Page 56 of Merciless
The open throne room melted away, replaced by a room much smaller, darker, and dingier, like a basement. The shift in room size was so sudden, I was taken aback by how the brick walls seemed to close in on me.
"Reaper!" I whimpered when the figure slumped against the wall came into focus.
He was filthy and bleeding, arms and legs shackled to the wall while his head hung low and defeated.
My pain never let up for a moment but at least I had something to focus on now, the whole reason I came here.
"Reaper, I'm here. Can you hear me?" I tried to approach him but couldn't sense my hands or legs. I might as well have been floating in space.
A wide, swinging movement came down too quickly for me to follow. It collided with Reaper's head, forcing him to slump lower to the floor and curl up to protect himself.
"No, stop!" I screamed, full of my own agony and sympathy on his behalf.
Robed, hooded figures crowded around him, blocking my view while they connected kicks and punches to my husband's body. I screamed loud enough for the whole territory to hear, full of pain and rage at not being able to do anything.
“Stop! Stop! You’ll kill him!”
I tried to rush forward, to tear and pull at Reaper’s attackers, but my hands went straight through them. I tried to get in front of them, to act as a shield, but remained in place no matter how hard I pumped my arms and legs. It was like I’d become a ghost.
“I have enjoyed taking him to the brink of death, only to heal him and start the fun all over again.” The Sha spoke with a pleased purr, but his voice was like thousands of knives dragging over my skin. “Would you like to see all the ways I tortured him?”
“No…no, please! Please stop.” I shook all over—pain, grief, and horror shocking my system. I couldfeelmyself breaking down beyond repair.
“The big one thought he could fool me by pretending to be affected by pain. But the best torture was making him watch my guards have fun with poor little Reaper.”
Something about the Sha’s taunts broke off pieces of me, but not the parts I expected. He wanted me to cower, to feel terrified, weak, helpless, and I did. But seeing what he did to my men awoke something else. Instead of pleading for my own life, for mercy from the pain at any cost, the part of me that cared for my own survival broke away.
We had our gods, harnessed our bonds, and had gotten so close. Here I was, close enough to Reaper to touch and help him, and I could do nothing but watch. Pieces of me were crumbling away to dust, but that feeling of utter helplessness did something else.
Like the core of a planet, it compacted and solidified all that was left of me, which wasn’t much anymore. But what remained was hardened and dense, a final shield that no more pieces could be broken off of.
If I had to die—if my men had to die—then I wanted the Sha to remember me as the bitch who gave him hell long after I was gone.
Twenty-Two
MARIPOSA
“You're weaker than I thought." I couldn't determine the volume of my own voice, so I made sure to say and think it as loud as I could. "For a god, you're fucking pathetic, Set."
His energetic presence shifted around me without a response. The pain sensations switched up too--now it felt like hot oil rained down on me in a relentless downpour. But I was too far gone to react to the pain anymore. All that mattered was getting under this cruel god's skin, to remain that thorn in his side and live inside his head, rent-free.
"You can't even beat up one weakened, shackled mortal man yourself?" I continued. "You have to make your minions do it? Your followers should be embarrassed."
"Do you wish for eternal suffering so badly, human? Because I will happily grant that to you."
Ah, so Set had just as fragile of an ego as I suspected.
"Sure you can. You have two men chained up in your dungeon and you can't break into either of their minds to control them. You know what?" I plastered a grin on my face, despite feeling dead and lifeless to my core. "You couldn't keep my father under your control either."
"You're speaking nonsense, girl. Seems I've scrambled you well."
"Oh no, I'm still all here." I was shocked to still feel in control of my faculties, but I wasn't about to question it. "And my dad remembers me. I saw the damage you did, but it seems you underestimated his so-called ‘weak and damaged’ mind."
"What do you hope to accomplish with lies, fool?" The Sha was clearly agitated now, barking at me for running my mouth.
"You know I'm not lying, you idiot god." I kept pushing. "You're right in here with me. All my thoughts, fears, and desires are laid bare to you. Youcouldbe powerful if you really tried. But you can't do shit."
The Sha yelled something else at me, but he sounded far away and muffled like he was underwater. Pressure closed in around my head, softening and blurring the world around me until it all went out of focus. Then there was a popping sensation and...I was back.
