Blood Bound

Blood Bound is the second book in the Mercy Thompson Series and the ninth book written by Patricia Briggs . It is preceded by Moon Called and followed by Iron Kissed and is set in the second year of the series.

Summary[]

The second book opens with the vampire Stefan Uccello calling in a favour from Mercy Thompson. He comes to pick her up and meets her cat Medea, before explaining he needs her in her coyote form to observe a visiting vampire. They later arrive at the hotel the vampire is staying at and meet Cory Littleton who after talking a bit with Stefan magically subdues him devours a maid in front of both Mercy and Stefan before Mercy attacks him and he knocks her unconcious.

Waking up in her trailer to find her roommate Samuel (a werewolf) trying to interrogate Stefan on the events of the night. Mercy has them remove a dog belt Stefan put on her for show and she and Stefan compare stories on what they remember and discover massive differences before determining that Stefans' memory of the hotel incident has been tampered with and Mercys' is true because she is partially immune to magic, through these stories and the variations Stefan determines that the vampire is possessed by a demon.

Stefan promises Mercy he will take down the vampire and then asks to for a place to stay the day as it is to light out for him to travel. Mercy lets him stay in her closet after stating that he is going to sleep and not be dead for the day in her closet but when she tries to sleep she is to disturbed by having a dead man in closet that she leaves for work bumping into Samuel and their neighbor Adam Hauptman(the local Alpha werewolf) on the way out. When she arrives at work she meets a ghost called Mrs. Hanna who she talks with before she enters her office where she greets her tool jockey Gabriel Sandoval and a man who calls himself Tom Black. Excusing herself she heads into the shop where she works the rest of the day with her Fae friend Zee where she asks him about Demons. He tells her that the more powerful ones need to be invited in, intentionally or not and that when the human is in control called Demon-riders are able to stay hidden for years while Demon-ridden are in the thick of the destruction before sending them off at the end of the day. Before she closes up the shop Mr. Black reappears and begins to question her about her relationship with Adam causing Mercy to realize he is a reporter before Warren Smith and Ben Shaw arrive causing Mr. Black to leave. The wolves explain they are to escort her to the local vampire seethe for Stefans' trial.

After dinner at Warrens‘ house they are called to the Seethe. When they arrive the main area is empty but the vampires soon come in one by one including the Mistress Marsilia, Estelle, Andre, and Bernard. Stefan chooses to be tried upon a chair that lets a young seeming vampire determine truth. After Stefan tells the seethe what he remembers from the previous night and that he no longer believes it to be truth. Then another vampire by the name of Daniel who was the first to encounter Littleton is brought forth to relate his memories before Mercy is called upon to sit in the chair and relate her memories. Marsilia makes Stefan tell the seethe that Mercy is a walker and sentences Stefan to hunt down Littleton with another vampire of his choosing. Stefan picks Daniel despite his weakness from being in the Seethe cells for over a week. While Stefan, Daniel, Mercy and her guards leave Warren and Ben volunteer to help Stefan which he accepts. Mercy wants to volunteer too but Stefan convinces her to let them handle it.

A week later Mercy goes to Adam to try to get the guard he has placed on her to be lifted or at least changed up as the wolf guarding her is getting on her nerves. Adam and mercy practise sparring in Adams' home gym while they discuss the bodyguards and how Mercy wants them removed. After they finish Adam massages until his daughter Jesse walks in unexpectedly and surprises them before Mercy and Jesse joke around a bit about Adams' attractiveness before Mercy makes her escape. When she returns home she finds Samuel with his wolf in an agitated state that he tells her is because of a baby that got cut up in a car accident. He then tells her of when he ran away to Texas after she left Aspen Creek and went back to school where he met a girl that got pregnant with his child before getting an abortion. Due to this is the reason for Samuels' newly fragile state. Mercy comforts him for a while before she leaves his room and calls Bran, Samuels' father. After warning Mercy that she needs to be careful around Samuel after she tells him that he needs to talk to Samuel about Texas Bran tells her about Sorcerers and the differences of when the host or demon is in charge, before Bran tells her to stay safe and hangs up.

