Chapter 17 Rage
Rage
She feels nice pressed up against me.
Too nice.
Too soft. Too sweet. Too kind.
It’s scary. She’s scary.
But not the scary that makes me angry. Most things that scare me make me angry. Most things make me angry.
I’m always angry.
But my head goes quiet with her here.
I like it.
But it makes me scared of when she leaves.
An engine sounds in the distance.
Someone is coming.
I sit up on my haunches, my back to the door as I listen.
“Do you hear something?” She asks, pushing herself up onto her elbows to watch me.
I give her a single jerky nod as I tilt my head.
The engine is softer. Not a transport cage.
But if it’s not a transport cage, then why are they here?
Three sets of footsteps.
A growl builds in my chest. They’re getting closer.
Three people is weird.
I don’t like weird.
The voice from the ceiling crackles to life.
“I’m ordering you to get over to your chains and lock yourself in, Rage, you know how this works.”
My gaze is wild as I stare up at the ceiling, a snarl ripped from my chest.
No. No chains.
I’m not going to lock myself up.
Not when I have to protect her. I can’t protect her if I’m chained up.
Sometimes I listen. Sometimes I don’t. The times I don’t, they shock me until I pass out and then chain me up themselves.
“Fuck, he’s not listening,” the voice mutters.
I know what’s coming.
But she doesn’t. I jerk away from her outstretched hands. I don’t want her to get hurt too.
My neck lights up with a ring of fire. A roar echoes off the walls. My roar.
The pain makes my vision go red. I’m angry again. So fucking angry.
“No! Stop hurting him!” She says, stumbling to her feet and towards the door.
I throw myself in her path, kneeling in a crouch. My muscles are getting hard to control.
No! Don’t go there! I’m trying to keep you safe!
But all that comes out is another snarl.
“Please stop!” She says again, stopping in her tracks.
They listen to her. I slump down over my knee, gasping for breath.
She’s magic. She got them to stop.
“Get the chains on him,” the voice from the ceiling says to her.
No. No chains!
“Rage, please listen to me. I don’t want them to hurt you, which means you have to let me put these cuffs on you, okay? Or you need to put them on yourself. Please—“
I curl my lips back in a snarl, standing to my full height.
No.
No, no, no, no, no!
I need to protect her!
I’ll hurt for her. But she stays safe.
“How the fuck are we supposed to get her out,” another voice mutters from the ceiling.
I barely focus on the way she perks up and her eyes go wide.
I’m too focused on what this new voice said.
They want to get her out of my cell. They want to take her away from me.
No.
My vision goes red as my pulse roars through my ears. I can’t hear anything they’re saying anymore.
I catch sight of her green eyes in my peripheral vision.
They’re not sparkling anymore. She’s terrified. Sad.
I hate it.
So I turn my back on her and face the door, ready to do the one thing I’m good at.
Fight.
The only thing I know how to do is fight. And I want to fight to keep her with me.
“Fuck this shit,” the original voice mutters from the ceiling.
I brace myself for another shock, but it doesn’t come.
A piercing shriek sounds through the air.
I whirl around, seeing her fall to her knees, clawing at the collar around her neck.
No.
They hurt her.
They hurt her.
They hurt her.
My vocal cords scream at me as I scream at the universe.
Then the collar turns back on. All my screams feel like I’m swallowing shards of glass.
I collapse down onto the floor, my vision growing black from the pain.
The last thing I hear before I pass out is her pained sobs.
I failed. They hurt her.
They’re going to take her away from me.