by Kelly A Nix
Unafraid of the intruder, Beast snarls and snaps at it then lunges into its murky darkness. She tears into it and demands that it retreat or be destroyed. When it decides to run, Beast builds a mental wall around their mind. She vows that nothing will intrude on them again without explicit consent. After ensuring that Atae is okay, Beast stands and snarls at the corpse. Daring it to move, Beast glares at the dead creature until an explosion tears her from her triumph.
Jeqi blasts the door open, sending it flying across the cell to cold-weld against the opposite metal wall. Holding a small ranged hilt, Jeqi steps into the cage as light escapes the navigation room and glistens off the dust, fire, and metal bits swirling around her.
“Atae! I’m here.”
Upon seeing Jeqi, Beast smiles with pride that her packmate has caused such destruction for the sake of Atae. Seeing her friend covered in blood with a disturbing smile, Jeqi pauses to take in the scene. In a final display, Beast steps over to Kandorq’s skull and crushes it with her foot.
It’s dead now, Beast says. Atae smiles at her counterpart’s confidence but worries about the corpse reanimation and the mental barrage that they survived.
Do not worry. The threat is gone, Beast says.
Jeqi steps forward with her arms out and a questioning frown. “What happened?”
Beast glances up from Kandorq’s remains with a smug expression and crosses her arms over her chest. Jeqi spots the corpse and hustles over to survey the damage. She unravels her tail from her waist and pokes at the dead Gortox with the tip.
“You killed him?” she asks. Beast shrugs, and Jeqi slips closer to whisper to her friend. “Did you shift?”
Beast smirks and lifts her hand to demonstrate, but Solum steps out into the cell. As his concerned gaze falls on Beast, she narrows her eyes at him and steps around Jeqi. She faces Solum with a threatening growl and decides to call on her blades.
Stop!
Beast blinks at the plea. She stands firm in a defensive stand, eyeing Solum as he surveys the dimly lit cell.
Why? He is a threat. Beast asks.
He is our father. He is not a threat to us.
He betrayed us. Sire or not, he is a threat.
He knew of Kandorq’s weakened condition. Who do you think cut him down, piece by piece? Atae forces Beast to recall Jeqi’s words.
“Advisor Solum visited Kandorq every day that you were unconscious, torturing him.”
“The entire palace heard Kandorq screaming, and that night he told Solum everything he knew.”
Impressed by her sire, Beast grins as Solum finds Kandorq’s severed hand and picks it up to examine the cut. Recognizing the suspicion in her father’s expression, Atae implores Beast to detach the hilt from the thigh of her uniform. Beast complies, gripping the hunk of metal, and holds it up for examination. She wonders why Atae has it.
I do not need this weapon. I have my own.
Solum doesn’t know that, and we need to keep it that way, Atae says. If she could, she’d roll her eyes at Beast’s arrogance.
Why? He should know how dangerous I am to deter future betrayal, Beast says. She glares at Solum as he glances with narrowed eyes from the severed hand to Beast. His gaze falls to the hilt in her grip, and as though accepting the silent explanation, Solum drops the bloody hand.
If he finds out about our ability to shift, he will pull us from the Gridiron line up, and Jeqi will be alone. She needs her pack, Atae says.
“You have done well,” Solum says. He greets Beast with a hard expression to mask his inner storm of emotion. Beast stares at her sire and wrestles between her desire to attack and Atae’s silent pleas to submit to him. Unwilling to back down from his offspring no matter how angry she is with him, Solum stands eye to eye with Atae. With great resentment and muted obscenities toward Atae, Beast lowers her gaze and crosses her arms. She tightens her grip on the hilt with a silent growl.
Before Solum can say another word, Beast grabs Jeqi and pulls her to the navigation room. Solum watches them leave, noting Atae’s odd behavior. Beast motions for Jeqi to activate the control panel then sheathes the hilt. Puzzled by her unusual silence, Jeqi eyeballs her packmate before selecting the exit option. She doesn’t mind leaving the royal advisor behind. She’s content to let him stew over his recent decisions while he waits for the navigation room to return for him. Jeqi wonders if they can lock him in there for a few days as punishment for his behavior, but he probably has some override code to recall the navigation room. When the room jolts to a start, air swirling around them from the missing door, Jeqi spins back to Atae and demands answers.
