that, and we’ve already established why that is. Though, now that I think about it, no one can stop you either. Ah, shit, I give.” Bast said, throwing up her hands in a show of defeat, closing her eyes with a groan.

“Not to challenge your expertise, but are you saying that the sisters are more powerful than you are? You are a literal fallen angel who can kill us just by touching us.” Kerr said, raising an eyebrow at Rafferty, watching as he sat back in his chair.

“Well, no, perhaps I should rephrase. The sisters are no more capable than Maeve and I, as they were not born of the heavens like I was, nor do they keep the heavens' influence, as Maeve does. I suppose they are not more powerful than Sinclair, either, but they are much stronger than everyone else at the table.”

“What about Azeneth and I?” Ciaran asked, pointing to himself, then to Azeneth.

“I would very much like to see the extent of your power, but that is something you would need to allow me access to see, as it is not something I can simply read from you. From what I can currently gather, you would be above the recreants in the hierarchy of your world, beneath your mother and your aunts.”

“Hmm, is that so?” Ciaran mumbled thoughtfully, biting his lip as he narrowed his eyes with a nod, then turned to look at Azeneth, searching her eyes as they seemed to have a conversation that no one else could hear, as was the norm for the two of them.

“So, changing the subject, how’s it been going, Amber?” Alaric asked her, rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb in a soft and reassuring circular motion.

“It goes, as the humans say. I know you said you wanted to change the subject, but I have one question. Were you serious when you said that he’s a fallen angel?” Amber asked, motioning with her head towards Rafferty. Her golden eyes widened in fear and shock as she watched him eat.

“Yes, he is a fallen angel. We found him trapped in the earth beneath my house recently. Maeve and I will take him back home, or to her home, in any case.” Sinclair commented before looking over at Amber, narrowing his eyes as he watched her.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Amber mumbled, leaning to her right as if that would somehow protect her from Sinclair’s glare.

“I am noticing something about you I did not notice prior. I believe it could have something to do with what the twins have done to me, and since this is the first time I see you since that spell and control lifted, I am having trouble placing exactly what it is.”

“Perhaps it is something we can assist with, Sinclair?” Sam asked, looking from Sinclair to Amber, then gasping softly as his eyes darted from Amber to me. “The two of you share some uncanny similarities.”

“Yes! That is the same thing I’d noticed, but I was not sure if it was only I who could see it.” Sinclair boasted with a nod, then growled lowly as Amber jumped to her feet. “You knew this already, didn’t you?”

“Sit down, Amber,” Alaric warned softly, his gray eyes flashing crimson as he watched her. “Who are you, precisely?”

“This is outrageous! You cannot attack her like this for something she has no control over!” Hanna gasped out in a hurt tone; her golden eyes narrowed in anger as she put an arm over Amber’s chest.

“Hanna, calm yourself.” Sinclair sighed softly as he looked past her and to Amber, who’d remained silent, but did not defend herself, which only seemed to prove her guilt further.

“Amber, who are you?” I asked her after watching her for a few moments, unsure of what to think, as I agreed with Sam and Sinclair. *’We look like we could be sisters, but I’m a bit confused with how that’s possible. Nancy only had me, and that was after centuries of trying. They said that all the other kids died. Were they lying?’*

“I am Amberlynn, the first daughter of Nancy. Though, I suppose it would be more accurate for me to call myself the forgotten daughter of Nancy, as I don’t think she knows of my existence.” Amber finally said, shooing away Hanna’s arm as she leaned back in her seat, narrowing her eyes into a glare as she watched Sinclair. “How the hell did you know?”

“You must forget my abilities, Amberlynn. Since the moment you walked into this house, you’ve been looking for something and watching Mercy to find it. I can feel the deception flowing from you like a river.”

“Your abilities enable you to know what I’m feeling, not what I’m thinking, so how would you know that?”

“I know what you’re thinking, and Sinclair knows what I am feeling. The second you walked into this house, you set off a chain reaction, ending with Sinclair seeing straight through you. So, why don’t you save us all the tedious explanations and trouble, and tell us what you’re looking for.” Damien growled, rolling his eyes in annoyance, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at Amber. “I could feel something off about you the first time we met, but I chalked it up to nerves and let it be.”

“Amber, what’s going on?” Hanna whispered softly, searching Amber’s face with a pained look on hers, trying to read through the emotionless mask Amber had put on.

“You’re the traitor that we could never find,” I said, causing everyone at the table to turn and stare at me, waiting for me to explain. “How did I not see that before? We knew that someone else was feeding Edward information, and at first, we thought it could have been Hanna, but we pretty much immediately dispelled her as the traitor. I based my assumptions on the one time we met, but now I can see how I was wrong. Of course, Hanna tells her girlfriend everything. Why wouldn’t she?”

“Please tell me she’s wrong, Amber? Were you taking everything I told you and giving it to Edward?” Hanna gulped, her golden eyes going low in sadness as she watched Amber, letting out a small cry of pain when Amber pursed her lips, refusing to respond. “How could I be so stupid?”

“You are one of the smartest women I have ever met, Hanna, and you are by far the dumbest. This is only the second time I’m meeting my sister, and even she figured it out. It’s your own fault, really.”

"Wow," was all that Hanna could say as she stood and walked to the door, giving Sinclair a curt nod before looking over to Damien, staring at him for a moment before turning to step out of the house without another word.

"Don't tell us to go upstairs because we aren't going to." Ciaran snapped, cutting Bast off before she could get a word out, holding up his index finger, wagging it back and forth as Bast tried again to speak.

"Really, Damien? Stop laughing!" Bast gasped when she saw Damien's shoulders shaking from silent laughter, narrowing her eyes with a growl. "You're going to let your kids talk to me like that?"

