Making monster girls 4 f.., p.17
Making Monster Girls 4: For Science!, page 17
“That’s a pretty good plan, Charles,” Daisy breathed. “Do you think we’d be able to pull it off?”
“If we have Edony on our side,” I snickered. “Then probably. Edony is the strongest woman in Edenhart… I’d even say the world. I’ve seen her do some pretty horrific things with her powers. Josephine might remember when they had public executions, but I know neither of you will.”
“Those were… my heavens…” the blonde heiress cried. “They were horrendous… Those poor men were killed in such horrible ways… no human deserves that.”
“What did she do to them?” the bear-girl whispered.
“The one in particular that stuck with me for so long…” I slowly forced out. “Was a man that they tied up on two pairs of sticks. Each of his hands and feet were lashed to the poles, and he hung there limply like a doll. I’m pretty sure she’d already beaten him before they strung him up, but that doesn’t matter.”
“Edony walked out in front of the crowd, announced his crime, and turned toward him…” Josephine explained.
“Then she brought her hands over her head, slashed them down, and pointed them directly into the middle of his chest,” I went on. “The crowd had to scatter because the lightning bolts she summoned were so massive, but that wasn’t the worst part, a single strike sizzled down from the clouds above his head. We didn’t see what happened to him because of all of the smoke, but… we all heard his screams. When all of the smoke cleared away, the stakes were gone, and the only thing that remained was a charred and broken ribcage covered in cooked meat. The lightning bolts struck in all the same spot and created a massive crater… It was…”
“Horrifying to see the sheer amount of Edony’s magic,” the heiress murmured.
“I’m sure that what she showed us wasn’t even a fraction of her full powers,” I uttered. “From the way she snorted and rolled her eyes, we all knew that she was holding back. No one wanted to imagine what it would be like if she used one-hundred percent of her power. That’s why… we have to transform Edony before she finds out about our plans.”
“Why does she have to be so powerful?” Valerie grumbled.
“I have no idea,” I shook my head. “But we’re almost to the house. I’ll run down into my laboratory and grab the maps while all of you go inside. It shouldn’t take me very long.”
The carriage tilted upwards, and we watched out of the windows as the manor quickly approached. Once we reached the gravel of the driveway, the coach turned and stopped right in front of the stairs. I opened the door for my women and then held it there as they all climbed out. I hopped down to the gravel, slammed the door shut, and then turned to wave off the coachman.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” I called out to all three of my women and then headed off toward the stairs. I hurried down them, opened the corrugated door, and then stepped inside the cool room.
“Well, well, well,” a familiar voice scoffed. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“Hi, A.B.,” I grumbled. “Sorry we haven’t been down to visit you in a few days.”
I flipped on the light, and the floating brain practically glared at me from across the room. As I stepped deeper into the room, A.B. twirled his tiny brainstem and slowly turned away from me.
“Soooo,” I chuckled. “What have you been doing down here? I said I was sorry. We’ve been swamped, and I promise that we’ll bring you upstairs tonight.”
“What have I been doing, you ask?” A.B. cried. “Oh, you know, taking long walks around the laboratory, making friends with the cockroaches and spiders that occasionally fall into my tank. I would eat them since I’m so hungry, and you’ve forgotten to feed me for a few days.”
“I would feel sorry about that,” I chuckled. “But there’s one problem.”
“What?” the brain barked.
“You don’t have a mouth,” I snorted. “So, we can’t feed you if you can’t physically eat.”
“Well, I’m being starved in one way or another!” A.B. pouted. “I’m a brain! I need constant stimulation!”
“I said we’d bring you upstairs tonight,” I repeated. “We’re just a little busy right now.”
I stood in front of one of the cabinets, peeked inside, and then closed it with a snap. I’d found the maps of Edenhart when I first moved in, and I knew I’d put them in one of the cabinets, but if only I could remember where I put them. I tapped my chin, hummed to myself, and then crossed to the largest cabinet.
“What are you looking for?” the brain asked.
“The maps of Edenhart,” I grunted. “Kelara escaped, and Edony went after her, but we need to find her first.”
I peeked into the darkened shelves and found the four furled maps stacked in the corner. I tucked them underneath my arm and then turned back toward A.B.
“I’ll come back for you later tonight, I promise,” I smiled. “I’m really sorry we’ve left you down here alone. It won’t happen again, but I really need to get these upstairs.”
“It’s really alright,” A.B. chuckled. “I told you, I made friends with the spiders and cockroaches that fell into my tank, but I appreciate the apology.”
I nodded to him and then raced back up the stairs. I kept my eyes low and came around the corner toward the stairs but froze as a voice screamed my name.
