by Luna Hunter
Yeah, that’s it.
A giant wooden door stands in front of me. This must be the place.
I knock twice.
“Come in.”
I push the door open. Inside, Magnus Bruttius is sitting behind his desk. My breath falters what I see is inside his room.
Weapons.
Everywhere.
Knifes, blades, morning stars, halberds, axes, spears.
They line the walls, covering almost every inch.
“What do you think of my collection?”
I turn around. Magnus has left his seat, and he’s now standing right in front of me. My eyes travel up his broad frame, right up to those evil, narrowed eyes of his.
“They are my trophies.”
He shuts the door behind me, and runs a finger across my cheek. I back away, but only find the closed door behind me. He’s got me cornered.
Behind him two strangely familiar swords lay upon his desk. The pommel of the smaller sword draws my attention. A stag’s head. Are those…
“I know why you’re here,” Magnus says, his voice icy.
“And w-why’s that?” I ask.
He slides the strap of my dress down my shoulder. I quickly pull it back up.
“You’re too late.”
My heart skips a beat.
He’s just messing with me.
Torturting me.
That’s what he does.
Don’t believe him!
“For what?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, human,” he growls, placing his forehead against mine. I try to look away, to escape, but I’m trapped. Magnus is so big, so tall, so broad, he’s simply everywhere.
He runs his hands up the back of my dress. In a reflex, I slap him right across his face.
Magnus spits on the ground, a trickle of blood trailing down his bottom lip.
“You’ve got fire, I’ll give you that.”
He grabs my hands and pins them above my head, twisting my wrists until the pain forces me to scream.
“I’m going to enjoy quenching that fire,” he snarls. “I’ve broken princesses, dominated queens… a simple human won’t be a match for me.”
Nero.
You can show up now.
Please.
Magnus sniffs my hair. It makes my skin crawl.
“Waiting for your hero?” the brute snarls. He laughs at me. “I can take you to him. I think he’ll enjoy this show.”
No…
Nero
The cell is cold and wet. I’m chained against the wall, with both my wrists and ankles, with barely enough room to move an inch.
Romulus is to my side, his neck hanging slack, blood pouring from the wound in his side. If he doesn’t get help soon, he’ll die.
There’s no help coming.
This is it.
The end of the line.
No fathers or teachers to fall back on. No more escapes, no more tries. No one’s coming to clean up my mess. Not this time.
I wish Magnus would have just killed me. A quick, merciful death. Anything is better than rotting here in this dungeon, while the world passes me by.
At least Victoria is safe.
I saved her from Magnus’s icy grip.
That’s the one thing I did right. I hope she hates me. I hope she forgets all about me, and finds a good Earth male, one who will treat her right, who will appreciate her, who will cherish her.
The door to the cell opens with a creak.
Great.
Magnus returns to torture me some more, to rub my defeat in my face.
At first the light that filters in makes me squint, and only after a few moments do I register the vision in front of me.
No.
Oh cruel world. No.
Victoria stands in front of me, shivering in her sheer, white dress. Her face is filled with horror, her mouth agape, her eyes tearing up.
How?
Why?
I sent her away.
She should be back on Earth by now.
A galaxy away.
“No,” I croak, my throat dry. “You’re not real.”
“Nero!” she cries.
Her voice cuts through me, shattering the walls I had erected around my heart. She’s real alright.
Victoria runs up to me, but she’s yanked back right before her hand touches my cheek.
Magnus Bruttius stands in the door opening, a dark, menacing presence.
“Look what I found tiptoeing around,” he says. “A little birdie.”
His fist grabs my mate’s hair, and he pulls her close.
“I never had a human before,” Magnus says. “I normally prefer my mates unspoiled, but I’ll make an exception for this one.”
“Don’t you dare touch her,” I say.
Magnus smirks at me, one hand wrapped around my mate’s neck.
“I’m touching her right now, Nero. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
He turns his lecherous eyes towards my mate.
“I’m going to make you pay for what you did to me, human,” he says. “You’re both going to regret ever running into me.”
He grabs the bottom of Victoria’s dress and pulls it over her head, leaving her in nothing but her underwear. A dark grin spreads across Magnus’s face as he looks at her curves.
I lose control.
The sight of his hand on her skin is too much.
The beast inside of me cannot take it.
My vision turns red. My heart feels like it’s being ripped apart, my skin moving, changing.
My muscles ripple and grow, until the chains strains against my skin — and then snap like twigs.
The beast has been released.
Chapter Nineteen
Victoria
My worst nightmare is coming true.
Magnus is running his hands over my naked skin. I’m trembling, wanting nothing more than to disappear, but I can’t. I’ve been an utter fool.
What was I thinking? That I’d take on an alien warrior that’s twice as tall as me?
Nero is chained against the wall, and the sight of my love being locked up like a wild animal hurts me in the very center of my being. He doesn’t deserve this. The universe is cruel.
“No!”