“What happened? Are you okay?” Jeqi’s puffed tail flickers as she struggles to balance her concern and curiosity. When Beast just stares at her as though the answers are apparent, Jeqi steps closer.
“What’s wrong with you? Why haven’t you said anything?”
Answer her, or let me, Atae says. Beast puffs out loud at the suggestion. It’s my mouth.
Mine. Beast says, and Atae growls.
“Hello? Are you in there?” Jeqi asks, but Beast ignores her.
This is my body, and you will step aside, Atae says. She summons the strength to fight for control, but Beast hardens her mental defenses against Atae.
When the threat has passed, Beast says.
What threat? Jeqi won’t hurt us.
Jeqi slaps Beast across the face with all her might. The blue hybrid falls against the side of the room and cringes from the unexpected display of dominance. After a moment of stunned silence, Beast growls at Jeqi but doesn’t retaliate. Instead, she opts to accept Jeqi’s authority for the time being.
“Have you gone mad? Is that it? Has fear finally scrambled your brains, and you’ve lost the ability to speak?” Jeqi taunts Beast but hopes her words are just that as her tail lashes out behind her.
Atae sighs and nudges Beast to tug on both ears. Confused by the absurd idea, Beast does it with some hesitation and without taking her eyes off Jeqi. Taking Beast’s lead, the blonde does the same. As Beast’s fingers graze her silver studs, her visual visor populates. Startled by the sudden private hologram that scans the room, Beast lashes out at the image, and Jeqi steps back from the random strikes.
“You have lost your mind.”
After finding nothing to highlight as points of interaction except Jeqi’s active visor, the hologram disappears, leaving a confused and defensive Beast behind. Snarling and swirling around as she tries to fight the offending image, Beast ignores Atae’s silent command to send a message to Jeqi. After a few moments, she settles down and complies with Atae’s request. Using memories and Atae’s instructions, she creates a message.
Jeqi gapes at the painfully slow process. When the blonde is convinced that Atae has lost her mind, a message pops up on her visor.
‘I’m not crazy, but I’m pretty sure Beast is.’
Chapter 30
“Beast?” Schinn says. He furrows his brow in disbelief as he glances from Jeqi to Atae and back again. Jeqi stands next to Schinn in their private training room and watches Beast survey the room with intense dedication. She walks from one end of the room to the other, sniffing the air. On occasion, she stops to stare at some of the equipment. Unsure what to think of Atae’s new counterpart, Jeqi watches Beast, studying her movement, facial expressions, and demeanor, as she has since leaving the navigation room.
“She said she didn’t have a beast,” Schinn says. He motions toward her, and Jeqi glances at him in with pressed lips.
“Well, now she does.” Jeqi looks look cross-eyed at her healing nose. The swelling from the injury makes her sound nasal, and she can tell that the bruising has spread to the tissue under her eyes.
“How do you know?”
“What?”
“How do you know she didn’t just go sour or something?” Schinn says. Jeqi snarls at him, and he snaps his head to her in surprise. “I mean, that could be why she isn’t talking. Are you certain it’s a beast?”
“Yes.” Jeqi sw
ivels back to watch Beast lift some workout equipment and sniff it. “Beast is different.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve watched her since we left the dungeon,” Jeqi says. Beast strolls toward them from the far end of the training room with a confident, smooth stride.
“I’ve known Atae since our first season at Sula Academy. She is strong and confident, but she’s also clumsy and uncertain. She is impulsive and rash.” Jeqi rolls her eyes at memories of Atae dragging her into trouble. “But she’s also loyal and wickedly impressive in combat.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” Schinn says. He rubs the still tender scar over his chest. Jeqi smirks at him. She knows all too well how effective Atae can be in battle, and how completely naïve she is outside it.
“Atae doesn’t pay attention to her surroundings if she feels safe, and she has a tendency to zone out during boring conversations,” Jeqi says. “Beast is different. Beast is fast and deliberate. She is always assessing her environment. I have yet to catch her off guard. Even her walk is different. I haven’t seen her stumble once. It’s like she thinks she owns everything around her.”
