Chapter 49
Scarlet
Scarlet’s mind fought hard against whatever drug was pumping through her system. Her racing heart, still on high alert despite the sedative, pushed it quickly through her veins, as though it were trying to burn it off through sheer pumping power.
There was no moment of disorientation. She remembered exactly what led her here. Her body still refused to move, but her mind clawed its way out of the mire of unconsciousness, hard and determined to break free of the bindings that were keeping her down.
And there were literal bindings. She could feel them on her wrists and ankles. Strapping her to something not quite soft enough to disguise the hardness underneath in a spread-eagle position that left her too vulnerable for comfort.
When she was finally able to move, she felt glass shards digging into her back. The harsh pain was a welcome relief as it seemed to help clear the haze faster.
She needed to wake up. Needed to find out what was going on. The unknown was almost as bad as the knowledge that she was kidnapped and now spread-eagle on something soft – and that was never a good combination.
There was movement around her, but her ears didn’t seem quite able to localize or identify the myriad of sounds. Shuffling. Low voices. Ripping followed by coldness against her flesh.
Someone was cutting off her clothes.
That realization brought back a bit more of her strength and she began to struggle. Slowly and sluggishly, not even disturbing the person doing the cutting, but she was moving. The glass dug further into her skin. She welcomed the pain as a point of focus.
Her eyes opened only under protest, and not quite evenly either. It took her many seconds to try to focus them.
That creature was above her. Their weird, tub shaped body taking up the entirety of her foggy, fuzzy vision. They weren’t all black now though. They were gray. Their suit was off.
As the effects of the drug continued to fade, as her body was stripped bare and her adrenaline rushed from the fear, they slowly came into focus.
A face. Black eyes. Black horns Mohawk style hair down to her shoulders just a few shades darker than the dusky gray of her skin.
Familiar.
Horribly familiar.
It wasn’t a tub shaped body.
It was wings that had been cupped together and hid inside a suit stretched over them, completely distorting her natural body shape.
Danya had her normal, pleasant smile on her face as she tossed Scarlet’s clothes away. The knife she used was still stained blue with Haviss’ blood.
Haviss. Scarlet’s heart hurt as she thought of the old male.
“Why?” She mumbled, the single word weak and slurred.
But still strong enough to catch Danya’s attention. The winged female looked up from her task and beamed like she was happy to see her.
“Oh, good! You’re awake. I was worried that you might sleep through this. It’s a momentous occasion and I’d hate for you to miss it.”
“Wh… Wha… you…” Scarlet’s tongue was too fat and slow in her mouth to form proper words, but Danya didn’t seem to need them.
“It’s okay,” she said, putting a finger to Scarlet’s lips to silence her. “Don’t be afraid. You’re safe. You’re going to be very well taken care of.”
Scarlet struggled harder, but the manacles binding her in place were completely immobile. She didn’t know exactly what they were, but they weren’t chains or rope or leather. There was absolutely no give to them whatsoever.
“Careful. Your skin is so thin. You’ll cut it,” Danya purred, running her hand down Scarlet’s body, taking a second to massage her breast. “So soft…”
The touch was unwelcome, but, strangely, not sexual. And that almost made it worse. The fascination was like Scarlet was a subject under a microscope being dissected. Not even during her actual alien abduction had she been treated like an object and not a sapient being.
“I’m so envious,” Danya beamed at her. “I wanted a nestling so badly. I would have done anything. I have done everything. But my womb remains empty.”
“Danya!” A sharp voice barked from the door.
Scarlet’s head turned to find that Svit had walked into the spartan, undecorated room. There was nothing inside but the plain cot Scarlet was tied to. Not even a window.
“I wasn’t doing anything,” Danya pouted, tossing the long, stained knife onto the bed. It was inches from Scarlet, and she couldn’t even move to grab it.
“You’re supposed to be preparing her. Not chatting with her.” Svit looked down on Scarlet, wings rustling, lip curling in disgust. “You really are just the sluttiest thing I’ve ever seen. Your body is practically obscene.”
“Maybe you should cover it up then,” Scarlet spit back, some of the heat deadened by the fact that her words were still sluggish and slurred.
“Unfortunately,” she sniffed, looking away, “Crav was insistent. His cock hardens from looking at you, and we need him excited if he is to breed you.”
Scarlet was not surprised and somehow still horrified to hear about the reason she had been tied, spread-eagle, naked to a bed.
“Why?” She breathed, closing her eyes. Trying to ignore the reality around her.
“Because we cannot.” Svit’s jaw tightened, her entire expression pinched at the admission. “Birth rates among my people have begun declining. It is not womb rot. It is not a sickness we can find. Females just aren’t born as often, and our wombs are stubbornly barren. And we do not know why!”
The last was said on a hiss of frustration. Her wings nearly expanded fully, one even striking against the wall before she pulled them back. Her entire body shaking with anger.