Stefan shows up later before the sun in the morning and asks Mercy for a place to stay. Mercy lets her into her closet again. Later she heads for work and once there is met by her werewolf guard Honey Jorgenson who is grumpy about waiting for Mercy who opens late on Saturdays. Working through the day Mercy and Gabriel are trying to find a car piece they decide to take a break for lunch. Gabriel goes to buy the food for the three of them and a spare part for the car. While they wait, Mr. Black returns and tries to get Mercy to talk to him about Adam despite Honeys' vocal disapproval. After more prodding from black tells him there is no dirt if that is what he is looking for it and that Adam is a nice guy who looks after his people and cares deeply for his daughter. This comment causes Black to become eager as he focuses on the daughter part and after convincing Mercy to give him an example and promising not to write a story about it he reveals that three years ago when his daughter was ten years old she was attacked and changed by a rogue wolf before a lone wolf saved her and killed him.

This shocks both Mercy and Honey, neither have heard of a child that young surviving. Black tells them that the lone wolf told him that neither of the packs near where Black lives would be a good choice for a child, and when his daughter broke her chain in her cage he called the lone wolf back recently and the wolf learned he was in Portland for his work, gave him Adam and Mercys' phone numbers. Mercy suggests she make a call for advice and Black pulls a gun on her but she talks him into letting her call help. She calls Bran and after explaining the situation Bran deduces that the Lone was Josef Riddlesback and gives her a list of phone numbers and locations for Alphas who are out and Alphas who don't plan to come out that he trusts with a thirteen year old girl that Mercy writes down. He also tells Mercy she can send them to him. Hanging up Mercy gives Black the list and explains it to him. After Mercy tries to reassure him he tells them about how his daughter tried to commit suicide and thinks she is a monster. Mercy tells him to put the gun away and after he complies she asks if he or his daughter have seen any werewolves in their wolf forms other then the rogue and his daughter. When he says no Mercy convinces Honey to show Black her wolf. After seeing her wolf Black is amazed and promises to call Adam that night.

Another week later Tony Montenegro, Mercys' cop friend shows up at her shop to ask her to lunch for advice. Honey follows them. After they arrive in the coffee shop Tony asks about her connections to the supernatural before mentioning the vastly increase in violent crimes since the massacre at the hotel in Pasco. Mercy assures him that the fae would not allow their own kind to do temper altering magic and that werewolves don't have that kind of magic. Mercy agrees to help the police with what she knows about the supernatural community. As they walk back to the shop Mercy explains how the police should deal with the Fae and werewolves, like when questioning a werewolf the cops should call the Alpha. After Tony leaves in his car and Mercy realizes that Honeys' car is gone she goes into the shop and Gabriel tells her Adam called for her and told her to check her phone. Checking her phone mercy listens to Adam telling her that he just picked up Warren from Uncle Mike's Tavern, and that he is severely injured and near death, and they don't know were Stefan, Ben and Daniel are. Adams' message tells Mercy that they are going to Adams house.

Mercy immediately leaves the shop, telling Gabriel to close up. On the way to Adams house she call Kyle Brooks, Warrens estranged boyfriend. When she tells him Warren is injured and at Adams' house he immediately heads there. When Mercy arrives Kyle is trying to gain access but is being refused by a werewolf guard Elliot. When Elliot refuses to allow either of them in Honey pulls him out of the way and directs them to an upstairs bedroom. In the bedroom Samuel is sewing Warren back together and trying to keep him alive while Adam and Darryl Zao stand guard. Mercy tells Darryl to go rescue Honey from Elliot as she put herself in danger to let them in, which Adam confirms. Samuel directs Kyle to talk to Warren to give him a reason to live while Adam tells mercy about what he knows they were doing before the night before. Mercy calls Stefans' house and asks if he came home, a single person picks up and answers no before hanging up. Suddenly Warrens heart stops and Samuel and Kyle start to preform CPR until he is breathing again. Mercy asks Adam what he knows about Sorcerers and he tells her what he knows which is pretty much what Zee told her except that you can't kill Demons, only their hosts. Kyle is shocked by this and Warren wakes up and they reassure him that he is safe.

Once Samuel is satisfied that Warren is no longer in danger of dying unexpectedly on them Adam begins to let in the pack one at a time to check on the damage done to Warren. When Honey comes in Adam allows her to stay and keep an eye on Warren while she introduces herself to Kyle. Soon after another werewolf named Paul comes in and Adam makes him back down before promising not to stop a fight between him and Warren when Warren is able. Satisfied with this Paul leaves and Adam soon pulls Mercy out of the room with him as he goes to Jesses' room and tells her she can go check on Warren quietly. Adam then drags Mercy to his room where Adam angrily states that he had no choice but to let Paul challenge Warren which Mercy confirms she knows before they start arguing. They stop arguing when Mercy tells him that she is mad at Paul for challenging Warren when he was near death and only started arguing with him when he started yelling at her. Mercy leaves the house in a huff when Adam asks if she really crashed Brans' Lamborghini into a tree when she was a teenager. She tells him it was a Porsche before leaving.

