Page 42 of Merciless
Fifteen
SHADOW
The female guard stopped by daily to check on Reaper and sneak me small, extra rations of food and water. She did what she could to keep Reaper hydrated but short of him waking up or her hooking him up to an IV, we had no way of making him drink.
It was the same routine. She showed up, checked his pulse, washed his face, and dribbled some water into his mouth. She’d let me know he was still alive, and then she left.
“He doesn’t have much longer,” she informed me on the third visit since Quetzalcoatl left. Her finger pressed to Reaper’s neck while her ear rested on his chest. “Maybe a day, if that.”
“How long has it been?” I asked after taking a careful, small, measured mouthful of water.
“Just over two days.” Her brows pinched in sympathy above her mask. “I’m sorry.”
“We still have a day.” The words felt hollow as they left my body. I didn’t really have any optimism left. I had a terrible feeling instead that if Reaper were to die, that would be it for me too.
The Sha wouldn’t even need to use Mari’s image to weaken me enough for control. The grief over losing my friend and president, my guilt over being unable to save him, would be enough.
Usually the woman was quick to leave but today, she hesitated. She even sat cross-legged on the floor as though she planned to stay.
"How long have you known him?" she asked.
"Around ten years, but we haven't really been close until recently." I was surprised at how easily the words came out. Who knew someone like me would be so eager to talk to another person? And a woman at that.
The guard's head cocked to the side, her eyes wide and inquisitive. "Close like...?"
"Not like that," I said. "He was,is, my president. The leader of our club. We never interacted much besides him giving me orders. But more recently, I guess you can say we've become friends."
"What prompted the change?" The woman glanced over at Reaper and reached over to touch the back of her fingers to his cheek. "No fever at least," she muttered to herself.
"It's a lot to explain." I shifted to a more comfortable sitting position myself, the clinking of my chains echoing softly throughout the dungeon. "But the core of it is, we share a wife."
The woman's head snapped back toward me, eyes narrowing with suspicion or confusion, I couldn't tell. "What do you mean, ‘share a wife’?"
"Our wife has four husbands. He was her first," I nodded at Reaper, "I was her last."
The woman's hand drifted over her loose clothing as if searching for a weapon. "Did you buy her from one of those human auctions? Split the cost up between the four of you?" Her words carried venom now, and I bet she wished that the snake had attacked us rather than helped us.
"No, no. It's not like that," I rushed to tell her. "We don't own her, it's quite the opposite really." I huffed out a bitter laugh, recalling the longing and the heartbreak from the Sha's trick. I was fucking doomed if I stayed here another day. "She's with us willingly, and she has so much power over us. She's our whole world. We love and cherish her. Shechoseme, when I never thought in a million years she would."
The guard's tense position relaxed a little, her hand returning to her lap. "What's your wife's name?"
"Mariposa." The taste of her name in my mouth was as sweet as the water I drank.
The guard stiffened again, her eyes wide and burning into mine. "What did you say?"
"Mariposa," I repeated. "It means butterfly."
"I know what it means!" the guard snapped, her apparent vitriol coming out of nowhere. "What's her last name?"
"Why?" My own defenses rose up, confused by this woman's reaction to the mere mention of my wife's name. "Do you know her?"
"Is it Wilder?" she demanded. "Is your wife Mariposa Wilder?"
"What's it to you?" I probably already said too much since Mari's given name was unique enough, but if this woman meant her harm, I wouldn't give her another inch.
"She's my fucking daughter, that's what she is to me!"
I froze, at first in disbelief, then all the clarity dawned on me. The snake god, being hidden in plain sight.Of course.
