Ungrateful Roommate: A Sci-fi Romance (Marnak Series Book 3)

by Layla Stone

  “What?”

  “Yep. Ask him about it sometime,” Gladiator said with a smirk and lead the way down the hall from the security room. The side door opened and Sorn was there waiting for her. He reached out snatched her wrist and didn’t say a word.

  “You’re welcome,” Gladiator said.

  Sorn didn’t turn or speak until they were in the parking lot. “What did Gladiator tell you? I know he said something by the look on his face.”

  Ryya unlocked the doors and sat down, looking straight ahead.

  Sorn commanded, “Tell me.”

  “He said he choked you out. And he mentioned that you were a fighter.”

  “That’s all?” Sorn said narrowing his eyes. When she didn’t answer, he said, “Yeah, that’s all.”

  It wasn’t all.

  “He also said that if you didn’t tell me you were a fighter, then you didn’t want me to know. But obviously you are, or were, and I need to know which one it is.”

  Sorn gave her a bland look, “You do, do you?”

  Maybe he needed the question asked nicely. “Are you a fighter?”

  “You just saw me fight.”

  “So, you fight there? At the Pit? Professionally?”

  Sorn didn’t answer. He turned his attention to the Navigation screen and punched in the address to her home. It was then her Minky screen chimed from her account. She had to reenter her access code before accepting the video call.

  Wrey’s eyes were red rimmed and wet with tears. “How dare you…” she stopped when she saw Sorn. Then Wrey shook her head and said, “I asked you to come, not send a Demon after my husband!”

  “Jay was drunk and…” Ryya almost said Sorn’s name but decided not to, “you know he wasn’t going to listen to me any more than you. So, I brought someone that could actually help.”

  “You weren’t there. That Demon humiliated my husband and picked a fight with him.”

  “I was there watching from a back room. Jay was the one who picked a fight.”

  Her sister’s lip quivered as a tear rolled out. “I will never ask you for help again. And I never want to see your face. From now on, we are not family.”

  “Are you serious?” Ryya said. Her sister was taking this to a new level of stupid. “You’re going to never talk to me again because I didn’t walk in there and let Jay talk crap to me for a half hour before he got tired of it and left? Because that’s what happens every time I try to get drunk-Jay to go home.”

  “That’s what it takes, and you know that,” Wrey’s voice shook. “Now my husband has to go to work and look those people in the face and know they all saw him being attacked by your Demon. And you know what he’s going to do. He’s going to quit, come home and drink so much I will have to send the kids to Ma’s until he finds a new job.”

  Ryya was boiling inside. She didn’t care Sorn was next to her, listening to private family issues. “Marriage isn’t forever and I told you more than once to leave him. He’s scum and if he thinks quitting his job followed by a month of binge drinking is the answer then you need to take a good look at yourself and find out why he’s the kind of male you want to be with.”

  Wrey wiped her wet cheek. “I can’t believe you could even say that. He was there for me when I needed him. He was there for me when Dad died, and he will be there for me forever. My marriage is not perfect but it’s better than living alone and being some Demon’s hellcat.”

  Ryya knew what a Demon’s hellcat was; a female who chased after Demons to blitz because she was addicted and would never be whole.

  A solid verbal blow.

  “I never want to see you again,” Wrey declared before terminating the call.

  The buzz from the screen was the only sound in the cab of the Hampton Dwarf. Sorn adjusted in his seat, but she didn’t pay attention to him. She kept her eyes on the blank screen, black anger churning in her gut.

  “Weak bodies, weak minds and bad choices… the motto of a Terran,” he said matter-of-factly.

  Fresh rage vibrated from within her blood. “I don’t know what Terran turned you into this self-righteous bastard, but I’m done listening to talk down about my race. Terrans aren’t perfect but neither are Demons.”

  Sorn’s face hardened. A warning.

