by J. S. Wilder
“You’re vital to the future of all Tryns and the destruction of Renjerians.” He laughed, pointing his chin up to the roof. “And if you think your spies above us can stop me, look again.”
Unable to stop herself, she glanced up. One of the Renjerians was fighting a horde of black devils. The demon dragged her down the alley toward a break in the wall. After he pushed her through, she searched the rooftops for someone else to help her, but another Renjerian lay lifeless and bleeding. Small demons jumping up and down on his body.
Bile scorched her throat. This was supposed to be a rescue mission, now it was a suicide one.
Chapter 29
Megan
“Come with me.” The Tryn yanked her arm, twisting it at an angle that shot pain up into her shoulder. “We’ve been waiting for one fertile female such as you.”
Megan jerked back to get out of the monster’s grip but he didn’t even flinch as he dragged her down the street. “Help! Help me!”
“Scream all you want but I’ve cloaked us from human eyes and ears.” He smiled, his black teeth glistening with saliva.
Of course. Humans seeing a seven-foot-tall demon would be flashed on the news all over the world.
“Where are you taking me?” And please let it be to where Levx and the triplets are.
The creature looked her up and down, making her skin crawl. “Somewhere we can do experiments without fear of fumbling mortals walking in on us.”
She needed to leave a trail for any Renjerians still alive or around to follow. But she couldn’t make it obvious either to the Tryn what she was doing or he might send his mini-minions to kill them too. With the Tryn yanking on her arm, she couldn’t tear off fragments of her clothes, hoping that was enough for the dragons to pick up on her scent. And if she pulled out her hair to leave a trail, the strands could blow away.
Her scent. Renjerians could smell almost as well as the demons. It was worth a shot.
“No, no, I won’t go anywhere with you.” She grabbed onto a streetlight and hung on. “Let me go.”
He didn’t answer her, just tugged her forcefully off the pole. Then she snagged a mailbox, pressing as much of her body to it as she could.
“I won’t tell anyone about this. Just let me go.”
Again, he yanked her away. He pulled her away from a meter she was going after. At the next light, she dove for the bus stop sign.
“Please—”
He backhanded her. Her cheek throbbing and when she lifted a shaky hand to it, blood coated her palm. Quickly, she pressed the bloody print onto the cement.
“Enough of this tantrum. You are my prisoner and you will do what I say.” He leaned down into her face, his breath choking her. “Understood?”
“Yes, sir.” She had to find Levx and the others.
Without another word, he yanked her upright and they walked toward an abandoned building. Each step brought more and more dread pulsing in her veins. The urgency to flee…to get the hell out of her intensified.
Her stomach tightened. Maybe this was a mistake. What if no Renjerian was around to follow and help her? How could she save herself against monsters?
“The launchpad is inside, hurry up.” He released her arm and shoved her forward.
Launchpad? Oh god, they were going to leave Earth? Panic formed a lump in her throat and her heart pounced against her chest.
He pushed her toward a concrete circle inside the empty, dusty warehouse. No spaceship in sight. Thank goodness. Just concrete littered with graffiti and broken windows.
“Stand in the center,” he ordered.
“Why do you want me if I’m just a mere human who is carrying a half-blood baby?” She lifted her chin, stalling his plan.
He shrugged. “You’re carrying three girls. We can use them to eradicate our weaknesses from Renjerian fire in addition to ensuring no other females or even half-blood Renjerians remain alive. Then we can work on the males becoming infertile too. Now get on the launch pad.”
Triplets? Were multiple births common on Levx’s planet? How was she going to care for three lives besides her own…if she got out of this alive?
“Do as I say. Get on the circle.” He narrowed his eyes.
What if this was a mistake? What if this was a different demon and didn’t know where Levx and the others were? And wouldn’t any of the Renjerians who had come to help her be here by now? When she hesitated, he growled and twisted her arm, moving her to the spot forcefully.
She winced in pain but refused to cry out. This dude…demon was all about power and letting him think he had it when the time was right might buy her an advantage. She’d need every resource she could to get out of this alive.
When both of them at the circle’s center, a white light lit up out of nowhere. Then a feeling of being sucked up in a vacuum stole the air from her lungs.
On a black floor, she landed on her hands and knees, gasping for air. Lights flashed across an instrument panel and stars danced outside a small window.
She licked her lips, terror racing through her. They were on a spaceship and what if this wasn’t where Levx and the others were? What if this demon was taking her somewhere different? Another planet?
“W-Where are we?” she asked.
He didn’t answer but hit some buttons on a few of the machines. A door slid open behind her and two more seven-foot-tall demons burst inside.
“Take her below deck and lock her up. Don’t harm the babies though.”
They grunted in response. Pain swelled in her chest, her throat closing on a scream as they picked her up and hauled her from the deck. Down a dark corridor that she was sure was the passage to hell, she screamed and twisted. Did everything she could to get away. Her cries, kicks, and curses did nothing to faze them.
“Let me go, bastards!” Her throat was raw.
