Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, #4)

by Patricia Briggs

[EBookObsessed]

As if the panic attacks aren’t enough stress for Mercy, Marsilia drops a starved and tortured Stefan into Mercy’s living room hoping he would do her a favor and kill Mercy for her. Lucky for Mercy, both Adam and Samuel were at her trailer and helped keep the starving vampire off her. When Stefan comes to, we learn that Marsilia knows that it was Mercy that killed the vampire and she has tortured Stefan, killed his “sheep” and turned him out of the seethe as punishment for bringing Mercy to the seethe and protecting her.

Adam and his wolves are indebted to Stefan for what he did for them while they were all captured by the vampire-demon. But when Adam realizes that the blood exchange between Stefan and Mercy leaves her vulnerable to be “called” by Stefan, he acts to protect her by making her part of the pack. He will not lose Mercy to a vampire.

It all gets more complicated when Mercy tries to get out of the Tri-Cities area, knowing Marsilia won’t attack her friends if Mercy isn’t there to witness the fun. Although it seems too coincidental when an old college friend shows up at her door asking for help removing a ghost from her house, Mercy decides a trip to Spokane might just be what she needs right now. There is no question that there is a ghost in her friend’s house, but Mercy has never seen one act to violently before.

Mercy might have also just jumped from the frying pan into the fire. The Spokane area has been held by a centuries old vampire named James Blackwood. Blackwood doesn’t allow other preternaturals into his territory and he might not be so happy when he finds Mercy visiting without his approval. When she wakes up to find bite marks and no memory of a vampire visit, it seems that Blackwood might be forcing a blood exchange with Mercy so that he can control her. Does he think he can control Adam’s pack through Mercy’s mating bond with Adam, or is he working with Marsilia to kill Mercy?

THOUGHTS:
Mercy keeps getting drawn into situations which over her head. In this story, the vampires have painted crossed bones on her shop which indicate she is an enemy of the vampires and open for attack by whatever creature wants her. Stefan has been tossed from the seethe for protecting Mercy and not letting Marsilia know that there was a walker in her territory. I think it is more Marsilia’s jealousy of Mercy than any real offense.

Several of the top vampires in the seethe want the now outed Stefan to work with them to kill Marsilia and take over the seethe. Stefan’s refusal doesn’t help situations, it just adds up the list of enemies that Stefan and Mercy are facing.

With Stefan’s sheep dead, it leaves Mercy as the only person with a blood bond to Stefan, but when Blackwood tries to establish a blood bond with Mercy so he can control her. More blood transfers with Stefan is the only option that Mercy has left. When Adam realizes how strong a bond Stefan is creating with Mercy, he won’t lose her to the vampire and he makes Mercy a member of the pack, giving her a bond of blood and flesh with him.

I definitely don’t understand why a smart woman like Mercy would have gone to Spokane when the whole thing smelled fishy to her from the start. Her friend, who was barely a friend in college, conveniently shows up with a reason to get out of town when the vampires are threatening Mercy. She saw that it seemed to be a set up, but she ended up walking right into it. Mercy ends up bonding with her friend’s 10 year old son and therefore, she doesn’t want to leave him when the dangers presented by the ghost and Blackwood put Mercy in danger.

This was definitely a problem caused by Mercy’s bad decisions more than outside issues such as the demon-vampire and the Grey Lords.