Chapter 5
Avery
I’ve been in absolute luxury for almost a week.
And what the demon told me about their men was on point.
They worship their women but consider them equals.
Wedding vows are sacred. They refer to each other as mates and believe some sort of cosmic force draws them to the one they’re meant to be with.
I don’t know about that, but I’m down for being worshipped.
“Guess I won’t be a virgin for very long after I get there,” I say aimlessly, taking a lengthy pull from my vape and exhaling a cloud. “Just need some hot guy to decide I’m the one he’s meant to be with. Hopefully, I’ll feel the same way about him, and I won’t end up with a stalker.”
I laugh at the idea and scroll through the archives on Utopia 64. The similarities to Earth are unsettling in a way. The demon mentioned Cosmic Influence. Maybe that’s what draws people on Utopia 64 to their mates.
Cosmic Influence led them to create Prejudice & Pride, which is almost exactly the same as Earth’s version, except Mr. Darcy is a vampire and Elizabeth is a vampire slayer.
The vampire slayer on Utopia 64. Elizabeth the Vampire Slayer has been running for twenty-nine seasons, and she’s even more of a badass than Buffy.
“At least I’ll have lots of new shows to binge while I wait for Mr. You’re-My-Mate to come along,” I say, continuing to scroll through the archives while I puff on my vape.
A noise draws my attention, and I glance at the door. I haven’t heard much since I’ve been in this room, and my door doesn’t open. I tried a few days ago because I was curious. But this noise sounds close, like it’s right outside.
A seam of light appears and I sit up. Is it Dr. Grix again?
Or the demon lady who helped me choose Utopia 64?
Maybe my transport is earlier than expected.
I could be living my best life on Utopia 64 in…
well, however long it takes to get there.
They didn’t tell me how long it would take once my transport arrived.
The door hisses as it opens and I see three enormous figures.
Almost as big as Dr. Grix, but they don’t have horns.
They step into my room with a purpose. They’re all covered in…
something. Some of it looks like blood, but there are other substances I’m unsure about.
A mixture of green, black, and red stains their armor and their weapons.
“Um, hi?” I say, feeling alarmed, especially when I see a dead body in the room across from mine. “Wait, what the fuck is this?”
They look like Vikings. Not much different from the ones I’ve seen in my textbooks at school and in movies, except the armor under their fur cloaks and loincloths is some sort of blue metal and their helmets don’t have horns.
Their weapons appear to be crafted from the same blue metal, and there are shimmering runes carved into them.
“Is she human?” the blond one asks, lowering his axe.
“Yes, brother,” another one says, removing his helmet, revealing thick red hair, braided like the beard that hangs from his chin.
“You’re coming with us,” the biggest one claims.
“Um, no, I’m not,” I say, quickly moving to the Provider. I need a weapon, because I don’t think these guys are with the Intergalactic Alliance. “Thirty-eight special! Like the one I had in my purse!”
The Provider hisses and a gun appears. I snatch it up and point at the Vikings, who haven’t made an aggressive move toward me yet. They’re looking at me like they’re in a trance. All three of them.
“Stay back!” I say, aiming the gun at them. “I don’t want to shoot you, but I will!”
“Shoot us? No, you’d never shoot your mates,” the blond one says, taking a step toward me. “You can feel it, can’t you? Surely, we’re not the only ones who feel this.”
I look back and forth between them, taking another step back. I do feel something. Something that makes me tingle with arousal, even though I’m scared. I’m not sure what it is, but I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.
“I’m warning you!” I say more loudly, aiming the gun directly at the blond Viking’s face. “One more step and…”
“And you’ll what?” he asks, ignoring my warning.
My hand trembles, and I try to squeeze the trigger, but I can’t. It’s like my finger won’t pull it. The blond Viking raises his axe, casually knocking the gun out of my hand, and my hand just continues to tremble, still outstretched.
“Soldiers are coming! We have to move!” the biggest one yells, and I hear heavy thudding, like multiple footsteps headed our way.
“Come on, we have to go,” the blond Viking says.
Before I know what is happening, he scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder. I land with a thud that nearly knocks the wind out of me. That seems to snap me back to reality. The reality where I’m being kidnapped by three strange men, who definitely aren’t with the Intergalactic Alliance.
“Let go of me! Put me down, you fucking brute!” I yell, pounding my fists on his back, but all I manage to do is hurt my hands.
“Stop struggling,” he growls, smacking my ass hard enough for me to cry out. “If you make this difficult, I’m going to spank you before I fuck you.”
“You’re not doing either of those things!” I scream, kick, and thrash, but he has no problem keeping me in place.
The red-haired Viking steps out of the room first, holding his shield up.
The biggest one follows, and they block the hallway as they duck behind their shields.
They let out a roar and rush down the hallway.
The Viking holding me is a lot more cautious.
He checks the hallway before running into it, but he’s moving in the opposite direction of the others.