Into a dark cell that seemed to be made of polish black marble, they tossed her. She slid on her side across the floor. But by the time she scrambled to her feet and rushed toward the opening, it whooshed closed. It was so black that she couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face.
She felt along the smooth surfaces for an opening, a lock, anything. Coldness seeped into her soul.
“Hello?” she shouted, hoping against hope that this was a huge ship and Levx and the others were here in the brig with her somewhere. “Is anyone there? Please.”
No answer. Her legs wobbled beneath her. She plopped down on the smooth floor, drawing her knees up to her chest. What had she done? She’d gotten herself pregnant to chase down demons in the hope of rescuing everyone. But if what the demon had said was correct, her pregnancy would be the reason why the Renjerians were wiped out for good.
Chapter 30
Megan
Later, the black doors slide open and Megan squinted against the artificial light spilling into her prison. She hadn’t worked out how to escape the spaceship but she vowed she wouldn’t stop trying.
“Come.” The larger of the two Tryns gestured. Both wore leather breechcloths that blended in with their furry hides.
She shivered. Even if she made it through this, she’d have nightmares of these grotesque demons forever. “Where are you taking me?”
“To the directing chamber,” the smaller one growled.
“No!” She backpedaled, pushing against their hold but they hauled her forward down the hallway like she was a mere child. “Let me go, please.”
They took her into a huge room with several operating tables. Some still had blood and gore coated across their surface. She turned away, dry-heaving.
The demon took her towards an empty table that had a white cloth covering the top. “Up.”
She shook her head, her stomach rolling. What if Levx had been in here? Was any of this blood on the other tables his? She had to get out of here. This had been a mistake to hope that these monsters hadn’t killed him and everyone they touched.
“Don’t make me put you up there, I might accidentally break your leg.” He
smirked.
“No!” She bolted for the door, only to slide in a puddle of gore and crash to the floor. Her fall knocked over a tray and medical equipment flew everywhere.
Next to her knee, a sharp scalpel-looking instrument. Quickly, she tucked it into the hem of her jeans. She couldn’t take on two giants right now.
“Stupid human!” The demon snatched her up by the back of her neck and shook her.
She kicked, screaming, praying her only weapon wouldn’t be discovered.
With a grunt, he threw her toward the previous table. “On.”
Swallowing the acid burning the back of her throat, she climbed up. Let them think she was going to do everything they wished and when the time was right, she’d flee. Figure out how to get off this damn spaceship or send out a homing beacon…something. The blade still with her and she took comfort in its presence. No longer was she defenseless but she needed to wait until the right time to strike.
A third demon limped into the room, its long forked tail dragging behind it. This one with an apron covered with more blood than a butcher's. It was smaller than the other two but larger than the minions. The leather wings on its back were misshapen and bent.
“What’s going on? What are you going to do to me?” she asked not really expecting an answer but maybe she could throw this demon off guard and the two large ones needed to leave.
The demon looming over her inhaled sharply. “Three half-blood Renjerian girls. Just like you said, Craxlitek, well done.”
Unease spread through her. Levx’s father had said something about fewer babes being born to their race because their females were barren…did that also mean that the children they did have had been males…and her having three girls would help Levx and his people figure out a cure?
If yes, then why didn’t the demons just kill her? Unless they wanted to ensure that an accident of her getting pregnant with girls never happened again—to her or anyone. Tweak whatever they’d done to the Renjerians to make both the females and males infertile.
Her throat tightened at the thought. No wonder Levx and his people were desperate. How much more would she have been if she were in their place? She’d do whatever she could, including lie, cheat and kill, in order to continue her legacy much less if their whole people were dying out because of these monsters.
“Tie her down,” the smaller demon instructed.
“No, please.” She wrestled against the two larger demons’ grip but they tied her wrists and ankles to the table with leather straps.
“You may leave.” The demon nodded to the others. “Once I’m finished, I will call for you.”
Both large demons left and a broken sigh escaped Megan’s lips. If she wasn’t tied down, she’d use her weapon and get out of this room, find any survivors, then figure out how to beam herself back to Earth.
This creature wouldn’t care about hurting her or anyone and she was done with trying to plead for her life with devils that only set out to destroy. “If you’re going to kill me, then do it.”
“That will come in time, human.” The demon smiled, its black fangs glistening in the spaceship’s lights. “First we have to prep you, increase the development rate of your fetuses, then implant the Tryns’ eggs until your body erupts from their birth.”
“Eggs?” Nausea crashed into her.
“Yes. Millions.” The demon opened a cabinet along the wall, pulling out vials.
No doubt these newly emerged demons would be sent to Earth to seek and destroy all Renjerians. And what then? Would they be satisfied with that or would they turn on humans next? “What about the babies…my babies?”
“They will be absorbed into the larva.”
Grief she’d never known before strangled her and she couldn’t take in deep enough breaths. “Your kind are nothing but monsters. What did the Renjerians ever do to you?”
