Chapter 6 Selma
Selma
“What did you do?” Selma backed away from the desk. Through her fear of the man stalking toward her, a spike of anger rose, heating her chest and arms. “What did you do?”
He’d tricked her, had gained her trust with deceit and used her broken mind against her. For what gain she didn’t know, but the page with the diagram made it painfully clear that it wasn’t for anything pleasant.
“I took away your delusions. Isn’t that what you wanted?” He tilted his head as he assessed her movements, obviously calculating how much closer he could come before she’d dart around the desk. “Does anything else really matter?”
His silky tone only made her heart thrum harder against her ribs. It was deceitfully kind, just like the man himself. She kept retreating, maintaining her distance. “You’re dangerous!”
It was too late, of course. She should never have let her guard down around one of them, should have known that his caring words and manners were only meant to lure her in.
Would anyone hear her if she screamed? The corridor had been deserted; they were likely the only souls in this part of the hospital.
“You will not be harmed.” His soothing words aside, he matched her retreat, keeping his body between her and the exit at all times. When her back hit the far wall and her eyes widened in terror, he stopped, leaving a few feet of space between them.
“Have I been anything but good to you yet, sweetheart?” There was a taunt in his smooth voice, one dark eyebrow curving up as if to suggest that she was being ridiculous when her gaze instinctively darted around the room in search of some way out. She found none.
“You lied.” Selma stared back up at the man who had her cornered. She set her jaw, hoping to convey something other than “weak female” to whatever instincts ruled him. “You took advantage of me.”
Though she tried to keep her voice calm, it held a shrill note that spoke of her fear as much as the tremble of her hands, emphasized by the rustle of paper clenched in her fist.
“Hmm, whatever do you mean? You no longer see demons, correct? I promised you as much.”
He took a step closer, causing her to flatten herself against the wall. So much for putting on a brave act.
“Y-You branded me!” She touched a hand to her forehead. “I saw it—in the mirror. You did this! Why?”
He glanced at her forehead with both eyebrows raised in what looked like genuine surprise before bracing an arm against the wall right next to her head. “You can see the mark? Oh, Selma… if only you knew how valuable you are.”
Her breath hitched at his sudden proximity. He really was very tall, and his broad shoulders caged her in from above as oppressively as the rest of him.
“What did you do?” It came out as a scared whisper this time.
Marathin raised the hand not currently supporting his weight, and with the faintest of touches, he traced a circle around the outer edges of her mark.
“I blinded you,” he murmured. “Really, Selma, you must have known deep down what we really are. Through every evaluation and every drug they gave you, you must have known.”
She stared up into his eyes, trying to deny his words from taking root.
He was right—of course he was right. Deep down, that nagging feeling nurtured by all the questions that couldn’t be answered—the ones that had plagued her for years—had never been silenced.
.. Like how a young woman without weapons could have left that scar on her calf, or why some of them would follow her when they saw her staring at their otherness.
She’d never dared to think the thought through, because if she’d actually acknowledged the concept, she’d have lost her mind.
The shaking in her hands moved up her arms and down through her body until she was trembling like a leaf in the wind.
“Don’t be scared.” Marathin stroked an unnaturally hot hand down her arm. “Let it settle in. You’re special, sweetheart. And so very valuable.”
It wasn’t that his touch soothed her, but it did jolt her out of her downward spiral. She flinched away from him, unwilling to give him any doubts about her feelings. “What do you want from me?”
His devilish smile returned as he boxed her in fully, placing the hand she’d shied away from against the wall next to her head.
Selma swallowed nervously as a few flashes of how he’d touched her body during the “procedure” passed through her mind.
This time there was no doctor’s coat and no professional persona to hide behind—there was just the very large creature who’d tricked her into spreading her thighs for him, and her own raspy breathing.
“It is not a matter of what I want; it’s what I need.
You don’t understand the value of what’s between your legs, my sweet.
You’re a perfect Breeder, so incredibly rare.
I thought you were just a regular Breeder—valuable, but nothing like what you truly are.
Most we come across cannot tolerate a Lord’s magic, but you.
.. you see the blinding mark. Your innate resistance to our magic is strong enough that you can survive being mated by one of our most powerful. ”
“B-Breeder?” There was that uncomfortable word again, the one he’d scribbled underneath the diagram. “You want to... breed me? L-Like an animal? Are you out of you mind?!”
Monster or not—strike that; the fact that he was a monster definitely made it worse—that was not something you should want to do to people!
Marathin chuckled. “No, definitely not ‘like an animal.’ You will be bred by one of my kind, not another human. Your womb would be wasted on the rats already overpopulating this planet.”
“I don’t...”
She was about to tell him that she didn’t understand, but stopped before she finished the sentence. There was nothing to understand—not now. She could mull over everything later when she was safe. Right now, the only thing that mattered was that she was alone with a man talking about breeding her.
“HELP!” She screamed at the same time as she drove the heel of her right hand into his ribs, swinging the other at one of the arms keeping her trapped against the wall. “SOMEONE HELP ME!”
Marathin grunted when she impacted with his chest, but that was about all her fighting did.
Even when she kicked at his shins, he barely flinched, and when she tried to dive underneath his arm, he easily caught her.
He pulled her in, twisting her around to constrict her movements by locking his arms around hers, pressing her back against his chest so she couldn’t bite him.
