Chapter Twenty-Four

*Reggie*

Something wet and cold hits my cheek, once, twice. Blinking rapidly, the low light feels like a thousand needles to my already throbbing head. When the cold-wet thing comes again, I groan as I try to shift away from it.

“Shhhhh. Let them think you are out for a little while longer.” A female voice murmurs, soothing me as I try to fight my way through the fog that makes my brain feel fuzzy and my headache intensifies.

Something refuses to let me go back into the fog though. A thought, a strike of panic that is insistent enough to rouse me fully. Blinking my eyes open again, the ceiling of the warehouse comes into view. It is shadowed in the low light. For a moment I am confused about where I am but a vibration from a distance brings it all rushing back to the surface.

“Ragnar!” I gasp out, recognizing his vibration when it comes again. It isn’t his usual calm rumble. This is full of emotion and panic. Sitting up, I slap my palm to my forehead when the room spins. Forgetting that I am not alone, I scan the shadows for my mate.

He still lies in a puddle of his blood, his flesh torn but mending. His supernatural healing has closed most of the smaller wounds. Scrambling on my hands and knees, I rush to his side, patting him until he calms. The venom. The last time he was knocked out from a Naga bite, he was restless. Only my voice and touch were able to calm him during one of his nightmares.

“Shhhh. I’m here, it will be alright.” I murmur, patting his side as I take stock of his remaining injuries. The few drag wounds that I can see have closed, the green blood dried around raw flesh. A sigh of relief escapes me when I see new scales already forming. My heart clenches when he lets out a soft moan, his whole body shifting towards mine, seeking my comfort from whatever horrors plague him in his sleep.

“Oh my god.” The hushed gasp makes me jump, twirling to stare at the young woman that is standing off to the side. In her hand is a washcloth, dripping on the dirty concrete beneath her. The wet-cold mystery from earlier is solved.

“Who are you?” I demand, my voice snippier than I plan. Her eyes are round in her small face, fixated on my mate. She is a gorgeous woman, petite with bountiful curves and beautiful blonde hair. Jealousy flares out of left field, taking me by surprise. She doesn’t even look at me when she answers.

“My name is Sutton. I help out around the Sheriff’s bunkhouse. You and he…?” Her question doesn’t surprise me, she hasn’t quit staring at Ragnar since I awakened.

“Yes. Me and him. If you intend to judge us you can just go away.” I snap, tired of the same bullshit reaction. She surprises me though. Instead of disgust, I watch as her face blushes a bright red before, she looks away to clear her throat.

“For what it is worth, I am so very sorry that he was treated this way. Not everyone thinks we are doing the right thing.” She murmurs, her voice quiet. I can’t help but laugh with disbelief.

“I find that hard to believe. Any single one of those people would kill him for simply being different. Humans fucking suck.” The irony of my statement isn’t lost on me. I am human, and as much as I like to forget it, and I once thought of Ragnar as nothing but a monster. If only they could have the same change of heart that I did.

“Not all of us. I do not see a monster when I look at him. I see a person who has been severely wronged. Be honest though, would he have spared their lives if he hadn’t been trapped?” She tilts her head when she asks, as if curious to see what I will say.

“Yes, he would have.” A smile splits my face when I realize it isn’t the whole truth. “Well, unless Elijah was among them. He would have happily ripped his limbs off and fed them to him.” I grin when she gasps in horror, but I also see the ghost of a smile on her petite face.

“I can’t say I blame him. Elijah tends to bring the worst out in people.” She winces when she says it, wrapping her arms around her middle. Warning bells go off in my head and I am on my feet in an instant.

“Has he hurt you?” I snarl, angry enough to hunt him down if he so much as looked at her wrong. She takes a step back in alarm at my change of demeanor.

“No!” She answers too quickly, wincing at how loud her voice came out. She lowers it before speaking again. “No, he hasn’t touched me. Sam makes sure that the women are treated well but the men can be…difficult. There are more of them than there are of us, if you catch my drift.” She looks around guiltily, almost afraid.

“Monsters do it way better than men. Ragnar wouldn’t even have sneezed in my direction if he so much as thought it might upset me. I’m treated like a queen from sunup to sundown. Honestly? I couldn’t imagine living with a bunch of human men during an apocalypse.” The disgust is clear in my voice. She lets out a small giggle, breaking out of her tightly controlled shell.

“Men have their disadvantages, but I owe Sam. He took me in right as I gave birth to my daughter, gave me a job so that I could work to earn what we need. He is a very nice man. The rest of them are the problem.” She looks around her again, and I’m convinced she is afraid to be caught. One major thing sticks out to me though.

“You have a child?!” We both wince when my voice echoes in the big room. She waits a few moments, listening to see if anyone will approach before answering.

