Page 25 of Souls of Steel
As if she’d heard my thoughts, my lovely chimera decided to contact me. “August, I need you to do something for me,”she whispered in my head.
“Do something for you?”I repeated.“That’s a surprise. What do you need?”
Charybdis had always been a greedy soul. That hadn’t changed since ancient times. As a naiad, she’d tried to flood more land to enlarge her father’s underwater kingdom. As a sea monster, she’d constantly consumed unfortunate sailors. As a mecha, she felt she never had enough power and always sought more.
Even so, she rarely asked for personal favors from me. It wasn’t her style, which was why it shocked me that she’d reach out to me like this.
“Your new… broodmate. Sphinx’s Tamer. I believe she’s in trouble. Could you go to the med bay and check up on her?”
The request froze my blood in my veins. Like all of us, Charybdis believed Selene didn’t belong at Chimera Academy. What could have determined her to change her mind all of a sudden?
“I haven’t changed my mind. I just fear that if things keep going in the current direction, young Selene might not get the chance to return to Terra.”
“It’s only the first day,”I protested weakly.
“You know very well that doesn’t matter.”
Yes, I did know. I’d seen how people had looked at Selene in the settlement. I’d hoped men would have more discipline and sense here at the academy and wouldn’t physically assault her, at least not from the very beginning. It looked like I’d been a little too optimistic.
Without further hesitation, I shot to my feet, already making plans on how to get to the med bay as soon as possible. “Sir, I’m afraid Pollux and I need to go,” I told Professor Trask. “Grand Chimera Unit business.”
Charybdis hadn’t asked me to take Pollux along, but she didn’t have to. Wherever I went, he went, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’d want to get involved in this.
Professor Trask faltered and irritation flickered over his face. Like many members of the staff, he didn’t like the privileges we received. He thought we Grand Chimera tamers flaunted rules just because we could. That couldn’t have been further from the truth, but I didn’t care enough about his opinion to explain. “May we be excused?”
“Yes, of course. Report to me later for a catch up essay.”
Dick. As much as I valued my time at Chimera Academy, I looked forward to graduation, just so that I could kick the asses of some of the idiots here without risking expulsion.
In the meantime, I had more important things to worry about, namely Selene. Pollux and I left the classroom in a rush. Pollux followed me without asking any questions, at least until we left the busier wing of the academy. “Where are we going?” he whispered when we turned into a corridor that was empty of people.
“Med bay. Something’s up with Selene. Has Scylla not said anything?”
Pollux shook his head. “No. She’s been quiet all morning.”
It was unusual that Charybdis would know something and not share with Scylla, since they were as close as Pollux and me. Something was seriously wrong here. We had to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.
Fortunately, it didn’t take us much longer to reach our destination. It was a good thing, because when we burst into the med bay, we found our base medic, Hieronymus Bell, leaning over an almost naked Selene. She was out cold, in her underwear, and he was poking and prodding her body with a metallic rod.
I saw red. He had no business doing that. Drones and scanners made it unnecessary for medics to touch their patients, either with their hands or with regular instruments. This was rude, dangerous, and invasive.
“What’s going on here?” I snarled, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him away from her. “What are you doing?”
Dr. Bell paled when he saw us, but he recovered quickly. “There was an accident in Tachyon Manipulation class. I’m providing Ms. Renard with treatment.”
“That isn’t treatment for tachyon overload,” Pollux said, his eyes glowing with rage.
“Of course it is,” Dr. Bell replied without missing a beat. “This girl is emanating unhealthy amounts of tachyons. Her mere presence makes Chimera Warriors sick. She needs to be removed. I’m assessing the danger she represents.”
“If you were so concerned about the tachyon emissions, why did you take her clothes off?” I asked, unimpressed by his logic. “You know very well the uniform regulates that for Grand Chimera Warriors.”
“That’s exactly why it needed to go. I had to check her over without the uniform interfering.”
He was full of shit, but I had no way to prove it. Selene had no friends here and no one would care that the medic had taken her clothes off and betrayed her trust.
The only good thing about the whole disgusting situation was that she was still wearing her underwear. The medic had had enough sense to realize that sexually abusing her would be going too far.
If we’d gotten here a little later, he might have changed his mind. Selene was incredibly attractive. I would’ve rather cut off my dick than force it inside her, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t acknowledge and recognize her appeal. Other men at the academy might not be so scrupulous.
