Page 95 of Senseless
“Damn right you do.” Reaper slapped my shoulder again. “Shit, I know a few people who could afford to learn that.” His face was flushed from alcohol, his voice growing louder and more boisterous as it often did when he drank. But then he lowered his voice again, his face serious. “I never did say thank you, Shadow.”
“For what?”
“Just,” he flung his hands up, “for being you. For being there for Mari, being someone she needed. For loving her when she couldn’t rely on me.”
“Reap—“
“Don’t fight me on this. Just, thank you, Shadow.”
The front door lock turned right then and opened, Mari and Jandro’s voices floating across the house a moment later.
“Where have you two been?” Reaper nearly stumbled sliding off his stool but quickly saved himself.
“Shopping.” Jandro dumped four large bags of groceries on the counter. “Now that we’re feeding two-and-half more people again,” he added with a wink at me.
“You talking about that spare tire you’re growing?” I jabbed a hand out to slap his stomach, earning a glare in return.
“No, I’m talking about you, Hulk-Smash! And it’s still winter, okay? My fluff adds a protective layer of warmth.”
“Shadow!” Mari came in with the rest of the bags, digging into the bottom of one with a determined grin on her face. “Have you ever had goat cheese?”
“No.” I leaned across the counter to kiss her. “Is it much different from regular cheese?”
She groaned into my kiss, taking a small bite of my lip. “It is a whole otherlevelof cheese! Hey, why do you taste like whiskey?”
“We’ve been catching up,” Reaper said, hovering nearby. He relaxed when Mari turned to squeeze him in a brief hug.
“Is Gunner still at City Hall?” Mari asked. Her arms loosened around Reaper, but didn’t entirely let go.
“Think so.” Reaper draped an arm around her shoulders, his gaze at her full of longing. “Why?”
She looked back at me. “Did you tell him while you were catching up?”
“Not yet,” I said. “I wanted to wait until we were all together.”
“Tell me what?” Reaper’s eyes flicked up to me.
“Go ahead, Mari.” I started digging through one grocery bag to help with the unloading, curious about this goat cheese she was so wild about.
Mari pulled away from Reaper and made sure Jandro was listening too. “I know the oncoming war is going to be rough, but wedohave allies out there. They helped Shadow and I break through Tash’s army on our ride back.”
“Well shit, don’t leave us in suspense now.” Jandro made a valiant attempt at juggling bell peppers and promptly dropped all of them.
“Jerriton,” Mari said.
Reaper looked confused. “I thought the territory was under Tash’s control.”
“It is, but thepeopleof Jerriton don’t support him. Why would they? Gunner’s uncle mistreated them, and a bunch of them were in prison under Tash’s rule.”
“We broke them out,” I added. “At first only to create a distraction, but they overwhelmed the border patrol and allowed us to escape the territory.”
“They escorted us all the way to neutral territory,” Mari said. “They’re wanted fugitives in Jerriton now, but they’re crafty, and there are alotof them.”
“Damn,” Jandro muttered.
“Fuck,” Reaper agreed. “This…could be huge. We gotta tell Dad and Gunner.”
Mari squeezed another hug around him. “We can win this, guys. Whatever happens, we’re strongest together.”