“It’s all right, Svit,” Danya said sweetly. “Scarlet is going to give Crav nestlings for us. She’ll breed true and we’ll claim her younglings, and everyone will be happy.”
Danya had to be delusional. Scarlet was even questioning her intelligence until Danya looked down at her and the joyful malice in her eyes made her shiver.
“I want to see him hurt you,” she said, chuckling. “I hope he hurts you the way he hurts Svit and I. It’s so incredibly… stimulating. If he hurts you enough, I might even release an egg or two. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“Silence, Danya,” Svit snapped at her again as Scarlet shivered under her evil gaze. “You are as much a failure as myself. You know you won’t make any eggs. That is what she is for.”
“That’s not happening,” Scarlet hissed, renewing her struggle. She could feel the last vestiges of the drug finally slipping away. The words even sounded like they were separated again.
“You’ve no choice.” Svit gave her a look that was alarming in its lack of feeling. “Humans aren’t protected yet. Crav hasn’t signed the law. Your planet hasn’t accepted its protectorate status. There’s nothing saying we can’t put our nestlings inside you.”
“You don’t even know if you can!”
“Worth a try.” She shrugged like Scarlet’s rape was inconsequential. “Danya, rub her down with that scented lotion Crav likes. We want him excited when he gets here.”
“Gladly.” Danya beamed, downright perky at the idea. She practically skipped from the room leaving Scarlet and Svit alone together.
“Why?” Scarlet demanded to know, glaring at her. “He has two mates! Let him try to get babies off of you!”
“You think he hasn’t?” Svit blew out a short, frustrated breath.
“Things being what they are on my planet, males are lucky to take even a single female as a mate. The only reason Crav has two is because of his position. My family is prolific, so he thought for sure I would be too. It was my eternal shame when I failed him. It hurt when he decided to take Danya as his second mate. But it was no more than I deserved.”
“That is not true!” Scarlet snapped. “You aren’t at fault for that! He’s the greedy one for taking a second mate when most don’t even get one. He’s the selfish one for hurting you like this. Why are you trying to give him yet another female?”
“Because I am mate locked, and his misery is mine.” She held her head high. “I tolerate Danya. Just as I will tolerate when he mate locks you. He has promised that the first nestling from your body shall be mine. I will take my happiness from that.”
Scarlet could think of nothing to say. A hundred different reasons why that was insane were flitting so fast through her mind, she couldn’t decide on a single one to point out.
Before she could pick, Danya was back with a sweet, floral smelling cream. She was humming as she began to rub it into Scarlet’s skin. The moisture that cooled in the air only served to highlight to her mind that she was naked.
She clenched her teeth, staring resolutely upward as Svit directed Danya’s hands.
Havali would come for her.
He would.
She just had to be strong until then.
***
She was alone now. And she was having one of those moments again.
That strange moment of disconnect. Of disbelief. And for once, she was glad for it.
It helped keep her from screaming and panicking as Danya finished rubbing lotion into every part of her body – including private areas that left Scarlet fighting back tears of violation.
No amount of dissociation could prevent her from noticing that.
At least Danya hadn’t lingered. She finished her task, then the two of them left.
The windowless room was oppressively silent. The only sound was the relentless pounding of her heart in her chest. The horribly loud way her throat worked every time she swallowed. She was stuck in an absolutely silent room, and it was going to drive her mad.
They were already going to rape her and steal her babies. The psychological torture felt like overkill, to be frank.
That thought was actually rather soothing. It meant that her sense of humor was still intact and that she hadn’t lost her mind.
With no way to track time and no idea when Crav would be coming by to enjoy his new pet human, Scarlet entertained herself by pulling relentlessly on the bindings that kept her to the bed.
The thick metal rings around her wrists and ankles didn’t seem to be connected to anything, but they were completely immobile.
No matter how hard she thrashed, jerked, or pulled, she couldn’t move them even a single inch. Her limbs were fully mobile within them. She could twist and they weren’t cutting off blood supply, but they weren’t loose, and she couldn’t pull free.
Not that she gave up trying.
Desperation made it possible to ignore the pain bombarding her mind as she not only drove the glass deeper into her back, but she ripped the skin of her wrists and ankles.
The metal cut into her flesh, stubbornly refusing to be moved from its position.
The warmth of her blood actually made her pull harder, hoping that it might make her slippery.
It kind of did. But not enough to actually help her pry herself free.
She didn’t give up until the door opened again.
This time, Crav led a silent Svit and Danya inside. The former still had that resigned, dutiful expression on her upturned face while Danya looked downright gleeful. She was so excited, her wings kept trying to expand.
She wasn’t the only one either.
The moment Crav caught sight of her nude body spread out before him, he smiled, his entire face lighting up like a kid seeing their present under the tree. He actually licked his lips, the disgusting fucker.
“You are even more beautiful when you’re bare,” he said, stalking forward slowly.