Taming the Queen of Beasts

If you like music while you read try "The Dark of You" by Breaking Benjamin. It's what I listened to while writing this scene!

*****

RIKA

Rika dry-heaved into the metal pail that the nurse held for her as the vehicle wobbled and rumbled forward. The lights of the little cars, trucks, whatever they were, were beginning to seem dimmer as the morning light began to crawl into the sky.

Between bouts of nausea, Rika's heart fluttered with nerves. The Portals would be closing within an hour and she still hadn't made any progress with the tech. Were Reth and Elia going to give themselves up, only to have their family slaughtered anyway?

At least the humans would be trapped here, she thought fatalistically as her body cramped and she heaved again. At least if they destroyed everything, they'd destroy themselves too.

"How is it possible that you came to Anima and got weaker?" Jerad muttered from the front cab. She could only barely hear his voice over the rumble of the engine below her. But her anger flared.

"I didn't get weaker, I got drugged," she said, coughing and spitting into the bucket. "That's on you." Him, and these awful cars. The fumes from the vehicles were half the reason she couldn't keep her stomach in place.

Jared huffed. She couldn't afford to look up and see if it was amusement or irritation.

"You were the one they held up as a shining example of the type of people nurtured in this program, you know," he said as if they were just having a conversation. "Yet, here you are, deep in the throes of Stockholm Syndrome, and throwing up your guts."

"I do not have Stockholm Syndrome," she snarled into the bucket. The nurse glanced at her sympathetically.

"Really? You want to see us come over here and coddle these creatures that will eat us as soon as look at us."

Rika pushed up on one elbow, shaking and trembling. "At least I'm not a sick, perverted asshole who takes pleasure in oppressing creatures just because I can!"

Jared hunched, then looked at her over his shoulder, and there was suddenly a glint in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. He glared at her, malice heavy in his gaze.

Clearly her blow had landed.

When he spoke, his voice was… harsher. Slipperier. "Do you want to see me oppress something, Rika? Because that can be arranged."

"Of course not. I'm saying you people are sick—"

"I know what you're saying."

The nurse shifted her weight to draw his attention, her eyes flaring with fear that Rika felt was unfounded for the circumstances. "She needs to rest and get this out of her system. If we have to move, we're going to need her on her feet, otherwise she'll be a burden instead of a help."

But her words apparently had the opposite effect. Instead of shutting his mouth and turning back to the front, Jared yanked the vehicle to a halt and climbed out of the driver's seat, crawling up into the bed of the truck with them.

The nurse stood up in front of him, between him and Rika, trying to look professional, but Rika saw her face pale. "She's unwell and not clear-headed, you can't expect her to—"

"She's clear-headed enough to insult me. And she's a traitor. You want to save lives? Then let this one go."

As the nurse protested, Rika gasped and pushed up, intending to flee. But she was pinned between their bodies on one side, and the high side of the truck on the other raised to stop whoever was on the cot from rolling off. Scrambling to her feet only gave him a chance to reach past the nurse and grab her elbow, yanking her back, his fingers digging painfully into her arm.

Rika was confused. He'd seemed quite calm and… moderate before. What had suddenly changed? Why was he staring at her like he wanted her dead? He'd said they knew she wasn't bonded—thank the Creator for that.

Rika's stomach churned, but she made herself face him, glaring into his red face.

"I wasn't being insulting. I was observing. I'm a scientist. It's what we do. And I observe that you think just because something is different to you, it's inferior," she snarled.

"Oh, no. Not at all. The exact opposite in fact. I've learned very clearly just how much stronger I can be when I let myself be… changed," Jared said, his eyes flashing with malicious glee.

Rika narrowed her eyes. "What are you saying."

"If you've fallen for these beasts, you know exactly what I'm saying."

"No, I really—" but she cut off. Because maybe she did?

The voices.

Was this how they'd gotten so many people through? Had all of these people given over? Was that what was going on here?

Rika stared between him and the nurse—who had lines at the sides of her mouth now and pained worry lines in her forehead.

"I… I don't know what you're saying…" Rika said uneasily. "I was just doing my job. Trying to live my life—"

"Fucking. Liar," he spat. Rika blinked at the venom in his tone.

What the heck was happening?

The nurse put a hesitant hand to his arm. "She's still a little foggy—"

"Bullshit," he snarled, yanking his arm out from under her grip, then nurse gasped and flinched and Rika suddenly understood. Her heart began to race. "She knows exactly what she's saying. And she needs to learn a lesson." His eyes flashed then—a promise of pleasure for himself, and the opposite for her

Rika's entire body went tight. Her skin shrank two sizes, and it was hard to breathe. This man… she wasn't just dealing with this man. She was dealing with evil—and he was promising to make the most of it. She shivered.

Then he ordered the nurse out of the vehicle.

The nurse discarded all attempts at hiding her own fear. "I should be here to monitor her vitals, she was heavily sedated—"

He leaned into her face and she made a small noise, flinching away from him.

Rika could barely breathe. Her pulse pounded in her ears, throbbed in her skin.

She looked around, pleading with the Creator for a place to flee, a way out of this horror, but while ranks of people, camels, and vehicles filed past and some looked at them, the only eyes that stayed on them were glinting with anticipation.

Everyone else turned away, averted their gazes, and pushed forward.

Jared shoved the nurse out of the truck bed and she tripped, stumbling to her hands and knees when she hit the dirt. Then he turned to the guy in the passenger seat, who hadn't said a word yet, and snarled, "Get us moving while I take care of this."

When his gaze snapped back to Rika, his pupils were huge and black… and something coiled with them.

Rika screamed and tried to run, but he only grabbed her arms, pinning them behind her back. As she struggled, snarling like an animal, fighting with every ounce of strength she possessed, her head screamed with panic and fear.

And when he forced her to the floor, or he'd break her shoulder, she let herself drop with a terrified and angry grunt. But as she was pinned to the now rumbling and rolling bed of the truck, from the corner of her eye she registered…

The nurse had left her command device on the floor and it had slid under the cot.

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