Chapter 176: The Cost of Being A Lesser Species
I stared at the body on the table, marveling over the strength that she must have in order to be able to survive all of that. I knew from experience that they didn’t exactly do anything to numb the pain as they took stuff out of you.
"You know you are going to die, right?" I asked with a sigh, turning my attention back to the Sisalik scientist, who looked like he was fractions away from wetting himself. His attention jumped from me back to the males behind me. Midnight was standing in the door frame, his arms crossed against his massive chest. However, GA and Da’kea were inside the room on either side of me.
Ye’tab remained invisible, but I assumed that he had a reason for that as well.
"Why should I die?" stuttered the lizard, a stunned look on his face. "What have I done to deserve death?"
I raised my eyebrow at his question and looked down at the table beside him.
His eyes followed mine to the naked woman lying there helpless, and he let out a snort of disbelief. "This female is nothing more than a lesser species, one that must be studied extensively for the betterment of all species. Do you realize that she has almost 400 eggs inside of her? She loses one each month. EACH MONTH!" he practically screamed, and I could see the woman flinching in terror. "That is almost 400 offspring that she alone can produce. There would no longer be a population crisis if a single female could do that. Her eggs are worth billions!"
And that was the crux of the matter. How valuable, monetary-wise, we can be to others.
I let out a chuckle and removed my armor. I would still be completely protected from any type of attack between my earrings and bulletproof clothing, so I wasn’t overly worried. But I wanted the scientist to see exactly who he was talking to... and who would be ending his life.
"Lesser species?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I took a step toward the lizard. "Hardly." I watched as his entire body started vibrating in fear. In fact, it was so bad he managed to drop the smaller laser blaster he was holding. It clattered harmlessly to the ground and slid under the table that the human woman was lying on.
"I am pretty sure that not a single one of you would be able to survive most of your organs being removed from your body while you were awake, but let’s try it, shall we? I am much better with bones than I am with flesh, but I do remember dissecting a frog in high school. Couldn’t be that much different."
With slow, measured steps, I approached the scientist, who was frantically looking around for some weapon or another. "Don’t—don’t come any closer!" he shouted, the panic in his voice like the sound of sweet music to me. He took a step backward, only to fall over... nothing.
"Keep him there," I said, knowing that nothing was probably Ye’tab. I didn’t want the hunter to kill my prey, but I would take his help. "And make sure that he is still living by the time I get back to him."
With the giant lizard out of my way, I turned to the woman on the table. Her blue eyes looked up at me, the fear leaching out of her eyes at the sight of me. I ran my fingers through her soft, blond hair, and she let out a sigh of contentment.
"Will she be okay?" asked Da’kea, coming up beside me. The woman turned to look at him before turning her attention back to me. She nodded her head, and I heard a sigh of relief coming from the male beside me. "That is a relief."
"What is?" I asked, my fingers once again going through her hair. Moving my hand down, I stroked her cheek, stained with countless tears.
"That she will be okay."
I paused my actions to look at the idiot beside me, and once again, the human nodded her head.
Letting out a sigh, I turned to GA. "Can you find a way to remove the shackles around her wrists and ankles?" He grunted and went to work, studying the system.
"Here, you watch him. I’ll get her released," said Ye’tab from where he was standing over the lizard, one foot on his chest. Once again, GA grunted and walked over to the other male. Within seconds of Ye’tab on the controls, the cuffs were removed, and the woman could move her arms.
She lifted the one closest to me, and I perched on the bed beside her. She lowered her arm into my lap and closed her eyes, fresh tears falling out of her eyes. I sat there impassively, my fingers moving from her hair to her arm, tracing all around the cuts and bruises.
"She is not going to be okay," I said, looking at the Elder. He wanted to be exposed to this, and so I would. "Could she live? Probably. They left her with the bare minimum to ensure life. But what life would she actually have?"
"We could return the organs to her," suggested Da’kea, and I could feel the woman trembling. "If they took them out, they could be returned."
"No," I said concisely, still caressing her skin. I felt the tension leave her at my words, and I knew that I had read her right. She was exactly like me. Strong enough to not give in to her captures but not wanting the pain to continue either.
"No?" asked Da’kea, turning his full attention to the woman on the table. To her credit, she didn’t flinch or move under his gaze. If anything, she turned her head to stare back at the impressive male. With very slow movements, she shook her head.
"No." I gently lifted her arm before I stood up. Placing it back down on the table beside her body, I gently kissed her forehead and stroked her hair some more. "I will destroy them all," I promised her, just like I promised the other woman. Her eyes captured mine, the fury and vengeance in them calling to mine.
"I will make them hurt," I continued, watching approval flicker in her eyes. "I will destroy the Alliance and the lizards. Did you want to watch?" I asked. Ever so slowly, she nodded her head, a twisted smile appearing on her face. "Then you shall."
I turned my attention back to the lizard scientist lying on the floor, letting the rage simmering under my skin come to the surface. However, when I took a step toward the being that would experience all the pain and misery that he had dished out on a helpless human, a hand shot out to stop me.
Tracing the hand to the arm and then to the being, I watched as panic took over the woman’s eyes. Her hand trembled as it gripped me. I could easily break her hold, but I wasn’t going to. I understood.
"Midnight," I called, never taking my eyes off her. The panic started to recede when she realized that I wasn’t going to leave her. "Could you hold her for me?"
Midnight looked at me surprised, as if he never expected me to ask him to hold another female. And, given normal circumstances, I never would. However, this was not a normal circumstance, and she was no threat.
"At our core, we are pack animals," I said slowly, turning back to the woman. "Well, herd animals. We need to be touched, especially when we are scared or in pain." The woman nodded her head, giving permission for Midnight to pick her up.
I looked at my mate, willing him to understand. I knew that he couldn’t entirely, but I didn’t know how to explain it to him. "To be deprived of touch is considered a form of torture to us. And I don’t think that she has experienced a touch that did not bring pain in a long time."
Midnight nodded his head and turned his attention to the human, a smile on his face. "Come, little human. Let’s watch as my mate dishes out a much-deserved punishment," he said in English, and I watched the woman relax that much more.
She was so weak that she couldn’t do anything more than move her head, but Midnight didn’t mind. He gently placed one hand under her shoulders and another one under her knees and slowly lifted her off of the cold surface and up to his chest.
She buried her face in his armor, enjoying the heat. I wished that there were furs within easy reach, something to cover her with, to give her some dignity, but I knew that there would be nothing.
I studied her face as Ye’tab walked over to GA. The two males easily lifted up the lizard and placed him on the table covered in blood and bodily fluids from the woman. GA placed a hand on the lizard’s chest as he started to frantically thrash around. Da’kea walked closer to the table and clamped down on the legs so that Ye’tab could secure the male to the table.