The demon spun, its face hardening. “They prevented us from destroying your kind long ago. But fate has its irony in that through you, we will have our revenge. No one stands against us and lives.”
Talk about an ego problem. Okay. She’d dealt with people like this before. This was no different except this was a demonic alien that was out to destroy everyone. Easy. “Your people are much more advanced than the Renjerians. Spaceships and medical examination rooms?” She forced her voice to stop shaking as best she could. “And millions of offspring with a single birth? That’s amazing.”
The creature straightened as if preening but didn’t stop pulling the medicine from the cabinet.
“I-I’ve never been pregnant before.” She bit her lip. “Do you think it’s possible for me to see my babies? I mean before the millions of eggs get in the way? My mom always wanted grandchildren but she died—”
“I don’t care about your human parents or past or anything about you.” The demon snapped a bottle down on the silver tray.
“Sorry. You’re right. Do you have any family? Will the eggs be considered your children or do you even have that?”
“Whatever you’re trying, human, it won’t work.” The demon hummed an eerie tune as it faced away from Megan, mixing the vials into a larger one.
Slowly, Megan shifted side-to-side on the table to loosen the scalpel tucked in her jeans. All the while she moved, her gaze kept darting to the creature. Any moment now the monster would turn and see what Megan was up to. She had to distract it.
“How do you know this will work? What if your medicine kills me and my babies?”
Even though she was newly pregnant, these girls were hers and Levx’s and no way in hell was she going to give up without a fight.
“Then you die and we move onto the next human woman capable of bearing Renjerians.” Its voice was cold and unemotional.
The tip of the blade cut into her stomach but Megan kept squirming. A few more seconds and it would be on the table. Then she used her body to scoot it to her hand.
As the metal hit the table, Megan coughed as loud as she could, quickly covering the knife with her torso.
“What was that noise?” The demon spun and marched to her.
“Sorry, I had to—”
The demon raked its claws down her arm. Megan screamed. Felt like razor blades, sharp and stinging.
“Tell me what that metal sound was.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
This time the demon slashed her leg, ripping through her legs to the flesh beneath. But Megan gritted her teeth rather than scream.
“No matter, I will find it.” The demon wrenched her body to the side and reached for the scalpel. “There!”
Megan pushed her back down as hard as she could, pinning the blade and the demon’s hand.
“Move!” It tugged against her. When she didn't budge, the demon leaned over to yank the scalpel-free.
No! Megan lifted her head and bit the demon’s ear. Foul blood gushed into her mouth. The demon bellowed, stumbling backward.
Megan spat out the blood. Her throat convulsing on the taste like gasoline. Despite her gagging, she bumped the scalpel as quick as possible toward her hand. Her heart hammered in her chest.
She could do this. She had to do this.
The demon howled, rushing to the cabinet and grabbing what looked like a type of gauze. “I will kill you for that!”
The blade slipped past her hand, barely out of her reach. Her fingertips grazed the tip but she couldn't get enough leverage to bring it closer.
Suddenly the demon stood beside her. It snatched the scalpel.
“No!” Megan cried out, despair choking her.
“Let's see how you like this.” The demon sliced the knife down her cheek. “When the Tryn larva erupts from your body, I will cut off your ear and wear it as a trophy.”
With a growl, the demon tossed the scalpel away and with it Megan's hope of escape.
“Drink or I will tear out your tongue.” It shoved a foul-smelling liquid toward her mouth.
Megan clamped her mouth shut.
A gasp whooshed out of her mouth and the demon dumped the medicine into her open mouth, choking her. When she tried to spit out the conception, the demon clamped its furry hand over her mouth and nose, gagging her.
She gulped down the fluid, coughing and gagging.
“There. First step is complete. I’ll return in a few hours for the implantation process.”
The demon left Megan strapped to the table. Her body convulsing and her heart breaking. She’d failed.
Chapter 31
Megan
Her entire body felt as if it was on fire from the inside and slowly cooking her alive. The operating table beneath her was slick with her sweat as she writhed about.
Whatever the demon had poured down her throat was turning her inside out. Was it the Tryns’ eggs? She turned to the side and vomited again. Didn’t matter how much she did that, her stomach made more yet never seemed to get the poison out. No, the foul concoction the demon forced in her burrowed into every muscle, bone, and organ she had.
She’d thought she could save Levx and his people but she couldn’t even help herself. And now thanks to her, even if he were alive, the Tryns were going to use her body to make some kind of super-species demon. Levx and his people wouldn’t have a chance. Then the devils would turn on humans and wipe out Earth as well.
What if all of this was for nothing? What if Levx and the others were already dead? Her chest hurt thinking of that scenario. Yet, even if she had stayed away it would be only a matter of time before these demons found someone else to use to destroy everyone.
The least Megan could do was try to get out of here. Leap into outer space and slow the process of them harvesting their creation.
She tugged on the leather restraints holding her wrists. With her body covered in sweat, one of the locks stretched slightly. Again and again, she jerked and twisted her hand. The bone in her thumb snapped out of socket.
