Page 32 of Captured By the Monsters
“The Rumilus,” Axton answered, piquing my interest more. “After the usurpers took over and killed the Queen and her mates, the crystal’s light started to diminish, as you know. Immediately, our physical forms began to dissolve into what we call our Specter forms for those of us who were not mated. Those still in their full form fought and killed the bastards who killed our Queen and tried to reestablish our society, but nothing has been the same since the Great War that quickly followed.”
My brows furrowed together at the influx of information as I tried to piece it all together with what I knew. Huffing out a breath, I reiterated once more what we were under the impression of. “We aren’t taught much about it except that The Below is ruled by terrifying monsters who will slaughter us all if we don’t send women down. Care to enlighten me further?”
The three men snorted.
“The Great War started because of a human monster,” Rowen snapped. “Long ago, a human ruler grew angry at our kind coming and going to find human females as their mate. Although there were plenty of women for both populations at the time, he used this to rile other human rulers into a war against our kind, saying that eventually we would take them from the human men completely.”
Axton took over, continuing my history lesson, drawing my attention to him. “Unfortunately, it was on the heels of the True Queen’s death, as mentioned before. We were weakened, and the human ruler capitalized on it. The war started over the possibility of both species wanting the human women to keep their populations high, yet the war did more damage than sharing women ever would have.”
My mouth dropped open, but he wasn’t done. “From what we could decipher, the human ruler didn’t truly think they were at risk for extinction because of mating with our kind. He wanted the population to dwindle so he could control it.”
“Wait—you’re saying that the leader of the Great War purposefully started it just to become the ruler of the world?”
All the pieces were finally clicking into place, and I was disgusted.
“That’s exactly it. He used Rumilus as his scapegoat. Nothing unites people like a common enemy,” Axton murmured bitterly. “Knowing our time was limited with so many Rumilus transforming to Specters, we called a truce. We wouldn’t step foot in The Above ever again if they sent us women in return.”
Rowen mused sarcastically, “Your ruler of course accepted the conditions, knowing this would paint him as the savior of the humans, and thus giving him complete control over a smaller population that he could control, like he wanted from the very beginning.”
My head spun at the information. This was like a punch to the stomach. The leader during the Great War was long since dead, but his great-, who knows how many times over, grandson now ruled, continuing to spread his poison and lies.
“Are there ever any female Rumilus?” I questioned as my mind whirled, trying to find a solution to this dire population issue between the species. If female humans could mate with male Rumilus, couldn’t the reverse be an option?
“Never,” Axton replied. “That’s why our kind needs female humans—we are dependent upon our main crystal and human women to survive.”
I absorbed his words in fascination. How was it possible to not have a female in their entire species? It boggled my mind.
“What about your families?” I prompted, curious of how their society worked before the decline.
“Before the Great War and the assassination of the Queen, Trifectas worked together with one another. We were raised together as one cohesive community. But afterward, Specters became more secluded and distrustful. If we’re lucky enough to find a mate, we keep her hidden, protected, and safe from the perilous world we now live in.”
“We don’t have the same social structure as humans, though. We age very quickly into adulthood before our growth plateaus. A Rumilus’s only purpose is to form a Trifecta and find a mate.”
“You can understand why I’m so hesitant to open up to you now,” Rowen whispered. “Sylan and Axton are literally the only family I have—and now you. We’re taught that our mate is everything, and I’m scared something will happen to you or our Trifecta. I’m afraid to give you my all, only for it to be cruelly torn away from me.”
“Don’t you think I feel the same way? Scared of the unknown?” I parried.
“We’re all afraid,” Sylan rationalized. “We have something to fear—but Sera, I can promise you that our relationship isn’t one of them. Rowen isn’t holding back because he doesn’t like you, but because he’s afraid to care too much and lose you. There are many outside factors that make him on edge, including your resistance—which we understand—but Rowen worries you’ll run away, putting yourself in peril in a land you know nothing about.”
“I wasn’t…” I started to refute his claims but trailed off, unable to lie. “You’re right. I promised myself—and my family—that I would return to The Above. A vow that became even more important when you told me the truths about Paratiisi and the lies my government is feeding the people. I still plan to keep that promise, but…”
“You can tell us anything, beauty,” Sylan reassured, causing me to take a deep breath. As I blew it out, I prepared to admit this both to them and myself.
“Whereas before I was planning on running from you, now I want you all at my side.”
Hope sparkled in the jeweled depths of my monsters’ eyes at my affirmation, but then it fizzled out again.
“Sera, we can’t go to The Above. To do so would be a breach of the treaty, an open declaration of war. We can’t do that to our kind,” Sylan admitted dejectedly.
“We aren’t going to let you return there alone,” Axton decreed. “But we have no way of protecting you, and frankly, your leaders are nothing but a bunch of murderers.”
My shoulders drooped because I didn’t want to betray my monsters or cause a war, but I knew in my heart the only right thing to do was to go back to The Above and spread the truth. Rowen was watching me in his assessing manner once more, gleaning information from my too expressive face.
“What makes you think anyone would believe you, even if you did return?” he pointedly asked.
It was a good question, and one I had asked myself already.
“I would be the only woman to ever return from The Below—people will want to hear what I have to say,” I answered, truly believing my words.
