Bo and the Beast (Book #1) (Completed)

18. Back To Square One

Bo's steps slowed even as she longed to keep running forever. Her knee gave out and she dropped to the ground, her hands still on the wall. Cracking open an eye against the glare, she stared at the fog in front of her. Her heart burst inside of her, longing for what she knew was just on the other side. Yet, she couldn't reach it. A scream tore through her throat, giving voice to the growing pit in her stomach that seemed to know that she couldn't escape.

She was still screaming when the Service-Matons appeared, all speaking at once to warn her to comply or else. She had about a moment to stare at all her lost hopes captured in the fog, before the army of robots descended on her in a wave of metal and scanning lasers.

She couldn't even see if any of them were the ones she knew, before her vision was filled with grass as her face was forced to the ground and her arms were wrenched up and behind her back. She yelped in protest, but the robots were uncaring as they gripped her with their iron vices and forced her legs flat to the ground. She writhed on her stomach, trying to flip over to get a better chance of freeing herself, but the robots merely wrenched her arms until she was forced to keep still. Hissing in pain, she tried to scream the all the curses she knew, but grass and dirt filled her mouth.

One of the robots grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her face further into the lawn, scraping her chin and cheek across a few stray pebbles. Bo jerked, starting to tell them that she would stop struggling, but then the clamp on the back of her neck tightened even more.

Suddenly she found herself unable to breath, her eyes widening as she tried to choke in a breath. Panic set in instantly, and she renewed her thrashing, knowing all the while that the robots had a deathly grip. She had no hope of breaking the vice around her throat, yet she had to if she wanted to live beyond this night.

As her lungs burned and strained for a taste of air, the alarm and lights began to blur, slow down. Bo's eyes rolled in her skull, phasing in and out, black creeping into the edges as she watched the blurs of robots moving in the corners of her vision. Time crept by, a moment seeming as long as years. Her mind buzzed, wanting air... air... air....

Just as her vision stuttered and Bo knew she was going to pass out, she felt a shove against her back and then the sound of frantic beeping. The pressure around her throat came suddenly away with a sharp rip across her skin, and then she was gasping for breath. Through the wavering tears of pain building in her eyes, Bo coughed and hacked, trying to make her lungs function once more.

The Service-Matons holding her arms yanked backward and she tumbled back onto her haunches, staring directly at the torso of the Beast.

For a moment she just stared at him with an open mouth. He stood nearly on top of her, his height like a mountain, and in one hand he held a Service-Maton. No. He wasn't holding it. His hand jutted out the middle of the metal body, wires and computer parts dangling like innards down the front. Sparks showered from the robot's wound, and some had apparently set the Beast's sleeve on fire. He didn't even notice that he was on fire, and Bo knew he must be getting shocked from the wires in the robot. Yet, he just let it dangle there in front of him.

Bo hacked again, her throat wanting to vomit but her stomach having nothing to give. She looked down briefly, and when she looked back at the Beast she caught an expression on his face that sent a chill down her spine. His eyes frantically searched her face as if he thought he could find something there, and lines around his mouth gave him a strained look. But then it was gone and he tossed the Service-Maton to the ground where it tried to beep even as its power leaked out through the exposed wiring.

"You tried to escape," the Beast said, his voice hurried.

Bo didn't answer, as she knew he wasn't asking her a question.

The Beast took a step forward, coming nearly within touching distance, but only raised a hand to pat out the flames on his sleeve. Bo couldn't see if they had damaged him any, but if they did he was impervious to the pain. "We had a deal. You are to stay here in place of your father. You agreed."

Bo bit her lip, but continued to keep silent. She wasn't even sure if she could talk after that strangling.

The Beast took a small breath in, and suddenly he was different. He seemed to grow another inch, his chest expanded, his eyes hardened. There, in front of her, was the true Beast of Lyx. A killing creature, something she'd never want to come across on the battlefield. Bo's blood ran cold looking at him.

"I can always find your father again." He nearly said it in the dangerous growl of a lion. "Your word is not the only one that can be broken. I can keep you both here, because this is a prison that you cannot be free of. It was made to keep in things much deadlier than you can ever hope to be."

He waved a hand and the Service-Matons still holding her arms and leg released her. She glanced over to see if any of them were any that she knew, but they weren't. For some reason she couldn't bring herself to check if the one that lay in pieces on the ground was Dent or Madame of one of the others, though she shouldn't have felt bad if they'd been about to strangle her. At any rate, she kept her eyes up.

Without warning, the Beast reached down and grabbed her under her arm. He hauled her to her feet, nearly taking her off the ground at one point, and shoved her into a walk. His legs, much longer than hers, afforded him a speed that she couldn't match, especially as she still struggled to breath through the lump left in her throat after the robot's attack. Seeing her falling behind, the Beast grabbed her arm and propelled her along at his pace.

They trudged back across the lawn as the Service-Matons slowly dispersed. The Beast gave her no explanation as he heaved her up the front steps and back into the mansion. His boots crashed against the marble flooring of the entrance hall, and Bo could do nothing as he flung open the door to the dungeons.

The smell of must filled Bo's nose as she stumbled down the stairs behind the Beast. His fingers slid down her jacket sleeve until they caught on the bare skin of her wrist. She once again noticed the slight tingle of electricity pulsing from his skin, and shivered as it tingled behind the thin bones of the inside of her wrist.

When they were in front of the cell she'd occupied once before, the Beast paused just long enough to rip the guns from her hips before pushing her backward throw the door. She cushioned her fall with her hands, but wasn't up in time before he slammed the lock into place.

"What's the use of keeping me if you're going to lock me in here?" Bo asked, hoping someway she could talk her way out of this. The bedroom would be so much easier to escape from. Yet, even as she spoke, she could see it was useless. He glared at her with those stony eyes, his shirt charred, and his hand already reaching for the door to the stairs.

"Hey!" Bo shouted, kicking the cell. Her voice was still scratchy and raw from being choked, but she made it as loud as she could. The Beast ignored her, heading out of the room. She snarled at his back, clenching her fists around the iron bars.

And then he paused, looking over his shoulder. She froze as he silently stared at her, his brown eyes searching her face. After a few seconds, he slowly turned to face the hallway once more. "Next time you try to break your word, I will not be as easy on you," he said, almost too soft for her to hear.

With that he slammed the door shut and she heard his heavy footsteps going up the stairs. She collapsed to her knees, staring at the empty room, her whole body shaking now that the rush of trying to run had worn off. Slowly, her head tipped forward, resting her forehead against the bars. Closing her eyes, she tried to be thankful that she'd survived the encounter. But her chest burned with the agony of being here when she should be home.

All she could think about was when she could try again.