Page 34 of Mercy & Malice

THREE AND A HALF MONTHS AGO, DARE 8

Sin if you dare.

Each team must drive together to the fairgrounds

and park in front of the entrance gates within

the next thirty minutes—Or beg for Mercy.

I watch as the message fades before another appears.

Brooke: Where are you?

Me: My house.

Brooke: I’ll meet you there.

Great. This one is going to be a clusterfuck. Brooke won’t stop yapping about the photos. Maybe it was a dick move, but no one ever crosses the finish line without causing a minor commotion. And unfortunately for Ivy, she’s Luca’s weak spot. My swollen jaw is proof.

The fight at school wasn’t planned, but I was all for it. Dad was pissed he had to play doting father and give Principal Guidry some bullshit story. The woman isn’t ignorant. She knows about the Keepers of Mercy. There’s no way she doesn’t after working at Belgrave for how many ever years.

Brooke arrives just minutes later, steering into the parking spot I just vacated.

She hops into the passenger seat as I close the garage door. “My dad thinks I stayed late for cheer.”

“Wouldn’t want Daddy knowing you’re with me.”

“Micah, don’t—” Her words break off into a gasp as she gets a good view of the damage to my face. “Oh my God, are you all right?”

The sting from where her fingertips brush over my jaw feels more satisfying than it ought to.

“Like you said, I deserved it.”

She sulks back against the seat. “I didn’t know he injured you that bad.”

“I’ve had worse.” It’s the truth. Some of the fights at the Tomb have left more brutal battle scars than I’m sporting right now.

“Well, you shouldn’t have tormented Ivy with the pictures of her mom. It was really cruel.”

Agreed. “All is fair in Mercy and war.”

Her eyes roll as she grumbles, “No, it’s not. That was low and wrong, so very wrong, Micah. It really made me question how far you will go to win.”

“No limits,” I admit.

There’s a reluctance in her tone as she asks, “Would you hurt me?”

“I don’t have a reason to. We’re teammates. You fail, I fail. Why would I hurt you?”

She gawks at me for a minute. “If we weren’t on the same team, would you?”

“That’s irrelevant.”

“No, it’s not,” she shrieks. “I don’t understand you at all.”

“Never asked you to.”

She mutters something under her breath before laying into me. “I get that you and Luca hate each other, but Ivy did not deserve that at all. If you want to win, do it by being the best version of yourself, not the biggest asshole in the world.”