Later that night the Seethe calls Mercy and she hangs up before Marsilia calls her personally and asks her to help her kill the sorcerer. They agree to meet at the Fae Uncle Mike's Tavern.

When Mercy arrives at the Tavern she is reminded off how Warren was found near death by the Taverns' dumpster. When she tries to enter the Tavern a bouncer pushes her out and tries to ward her off with magic. But when she tells him she not human and the magic didn't work he turns with a snarl and is about to throw more lethal magic at her when Uncle Mike come out and stops him before sending him to wash dishes and find a replacement. Turning to Mercy, Uncle Mike tells her with the present high tempers it would be best if Mercy stayed away from the Fae until the demon is dealt with. Mercy convinces him to let her in when she tells him that Marsilia asked her to come and Uncle Mike tells her that the Gray Lords have ordered the fae not to get involved and that the demon could weaken a werewolfs' self-control. He escorts her in and then goes back to work. Squeezing through the crowd to meet with Marsilia and Andre, Mercy asks about why Marsilia asked her and how to kill the vampire, while Marsilia enlists Andre to help Mercy in the hunt.

Andre suggests they go elsewhere to discuss more about their plans. As they make their way through the crowd a large Fae Woman announces to the bar at large that their is a human in the Fae bar dispite Mercys' objections. Uncle Mike comes over a tells the bar that Mercy is his guest and she and has her sing a song as a forfeit before leaving with Andre. They head to Stefans' house were Mercy questions two members of Stefans' Menagerie named Naomi and Rachel before leaving to go home and sleep.

Later that night Mercy is sleeping when she is awoken by an irregular scratching sound on her window. Suddenly thinking it might be Stefan she presses her face against the window only to see Littleton doing the same on the other side of the window. Screaming for Samuel, Mercy jumps backwards and after reassuring herself that Littleton can't get in discovers he has cut the power to her trailer and she gets her foster fathers' Marlin .444 and loads it with silver bullets. After he does damage to the trailer, screaming in her voice, along with Warren and Samuels' voices, he pushes up against the part of the floor she is standing on, she shoots him through the floor three times. He pushes the bloody bullets back through the floor to her and then leaves her there while he drives away. When the police arrive Mercy is able to convince them a group of delinquents vandalized her trailer and that she shot into the floor to scare them off and not hurt anyone.

In the morning Mercy calls Adams' house to check up on Warren and learns from Darryl that Samuel and Adam left around two in the morning and have not come back yet. Mercy tells him what Uncle Mike and Marsilia told her and tells him to call Bran and update him.

Mercy heads to work and talks with Mrs. Hanna before going in. Once in her office Gabriel hands her the phone which has Mr. Black on the other end. He reveals that Bran called him and suggested Black bring his daughter to Montana and asks Mercy if he is safe. Mercy affirms Black that he is and Black reveals his real last name is Beckworth and Mercy asks him as a journalist to investigate Cory Littleton. Beckworth promises he will get back to her soon and hangs up. Mercy tells Gabriel to tell if they get any calls and goes into the shop. Zee comes in later and gives her a vampire killing kit and tells her he wishes he could help before Bran calls and tells her not to go after the sorcerer before she can say anything beyond greetings. Mercy however convinces him that they can't afford to wait for him to arrive and that she has adequate backup. He tells her to be careful before hanging up. Kyle calls right after and tells her they need her at Adams' house as in the background growls in Chinese. Zee promises to work two days or more and Mercy heads out. On the way to Adams' she calls Tony if she can get information on the recent increase of crime in the last few weeks. Tony agrees as long as she answers some questions.

When she arrives at Adams' she is guided upstairs to the room Warren is in. He is shifted into wolf form and trying to stand up but Darryl is holding him down. Realising that Warren is actually dominant to Darryl and having Honey tell her that Warren will listen to her as she was declared Adams' wife. She orders Warren to lie down, and to both Darryls' and her surprise he immediately obeys. They move him downstairs to the holding cell before Mercy leaves to meet with Tony. When she arrives at the police station Tony questions her about the reported damage to her trailer before showing her a map of the Tri-Cities with all the recent violent incidents. Mercy is unable to see a pattern and Tony introduces her to Sergeant Owens who is working with Tony on their suspicions. Mercy promises to assist them if they need on supernatural cases and as Tony is escorting her out of the station Mercy realizes and tells Tony that they need to know where the daytime violence is as the cause can't move at night.

