“I, uh…was giving them their next dose.” Her explanation is unconvincing.
“Please enlighten me on who gave you that authority.” I stare her down, intently watching her eyes bounce back and forth, not daring to look me in the eye.
“You’re always so busy. I thought it was about time I lend a hand around here.” The corner of my lip quirks up.
“Right. And where is the staff I had assigned to this task?” The candidates begin hollering as we continue to chat, but with the ball of my fist, it slowly dies out as their air supply gets dangerously low.
Katerina visibly swallows with fear. “Oh, I let them off. Everyone has been walking on eggshells lately.” Rage. Pure, blinding rage settles over my vision as I look at my offspring andwonder how I went so wrong.
“Out. Now.” Her shoulders steel, and like a scared mouse, she scurries past me. Turning abruptly, the dust doesn’t even begin to settle before I’m slamming the squeaky door shut behind us with brutal force.
Katerina’s eyes follow the spider web of cracks branching off the doorframe. “Now, Dad, before you start yelling—”
“I am your king, and you will address me as such,” I interrupt. “Don’t speak. Listen. Nod if you understand.” She does, her head bouncing uncontrollably like a bobblehead. “You are not permitted to administer any treatments, nor are you authorized to givemystaff any ‘breaks.’”
“I’m bored without Call–” Her lips slam closed, realizing her mistake as soon as she says it. “—763 here,” she finishes on a mumble.
I push out a gust of wind, knocking her off balance and causing her to crash into the wall. “I said don’t speak!” I hold her against the rough stone with the force of my power. “I don’t give a flying fuck if you’re bored. Don’t think, for one moment, because you’re my daughter that gives you free rein. Put one more toe out of line, and I will throw you in there with the rest of them.” She nods her head in understanding, fighting back the tears glossing over her eyes.
I spit at her feet and allow the air that’s been holding her to fade. My head ticks once to the left, indicating for her to get out of my sight.
I’m tired of wasting such precious time and energy on the little brat.
Wordlessly, she runs off, and I don’t take my eyes off her retreating form until she disappears up the stairs. My chest slowly rises then falls when she’s fully out of view, the weight of this hiccup in my plans finally setting in. I think back to my brilliant idea fifteen years ago and how I thought the fatesgave me Katerina on a silver platter. It took some time. She was resistant, but in the end, her biggest goal in life is to make me proud.
And I’ve used that to my advantage.
When she was old enough, I decided it was finally time to start putting the pieces into motion. To put it lightly, finding Kalliope was no easy task that came with lots of trial and error. Unfortunately, there were a few humans that got caught in the crossfire—not unfortunate for me but for them. Katerina has a bit of an unstable temper, which I blame her mother for—she was always a hothead. She watched Kalliope for some time, and we decided the best plan of action was to appeal to her sympathetic side. Weak and pathetic, but it worked beautifully. She was so naive she invited Katerina into her home. Granted, we didn’t know it then. We didn’t know the magnitude of her powers until recently, and that was all Elizabeth’s doing.
I don’t know where I went wrong, how I missed when she switched from my side to theirs, or when she became suspicious of my plans. Maybe I was too caught up, too focused, that I never noticed, but I thought, in time, she would come around and be the queen I so desperately wanted by my side. This realm was to be ours to rule, hand in hand. But she became weak, just like the rest of them.
Suddenly, my arm begins to tingle, starting at my fingertips then rapidly spreading up the length of it. All too quickly, the tingles turn into limb-dropping numbness, pulsing like it’s angry with me before it starts to feel like my bones are liquifying.
Looking down at my arm, I grunt out in pain as my eyes land on veins webbing from my usual injection spot.
Fuck, what time is it? Surely it’s not time yet. I just had a treatment this morning. But with another wave of agony through my limb, I know it doesn’t matter. Using my right hand to apply pressure to the crook of my arm, my feet sluggishly carry me alittle farther down the hall until I reach the main lab. The door is secure, made of impenetrable steel, and kept locked all hours of the day, only being able to be accessed by approved personnel. Not wasting time, I press my thumb against the glowing red scanner, and I have to grind my teeth together as another hit of pain washes over me, and the machine takes its sweet time turning green.
Gripping the vertical metal handle, I yank it open, startling the workers inside. “Commander, is everything alright?”
“Does it look like I’m alright?” I bark, baring my teeth in his direction. “Use those fucking brains of yours, and get me another dose!”
“Sir, I would advise against another one so soon. The effects are clearly—”
“I didn’t ask for a bloody informational course. Get me another. That’s an order!” He looks like he wants to keep arguing, which would be a huge mistake. Thankfully, he decides against it. 452 reaches into the chilling compartment and grabs one of the vials that glows fluorescent blue.
The mere sight makes my mouth salivate, pupils dilate, laser-locked in on the one thing that will make all of this better.
“Make it a double for the inconvenience,” I rasp.
His footsteps stutter. “Sir, I really don’t—”
“That wasn’t a suggestion!” My eyes slam closed, and I fall into the nearby table, knuckles bleaching with the strength of my hold on its edge. “I would advise you to choose your next wordsverywisely.” 452 takes a moment, and had it been any longer, I would’ve killed him where he stands and made 406 do what needs to be done. Although, by the way he’s frozen in place, I wouldn’t be surprised if he pissed himself.
When this all started coming to fruition and the experiments were producing successes rather than failures, I began my own treatments. In turn, there were a select few in charge of mydosages so things didn’t get out of hand.
Now I’m severely regretting that decision.
With a short, frustrated exhale through his nose, he turns back around and takes one more precious vial from the cooler.