“Charles Rayburn!” a male voice roared.
I lifted my head and searched around for a second until Lucien stepped around a bush. His sickly yellow eyes looked hazy and feverish, but I could tell this time, he hadn’t shown up drunk. His hair was disheveled along with his clothes, and his unshaven face looked sunken in.
“Lucien?” I grunted. “What are you doing here?”
The scientist staggered forward, and I realized that both of his hands were held behind his back. In one swift movement, the blonde man jumped forward at me and brandished a sword. The blade swung inches away from my neck, and I bent backward to avoid the blow.
“You took Edony away from me!” Lucien screamed. “Now I’m going to kill you!”
Chapter Twelve
My brain felt fried and exhausted as I stared Lucien down. I barely had time to come up with a way to reason with him, and from the way he looked, I knew that was going to be a difficult task. The scientist was sober, but he was visibly out of his mind with rage. Lucien fully believed that Edony and I were madly in love which was only partly true on the Duchess’ side.
The blonde man took a determined step forward, gripped the hilt of the curved, silver sword in both hands, and bared his teeth at me as if he were a rabid dog.
“Lucien, listen,” I grunted, raised both of my full hands into the air, and showed him I had no ill intent. “Whatever you’re here for… May it be that you want to kill me or severely injure me… What you believe isn’t true. The Duchess and I aren’t in love… Edony only asked for me to come work for her again because your experiments failed. It’s nothing to do with emotions or love.”
“That’s a lie!” the scientist roared. “Edony is deeply and madly in love with you! She told me that herself! She cast me away as if I were nothing to her! I’m the brute that’s meant to stand by her side and support her!”
“I’m sure if you just talked to her…” I uttered. “She would explain this whole situation away. Edony will tell you why she did this, and it has nothing to do with us being in love with each other.”
“I’ve heard this all before, Alchemist!” Lucien snarled. “And all of it is utter bullshit! You know it’s bullshit, Charles! You’re lying straight to my face! I was here the night you came back from the black market! I saw you sleeping in the same room together! Try to lie your way out of that!”
I couldn’t explain that part away because… well, Edony had slept in my bed that night, although we hadn’t had sex. Though I doubted even if I told Lucien that fact he would listen or believe me. If there was no peaceful way to resolve this… I was going to have to fight and unarmed at that.
“Lucien, please, listen to me,” I tried one more time. “None of what you think is happening. Edony and I aren’t involved romantically. She’s my employer, just as she was yours. Josephine and Daisy are my Mistresses, and they can come out here and tell you the situation if you like. Everything that you believe is false.”
“I don’t need to hear it from your Mistresses,” the blonde spat out. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Hell, Edony was the one who told me she was in love with you! That… That night at the masquerade… I remember her saying something… The memory is a little fuzzy because I drank too much, but it’s there! I know she confessed to you!”
“What you’re imagining must be a dream,” I argued. “I never spoke to you at the masquerade. I was with my Mistress and her cousins the entire night. You must be imagining things, Lucien. That didn’t happen, and my mistresses can confirm it. Think rationally, like a scientist.”
The tip of Lucien’s sword lowered for a second, and his eyes fell to the gravel at his feet. The scientist’s lips moved as if he were speaking, but no words came out that I could hear. He seemed to ponder deeply on what I’d just said, but suddenly, he shook his head and took another step forward.
“No,” the blonde barked. “You’re trying to manipulate me! You are still lying! I know you are! You can’t fool me, Charles Rayburn! I’ve heard all about you from the other aristocrats in town, and I know that you’re nothing more than vermin-trash that takes advantage of women! You used Edony the first time, and she doesn’t realize it because her love for you blinds her! But I see it! I saw how you connived your way back into her life! You don’t love her! You love her money and the prestige she can give you!”
“None of that matters to me,” I grunted. “I don’t care about money or prestige…”
“It doesn’t matter to me, either,” Lucien roared, raised the sword over his head, and pounded forward. “Nothing will matter because you’ll be dead!”
The rolled maps fell from my hands, and I stepped to the left as Lucien lunged. The sword cut through the air inches from my forearm, and a guttural growl escaped my lips. I’d been in a few fights before, but they were fisticuffs matches with other brutes that didn’t involve blades. Lucien didn’t seem practiced with a sword, and I had to wonder where he’d gotten it. The black market, maybe? He’d been there the night we were, and there were plenty of stalls selling weapons that night.