“Yes. I have a six-month-old little girl. She is with a friend right now. I had to come see you and your mate…” Her voice trails off and I watch her gaze turn back to Ragnar, sadness flickering in her blue eyes. Her use of the term mate catches me off guard. She is the first human I’ve met to do so. Something about her sets me on edge, her fixation on my mate giving me an odd feeling.

“Why?” I ask, truly curious. Most humans would make sure to stay away from a monster. They’d be just as keen to avoid the human who fucks him. She looks at me for a moment and I can see the indecision in her eyes. “You can trust me. I am not exactly going to run off and tell your secrets. I’d rather take my mate and run.” She perks up at my words.

“Where? Where would you go?” For a moment, I feel like I am missing something. A key piece to the Sutton puzzle. The murmur of voices interrupts us. Panic flares in her gaze and she turns to bolt.

“Hold on!” She pauses, clearly uncomfortable as the voices grow louder. For some reason, she doesn’t want to be caught here. My own curiosity is bursting at the seams. “I’ll answer your question if you can answer mine. Why are you interested in my mate?” Tears start to fall down her cheeks as she debates whether to respond or not.

“I want out. I may have lied earlier. These men are awful, I do not want my daughter to be raised here. Just because they haven’t hurt me yet, doesn’t mean they won’t eventually. I’ve heard the whispers of the other women as we work. I want better for my daughter and I have heard and seen things that make me think the monsters aren’t outside the walls, but inside.” She rushes out her words and I instantly melt with pity for her.

“If I survive tomorrow morning, I want you to come with Ragnar and me. I have somewhere safe that you can raise your daughter with no worries about human men and their influence. There are monsters, but the good kind and they will treat you like a queen with no expectations in return.” Determination enters her gaze when she looks past me at Ragnar.

“I believe you. Now, I must go. For both our sakes, I hope you live.” She nods to me once, and then she disappears into the shadows just as two guards open a side door. A groan bubbles out when I catch sight of who it is. Elijah and a man named Bill. I’m slightly less alarmed when Sam and a few others come through the door right after them.

My fear comes roaring right back when I realize what this means. Taking no chances, I scoot back until I am pressed against Ragnar’s neck. It gives me comfort and ensures that they don’t see his weakness, his moans quieting once more. Let them consider him a threat even when tranquilized. It means they are less likely to try and hurt him. I could also piss Elijah off until he tries to kill me. Either way, distraction is the key.

An image of Sutton’s face acts as a burst of confidence. She could be playing me, but something in her eyes when she looked at Ragnar is enough to convince me she meant what she said. She didn’t look at him like he was a monster. She looked at him as if he was the water and she was dying of thirst. Not in the lustful way, but the way a desperate mother would when her child’s future is at stake. My promise to her only adds to the weight of responsibility that threatens to crush me.

“Nasty ass bitch, fate has come calling!” Elijah shouts in a sing-song voice. The other men laugh, even Sam which earns him a glare.

“We’ve talked about this. A bitchy attitude doesn’t compensate for a micro dick.” I snark, holding back the urge to vomit at even being in the same room as this asshole, much less joking about his tiny dick. It would be a lot tinier if someone chopped it off.

“You little…” Elijah starts but Sam cuts him off with a slash of his hand.

“Both of you shut the hell up. The aliens will be here in a matter of moments. They are early, eager to snag their prize. Grab her.” He nods his head towards me. In that moment I resolve to not go easily.

Turns out, having just woken up from passing out makes a girl weak. The two men manage to catch me by the arms easily and I want to cry from the shame of it. I haven’t even left a bruise. Shameful. Trying to rip out of their grips unsuccessfully, I am dragged to a standing position in the middle of the warehouse.

Terror invades my bones and tremors begin in my legs that work their way up to whole body shudders. To their credit, the men holding me don’t say anything. They simply take more of my weight so that I do not fall. Maybe it's not so bad that I didn’t beat their asses for daring to touch me.

We all stand in silence. The mens’ eyes are glued to the doorway but I find I can’t stomach watching for the Grim Reapers. The unknown is like a stab to the heart. These aliens, the Gilgamites, are unpredictable. Their experiment is only known to them. The rest is only hearsay and gossip.

A bright light flares in the darkness beyond the door and despite my resolve not to look, I can’t help but squint to try and see better. A hum greets our ears, low but insistent followed by a rush of air as whatever craft is out there, sets down. My stomach feels like it is doing somersaults as foreign sounds reach my ears, making my skin crawl. A language that is like nothing else I’ve heard acts like nails on a chalkboard to my frayed nerves.

My brain does a weird jig in my skull, the black fuzz returning to my vision. Panic makes tears trek down my cheeks as I hold onto consciousness with every bit of strength I can muster up. It is just barely enough to keep the worst of the black fuzz at bay, my vision wavering despite my resolve to face this new curveball head on.

My eyes are glued to the doorway, searching for any sign that the Gilgamites are truly here. When I finally catch sight of one, I want to smack my mate for lying to me. The Gilgamites are neither small, nor unremarkable.