Page 60 of Merciless
Emma and I both instinctively ducked, covering our heads while I tried to process the familiar female voice that had just yelled at us.
“Oh fuck, oh no. Is that Reaper? Reaper!”
I glanced up, certain that I was hallucinating, to see Mari, Gunner, and Jandro at the door. The guys struggled with the lock while Mari pointed her gun into the cell.
“I said, get the fuck away from him!” Mari’s expression was feral, if even downright bloodthirsty as she angled her weapon toward her mother’s back. My wife’s face was streaked with dirt, sweat, and dried blood. More blood stained the front of her clothing in a reddish-brown tint, like she’d been lying in a pool of it.
This was no illusion from the Sha, no carbon copy of my wife with her gorgeous face and sweet voice trying to undo me. Nothing was polished or perfected about this image of her, covered in filth, pointing a gun, and yelling obscenities through the door.
This was…real?
“Mari?” I croaked in disbelief.
Her eyes jerked to me, the fury in them dimming slightly. “It’s us,” she said, her voice softer. “We’re here. It’s all over, love. It’s going to be okay.”
I couldn’t afford to feel relief, joy, or anything yet. There was still the matter of getting them inside. My leg kicked out, nudging Emma who had moved away from me as ordered, still covering her head.
“Unlock the door,” I told her. Then to Mari, “Don’t shoot her.”
“Her?” Mari’s puzzled frown turned wide-eyed as her mother carefully glanced up, still with her hands above her head as she moved to the door. “Mom?” she squeaked out.
“Hey, sweet pea.” Emma was already fumbling for the keys on her keyring. “Haven’t heard you yell like that since you were a teenager.”
The door opened and Mari sidestepped her mother’s arms, spread in open invitation for a hug. My wife went straight to Reaper’s body, falling to her knees as she placed her hands on his chest.
I felt a pulse of…something the moment she did that, like a refreshing gust of air. Right away, I noticed a slight change in my body. I could breathe a little easier and didn’t feel as weak, although I was still nowhere near full strength. Mari started performing CPR on Reaper and that was when it hit me. She was here. We were getting out.
“Hey dude.” Jandro and Gunner approached me, their faces trying to mask whatever they saw at the condition I was in. “Let’s get you out of these, alright? Unless you’re really committed to this new fashion trend.”
I coughed out a weak laugh. Leave it to Jandro to make a joke right now, but it also felt so fucking good to hear him say dumb shit again. “Yeah. Get me out of these.”
Gunner had to shoot the shackles binding my ankles and wrists. Good thing I trusted his accuracy. Then together they had to shoot the end of the thick chain attached to the wall that was wrapped around my neck. When it finally fell away, I could breathe even easier.
“Don’t touch that,” Gunner warned as I started to bring a hand up to my throat. “Your skin’s all rubbed raw, man. It could get infected.”
I moved that hand to the wall instead, using it for support as I painstakingly rose to my full height.
“Here, dude. I got you.” Jandro nudged his shoulder under my armpit to give me further support, wrapping an arm around my waist to help hoist me up. “Can you walk?”
“I think so.” My upper body wavered unsteadily on my feet, dizziness hitting me hard, and I threw my arm over his shoulders for added support. The lack of chains on my body made me feel strangely weightless. Stiff muscles in my back cramped and protested from being unused in a week.
Mari looked at me from where she knelt over Reaper. “How long has he been unconscious?”
“About three days,” I told her, allowing my weight to lean on Jandro. “Is he…?”
“He’s got a weak pulse. He needs medical attentionnow.”
My legs buckled and I almost sank back to the floor. We didn’t lose him! Not yet, at least. That pulse of energy from her must have done something. I wasn’t about to question it and knew she’d tell me about it at some point. Right now, we still had to make our way out.
Gunner pulled a small radio from his cut and spoke into it, the words too mumbled and coded for me to catch. I wanted to sleep for another week, I was so fucking tired.
“I told Four Corners’ army that the fortress is clear,” Gunner reported to the room. “They’re on their way in with medics at the front line.”
“Good. Gun, can you shoot off these restraints and help me carry him?”
He fired off four quick shots, then Mari slid an arm under Reaper’s shoulders and pushed his torso up. Together, she and Gunner managed to get him slung over Gunner’s shoulders. “Get him and Shadow to the medics,” Mari ordered, huffing for breath as she stood. “I’ll be right behind you.”
“Hold up,” Jandro said. “What are you gonna do?”
