Page 152 of Blue Moon

“What happens if he doesn’t get the antibiotics?”

She made a slashing motion across her throat. “Then we find the key to my chain and get out of here.”

“So we just wait for him to die?”

“Exactly.”

“How long will that take?”

“A day or two. Maybe three.”

“Unless he gets to the hospital?”

“Right.” She turned to face me head-on, and her eyes narrowed. “Girl, you are not thinking of telling him to go to the hospital.”

Was I?

The man I’d killed in San Gallicano, he’d been actively trying to murder multiple people. I’d acted instinctively; it had been him or us. But this wasn’t quite so clear-cut. Yes, Mark Antony had kidnapped me, and Kacie, and Michelle, but he hadn’t hurt any of us. He was obviously insane, not to mention rude, and he needed a lifetime of therapy, but did he deserve a death sentence?

Was it right to stand by and watch him die?

When I was reading the story of Antony and Cleopatra, I’d learned about the weighing of the heart. The Ancient Egyptians believed that a person’s heart recorded their actions in life, the good and the bad, kind of like karma points. After they died, their heart was weighed against the feather of truth and justice. If the heart was heavier than the feather, if it was full of bad deeds, their soul would be cast into darkness. If the scales balanced, their soul continued to the afterlife.

Where would my soul go?

Right now, the destination was up for debate. I hadn’t lived the best life, but I wanted to change.

“You’re a nurse—what happened to the Hippocratic oath?”

“I’m a nursing assistant, and nurses don’t do that anyway.”

“But didn’t you sign up to help people?”

“Not fake Uber drivers who expect me to work as their slave. It’s okay for you—you’re not the one chained up.”

“No, but I’m still stuck here with your sorry ass. And I told you, we’re getting rescued.”

Michelle just rolled her eyes.

“Maybe Michelle’s wrong, and he’ll get better,” Kacie suggested.

“I’m not wrong. Why do you always think I’m wrong?”

“I’m just trying to keep positive.”

“How is us staying here for longer a positive?”

“If he goes to the hospital, me and Luna can escape after he leaves and get help.”

“What if he chains you up again, huh?”

Kacie bit her lip. She clearly hadn’t thought of that. Plus he’d take the car, and no way was I walking through a bear-infested forest without Ryder and ten of his buddies at my side. But perhaps Mark Antony would get better? In my opinion, Michelle was mostly wrong.

“Get the scissors. We need to cut the stupid palm leaves.”

For once, Michelle wasn’t wrong. Mark Antony looked visibly sicker by dinner, and when he held my hand across the table, his skin was cold and clammy.

“I’ve been waiting for years to find the right woman to wear this necklace. It once belonged to a lady very dear to me. It’s called a wedjat eye.”

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