“LET ME GO!” Selma tried to headbutt him by tossing her head backwards, but she only connected with his rock-hard chest, which seemed to hurt her more than it did him. She screamed again, struggling wildly against his grip, but he didn’t budge.
“There seems to have been a minor miscommunication,” he purred in her ear. “You appear to believe you are in danger; that is not the case. I took away your Second Sight so you could be more comfortable—nothing more. Calm down, sweetheart.”
There was nothing more she could do—he was simply too strong. She went limp in his arms with a defeated whine, breathing heavily from exhaustion after her short, but wild struggle to get free.
“Good girl,” he murmured, bending his head to rest it against hers. “You have nothing to fear.”
Selma drew a shuddering gasp when he breathed in deeply, obviously taking in her scent. Something hard started growing against the small of her back, stirring terror in the pit of her stomach.
“Please don’t rape me.”
It was a ridiculous request, of course. He was some form of a.
.. a monster, and his kind had no qualms about imposing their desires on others with or without consent, as she had seen from the three who’d attacked that girl.
Not to mention the things the doctor had already done to her under the disguise of a concerned healthcare provider.
The monster chuckled against her ear. “Selma. What did I say? You won’t be harmed, sweetness. You’re much too valuable, and I am duty-bound to kill anyone who would do damage to your beautiful little pussy.”
His erection suggested otherwise.
“Y-You say you won’t force me...” She drew a deep breath to calm her nerves as the thing at her back reached full size. “Yet you want to... breed with me. And I don’t... I don’t understand!”
“Shh, calm down.” Marathin cradled her closer against his chest—and by default, his straining cock—as if to soothe her with his body heat leaching through her clothing and into her skin. It didn’t work.
“I will explain, little Breeder.”
“Stop calling me that!”
His low chuckle, huskier now, brushed against her ear again. “It is a title of honor among our kind. You will learn in time, when you have grown accustomed to our ways.”
“I have no desire to grow accustomed to the ways of monsters!” she snarled, anger taking a front seat to fear. “Why did you lie to me? If... If you really are a monster, why try to... why trick me?”
What she wanted to ask was why he hadn’t just forced her instead of going through the scam of her “procedure,” but despite her anger, she didn’t think it wise to antagonize him too much. No one said he couldn’t change his mind.
He hummed in an amused tone. “Demons, Selma. We are demons, not monsters. I ringed you to ensure your cooperation once your mate’s won you at auction. I blinded you because it would have been easier to accept your fate if you didn’t realize what we were for a little while longer.
“You must understand, the Breeders who find their way to this place are as scared and convinced that their minds are damaged as you were. They are slowly introduced to life with us so that the transition is minimally traumatizing. Of course, it’s a little too late for you.
I should have known you’d see the mark, but it’s been so long since I have been around a Pure Breeder. ”
If he truly was trying to explain, he wasn’t doing a particularly good job.
“But why me?” It was the question she’d asked herself so many times over the years, oftentimes while huddled in her bed crying, only to be answered with silence.
“Ah, I cannot answer that, I’m afraid. All we know is that women who can see through our human disguises are biologically compatible with us.
Since our own females are... shall we say, less compliant, we look for mates among your kind.
It’s my job as a procurer to find these women and prepare them for their auction.
“And you, sweetheart… you’re a perfect specimen. You may still be too scared to appreciate it, but your sweet little cunt will bring the strongest demons across the world to their knees. They will come from far and wide for a chance to win you.”
The pride in his voice, as if she were a particularly precious pet, made her cringe. “Please... let go of me!”
“I will, if you promise to stay calm and not attempt anything stupid.” The demon gave her body a squeeze, a gentle reminder of how superior his strength was to hers.
“I promise.” As if she had any other option. No one had come when she’d screamed for help before, and she would not be able to make it to the door and out before he caught her.
Besides... as confusing and terrifying as this evening had turned out to be, a not-small part of her hungered for any answers he might possess. Answers she’d been too afraid to hope for all her life.
Marathin’s strong arms loosened their grasp and she quickly stepped away, spinning around so she could keep a watchful eye on him.
The lazy smile spreading over his face as he leaned against the wall told her that her mistrust was not particularly well-hidden.
She didn’t care.
“What are you going to do to me?” Selma stared into his coppery eyes and decadently handsome face, not bothering to keep the accusation out of her tone. “Are you just going to kidnap me from the hospital?”
He shook his head and folded his arms across his chest as he took in her stubborn, but frightened expression.
“Missing girls lead to investigations, and it’s crucial that we keep a presence in as many mental institutions as possible; Breeders are often sent here by ignorant humans.
You will remain in my care for the next ten days, and then I’ll sign off on your paperwork before transferring you to the governor’s house. ”
She gaped at him. “You expect me to keep quiet and just go willingly?” Demon or not, he must be insane.
The second she laid her eyes on another human being, she would be screaming for help.
He expected her to keep up pretenses of everything being all right for an entire week? Well, he had another think coming!
Something shifted in his eyes—something dark. Selma shrunk back from his suddenly threatening aura, any rebellious thoughts evaporating as he stared her down.
“That is exactly what I expect, Selma. Did you hope to rouse the humans to the fact that demons walk among them? Do not be foolish; they locked you in here for that very reason. Now, play along nicely and I will make your time in my care very pleasant. Fight me, and you will regret it.”