Page 29 of Stealing Mercury (Arena Dogs #1)

Chapter Fifteen

Samantha kept her eyes closed and stretched.

The bedroll beneath her didn’t provide much cushion from the hard ground, but she had a sense of having slept well for the first time in days.

She scrubbed her hands over her face and eased open her eyes.

She didn’t remember making camp or lying down to sleep.

Had she lost a day? She guessed the time at late afternoon, the sun seemed to be hidden behind one of the nearby mountaintops.

“There’s water beside you.” Carn’s voice drifted to her from outside her field of vision.

She sat up to find him propped up against a stack of their packs. There was no one else around. “Where are Mercury and Lo?” The words scraped her throat as they went by. She reached for the water, took a sip, and coughed.

“Slowly. Sip slowly. Lo and Mercury are getting a better look around the area.”

Samantha nodded, then pulled her legs up and crossed them for balance.

Not only were Mercury and Lo not around, she didn’t recognize where they were.

She rubbed at her head trying to bring things back into focus in her mind.

Slowly, it all came back. Her head still ached, but that was the dehydration.

The pulse had been silenced and she didn’t remember doing it at all, but she did remember finding. ..

“The artifact...” she started, then looked at Carn. If Mercury had destroyed it without telling them—

“He smashed it to stop the pulse. There was nothing left.” Carn looked sad. “It was the right thing to do.”

So, Mercury had told them. “I wish I could’ve had more time.”

“There’s no use spending energy thinking about something you cannot change.”

His gentle dismissal eased her guilt over failing to save the object. “Whoever named you had you all wrong.”

His eyebrows lifted. “What do you mean? I can wreak havoc and leave a wake of carnage when the circumstances call for it.”

She laughed, almost spitting out a mouthful of water. “I’m sure you can. But I still think Owl would have suited you better.”

He frowned and she laughed again. He joined her with what might pass for a chuckle, if she were being generous with her chuckling standards.

The moment passed too quickly and she found herself sitting with a man in pain.

Suffering, not just from physical pain or fatigue.

It was something much softer squeezing his heart.

“What sort of name,” he asked, “is Owl?”

She couldn’t contain her grin. “A big Earther bird my father taught me about. It had enormous eyes and could hear its prey from a kilometer away. It could turn its head all the way around.” She made a big-eyed face and circled her finger in a spinning motion.

“You compare me to this monstrous creature?” He didn’t look bothered as he said the words.

Samantha sobered. “It’s also credited with great wisdom.”

He dipped his chin to his chest then met her eyes, looking solemn. “I’m honored.”

Samantha studied the big man. His body was covered with fresh scratches layered over old scars. She knew none of those injuries and scars mattered to him. The only wound that mattered would be the one left if he lost his mate. “Will you tell me about her?”

His jaw flexed, making the scar that cut across it stand out in white relief. “She’s not like you.”

“Of course not.”

“I mean, she’s not a fighter. She’s strong in her own way, but she has few defenses.”

“Really? I’m surprised your women aren’t enhanced the way you are.”

“Some are,” he admitted. “The powerful females fight and die in the games, but Hera was not made for the arena. Some of the females and even some males were created to be submissive and docile so that they could be safely used to entertain the patrons.”

Samantha remembered Lo had said something about pleasure suites. It had to be prostitution. Or was there a better word considering they had no choice and received nothing in exchange? Rape. Abuse. Yes, those were the right words. She didn’t know what to say to Carn, so she waited.

“In the past, only fighter females became mates and there were never many of them. The guards did not start bringing the submissive females to the kennels until a year ago. They wanted us to breed them. This is when we realized something must have gone wrong with the surrogates. They had not brought young Dogs to the kennels in too many years.”

“What happened when they brought the women to you for...” She couldn’t even say the word.

“We refused at first, but each time we refused they punished the females. I couldn’t bear to see her hurt anymore. Some males snapped the necks of the females to end their lives quickly, but I couldn’t.”

“Of course, you couldn’t. That’s crazy.” The thought made her queasy. Had Mercury or Lo done that?

“Don’t judge them harshly. Many of the females welcomed such a death.”