“Help! Help!” I scream, watching as the Vikings decimate the soldiers in the hallway.
The soldiers look like Thek’lak, the alien who appeared on the television screen before I was rescued.
When one of them dies, the scream seems to pour out all the suckers on their tentacles.
And they’re no match for the Vikings. It’s a bloodbath, if that’s the green substance that spews out of them.
“My brothers can handle them,” the blond Viking says.
We pass by several open doors, but the people inside the rooms are dead. Two of them appear to be human, but the others have green skin. That’s all I can make out as we blow past them.
I have the worst seat imaginable. I watch every single soldier die, then the Vikings come rushing down the hallway toward us. As soon as we exit the hallway, I see stairs, then feel them as the blond Viking stomps his way up the flight. The other two follow closely, checking behind them as they do.
“We were supposed to get at least four!” the red-haired one says. “One for each of the royal families!”
“I know, brother,” the blond one grunts. “But we can’t risk it. If there are too many soldiers, we’ll never be able to fool them.”
“Well, this one is all ours,” the biggest Viking barks. “We’re not sharing her with anyone else.”
“Let go! Put me down!” I scream.
“Gag our mate,” the blond one orders. “She’ll draw their attention.”
The redheaded Viking grabs my hair, yanks my head back, and shoves something in my mouth.
I can’t tell what it is, but it tastes foul and the texture is similar to linen.
I try to spit it out, but he jams a finger in my mouth, which shoves it so deep into my throat I almost choke and can’t expel it.
I continue screaming, but now I’m gagged, so it’s muffled and garbled. The three Vikings stomp into a hallway once we’re at the top of the stairs. This floor is empty. Totally empty. There aren’t even any lights on, and the only thing that illuminates the way are the glowing runes on their weapons.
“Perfect,” the red-haired Viking mutters. “They’ll never find us here, as long as the keycard works.”
“Let’s find a room in the middle so we can hear them if there is any trouble,” the biggest one suggests.
They have a keycard covered in some sort of black substance. Blood, maybe. Whatever it is, it doesn’t stop the keycard from working. The door slides open and I’m carried inside.
The room is similar to mine before it was transformed into my childhood bedroom.
There’s a metal table in the middle. The walls are sterile white.
The floor is the same shade, but tiled. The one thing it has that mine didn’t is a window.
There’s a large pane on the wall to the right, and I can see the vastness of space on the other side.
“Put her on the table,” the red-haired Viking says. “It should still work.”
The blond Viking unshoulders me and drops me on the table.
I kick and scream into my gag, but he’s way too big for me to have a fighting chance.
He pushes my wrists against the table and metal fuses around them.
Thankfully, he doesn’t put me in the stirrups, but he still secures my ankles before he’s done.
“That should hold you,” he says, looking down at me. “You’re a feisty one. I like that. Means our children will be strong warriors.”
Children? Oh, god. What in the hell are they going to do to me? The worst part is that I feel another tingle of arousal. A strange warmth in my core.
“I’m going to engage the autopilot,” the blond Viking says. “Let’s see if they fall for the bait.”
“They will,” the red-haired Viking says. “It’s what we do. Pillage, plunder, and get the fuck out. They’ll have no reason to suspect we’re still here.”
“Do it,” the biggest one urges. “Then we can spend some time getting to know our mate.”
I don’t have the best angle, but I cock my head to see what they’re looking at as they walk to the window. The blond Viking pulls a device out of his bloodstained cloak that doesn’t look much different from a smartphone where I’m from. He taps the screen a few times and then lowers his hand.
A few seconds later, some sort of spaceship zooms into view, headed away from us. It doesn’t get far before several red lasers streak toward it. The first laser causes the rear to spin, and when the second one hits it, it explodes in a fireball.
“And now, they think the Vikings have been dealt with,” the red-haired Viking smirks. “Told you my plan would work.”
“So far,” the biggest one grunts. “Except we still have to find a ship and get the fuck out of here once the heat dies down.”
“In a few days, it’ll be business as usual around here,” the red-haired Viking says. “Well, except for this floor. This one has been abandoned since the plasma leak and since this is an older, isolated refugee station, they have no plans to repair it. Easier to build a new one.”
“Which gives us plenty of time to enjoy our prize,” the blond says, turning to face me and removing his helmet. “A shame we only got one human, but this one is special.”
“Very special,” the red-haired one smiles. “She’s not just a viable mate, she’s our mate. I can feel it. It’s like the legends say. I didn’t believe they were true.”
These aren’t just Vikings. There’s something else.
I can sense it now. Some kind of primal hunger lies beneath the surface.
That seems to be what my body is reacting to.
But what is it? Why do I feel a strange pull toward them?
They said I’m not just a viable mate, but their mate.
Is this what I was reading about when researching Utopia 64?
Except instead of a nice man who will worship me, I’ve been kidnapped by three Viking space pirates.