Mercy heads back to Stefans' house for more information. After seeing a motorcycle in Stefans' driveway Rachel lets Mercy inside and leading her to the kitchen. There Mercy sees Naomi sitting and drinking coffee and a young man rocking in a corner. Rachel and Naomi tell Mercy that the motorcycle belonged to Joey, one of Stefans menagerie but that she tried to leave yesterday and was brought back dead by other vampires. Mercy reveals that she needs more information. The women say they will help her if she talks to the werewolf pack to accept Stefans menagerie as payment from Marsilia to protect them from being fed to the other vampires. They then answer Mercys' questions before the young man disappears from the kitchen and reappears in the doorway revealing himself as Daniels' ghost. Mercy tries to get information out of the ghost before he fades, Rachel leaves the room worried, and a human blood bound to Stefan named Ford comes into the kitchen and angrily states that Stefan isn't dead as the other vampires couldn't enter and Stefan was the one that made the house a home. Mercy leaves while Naomi distracts Ford with her pulse.

Mercy returns to Adams' house and goes downstairs to the basement and after staring down Darryl tells him to go upstairs and eat. After he leaves Mercy goes into the holding cell with Kyle who tells her that Warren talked in his sleep. Asking Warren some questions Mercy and Kyle are able to guess the words "Trap" and "Church" that Warren is trying to say. Telling Warren to rest Mercy heads upstairs and tells Darryl about what Warren tried to tell them. Mercy then asks Darryl if he knows why seeing ghosts would allow her to find vampires. He doesn't but says that ghosts avoid evil. Mercy remembers how Mrs. Hanna just told her she had to change her route and rushes off to find her catching up to her right before night falls and manages to get Mrs. Hanna to tell her about another ghost named Joe who was a janitor at the Old congressional church before Mrs. Hanna disappears. Mercy immediately calls the Sandoval residence and asks to talk to Gabriels' sister Rosalinda who is a ghost enthusiast. After asking Rosa about what Mrs. Hanna just told her Rosa tells Mercy the location of the church and that a husband and wife bought it and changed it into a school but had financial problems and one of the couple committed suicide. Thanking Rosa Mercy says goodbye and calls Andre and tells him to meet her at her shop. Arriving before Andre Mercy writes a note for Bran which she puts in her safe before leaving him a message about the note and the combination for her safe before checking her email finds an email from Mr. Black which tells Mercy that Littleton is wanted in Chicago in connection to a series of murders. It also contains a picture of Littleton talking to Andre. Mercy writes a second letter for Bran and puts it in the safe as Andre arrives.

Andre and Mercy drive to the church and after establishing that is no longer holy ground due to the former owners suicide, they enter. After searching the first floor they head downstairs and find Stefan, Adam, Samuel, and Ben in magically strengthened cages. Mercy finds she can touch the cages while Andre cannot and tries to cut them open with Zees' knife but cannot force it the last inches. Littleton then arrives and is able to immediately command Andre and drinks his blood before announcing that he is now the master before walking up to Mercy and asking her why Marsilia thought Mercy could kill him and what a Walker is. Mercy responds by quoting scripture, causing Littleton to reel back in pain. Continuing, Mercy pulls out her lamb necklace and holds it in front of her before he hits her and knocks her out.

When Mercy wakes up Littleton is having Andre and Ben fight has them stop and follow him upstairs so he will have a better view. Once they are gone Stefan asks Mercy if she can come to him and when she tries she temporarily blacks out. Stefan then asks if she can look at him. She does and with her consent he Calls her and exchanges blood with her giving her temporarily strength before Littleton comes back and throws Andre across the room for disabling Ben against his instructions. Littleton drops an unconscious and wounded Ben beside Mercy and comes to Stefans' cage while Mercy plays dead and laments not getting to "play" with her before starting to feed on Andre again. Picking up her stake Mercy tries to kill him but misses when her foot doesn't work right. Littleton tries to attack her but Andre breaks free of his control and wrestles with him before Mercy uses a car battery to force the stake the rest of the way through. When Mercy then tries to cut off Littletons' head Andre attempts to stop her but Adam, Samuel, and Stefan make him to back off. After cutting off Littletons' head Stefan brings Mercy the Fae Amulet and she sets his body on fire. Right after that the rooms doors are thrown open and Bran, his second son Charles and Darryl walk in. Bran sends Adam and Samuel to Change and tells Mercy he read her letters and checks on Mercy discovering she has a damaged shoulder before Mercy tells Stefan that Andre turned Littleton. Andre tries to run but Stefan and then Charles and Darryl subdue him. Stefan lets go and asks if she has proof, which she confirms and promises to let him have it to present it to Marsilia.