  She wasn’t done. “And even if you did know a million Terrans personally, you don’t know me or my family. You don’t know what my sister and I have gone through. You don’t get to make snide comments about bad choices or weak minds. You may be strong on the outside, but me and my sister are unbreakable on the inside.”

  There was a moment that she believed she got through to the Demon. That she touched a piece of him that would make him respect her and her family.

  She was wrong.

  “Terrans like you and your sister fight so hard for those measly ten to twenty years of prime health to live this important life – but in the end, no one notices, no one cares, and no one will remember you. I’ve sneezed longer than you’ve been alive.”

  His words broke her spirit.

  “This is over. Be out of my house by tonight.”

  7

  Sorn was gone before she woke up. The back-patio frame was locked into place and she hadn’t heard a thing.

  It was Saturday morning, but it didn’t look or feel like it. The clouds were heavy, and the wind whistled like a banshee. A summer storm was coming. A bad one.

  The clouds clashed and growled; a monster ready to pounce. By the sound of it, it was going to bring devastating winds, rain and lightning with that extra special Marnak flare: the chemicals in the air would charge from the lightning and cascade on the wet soil, making the ground deadly to anyone outside.

  Traffic and all outside ventures were put on hold until the storm relented.

  Her front door pinged and Ryya jumped, assuming Sorn was back to beg for a place to stay in the storm.

  Stomping down the hall she planned to tell him no… but that was the anger talking. There was no way in hell she would risk his life because of a stupid, insensitive comment. He may be an anti-Terran, but he did help her out – a Demon favor – and instead of getting one in return, she kicked him out of the house.

  He was rude, and he deserved it. But she didn’t want him to die.

  Before she got to the door, she looked at the security display and zoomed in on the person outside.

  Jay.

  She cursed. If it started to rain, he could have got trapped in a Nack Krawler and died.

  Jay shouted at the camera, “I know you’re in there. I saw your Dwarf.”

  Opening the door, she gestured for him to come in. “I wasn’t hiding, I had to walk from the kitchen.”

  Jay wrapped a cybernetic hand around her throat and smashed her against the wall. With his cybernetic legs he was taller, looking down at her, his eyes small pin pricks. “You sent a Demon to embarrass me?” he hissed. His voice shook with fury.

  The pressure on her neck made it hard to breathe. She tried to answer but he squeezed harder and she couldn’t help screaming out.

  “We’re supposed to be family!” Jay pulled her away from the wall far enough that when he shoved her back, it knocked her head. He was crushing her throat and tears sprang to her eyes.

  “Don’t you ever think you can get away with that, Ryya. Don’t you ever.”

  He let her go. She staggered and fell to the floor, coughing as she tried to suck in air, and vomited. Her throat, mouth and nose burned.

  “Where’s your Demon lover? I’m going to rip out his spine, and make you watch.”

  Tears blurred her vision so much she didn’t see Jay’s foot until she felt the impact with her stomach.

  Knocked out of air again, she tried to scream but not a sound came out.

  “WHERE IS HE?”

  Another kick, this one hit a rib bone, and she was able to suck in a breath. The hit hurt and she curled herself on the floor, hands over her head, trying hard to breathe. Everything hurt. She couldn’t think beyond t
he fact that she was in so much pain.

  “Last time! Where. Is. –

  “I don’t know,” she croaked, her throat burning like fire. “I don’t know! He left last night.”

  Jay squatted down and she pulled herself tighter.

  “Then I guess we’re going to have to wait for him.”

  “He’s not coming back. I kicked him out.”

  Jay lip curled. “Wrong answer. You’re going to call him and beg him to come back.”

  No, she wasn’t.

  Jay shook his head, “I see you don’t fully understand. You either call him, or I do it for you.”

  “He won’t come.”

  “You owe him a favor. And no Demon in the universe would pass up an opportunity to collect.”

  Ryya had no idea what he was talking about. But Jay didn’t give her time to ask before pulling back his leg. She screamed, anticipating the hit.

  The hit never came, but the dark laughter in Jay’s voice settled in her skin, squirming into her belly.