Beast smiles at Jeqi as she approaches. The blonde peers into her packmate’s fuchsia gaze and stares at the surprising bout of clarity and confidence, especially given Atae’s recent uncertainty and fear. When Beast’s smug expression morphs her confidence into arrogance, Jeqi fights the urge to roll her bruised eyes. Beast jerks her hand and flips her fingers through the empty air, and Schinn scrunches his nose in confusion. Realization dawns on his face when his visual visor receives a message from Atae, and Jeqi raises a snide eyebrow at the silver heir. Holographic words that are only visible to Jeqi and Schinn’s visors assemble beside Beast, and the blonde’s mouth twists into a frown as she reads Atae’s words.
‘She considers this her territory, but doesn’t care for the notion of ownership.’
“I take it ownership is beneath her, like speaking,” Jeqi says. Startled, Beast searches the ground at her feet and lifts each foot to peer under it. While Jeqi and Schinn blink at the odd behavior, Beast snaps back to her previous position. She crosses her arms with a sheepish frown.
“Ha. She thought you meant literally. Like she was standing on something,” Schinn says. Beast’s hard eyes turn to glare at Schinn, and she growls.
‘Yeah, but I explained it to her.,’ Atae says via the visual visor and Beast’s indulging hand motions.
Schinn clears his throat, then steps closer to Beast to peer into her eyes. Beast’s scowl deepens as the silver heir pushes a stray hair from her forehead. She twists her mouth in disgust and clenches a fist, but restrains from using it. Jeqi wonders at the influence Atae has on her counterpart.
“What’s it like in there, Atae?” Schinn asks. Jeqi raises an eyebrow at his ignorance of the struggle she observes in Beast.
‘It’s like being in the co-pilot seat of a transport vehicle,’ Atae says, ‘but all your controls are disengaged. It’s a great view, but you can’t do a damn thing except yell at the pilot.’
“So, you two communicate? What does she say?”
‘Weird things. Like, that she doesn’t like you because you are submissive. Or that Solum is the enemy, and she can’t trust me to protect us.’
“Submissive? I’m not submissive,” Schinn says. He steps back from Beast, scrunching his nose in distaste.
“What about me?” Jeqi asks. She narrows her eyes as Beast meets her gaze and dares Atae’s counterpart to judge her.
‘She thinks you’re a great packmate and is quite proud of the destruction you wrought in the dungeon. How did you do that, by the way? There’s no way that was a standard ranged hilt.’
“Don’t worry about it.” Jeqi flashes a crooked smile and flicks her tail playfully. No one needs to know her plans for the Gridiron, especially Atae, with her big mouth. Beast quirks her head in curiosity and smiles at Jeqi’s coy response.
“Atae, can you control Beast at all?” Schinn asks. Beast snaps her head around and bares her teeth at him while slipping into a defensive stance.
‘She doesn’t like that idea at all. She is about to bolt.’
“We aren’t trying to hurt you, Beast,” Jeqi says. Beast responds with a ridiculing snort, making her thoughts clear on whether Jeqi or Schinn could harm her. Jeqi remembers the patient and loving tone that Deh uses to calm those around her and attempts to mimic it.
“We aren’t trying to get rid of you, either. We need you. But we also need Atae. Right now, we have limited access to her.”
Beast rises from her defensive stance and frowns in thought. Sensing Beast’s unease, Jeqi slips a hand onto her shoulder and speaks in a soft, comforting tone.
“We need to find a way for you and Atae to work together as a normal Kaji warrior would. It may be better for you to be co-pilot. We don’t know yet.”
Beast narrows her eyes at Schinn then glances back at Jeqi. With a grumble, she relents and nods her head. Jeqi smiles in relief and pulls her hand from Beast’s shoulder but doesn’t step away. She often struggles to maintain the balance between her two conflicting cultures. It’s nice when her mother’s soft and submissive culture, which is usually a hindrance, actually helps Jeqi excel. Jeqi decides to stay close, offering Beast her silent support and ensuring that she’s nearby if the edgy youngling chooses to do something stupid.
“Great. So,” Schinn eyes Beast with a wary frown, “how much control do you have, Atae?”
‘I don’t have any control over Beast. She considers my advice or demands, but I can’t make her do anything.’
“Hmm. But Beast can shift at will?”