“I can’t imagine choosing death. There’s always hope.” Her hands tightened around the water container. It was something her father had taught her. Her gentle mother would have said joy could be found in any life.

“Easier to say when you don’t live your life in a cage.”

She blushed, ashamed. “I didn’t mean to judge anyone.”

“I know,” he said. “It’s your way, to be optimistic.”

Optimistic or always chasing after the future, like her father?

“I can see how that might change, if I’d been through everything you have.”

He shrugged. “It was the only life we knew.” He adjusted his injured leg and sighed at the relief of moving. “It’s a life that taught us to enjoy the moments we could and to seize every opportunity.”

Her mother would approve the sentiment. “And Hera made you happy.”

He dipped his head. “When she chose me, all my worries and doubts became nothing.”

“I’m glad.” Samantha took a long sip of water. “How long did you have together?”

“Only six months, before I was marked for death.”

“You mean the hunt?”

“No. Before that. We didn’t understand it at the time. We were forced to divide our pack and fight against each other. Mercury and Lo against Me, Jupiter, and Seneca. I was made to fight without armor.”

“Someone stacked the cards against you.”

“They wanted me to die that day and Hera will pay the price for my survival.”

“What do you mean?”

“On the ship, the whip-master told Mercury Hera will be given to the guards. They’ll make an example of her for others who don’t cooperate.” He hung his head and his shoulders slumped. “I fear she won’t survive it.”

“I’m so sorry.” She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hug him as her mother had always done for her, but she didn’t know how he’d react.

“We have to go back for her.” Fierce determination hardened his jaw line. “Before it’s too late.”

“Yes. I know.” All three of them would go back and risk their lives for Hera. She hated it. The thought of losing them put a painful ache in the vicinity of her heart. “Was it after they decided to send you to the hunt that Mercury vowed to help you?”

“No. That was when Hera first came to live with us. They—” Carn’s head lifted, alert and listening. “Mercury is back.”

She saw him then, breaking out of the woods that wrapped around the base of the slope.

She got carefully to her feet and met him halfway. He lifted her in his arms and pressed his face to her neck. As he set her on her feet and took her hand, he waved to Carn with the other.

“Feeling better, courra ?”

“Much.” It felt so good to have her palm pressed to his. She couldn’t remember why she’d been keeping her distance.

“Come,” said Mercury. “I have something to show you.”

***

Samantha heard the rumble long before they reached their destination.

He led her along a winding path that meandered through boulders and trees the likes of which she’d never seen.

Bright green moss topped chalk-white boulders.

Pink strings of color swirled through the stone like silk ribbons frozen in a timeless dance.

Small, tightly packed vines covered the path, releasing a sharp herbal scent each time she stepped on the small, but hearty, plants.

“Careful here,” Mercury warned, lifting aside a thick strand of flowers that dropped down from one of the many trees blanketing the area.

The flowers grew on wandering vines that seemed to live in harmony with the foliage it wove through. Each time a breeze shook the trees, the flower vines were dragged across the ground making a rustling noise, but it was quickly overshadowed by the insistent roar.

When the source of the noise came into view it was still some distance away. “A waterfall,” she breathed in awe. “I’ve seen them on vids, but I’ve never actually seen one in person.”

“A first for us both, then. I’m glad I could share this with you.”

Mercury pulled her further from the trees and toward the river.

“I can almost feel the water swirling in the air,” she said. Three channels of foamy white water rushed over a cliff face and spilled into the river below with varying force.

“The center channel is too deep to stand,” he warned.

Samantha accepted the warning with a nod. “Even if I knew how to swim, that water is moving too fast to be safe.”

“Yes. It’s safer along the sides.”

She’d been so preoccupied with the power of the spilling water she hadn’t taken in the odd formations in the rock along the edge of the river. “The water must have carved the gullies.”

The shallow channels and dips worn into the white rock funneled water into the center of the river, but not before making an elaborate network of clear pools.

“Some further up on this side are warm. They seem perfect for bathing.” Mercury pushed loose strands of her hair out of her face and brushed his knuckles along her jaw.

A shiver of pleasure raced down her neck at his touch. His hands were rough, but the texture only added to the sensation. The memory of their last bath sent heat rushing to her cheeks and across her chest.