  8

  Ryya had been on the floor for hours, her neck wrapped in rope Jay found in one of her rooms. It was a scrap from when she re-did the curtains. It was tied around her neck, wrist, arms, ankles and thighs. She couldn’t move. Her joints hurt and she would have cried if she could, but she was trying to fade into unconsciousness, hoping that would alleviate the ache.

  The garage door buzzed and her eyes shot wide. She told herself to close them, to let whatever was going to happen, happen.

  If she was lucky to live through it, so be it.

  That was a lie, mostly she just didn’t want to see Sorn’s face when he walked in. She didn’t know if he would look at her as the typical weak Terran he spoke about. She couldn’t see his disgust.

  Silent as usual, Sorn appeared out of thin air, standing in the hall overlooking her living room.

  Jay was in the middle of her living room. The couch was ripped and thrown in a corner. Jay told her that they were going to need the space, and she could afford to buy a new one.

  Jay bounced on his toes lightly as he brought up a hand and flick his thumb past his chin. “Did you think I’d let you embarrass me and let that slide?”

  Ryya told herself again to close her eyes. She couldn’t. She moved her eyes and saw that Sorn was indeed looking down at her.

  Face blank. Nothing in his eyes. He took a long breath and let it out, and even through all her pain, she felt like he was exhaling in displeasure in her species. In her.

  A lump grew in her throat and she swallowed it back down. She had her answer. He thought she was like everyone else. She closed her eyes.

  Weak body. Weak mind.

  “She gets to live, because she’s family,” Jay said like he was the patriarch. “But she will know that from now on there are punishments for those who betray me.”

  Keeping her eyes closed, she waited for Sorn to respond. But he didn’t. Instead she heard hard slapping, grunting and punches.

  When Jay howled, Ryya squeezed her eyes, telling herself not to look.

  The howl turned into a roar and she had to open her eyes. Jay was rolling on the floor, holding the place where his arm use to be - his cybernetic arm hanging limp in Sorn’s hand.

  Tucking a foot behind Jay’s ankle, Sorn pushed him down to the ground, stepped on his chest, reached down, dug a hand into Jay’s cybernetic faceplate under his left eye and ripped it clean off.

  More blood.

  More of Jay’s whimpering bellows.

  Sorn leaned down and spoke loud enough for her to hear. “She’s not your family. She belongs to me now. And I kill anyone who touches what belongs to me.”

  Sorn grabbed Jay by the neck, and walked him at the front door. Sorn opened the door, shoved him outside and slammed the door shut so hard the walls vibrated.

  Sorn was shaking when he knelt in front of her. He pulled out a knife and began cutting and unraveling the rope. “Your feet are purple. So are your hands.”

  As soon as she was free, she tried to move her legs, but they didn’t respond. It felt like spikes being shoved up her feet and legs… oxygen returning to her limbs.

  It hurt.

  She clenched her teeth together but couldn’t stop a small cry.

  Sorn gently took her face in his hands and made her look at him. He was close, his voice calm when he said, “It’s going to be okay. You will get feeling back. I promise.”

  She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes, hating the tears that escaped. She shouldn’t be crying. Not in front of him.

  “I’m fine,” she said wishing she could stand up and walk away. But her body was not hers yet.

  “You’re not fine. I know what it’s like to be caged up.”

  Pushing out a breath through her teeth she hated how much it stung.

  “I’m fine. You don’t have to take care of me.”

  She felt his hand massaged her skin, making it hurt more. Hissing she said, “Stop… please.”

  “It will help move the blood faster.”

  She shook her head. “It hurts.”

  “I know,” he said, and his voice was soft.

  He had never spoken to her like that before.

  “I’ll be fine, you don’t need to do that.”

  He didn’t respond to her, just kept massaging her skin. When the feeling started to come back, he pulled up her wrist and kissed it. “I’m sorry I was late.”

  “Jay shouldn’t have called you. This is not your mess. I’m fine,” she said surprised at the kiss, how gentle it was, how her stomach fluttered.