A low, animalistic growl catches my attention, forcing me to open my eyes. It sounds like Nero, but it also doesn’t.
What I see makes my heart skip a beat.
Nero has ripped the chains from the wall. His chest is heaving up and down with every breath he takes, his red eyes fixed on me, his menacing fangs shimmering in the light…
…His fangs?
It’s my Nero in front of me, yet at the same time, it isn’t.
My Nero is tall, yes, but not nine feet tall. My Nero’s eyes aren’t red. My Nero doesn’t have fangs.
My Nero doesn’t have horns, either.
Yet this heaving figure, this beast, certainly does. He leaps forwards, sinking his claws right into Magnus Bruttius.
I duck down and crawl away, escaping between his legs, surrounded by snarls, bites, growls and claws. I reach the corner and turn around, relieved and frightened in equal measure
Nero has Magnus pinned down to the ground, and with his claws he’s ripping his skin to shreds. He sinks his fangs into Magnus’s shoulder, and rips a piece of him right out, blood trickling down his chin.
For a moment his red eyes flicker towards me. For a brief second I wonder if I’m next, if my mate is still in control… but then our eyes meet.
And I see that, inside, he’s still my mate. He recognizes me. I can’t explain how, but I just know.
The moment is ruined by Magnus throwing Nero off his chest. To my horror his body shifts and changes, just like Nero’s, two giant horns curling up like a rams.
“Let’s do this, brother,” Magnus growls, his voice low, animalistic, raw.
“Run,” Nero barks at me. “Run!”
I grab the dress that’s in my corner of the prison, and thro
w it on. As I clamor to my feet, my back pokes against a nail with a keychain dangling from it. I grab it and unlock Romulus’s chains, my hands shaking from fear as the two beasts keep each other locked in battle.
Finally, the key turns, and the lock springs open. Romulus stumbles forwards, barely conscious.
“Are you still there?” I ask.
He nods, one arm resting on my shoulder as we head towards the door.
“We need to burn this whole place down,” he says.
Nero
Magnus lunges for me.
I dodge to the side, swiping at him with my claws.
I connect, and pieces of fur go flying through the room.
He kicks off the wall and jumps forwards me, fangs first.
Again I dodge. He crashes into the wall, his horns leaving a mark on the stone wall.
I move with ease, my muscles brimming with power, as if I just unlocked my true potential. Perhaps I have.
I have fought against this presence, this darkness, this beast my entire life, as I was afraid of losing control.
Afraid of what might happen. Afraid of what I’d do.
Yet, I’ve never felt more alive, more in control of my body, ironically. I control every muscle, every fiber of my being, feeling stronger, faster, better than ever.
I don’t fully understand what I am, or what Magnus is, but that doesn’t matter. All that matters now is killing the bastard.
That might prove tough. We are equally matched, both quick enough that barely any blow lands.
I must win.
I must save Victoria.
I have no other choice.
Victoria
Romulus leads me down a dark hallway. Behind us I hear snarling and growling, like two wild wolves are going at it. I’m aware my heart is racing and my stomach is in knots, but I push on.
“Here,” Romulus chokes.
His voice is fading rapidly, and my dress is stained red with his blood. He leads me to a room filled with books and parchment, every inch of the walls covered with them.
“This is Gaius’s lifework,” he says. “All his research into opening portals is right here. And we need to burn it all down to save your planet.”
I grab a torch from the hallway, the fire burning brightly, the warmth heating my skin.
I never started a fire before.
Here’s to firsts.
I hold the torch against the bookcase.
This feels so wrong. Books aren’t made to be burned. And these aren’t even printed books — the pages have been filled by hand. The papers are stained with ink. A whole life’s work… taken by the fire.
The flames lick the fire, smoke circling up into the air, as the fire quickly spreads. The dry parchment is an excellent conduit, and within seconds the fire reaches up to the ceiling, a a wall of fire now staring down at me.
“Let’s go,” Romulus growls, “before it consumes us, too.”
We hobble down the hallway, the roaring fire behind us, its glow casting shadows on the walls.
My heart is racing as we turn the corner.
Will I find my mate defeated? Ripped to shreds?
As we get closer, I hear the two Elban warriors growling and snarling, still locked in their battle.
They are facing one another, their claws locked, their entire bodies trembling as they try to push the other over.
“Give up,” Magnus growls. “You are dead.”
“Never,” Nero answers.
“Beg for death like your father!”
To my horror, I see Nero’s feet are slipping. Behind us, the fire roars louder with every passing second — we have to get out.
Now.
I grab the key I used to free Romulus, and jab it into Magnus’s side with every ounce of strength I have. He howls like a wounded dog, his strength slipping away for a fraction of a second.
And that’s all it takes.
Nero pounces on top of him, his claws raining down on Magnus. He bites his neck, blood spurting out, Magnus crying out in pain.
Thick, black smoke starts to fill the cell. If we don’t leave now, we’re never getting out.
“Come,” I say, placing my hand on Nero’s shoulder. “We have to go!”
