Page 51 of Captured By the Monsters
She slapped her hand to her forehead before rubbing the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed. “Because I heard the leader say it.”
I felt my brow wrinkle.
When had the leader said that?
She must have seen my bewilderment because she added flippantly, “It was in the monsters’ language.”
Twin gasps of shock came from Julie and me.
“See, this is why you’re going to die. You have no survival instincts. That’s the first thing I did when these bastards tried to touch me and take me. I listened and I learned what they were saying.”
“I’ve been here, like, two days.” I retorted in my defense. “And most everyone has spoken English to me. How was I supposed to learn a new language in that timeframe?”
“Same.” Julie nodded. “I’ve been here for one day.”
So they had done another Selection the day after me and only Julie had made it through? Were they just going to send women down here every day now to be slaughtered? My stomach rolled at the senseless death.
“It’s really no excuse,” the brunette muttered mostly to herself as she turned to look at the door. “If you had any sense of survival, you would have figured it out.”
She was either a language guru or she had been here much, much longer than we had. I wasn’t sure how that was possible, though, because the way my monsters had described it, any paired Trifectas and their mates would be summoned to the capital rather quickly if they didn’t go of their own free will.
This woman confused me, but it was clear she wasn’t the kind to want to chitchat about her experience down here. She was too busy insulting us.
“Well, I don’t believe you.” I retorted.
She shrugged, still giving me her back. “What do I care if you believe me or not? It’s at your own detriment. Just know that we could all die here today.”
Linking arms with Julie, I took us to the other side of the room where we could whisper in privacy. “What is this woman’s deal?” I had never met anyone so toxic in my life.
The Above wasn’t exactly the greatest place for friendliness. We had to toe so many lines. Civility was a must, though. People were cold and distant, but not outright hostile for the most part.
“Do you think she’s speaking the truth?” Julie asked, and my eyes snapped up to hers, hating the trepidation I saw there because it mirrored my own. We were starting to believe this bitter woman.
“I’m not sure,” I hedged, “but it would make sense. My mates wouldn’t separate from me unless it was ordered by their leader. I know that.”
“She’s just bitter,” Julie said, tossing her head to the brunette, echoing my own sentiments of the woman. “She doesn’t like what’s happened and she’s fighting it. She probably sees we actually like our monsters and is trying to ruin that.”
Swaying caught my eye, and I looked over to see the strawberry blonde rocking back and forth on her heels, eyes still staring blankly at the wall. We walked towards her, and I asked, “Do you think she’s okay?”
“I’m not sure,” Julie whispered. “She doesn’t look well.”
“That’s because she’s dying, you idiots,” the brunette said almost flippantly from the other side of the room. Obviously, Julie and I whispering didn’t do very much to keep her from eavesdropping in this empty room.
No. I wouldn’t let this woman die if that was the truth. But I also wasn’t going to let her strike fear into my heart. That would do me no good in our current situation.
So I didn’t bother replying, instead reaching out for the redhead, gently placing my hand on her arm. But before I could try to rouse her from her haze to see if I could help her, the door to our room swung open and my heart dropped.