  Sorn’s breath shuddered and he pulled her up so she was sitting in his lap. He made her look at him. This time she saw more than an emotionless face. Raw unshed tears brightened his eyes and his nostrils flared. “You’re not fine. I know what it’s like to be chained and caged. I know what it’s like to be beaten, bound up with no way to defend myself. I know that I’m not fine with those memories. Therefore, I know you’re not fine.”

  He was chained and caged?

  He blinked back the tears and half smiled but it pulled down at the edges. “You want to know why I was caged?”

  She nodded, finding it hard with his hands holding her head.

  “I used to fight at The Pit. First sparing fight was with Gladiator and he broke both my knees. After I healed, I went into the arena with one thought. Incapacitate them as fast as possible. But that didn’t bring in money and the owners wanted carnage, so I gave them what they asked for.” He looked way as if he was reliving the past. “I destroyed people. I killed as many outside the arena as inside. When the Pit owners were done with me, I took up odd jobs and then one day got a good one working as a construction worker for a cheap-ass Terran. Workers got hurt, he didn’t care. Workers died, he covered it up. I said something, got in his face, that night my apartment was busted in and I was taken by a Silk Demon that ran an underground fighting arena – no rules but to kill the opponent. I did that for seven days. When I wasn’t fighting, I was locked in a chained cage so small I couldn’t sit straight. My last fight was with Gladiator who choked me out making it look like he killed me. He and Naff rescued me when I couldn’t do it myself. Helpless. So, I know what it’s like. I also know that my own poor choices led me there. You have done nothing to deserve what happened to you. So, I’m going to make you a deal…”

  Ryya shook her head.

  “It’s an easy yes or no,” he said firmly, and pulling her face up. “I knew the second I saw you I needed to leave. You’re too beautiful, too sweet and soft. I’ve done everything to warn you from me, to show you exactly who I am, hoping you will see sense and tell me to leave. And you finally did. But I was going to come back after the storm and use the favor you owed me to get back in – and then I was going to keep you.”

  Sorn lowered his forehead to hers. “But shredding your sister’s husband was the payment for the favor – and I wish I did it slower because he deserves to die for touching you, for hurting you. So here’s my d
eal: If you accept me as a mate, I will take care of you, help you build the house you want, fill your belly with babies. But you will be mated to me – the male who takes over every part of your life.”

  Hearing his story mixed with what she saw, it all made sense. A dominate fighter that ended up chained and caged because of a Terran boss. It was wrong of him to take his hatred out on her, but maybe he didn’t mean it. Maybe he was saying what he needed to say to push her away.

  “You’re not saying anything,” he said.

  “You hate Terrans.”

  His head bowed down to hers, his voice soft. “I hate nips and if they happen to be Terran, so be it.”

  “What’s a nip?”

  “A nobody who thinks he or she is someone special. That they can tell me what to do.”

  “I don’t like you telling me what to do,” she said in a scratchy voice.

  Sorn’s face fell for a moment but then the sadness evaporated, and his neutral expression covered his eyes and mouth. She quickly added, “And I don’t like it when you make me feel like a weak human for getting an anti-aging chip.”

  The delicate skin under his eye twitched.

  “I don’t like you stealing my blanket. So, if you’re staying with me, you need to bring your own.”

  He blinked.

  “I don’t like the way you insulted my carpet.”

  The top of his lip quirked.

  “And I don’t like how you affect me physically and emotionally and ruined me from kissing anyone else.”

  His lip pulled back in a ghost of a smile. “I didn’t hear a yes or a no. Demons are particular that way when making deals.”

  “You need it right now? Terrans don’t make decisions quickly,” she said, failing to hold back a smile.

  “Answer me.”

  She waited. He narrowed his eyes.

  She waited more, smiling bigger.

  “I see what you’re doing, and I don’t like it,” he said.

  Her smile grew into a laugh and she said, “Yes. Yes, I want to be your mate.”