‘Yeah, it’s pretty awesome,’ Atae says. Beast blinks, then flashes a smug smile. Schinn grins at her and nods his head.
“Show me.”
‘She wants to know why.’
Beast scowls at him, and Jeqi tenses at her side. Annoyance flits across Schinn’s face, and he takes a deep breath to regain his patience.
“Because I need to observe how the shifting occurs. Is it partial, complete, or something new altogether?”
Beast slips a hand onto her hip and grins at Schinn’s aggravation.
‘She says the shift gives her many weapons to choose from, and it’s none of your business how many or what kind.’
“What? I’m trying to help here.”
Beast snorts back.
“How dare you! You pompous-”
“Stop. What is wrong with you two?” Jeqi says. Schinn walks away from the two hybrids to pace at the back of the room.
“Beast obviously has trust issues, and she called me submissive. I am not submissive.”
‘He’s right on both accounts. She thinks Schinn is hiding something,’ Atae says. Jeqi swivels to Schinn with a raised eyebrow, and his stride falters.
“That’s ridiculous,” he says.
Beast shrugs at him then crosses her arms to storm out. Unsure what to do, Jeqi steps forward to stop Beast, but Schinn lunges past her. He lurches toward the blue hybrid with an animalistic snarl, aiming a powerful kick at her head. Moments before it smashes into her skull, Beast dodges with surprising speed. She ducks underneath the attack and elbows Schinn in his gut. He stumbles to his knees and struggles against the upheaval of his stomach’s contents. Beast follows him and calls her blades. She grabs Schinn’s thick, silver hair and pulls his head back to expose his neck, slipping a forearm blade under his chin. As the razor edge bites into Schinn’s skin, Jeqi lunges to stop her packmate from killing him.
Beast jerks away from Schinn, and Jeqi stops at his side. Beast clutches her head, falls to her knees, and screams like a wounded animal. She scratches at her head and, when her claws extend, she digs into her face. Shocked by the blue hybrid’s odd behavior, Jeqi runs to Beast’s side.
“Beast. Atae. Stop! You’re hurting yourself.”
Beast continues to scream and tear at her flesh, unhindered. Beast’s claws slice into the muscle and fat of her cheeks and peel the fl
esh from her skull. Blood floods from the wounds and covers her hands and chest.
“Schinn, help me!” Jeqi grabs at Beast’s clawed hands, trying to subdue the wild youngling. Schinn watches the crazed Beast in astonishment as he rubs the shallow cut on his neck. Then Beast stops, and Atae lies back against the cold ground, panting and gurgling blood. Jeqi leans over her friend with concern and fear swirling in her crystal blue eyes; Atae opens her pained fuchsia orbs to meet her gaze.
“I did it,” Atae says. Somehow, she forms words with her split lips and carved cheeks. “She’s pissed, but I did it.”
“You did well, Atae,” Jeqi says. “But we need to get you to a tank. Right now. So you need to stand up.”
“Sure.”
With Jeqi and Schinn’s help, Atae struggles to her feet and walks toward the exit. As they reach the door and it slides open, Atae tries to speak through blood and drool. She ignores the damaged cheek muscle flapping against her tongue.
“I hope this doesn’t leave a scar. It’d be the stupidest scar to explain.”
Atae falls unconscious against Jeqi and Schinn, and they rush her to the medical wing. When Atae awakens, it’s to Schinn’s muffled voice. It carries through Atae’s unconscious mind along with Jeqi’s familiar tones. She doesn’t move or register consciousness.
“I spoke to Dr. Pwen. He said she’ll have to spend the night, but she can be released early morning,” Schinn says.
“Just in time for our session with Sloan and Marqee. Good,” Jeqi says. “Don’t tell Solum about this. He can’t know about her shifting ability.”
“He stopped by when I was speaking with Dr. Pwen.”
“What? What did you tell him?”
“That a hilt training session with Sloan got out of hand,” Schinn says. “I sent him a visor message to play along, no questions asked.”
“You’re friends with Sloan?”
“I wouldn’t say that, but he owes me one.”
They both fall silent for a few moments, and Atae almost slips back into the beautiful embrace of unconsciousness.
“Is this because of her parentage? Can that affect her shifting phase?” Jeqi asks.