Page 2 of A Monster's Light
The one before me had dark red leathery skin and the telltale horns and wings that made them so demonic-looking. I knew that if he stuck out his tongue, it would be forked. But unlike the one that had met with our leaders, this one wasn’t wearing a human-styled suit. Instead, he had on a shredded pair of leather pants and nothing else. The lower half of his pants had been ripped off, showing their backward-looking, satyr-like knees. I knew from my research that their knees weren’t actually backward. They just looked that way because what we thought of as their knees were actually their ankles. But faced with it in real life, it was hard to distinguish the difference.
But I didn’t have much time to focus on his knees because what really shocked me was how thin and gaunt he was. The ones I’d seen had been big, burly specimens, extremely masculine and clearly in their prime. Wearing human-style suits, I’d even venture to say they were devilishly attractive, though I’d never say that out loud. This one had been starved. His muscles, while still present, were sinewy at best now. And his once chiseled cheekbones were hollow, and his jawline too sharp.
How had that happened so fast? According to my sources, he had only been captured a day and a half ago. It matched the timing of the videos and images that had come out from citizens of a transport crash at the edge of the colony. There was a long, red, angry line even brighter than his skin running across his chest, and patches of his leathery skin were lighter than others.
“Was this from the transport fire?” I asked, taking a few steps forward. I wasn’t expecting a response, but I got one anyway.
“Yes,” the guard said from behind me.
I eyed the tubes attached to his arm. “Is he being given healing drugs?” I’d heard about a special drug made by Exotech Pharmaceuticals that can speed healing up and make scars a thing of the past.
“Him? Hell no. We don’t waste expensive drugs on prisoners. That’s all-natural. Can you believe all that was second and third-degree burns just yesterday?”
“He healed this much in one day?”
“Yeah, they weren’t kidding when they said the monsters can… shit…” The guard shook his head. “What clearance do you have?”
“Everyone knows they have crazy regenerative powers,” I said, brushing off his concern and trying my damnedest to look nonchalant and totally not freaking out at what I’d just learned. “That’s not story-worthy. Trust me, I know. That’s like saying the sun is bright.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
My gaze fell on the Kadrixan again. He hadn’t moved or shown any signs that he knew I was here. He just hung there.
“He’s passed out. I can’t interview him if he’s unresponsive.”
“Trust me, lady, you don’t want him awake.”
“Then why have me here at all? I can’t leave without my story. You know Omnia Pictures has the exclusive on this one, and we have to make it count. There are already rumors floating around claiming that Nova Vita is kidnapping Kadrixans and trying to start a war. The people are scared and angry. That’s why I’m here: to calm their worries and put a stop to all the fake news.”
That was rich, coming from the woman tasked to write the ultimate fake news meant to make the colony look like the good guys. But I didn’t care about that. If things went according to plan, I’d be long gone before they realized I didn’t plan on writing anything. I needed the Kadrixan to be awake and functioning. The truth about where Julie had gone was so close I could taste it.
I’d learned early in my career that my life as a journalist was a farce. Sure, I could go find the truth, but I’d never be allowed to publish it. Omnia Pictures was elbow-deep in every single media outlet in our colony. Just like their namesake implied, they literally owned them all. Any new companies that popped up were inevitably absorbed by the state-owned media giant.
I’d been in the industry long enough to know that my “research” was done just to find enough truth to make the lies believable. My real job was to write pro-colony pieces and keep the public of Nova Vita under control by feeding them what the big bosses wanted them to hear.
I hated my job. But I didn’t dare say that out loud, especially when I was so close to finding out the truth of what had happened to Julie. It had taken me years to get my bosses at Omnia Pictures to trust me so I’d get the juiciest pieces. That was the reason why I was here in this top-secret detention facility to begin with.
I was one hundred and ten percent sure that Julie had gone to the Kadrixans for the rut and not to Utopia. It didn’t matter to her that the Kadrixans looked like demons of old Earth; she was more frightened of the colony and the fact that no one ever came back from the Utopia Project.
The guard sighed. “They have it all wrong. We didn’t attack the Kadrixans at all.”
I put a hand on the guard’s forearm. “I know, and I’m here to clear it all up. People have to trust their media, or else things will go sideways. At Omnia Pictures, we understand that.”
I tried not to let the sour taste of the lies show; Omnia Pictures didn’t care about anything other than views and profit.
My shpiel worked because the guard said, “The doctor left for his office, but I’ll call him and see what I can do.”
I pulled the chair that was leaning against the side of the Kadrixan’s small cell to the red line, but instead sitting on it, I sat down on the ground to get a better look at his face, wanting to study him as the guard made the call just outside the door. As my eyes traveled from his chest to his head, I noticed his lashes flutter. With his head bowed, it hadn’t been obvious, but from my lowered position, it was.
The demon warrior wasn’t passed out at all. He was awake and alert. And he had his eyes on me.
Chapter 2: Gnnar
I knew the moment the little human female realized I was awake. Her heart sped up, and her posture straightened. I wondered if she was going to call out for help. The guard was right there, his eyes on his device.
But instead of alerting the guard, she continued to stare up at me from where she sat cross-legged on the ground. From her lower vantage point, our eyes met without me having to lift my head. Her eyes were the green of springtime leaves, and I wanted to reach out and touch her.
I almost did too. I barely stopped myself before the cameras aimed at me caught the movement.
