The impact jars my skull, sends stars exploding across my vision—but the crunch and his startled grunt are worth it. He staggers back a step, hand flying to his face.
I yank my right arm free just enough—muscle memory, adrenaline, desperation—and slap him.
The sound cracks through the room.
His head snaps to the side.
For a second, everything is perfectly silent.
Then Frederick straightens slowly, wiping blood from his lip with his thumb. He looks at the smear, then back at me.
And he smiles.
Wider than before.
Almost fond.
“You idiot,” I spit, chest heaving. “You don’t know what you’ve done.”
He chuckles, genuinely amused. “Oh, my dear Ayla. I know exactly what I’ve done.”
He gestures around us, encompassing the gleaming walls, the soft hum of the ship. “You were abducted by a violent alien pirate. You were held captive. Brainwashed. And I—” he taps his chest “—personally authorized a retrieval operation to save you.”
My laugh turns into a sob halfway through.
“Saved me?” I choke. “You ripped me out of my home. Out of my life. You took me from him.”
His eyes darken, just a flicker. “From a beast.”
The word lands like a slap.
I go still.
“You didn’t see him,” I say, voice shaking. “You didn’t hear him. You don’t know what he is.”
“I know exactly what he is,” Frederick replies coolly. “A Reaper. A butcher. A monster who preys on vulnerable women and convinces them they’re special.”
“That’s not?—”
“He drugged you,” Frederick cuts in smoothly. “Conditioned you. You think you chose him? Please. The psychological profile was obvious.”
I pull against the restraints again, uselessly. “You’re wrong.”
He leans down until his face is inches from mine. I can smell his cologne—clean, expensive, nauseating.
“I’ve saved you from a beast,” he says softly. “And one day, when the fog clears, you’ll thank me.”
Something inside my chest caves in.
“You’re going to get him killed,” I whisper.
His smile doesn’t falter. “The IHC will handle the situation. Any resistance was neutralized.”
Neutralized.
The room tilts.
“No,” I breathe. “No, no, no?—”
