Page 235 of Mated to Monsters

Pushing that thought away, I walk deep into my room. “Come here!” I bark, standing before my changing area.

My servants rush in, sure-footed after half a century without their sight. They’re small, diligent zonaks, and they didn’t even protest when I permanently blinded them. It was a small price for them to pay for their lives, after all.

I couldn’t have servants that could see me, of course. I can’t stay in my robes all the time. This was the only option left to me, but they’ve grown used to it.

I stand on the raised platform as they peel away my robes and armor, changing me into something more comfortable. I’ve decided to return to my rooms for the night.

Before I can relax, though, I have to handle what may very well be futile business.

“Is it time, sir?” my most diligent servant, Ar’geg, asks.

I turn away from them as they put the robes and armor away. “Yes. Bring me the usual.”

This is something else I’ve grown used to. I am a warrior, a fighter, and I will do whatever it takes to survive. But this aspect of my life took some adjustment at first. I never shied away from it, of course, but I know other demons shudder when they assume what I do with the women delivered to my rooms.

As Ar’geg skitters toward the servant entrance to go collect my latest request, a thought occurs to me.

“This time,” I say, and he pauses, twisting his head to listen to me. “I want it a little different.”

“How so?”

Gods, I hope this works. “Pick a strong fare, something unlike what you normally select for me.”

Ar’geg remains frozen, waiting for further instruction, and it sets me on edge. Drar'ran, another one of my servants, rocks nervously from foot to foot. “Sir…”

I sigh. I truly must do everything myself. “Bring me the strongest woman you can find!” I snap. Why can’t I be surrounded by competent demons? I swear a group of ur’gin would be better than this lot sometimes. “And do it fast! I want her now!”

They scurry to fulfill my demand, rushing out of the servants entrance at a speed that I could have appreciated. If our lives didn’t all depend on it.

If I realized anything today, it’s that the souls of the meek aren’t cutting it anymore.

140

SIARA

Cold stone bites into my back, but, instead of shifting away from it, I lean into it. It’s grounding, almost like the pain reminds me that this is not a nightmare. I am not dreaming – I doubt I have the imagination to make up the torturous dungeons I’ve found myself in.

And I am not wholly convinced that I am not in the afterlife. Though if I am, I know that I must be in Glacies. The frozen, barren landscape plunged in eternal darkness is the only thing that can bring fear to the dark elves.

Those descriptors seem to check all the boxes of my surroundings right now.

Casting my eyes around the cage, I take in the faces of the other women. Some of their names I don’t even know. Here, whether this be Protheka, another planet, or the afterlife holding cell, the women come and go frequently.

I used to wonder where they went, why some came back but others didn’t. Some women say they shuffle us around between cells to keep us from forming alliances. I don’t know why they would. Most of these girls are scared of their own shadows at this point.

Like the blonde in the corner. I see her stir, the first time she’s moved since they dumped her in here. Not that she’s been unconscious. I honestly think she’s too afraid to sleep.

No, like most girls that get brought in here, she was too scared to move. She wouldn’t eat or drink. Sometimes I’m not sure if it’s because they fear what is in the provisions, or if they’d rather succumb to the terror slowly consuming them than keep living.

I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.

I shift forward. Someone needs to help the new girl, and the lot in here show no indication of teaching her the way we do things here. I doubt any of the guard rotations and food – if you can call it that – deliveries are the same, and knowing the schedule will help her hold onto her sanity.

And I want to see how much of it she still has. Sometimes they are so far gone they can’t register what’s around them. That’s when it gets dangerous for the rest of us.

Once they dumped a very frail girl in here in the dead of the night. She looked almost gone, she was so small and bruised. I went to help her, but the second I leaned over her, she latched onto my throat with a strength I didn’t expect her to possess.

I’m lucky that I’ve provided enough guidance to the other woman that they’ve deemed me worthy to save. I learned then to only talk to the new girls when others are watching.