Page 51 of Merciless
You can.Freyja’s voice returned with a ferocity in my head.You will. I did not choose a weak human. You can do this, Mariposa.
You need to do it for me. I can’t even raise my arm to shoot.
The more I manipulate your body, the less healing I will be able to do. Remember why you came here. Remember the reason you’re filled with bullet holes right now.
I didn’t know. I couldn’t remember. All I wanted was for the pain to stop, to close my eyes to the pool of blood surrounding me and be happy at home with my men.
My men. Mine.
My eyes snapped open to look ahead of me. Gunner and Jandro were also on the ground, blood soaking their clothes and darkening the earth surrounding them. It seemed they’d been able to shoot a few of the General’s Council before taking hits themselves—only seven of the black-clad figures were standing, the remaining three fallen and lifeless.
So they weren’t completely invincible, just somehow immune to Hades’ instant death ability.
My men, they need my help.I raised my shooting arm but could only get the gun a few inches off the ground. My hand shook, slippery with blood.
Movement drew my eye to Gunner. He released one weapon with a clatter and drew a new one holstered at his lower back. Despite being prone and bleeding, and likely in an enormous amount of pain, his shots were swift and his arm steady. Years of practice made him incredibly effective with firearms, and he took out two more of the armed council members. Their bodies dropped like stones but that left five remaining, all of whom pointed their barrels at Gunner.
“No!” I cried out, mouth pouring blood as they rained fire down on him. Not him. I couldn’t lose anyone else.
Two of the council swung to fire at Jandro, who had started crawling in my and Gunner’s direction. He covered his head and curled up to protect his chest and stomach, but the onslaught of bullets still struck across his broad back.
Not my men.
A swell of fury lifted my chest from the ground. My left forearm pressed into the ground to lift myself higher, my shooting arm raised and extended. I fired, unleashing hell on those who dared to hurt my family. Not just my husbands, but my parents. All the medics and soldiers we lost. The countless families torn apart because this chaos god needed slaves to spread his destruction far and wide.
I didn’t aim, and truly didn’t know if my hits were landing. All I saw was Gunner and Jandro, clinging to life when these beautiful, loving men should have been vibrant and full of life. All five of us still had lives to live—parties, laughter, and quiet moments. Adventures across the country on motorcycles and milestones with our future children. My men had so much taken from them already. None of them would be taken frommeagain.
My shooting was only halted by a pulse of energy radiating from my chest. It knocked the wind out of me like I’d been kicked, sending me sprawling flat on the ground again as I took huge gulps of air.
Air!I could breathe!
I pressed up to my knees, still shaky, but not as weak as I was moments ago. My clothes were tattered with holes and I was still drenched in my own blood, but the bullet wounds were gone.
“Mari, get down!”
I flattened myself to the ground just as rapid fire sailed over my head. More shooting filled the air for the next few seconds, then silence. Peeking up carefully, I saw Jandro and Gunner sitting up, looking exhausted but very much alive. The same couldn’t be said for the General’s Council, whose dead bodies littered the massive foyer we opened the doors to.
“We got ‘em all,” Jandro said with a weary breath. “Fuck, I thought that was it.”
“Felt a bullet actually touch my brain. That was wild.” Gunner tried for his signature easy smile, but I could see how the shootout had rattled him too. His expression changed, looking oddly serious as Horus took over. “Thank you, Freyja. You were wise to wait on the healing.”
“The three of them were very near death.” The goddess used my mouth to inform everyone. “I can’t do much more in Mari’s vessel before I must leave her. If the humans are badly injured again, I may not be able to heal them sufficiently.”
Horus narrowed those endlessly blue eyes. “I don’t believe there is anyone else between us and the Sha. He is expecting us.”
The three of us—six of us?—got up from the floor and looked down the long corridor where another set of doors awaited. These were also carved with hieroglyphics and stretched to the tall, vaulted ceiling of the building we’d just entered.
Gunner and Jandro moved in closer to me, their presence calming and supportive. I reached out until our hands touched, just a light sweep of my fingers across their palms so I knew they were still with me.
“Let’s not keep the Sha waiting,” I said.
Twenty
REAPER
“What’s happening?”
I’d been having a fine, dandy visit with Hades and the other god in this dreamlike state for some time, with only the occasional pull toward the door of my childhood home. But the longer I stayed here, the worse I felt.
