“Now folks, you don’t need to be afraid. Max is fully aware of his position here. He was engineered with a gorilla. He’s capable of ripping metal apart with his hands.”
“What’s to stop him from ripping the bars of his cage?” One of the women in the crowd called out.
“I’m so glad you asked.” Marcus replied without missing a beat. He sauntered to the front of the cage, and though the creature snarled and gnashed its teeth, it didn’t lunge at him. “He’s programmed to respond to our prompts. Specifically engineered to obey.”
The terms were so scientific. So dehumanizing. Because the creature wasn’t human. Not fully. Not anymore. Clara’s stomach flipped and she regretted eating as much as she had. She had mutilated people before. She knew exactly what it was to strip someone’s humanity away. But not like this. Not in a display. Not without a reason.
“Then why is the cage necessary at all?” A man yelled.
Marcus hesitated for the first time, apparently not having prepped for that specific question. “It makes it more of a display, of course! That’s why we host this festival. Everyone here views the riches of our kingdom, the scientific prowess we pride ourselves on. Is everyone sufficiently impressed?” He raised his arms with a flourish, and the creature behind him stood with him, raising his arms to grasp the bars that formed the top of his enclosure. Hairy knuckles and massive palms desperately closing over the metal. Maximus’s eyes screamed murder, but no one noticed or no one cared.
The crowd erupted in applause.
Anger burned in Clara’s chest, fierce and biting and impossible to ignore.
38CARVER
It took Carver less than 15 seconds to see the red flare in Clara’s eyes and know he had to move her before she caused a scene. “Darling,” he whispered, his voice tense, “We need to go.”
She grit her teeth and resisted his pull. “I will pick you up and throw you over my shoulder if you don’t follow me right now.”
“Someone has to do something.” She responded, desperation clear in her tone. Her eyes were glued on the cage, and he could practically see her brain tripping over ways to get involved.
“I agree.” He wrapped his hand around her wrist, surveying the people around them and preparing to do exactly as he had said, “And we are doing something. But if you cause a scene now, we won’t have the option of doing something.”
He felt her relax a little, and tried to pull her wrist. She came with him willingly, but her eyes never left the creature on the stage. He led her into an alley that was far enough from the center that it was devoid of people. “What the hell Clara? You have to prioritize the assignment. I can’t spend this trip keeping you from starting fights!”
Her eyes snapped to his, and he stepped back at the force of her glare. “Don’t tell me what to prioritize. Those are people,peopleCarver!”
“Not anymore, they’re not.” He scoffed, running a hand through his hair. It was the wrong thing to say. He knew that the moment the last word left his lips.
He still wasn’t prepared for her to slap him. His face stung instantly, tears filling his eyes from the shock of it. He flexed his jaw, hand gingerly coming up to his cheek, waiting for the reflex of tears to fade enough he could respond. “The hell Clara!”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re a jerk. Completely and entirely a jerk! You don’t even care that they’re people.”
“You don’t get to tell me what I care about.” Every word was controlled, his voice dangerously low.
“It’s so obvious. You want to stay perfect Mr. Carver Vaughan.” She held her hands in front of her, mocking him with every word. “Complete the assignment and return like none of this happened. Like we didn’t see anything. None of this even matters to you. Just another check box on your list of things to complete.”
He clenched his teeth, determined not to give her the response she wanted. But she didn’t stop there. “We were content. We were happy. Until I did something that would have messed up your perfect image. Right?” She threw her hands up. “You couldn’t date a soldier. Would have ruined everything. I was supposed to stay the gentle rich girl. Perfect for you. Someone to show off. But I didn’t, did I? So you ended it.”
Thoughts stopped running through his head, and before he knew why or what he was doing, he had pinned her hands above her head, holding them there as his face hovered above hers. “That’s not what happened.” He panted out, unsure why he was out of breath. She was breathing hard too.
His nose bumped hers and neither flinched away. “No?” She whispered, less violence in her voice. Her eyes searched his. He didn’t know what she was looking for, but he hoped she found it.And then she kissed him. It felt like the world was spinning. He didn’t know what was happening. Just that it shouldn’t be.
He felt himself lean into her, a motion he couldn’t stop. He needed her. He needed to be even closer. He pressed her further against the wall, his body squaring against hers. Further, further. It was everything he knew he shouldn’t do. Everything he had wanted to do the past several days. Everything he would never forgive himself for doing since he was supposed to keep his distance.
Finally, his thoughts caught up with his actions and he pulled himself away from her lips long enough to look into her eyes.
Her eyes were wide, her lips still parted. Then she placed both hands on his chest, and shoved him away from her. Heat still raged within his body, and he wasn’t thrilled with the distance she had created. She held her hands out in front of herself. “You stay there.” She ran a hand through her hair, it was entirely falling from the pieces she had pinned back that morning.
“Clara,” he whispered, taking a step back towards her.
“I mean it, Carver.” He stayed where he was. “I don’t know what that was, but it can’t happen. We can’t happen.”
“Just the sexual tension Marsh warned us about,” he attempted to lighten the mood.
She laughed, but there was no mirth in the sound. “I’m such an idiot.” She muttered.
