A Taste of Mercy (A Recipe for Disaster Novel 2)

Terrors stalk your pace

“Who are you talking to?” I heard through the tent flap.

“Huh?” was my inquisitive response.

“Jeeze Callie, you’re talking in your sleep again? You haven’t done that since we graduated University.” Barry teased.

I shuffled into my clothes, blearily ignoring the barbs from my best friend. My head felt like I had been drinking tequila chasers and Dragon’s Breath all night long. “Guh…” the groan was automatic as I clutched at my broken porcelain skull.

“Cal?” someone sounded worried about me but I was too busy trying not to throw up from the pain to even know who. And then my rebellious stomach won and I heaved bile all over some innocent rocks. “Woah, feel better now?” Barry tried to sound teasing but he was concerned.

“Actually yeah; I’ve a massive headache today. I’m probably just dehydrated from yesterday.” I replied with a shaky shrug. The pounding, grinding pain in my skull had eased its vise like grip and diminished to an irritating ache. I was already walking through Hell, so why not add a migraine to make the trip more memorable? When I finally got my hands on Markus, I’d rip his face off with my teeth.

“Is something wrong with Cassie? Can you tell? We’ve got to get moving!” I heard Zeke start to panic. I sent a tiny mental probe out to my twin and got anger, frustration, fear, and morning sickness. A small touch of love and relief trailed down to me from my twin and I sent her what comfort I could before I broke off contact. I was the first Human to survive Wild Magic and I really didn’t want to risk my twin or her unborn child by being careless.

“She’s fine. From what I can tell, she has morning sickness and is annoyed with her captors. So she puked on Markus.” I’d done the same thing once upon a time, though mine was torture induced and not a baby, but still, both Orenda twins had ended up urking on the great and mighty Demon Lord Markus. Now there’s a tough guy image for you. Another wave of nausea hit me. “I think I’m getting feedback on her morning sickeness. Now that’s not fair.” I muttered and heaved shortly after.

But instead of the stomach acid I’d been expecting, a cool wisp of silken air poured out and pooled onto the ground. It looked like a piece of cloud had decided to imitate a snake, blindly coiling and curling around as Nikka hauled my away from it.

“What is that, Wild Magic?” Barry demanded even as I felt Nikka shake her head negative. The wiggling piece of cloud stopped trying to find its way across the rock and instead shot towards me so fast I barely had a chance to react. I was just jerking my head back as the thing caressed against my face and sank under my skin.

Once as kids my guardian Edward had taken Cassie and I up a mountain to sit on the edge of a cliff. Not as vertigo inducing as it sounds as Edward could teleport, so Cass and I sat right on the very edge while we kicked our feet over the open air. I’d felt both weightless and like a million pounds all at the same time, and I’d had an almost sudden urge to fall. The feeling pulled a stunned laugh from my gut, making Cassie grip my hand and Edward grasp our shoulders cautiously. This invasive little wisp of air invoked those same sensations again. I gasped in a startled breath and grabbed at supporting arms.

“That was my air elemental.” I gasped out at my concerned friends as a sudden whirlwind whipped around us. Nikka looked at me with shocked eyes but said nothing as the ground started to buckle and a deluge of rain poured onto us. Both halted as quickly as they’d appeared and Nikka supported my weight as I felt dizzy. My allies were looking at me as if I were about to explode or something. My chest hurt as I sucked in harsh breaths, though it felt like no air actually reached my lungs over the pressure in my heart. It finally crested and started to pour out of me in a rush that saturated the damp earth beneath my feet, and in a surreal fast forward, tiny seedlings grew before our eyes, sprouting up into delicate looking buds. Some of the buds blinked open, revealing a plethora of flower types. A veritable garden had sprung up, in the middle of Hell. I needed a nap.