He whirls around. His eyes are red and filled with bloodlust, his fangs dripping with blood.
Is that still my mate in there?
Or has this beast taken control?
Nero nods, and before I realize what’s happening he throws Romulus over one shoulder, grabs me with his other hand, and sprints into the black smoke, keenly finding the exit with his heightened senses.
We reach the top of the stairs and enter the main hall, where a whole squad of House Bruttius guards are waiting for us. Their eyes are filled with fear as they gaze upon Nero’s shifted, beastlike form.
“W-where’s Magnus?” one of them stammers. “What have you done, you, you… monster?!”
They raise their swords. Fear fills my heart once more — we’ve gotten too far to be struck down now, with the finish line in sight, right?
Luckily, Nero agrees.
With a thunderous roar he leaps up into the air, over ten feet high, jumping right over the shocked men. Bursting through the door we head into the night, free, finally free.
Behind us, black smoke billows into the night, blotting out the stars.
House Bruttius burns.
Epilogue
Victoria
Nero doesn’t stop running until we reach the Classis. The crew is already waiting for us, the ship’s engine primed and ready to go.
In the distance behind us the fire roars, the entire mansion engulfed in flames, drawing attention from every citizen of Massa.
We pass by nearly undetected.
“Go,” Nero roars as soon as he enters the ship. “Go!”
The ship rumbles and takes off, and my mate collapses onto the floor. His body shifts and changes: his horns disappear, as do the fangs, and he returns to his (still impressive) Elban form.
His naked body rises up and down with every breath, a weak smile on his face.
“We did it,” he breathes.
“You did it,” I correct him.
“Couldn’t have done it without you.”
The few Octavius warriors that are left pour into the room, take Romulus to the ship’s med-bay and bring Nero and I a blanket to cover our bruised and scraped bodies.
My mate sits up, resting his back against the wall, his eyes closed.
“What happened?” I ask after a moment. “What was…”
“What I became? I have no idea,” he says. “It must be my heritage, Decimus’s heritage, something in his blood. Magnus had the same power.”
“Do you think he’s dead?”
Nero shakes his head.
“Evil isn’t defeated that easily. He might still live. Not that it matters. We’re going through that portal and closing it from the other side. No one will be able to follow us.”
“Are you… are you sure?” I ask. “You’ll never be able to return. I mean, this world is where you belong.”
“I’m sure.”
His eyes find mine. He’s telling the truth.
“I belong wherever you are, Victoria. There’s nothing for us out here.”
“What about Romulus? Or the rest of your crew?”
“They’ll follow me into death itself. Earth can’t be that bad in comparison.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I know I am. Come, let’s enjoy the view.”
Nero climbs to his feet, the blanket wrapped around his naked frame, and hand-in-hand we make our way to the observation deck.
The purple, swirling vortex awaits us.
My hand finds his.
Our fingers entwine.
The ship enters the portal. Colors pass us by, space itself transforming into a long, kaleidoscopic tunnel, ending in a blaze of light so bright I have to close my eyes.
When I open my eyes again, we’re back in th
e milky way. I see familiar planets in the distance, constellations I’ve spent a lifetime looking up at all around us.
The ship launches a torpedo right into the swirling portal, and it disappears a moment later.
“The torpedo collapsed the portal from the inside,” Nero says. “This is our home now. No way back.”
I squeeze Nero’s hand. It’s hard to believe our adventure is over… oh, who am I kidding. It’s far from over. I’m mated to an alien, shifting warrior. My adventure is never over.
An Elban warrior knocks on the door behind us.
“Everything has gone according to plan, sir. The portal is closed. If you like, we could hail Earth.”
“Not yet,” Nero says. “Run the ship on low-energy until further notice. Romulus and I need some time to recharge before we face the humans.”
“Affirmative, sir.”
Nero
The warm water washes all the blood away. My bruised and battered body is covered in scratches, marks, bites. I rest my forehead against the tiles of the showers, replaying all of the events in my mind.
I was as good as dead.
My time had come.
Chained up like a beast. Left to rot. To wither away.
And then, out of nowhere, Victoria appeared. A guardian angel. An utterly foolish one… but a guardian angel none the less.
Seeing her hurt awakened the beast inside of me. It came over like a tidal wave. All of my life I’ve fought against it, struggled, afraid of what might happen… and in the end, it was that same beast that saved all of us.
Victoria is watching me from the doorway.
“What are you thinking?” I ask. “Do you think I’m a monster?”
“Of course not,” she says. “You’re my savior. My hero.”
“You saw me. I’m a hideous freak.”
My mate slips the dress from her frame, exposing her milky, naked body to me. Instantly my body responds. My eyes are glued to her as she saunters over. I thought she’d be afraid of me now, mentally scarred now that she’s seen what I truly am… but there’s nothing but tenderness in her eyes.
With a hint of lust.
Victoria places her hands on the places where my horns appeared.
I jerk myself away.