Page 38 of Going Down Smooth: Part Two

“Gun shot! From the inside! I heard someone scream!” One of the security guys shouts as things suddenly become a blur of motion. Police and security personnel scatter in different directions, urgent whispers and fingers pointing to give the signal to go inside the church.

“Everyone move slowly toward the church. I repeat, slowly, do not rush it. We do not want to harm our targets. Keep your wits about you,” Quincy says in quick succession as we all begin to move. Keeping low, I inch toward the front, watching my steps as we walk across the parking lot.

It only takes a few minutes for someone else to speak through the earpiece. “We have movement coming out of the back exit. Two perps carrying a body.” Then he shouts, “Freeze!” All hell breaks loose as another gun goes off. Some police officers and security personnel break away from our group, their guns at the ready as they make their way to the back of the church.

“What the fuck is happening?” I look over and shout to Knight as a blood curdling scream can be heard from inside. We look at one another, then we are sprinting. Lox, Nate, Quincy, and Brad all catch up to me as we make it to the bottom of the steps. I can hear the sound of something crashing to the floor just beyond the doors followed by the slow curling of smoke underneath the door.

“Fire!” Someone calls behind us but I don’t listen. I’m running, no longer caring what happens to me. Mercy will not be trapped in a burning building again. Especially not this place.

“Trey, wait! You have no way of knowing what is beyond that door, we need to wait!” Brad shouts as I reach out for the door handle, only for it to fly open right in front of me. I stumble back but manage to stay on my feet as smoke pours out into the evening. Someone coughs as they collide against my chest with a force strong enough to send us both to the ground. My arms wrap around her easily, I don’t need to see her to know it is my songbird.

Mercy coughs. “Trey! Oh God, Trey. It’s you. I knew you would come.” She coughs again but smiles up at me as I crush her to my chest.

“We will always come for you, songbird,” I say as I rock her gently in my arms, leaning in, I note how hot she is. I kiss her forehead once again to confirm it. She’s burning up. I climb to my feet, holding her against me. Her eyes glaze over and roll back into her head as she goes limp in my arms.

“Mercy! Mercy!” I shout in alarm, fear and panic make me shake her body, but she doesn’t wake, her head lolls to the side. Turning, I call out for help, dashing down the stairs carefully, as my brothers crowd around me. Knight takes her from me, and I let him as we run down the drive to the sound of an ambulance in the distance.

I don’t know what else is wrong with my songbird, but one thing is for sure, she’s going into heat.

TWENTY-ONE

NATE

“Nate,” Mercy whimpers, her body writhing in pain as I hold her in my arms in the back seat of the SUV.

Once we got her to the ambulance she began to wake, and the shift in her scent even had the Beta paramedics on edge. The stress of the day, and the events of the past two months, triggered her heat. Heath warned us. It’s why I worked tirelessly to get her nest finished. I had plans to surprise her for Christmas, but we had decided to plan for the eventuality. We knew it could come unexpectedly. But tonight, of all nights. We didn’t even get to talk to Quincy or Brad as the paramedics cleared her, stating she would still feel the effects of the ketamine she had been shot with earlier. We ran through the trees, Lox carrying Mercy close to his chest, as we all jumped into our car and sped off home.

“I know, Merce. We are going to take care of you, baby.” I brush her hair back from her flushed and fevered face and run my nose along her hair. “We got you, just hold on,” I reassure her, keeping my grip tight around her body as Trey rubs her legs that are laying on his lap.

“Ple—ase Nate, it hurts. I need you. . .I need you all,” Mercy murmurs. Her breathing is rapid, her eyes are dilated, and her scent. . .is absolutely mouthwatering. I shift in my seat, my cock hard as I try to take shallow breaths to maintain my own control. I look over at Trey, and his eyes are closed as he too tries to keep it together. Mercy, especially now, is in a fragile state, mentally and physically.

“They couldn’t contain the fire, the church is burning to the ground,” Knight says as he types away responding to a flurry of messages. The phone chimes yet again and he curses under his breath.

“What?” Lox asks as he makes a wide turn onto the access road leading towards our home.

“They arrested Chasson and Mal, but Derrick and Christopher never made it out of the building. The fire must have gotten out of control as they tried to catch Mercy. They will confirm if their bodies are in there once they get the fire under control,” he says as he reads the message out loud to us. “Apparently, the bodies were of Miss Caroline’s pack—”

“What about Miss Caroline?” Trey asks in concern as Mercy moans in my arms, burying her face in my chest.

“Dead. The police officer that apprehended Chasson and Mal said they were carrying her body out from the back of the church,” Knight replies solemnly as Mercy begins to sob. Her keening cries echo throughout the car, her pain, grief, and the weight of what she witnessed is like a punch to the gut. All I can do is hold her tighter, as if I can somehow physically force the pain from her body.

“I couldn’t save her. He. . .he shot her right in front of me. Miss Caroline. . .it wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t her fault. He used her to get to me. He. . . Oh, God. . . He shot her,” Mercy says between sobs. I rock her gently as she clings to me.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. You’re alive. You’re safe,” I state, hoping my words will give her comfort. I look at Trey, feeling helpless, not knowing exactly what more I can do or say after something like this.

“Songbird, we will make it right, I promise. Let’s just take care of you first,” he says calmly, soothing her with his touch as he continues to rub up and down her legs rhythmically.

I watch as Lox brings the SUV to a stop in front of our house. Everything becomes a blur as we rush to get Mercy inside.

Mercy gasps in surprise as she lays eyes on her nest. Knight places her on swaying feet and we watch in anticipation as she inspects her first and only nest. If she doesn’t like it, then I will start from scratch. But I can only hope that this is enough.

I restructured the attic into an octagon shaped room, building additional walls to create the shape. The room is cozy with enough room for the five of us to fit comfortably. I didn’t want Mercy to feel uneasy with a room that was too big and spacious.

Tear drop shaped lights hang from the ceiling, giving the room a soft glow she can control by a dimmer switch in the wall built low enough for her to reach it from the bed. The lights create an illusion of twinkling stars, making it feel as if you’re outside under the night sky. There is a refrigerator built into the wall, that can be accessed by the push of a concealed panel, that we have already stocked with fruit, water, and other snacks Mercy loves. We are prepared.

The bed dominates the room, taking on the same octagonal shape, raised slightly on a platform, surrounded by soft downy carpet. Various pillows of different shapes and sizes, in hues of blues, greys, and creams line the floor all around the bed. The bedding itself once belonged to each of us from our individual beds. The blankets overlap the bed in a mis-matched patchwork style that I know she appreciates, as she launches herself into the middle of the bed.

Mercy sighs and takes a deep breath, and moans, twisting, she buries herself within the bedding. “Perfect, Nate,” she says as she begins to strip, not caring at all where her clothes land around the room. She keeps her heavy-lidded eyes on each of us the entire time, enticing us with her soft brown skin, full breasts, curvy hips, and thighs, and fuck, her scent. It is already perfuming the room in a heady cocktail of lust and desperate hunger.

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