The first thing that I noticed was that it felt like I was floating. My soul drifted out of my body, my pain disappearing with every beat of my heart. It was like I was no longer tied to my body.
Until I was. I slammed back down to Earth, groaning as I anticipated the excruciating pain of my body. When I opened my eyes this time, what would I see? The red floors of the pleasure station? The sandy beach of my cage?
Or a new hell?
I could feel the weight of my body as I took in a shallow breath, but the pain I was expecting wasn't there.
"She's awake," growled a voice above my head. The translator in my head was able to translate the words, but it still sounded a lot like a dog or a wolf speaking. Each word was nothing but a growl or a bark done in a different tone.
I didn't know if I should be grateful I understood what the male was saying or if there was a certain blessing in ignorance.
"Then why isn't she opening her eyes?" asked a second male. My body vibrated with each word he spoke, and I stilled, understanding that I was lying on top of him.
Why couldn't I remember how I got here? None of the males I had been with were ever around when I woke up. They had beaten me into submission and left when they got what they wanted.
And since when was I ever on top?
There was a long-suffering sigh, and I wanted to nod with it. "She isn't opening her eyes because she doesn't know where she is, let alone who we are. Right now, we are threats."
"Huh," grunted the male under me, and suddenly, something cold was pressed into my hand. My right hand. The same one with a broken bone protruding from my forearm.
"Like that is going to do anything," sneered voice number one. "That is nothing more than a pocketknife. It won't do much damage."
"It's not the amount of damage that it can do; it is the feeling of safety that comes from it. I doubt that the fracking King gave her a weapon," grunted the voice under me. "Besides, this one is almost the length of her arm. If I give her anything else, it will be too big for her to use."
The conversation going on around me made me curious. The fact that I didn't feel any threats coming from either man made me relaxed. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see Lucifer, the devil, not the ship, staring down at me.
I gasped, pushing my body as far away from his as I could before a thick, heavy arm wrapped itself around my waist, locking me in place.
"I know," grunted the male under me. "He is an ugly bastard."
There was a half hearted growl coming from the purple monster in front of me, but it was enough to have my heart calm down. Right. The demons from the cage. They must have taken me with them.
"Am I dead?" I asked, taking the time to study the creature in front of me. I couldn't say that he was what I originally thought was attractive. His muscles were so big that I could see his veins snaking around just under his skin. He was dark purple with a tan-colored chest and bright orange eyes. His ram-like horns were so massive that I honestly wondered how his neck was able to hold them up.
He looked like Satan, but I had never felt safer. Maybe the Prophet was right. Perhaps I really was destined for hell.
"No," said a third voice, speaking for the first time. I knew it was rude that I should look at the new male, but my entire being was focused on the male in front of me. "You aren't dead. The regen pod was able to revive you the three times your heart stopped beating. Did you know you only had a single heart?"
He sounded so astounded at that that I had to look over at him. He was much smaller than the purple male in front of me. Dressed in a white jacket that looked like a doctor's coat, he smiled down at me as he tapped on his iPad.
He paused and looked up at me, and I realized that he was actually expecting a response from me.
"Uh, yeah," I nodded. "I only have one heart."
The doctor tisked for a second and shook his head. "Such a strange species. Only one heart, no claws or fangs, skin so fragile that a single nick causes bleeding. How is it that you are still alive?"
I sneered at him, understanding that I was back in a med bay. Just because I wasn't strapped to the table this time didn't mean shit to me. Tightening my grip on the weapon in my hand, I waited for the perfect moment.
"I keep asking myself that every day," I assured him right before I exploded off the table, the sword in my hand aimed straight for the chest of the medic.
There was no way in hell I was letting anyone else remove my organs or experiment on me again. I had no problems dying. But if I was going down, I was going to take one of them with me.
My action surprised the male I was lying on, his arm dropping away from me as I flew off the bed. However, the purple dude's reactions were faster than I anticipated.
Before I could get to the doctor, I had another arm wrapped around my waist, yanking me against a chest that was so hard it might as well have been a brick wall.
"It's okay, zemrat e mia," murmured the purple dude as he gently pulled me in closer to his chest. He held me like a child in one hand as he looked down at me for a second. "You scared her," he growled at the doctor, his eyes flashing bright orange.
I could feel the rage pouring off of him, but I knew down to my bones that it wasn't directed at me. In fact, I would put money on the fact that he was upset at the other male because he upset me.
But that wasn't possible. Right?
Or was this some sort of new trap where they were pretending to fight so that I would let down my guard?