"Those are most assuredly your children, Bast," Damien responded with a snort of amusement before turning his attention back to Amber, raising an eyebrow as he watched her. "Speak, Amberlynn." He said, spitting out her name like it tasted sour on his tongue.

"What do you expect me to say? Edward promised he would show me where to find Nancy if I gave him a bit of insider information. You all took Edward prisoner, so the only chance I have at finding her now is if you let me talk to him." Amber said with a disinterested shrug, sighing softly as she put her elbows on the table, leaning forward to glare at me. "I know you won't let me talk to him, so I guess it is what it is."

"Is that the reason you were with Hanna? Only to get the information that you then passed on to Edward?" Sam asked, his eyes flashing red as Amber began laughing.

"Don't act like you actually care, Sam. What does it matter, the reason I was with Hanna? What I wanted, I can't have. I know you're going to kill me for being a traitor, and what have you."

"So, you honestly don't know?" I snorted, shaking my head with a small laugh as I leaned forward, imitating the way she was resting her elbows on the table, looking deep into her golden eyes for a long few moments, searching them as I spoke. "I know where she is." I sang out mockingly, grinning when Amber's eyes went wide in shock.

"Where? Where is she?" Amber gasped as she jumped to her feet, crying out in pain as Sinclair shoved her back down into her chair.

"We may tell you, depending on what you tell us," Alaric responded with an impartial shrug, then glanced past me to Damien, waiting for Damien to give him an order.

"Answer Sam's question, Amber. Is that the only reason you were with Hanna?" Damien asked her.

"Yes, obviously. Edward's psychic told him that Hanna would get in close with your group, and the best way to make sure he had the most up-to-date information was to have an inside woman."

"How long have you been working for or with Edward?" Samantha asked.

"The last few decades, which wasn't easy to do, seeing as how recreants were still in hiding. I told him that staying by her side wasn't going anywhere, but it turns out he was right. The psychic told him that one of his daughters would set the recreants free, but I didn't believe him, not at first. It turns out I was wrong." Amber responded with a groan, not looking away from me as we continued to glare into each other's eyes, neither one of us wanting to be the first to blink or look away.

"This whole time, you've been working for Edward, under the guise that he would tell you where to find Nancy?" I said, unable to stop my lip from twitching in disgust as I watched her.

"That was the promise he made, yes. That's why I got here as quickly as I could, as I knew you guys had Edward somewhere."

"What do you want from Nancy?" Sinclair asked her as he grabbed the back of her collar and yanked her to lean back in her seat, pulling her back and as far away from me as possible. *'I'm surprised he didn't throw her through the wall.'*

"To meet her. To let her know that the child they tossed into the sewers wasn't dead. My entire life, I've been searching for her, and my entire life, I've been planning on how I wanted to kill her." Amber responded, the corners of her lips twisting into a distorted smile as she thought about all the things she wanted to do to Nancy.

"I'll let you meet her, but you will not kill her. I can't let you, as there are still things I need to talk to her about." I said, then looked past her and through the kitchen curtains, watching Hanna as she paced along the driveway. "Hanna, come back, please."

"What are you planning, Mercy?" Octavia asked me curiously, then apologized as she leaned back in her seat, taking Kerr's hand. "It's not my place to ask, sorry."

"You've just as much a right to ask as anyone else does, Octavia. You do not need to apologize." Sinclair said with a curt shake of his head, then looked over Bast's head as Hanna came back into the kitchen, her golden eyes narrowed in hatred as she glared at Amber.

"Thanks to Maeve, Edward is a non-threat. Well, thanks to Maeve and Alaric, anyway. This isn't my place to say, but I think it's only right that Sinclair and Hanna decide what to do with the traitor, now that we neutralized the man she was working for."

"It is their right, as the leaders of the recreants," Kerr said, grumbling his agreement as he shook his head at Amber. "Cold does not describe someone like you. No offense, Mercy, but she definitely seems to be Nancy's daughter."

*'How in the hell is that not offensive?'* I thought but decided not to say it out loud, as it would have been counterproductive, to say the least.

"I am no longer the leader of the recreants, but seeing as who she is to Hanna, and I mean no offense when I say this, Hanna, but I don't think you should have to deal with something like this," Sinclair said, smiling apologetically to Hanna as he stood and motioned for her to take his seat, while he sat next to Amber.

"I know the reason you want to step back, Sinclair, but with all of this?" Hanna said, motioning around the table, growling as she motioned to Amber. "Would you consider us being co-leaders? I can handle the recreants, but there are many things I cannot decide on without being biased."

"Surprise, surprise, Hanna can't decide." Amber mocked with a roll of her eyes, then cried out in pain as Sinclair sunk his nails into the back of her throat, forcing her to turn and look at him with a snarl.

"Keep your mouth shut, Amberlynn; otherwise, you may force me to do something I told myself that I would no longer do," Sinclair growled as he dug his nails further into the back of her neck, smiling as she writhed in pain. "Yes, we can be co-leaders, Hanna. With a species such as ours, believing a single individual could keep us in check, was wishful hoping."

"Mercy, what were you thinking?" Bast asked me, wincing as she watched Amber and Sinclair, shifting uncomfortably in her seat when she saw what Sinclair was doing to her.

"We let Amber meet Nancy, ask her what she wants to ask her, then let Sinclair and Hanna do whatever it is they decide to do with her. I'm willing to bet that if I go downstairs with her, that may be enough to get Nancy and Edward to open up about everything, and we can skip all the bullshit that we all know they're going to give me when I try to talk to them about what Alaric and Sinclair overheard." I explained, taking a deep breath as I looked around the table at the rest of the group. "Since we are all going our own separate ways tomorrow, I think we can end this all tonight."