Samuel puts Mercys' dislocated shoulder back in place, Bran burns Littletons' head and Bran, Stefan, Adam, and Samuel take Mercy to the hospital while Charles and Darryl take Ben to Adams' as Ben does not need a hospital and is already healing. At the hospital Mercy tells Tony that the cause of the increased violence is dead and introduces Tony to Adam. Mercys' foot is revealed to be only sprained and she goes home with Samuel and reassures him of his control as he had been being affected by the demon for weeks.

Two week later Stefan shares his findings about Littleton with before she asks why Andre has not been brought to trial. Stefan says Andre will face justice and leaves. The next day Jesse comes to Mercys' shop to go on a date with Gabriel. After work Mercy is picked up by Warren who has since recovered and wiped the floor with Paul, Kyle, and Ben in wolf shape who it is revealed ate Daniel and is suffering from the guilt of the deed. They go to Kyles' to watch Japanese anime and Warren later drives Mercy back home and Ben to Adams' respectively. When Mercy gets home Stefan calls her and informs her that Andre has been freed and Marsilia wants him to make another Sorcerer Vampire dispite the loss of life and evidence. The next morning Mercy learns from Samuel that Ben tried to commit suicide by werewolf and resolves to kill Andre first.

A few weeks later Adam picks Mercy up in Benton City in coyote form after a family calls the number on her dog collar. Once they are driving back to Mercys' house Adam and she talk about their relationship and agree on letting Mercy take charge in said relationship before Adam asks what she was doing before she was found by the family. Mercy replies that she was hunting. When they get to Mercys' house Mercy suggests going to a movie theater and Adam promises to pick her up. Adam drives off and Mercy goes inside her house where Samuel kisses her and says his wolf wants her regardless of Samuels' desire for children and goes out for a drive. Mercy sits on the couch with Medea and about her ability to see ghosts and that if she sees a large group of ghosts during daytime they would mark a vampires lair.

Mercy takes Adam to the movies on Saturday before they go for a run on the Hanford Reservation before Adam drives her home. Mercy goes out hunting in her human form and finds Wulfes' home and goes inside with the ghosts of Wulfes' victims guiding her but turns around when she sees who it is and tells the the ghosts that she can't kill for no reason. Wulfe who apparently awake asks her why she would come then and reveals that he knows how to make a sorcerer but won't make one as he slowly follows her up the stairs and won't tell anyone that she is hunting Andre before he blurs back downstairs and Mercy leaves.

Over the next several days Mercy finds Estelles' house and then Andres'. Mercy goes to Adams' and talks to Ben, who is in wolf form has been locked up in the houses holding cell, alone and tells him that she found Andre. Ben reacts strongly to this information, growling at her. Mercy leaves and heads to Andres house where she leads his two current sheep outside to a picnic table and goes back inside to kill Andre. She does so as he can do no more then move his head and sets his body on fire which sets the house on fire as well. When she goes outside the sheep are dead and Wulfe and Stefan are waiting for her as the sky is completely covered in clouds. Mercy grieves for th e two people before Stefan leads her to her car kisses her before closing the door. Mercy drives away quickly while Wulfe and Stefan stay behind to remove any evidence of her involvement. When she gets home she cleans and bandages herself where Andre bit her and makes cookies and brownies until Adam arrives and tells her how Ben told him what she was going to do and that the two went looking for her. She tells how Andre is dead and how Wulfe and Stefan covered up her involvement. She then feeds him cookies and milk until Samuel comes home.

The next morning a construction crew arrives to repair Mercys' trailer.Later that day when Mercy is at work she sees Mrs. Hanna and talks to her again before mentioning finding a picture she wanted to give to Mercy and disappearing. Going inside the office Gabriel tells her about a package for her. It is from Stefan and contains her stake, fire medallion, a dark chocolate VW Bus, and a handwritten apology. Mercy notices a piece of paper on the office counter and turns it over revealing a sketch of Adam signed by Marjorie Hanna.

(End of Book Two).

Blood Bound

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