The blonde stumbled forward and nearly tripped on his own shoes, but I saw the perfect opening. I brought my right hand back at waist level and then punched out with all of my might. I gritted my teeth and hit him directly in the middle of his ribs. The crack that came after was so loud that it echoed down the steep hill, and I felt the bone underneath my fist crack in a few places. Lucien squawked in pain, stumbled to the side, and whipped his head in my direction.
“You bastard!” the scientist screamed.
Lucien braced his feet and skidded through the gravel for a second as he changed direction. He breathed heavily for a second, dropped his hand from the sword, and clutched at his broken ribs.
“I hit you once,” I chuckled. “Is that you all you’ve got? You’re a brute, Lucien, act like one.”
I was surprised at my boldness, and never had I spoken to another man like this. I’d spent most of my adolescence in the boarding schools for brutes, and I’d been trained to speak to everyone, even other brutes as if they were aristocrats. Men who were caught brawling out in the streets were often thrown into jail for months on end, and no male wanted that.
Not only was I exhausted and tired, but I was also fed up. I had to deal with Edony daily, track down Kelara, and now Lucien was here threatening me with a sword? Was all of this all a nightmare, and I’d yet to wake up? I prayed that I’d be roused from this horrible dream and find myself in bed, surrounded by all of my women… But I knew this wasn’t a dream, and all of it was too vivid to be anything but reality.
“A brute?” the blonde sneered. “A brute, you say? I’m a distinguished doctor and scientist! You’re the one who’s the beast!”
“But you’re also the one who brought a sword to my home,” I stated. “And attacked me while I was unarmed. If Edony were to see you, we all know what she’d call you. Nothing more than vermin-trash… You may be a scientist and a doctor, Lucien, but no matter how much knowledge we possess, we’re still brutes in their eyes.”
“Edony doesn’t see me that way!” Lucien cried. “Or… or at least I thought she didn’t. That’s why I must kill you! I’ll bring her your severed head on the end of my sword, and she will swoon at my bravery! I managed to kill the incubus that charmed her! I’ll be crowned a hero!”
“Do you actually believe the bullshit spilling out of your own mouth?” I chuckled. “Let’s just say you managed to kill me, and you find yourself on the steps of the duchy with my head in your possession. Do you think that Edony would be delighted? You already believe that we’re in love… do you think she’d be happy? No, I’ll give you some insight into what would happen if you managed to kill me. Boom! You’re dead. Edony’s killed you before you’ve even had the chance to speak. Am I making this a bit more clear for you, Lucien? If you manage to kill me, Edony will not praise you, or crown you a hero. She will kill you, end of story.”
“You are nothing more than an incubus!” Lucien dashed forward, planted his right foot, and then swung out with his sword. “I will make Edony love me!”
The scientist aimed to upswing and slash me across the chest, but I jumped back in time. The blonde man’s entire torso twisted from the heavy weight of his weapon, and as he clumsily moved to bring the sword back down, I moved in. I didn’t want to kill him, I’d gone out of my way to convince Edony to spare his life, and I made it my mission to incapacitate him. Lucien was a fellow man, and I couldn’t bring myself to take another male’s life for a pointless reason.
I relaxed my entire body, loosened my arms, and curled both of my hands into tight fists. I took a single step forward, and for a second, the blonde’s head turned away from me. I spied the place where I needed to hit him above the ear, but right below the hairline. If I got it exactly right, Lucien would be out like a light, and I’d be able to figure out what to do with him next.
I pulled my right hand back over my shoulder, swiveled my hips to take another step, and swung. Lucien’s face suddenly turned, and I didn’t have time to adjust my aim. The blonde man’s nose squashed flat against his face, and a spray of blood spattered my white shirt, but the sword clattered out of his hands. I drew back my left hand right as I retracted the right and hit him in the face for a second time.
My fist slammed into his eye, and Lucien stumbled backward with a low groan. His arms pinwheeled around behind him, and his feet shuffled in the gravel, but he never managed to regain balance. The scientist fell flat on his back on the driveway, struggled for a few seconds, and then laid still. I breathed a shaky sigh and leaned forward with my hands pressed to my knees. I sucked in air so quickly as if I hadn’t taken a single breath during the fight. My knuckles were spattered with splotches of scarlet, and I glanced down at the wet fabric of my shirt.
I wasn’t covered in Lucien’s blood, but the sticky liquid was present all over my body. The tiniest of droplets freckled the snow-white fabric of my shirt’s shoulders, larger droplets collected around the collar, and large stains covered my chest. I knew it was on my face, too, and I hastily used my sleeve to wipe them away.
I had no idea what we were going to do with Lucien… Maybe the best choice would be to send his unconscious body off to the capital in a carriage. I certainly couldn’t leave him or allow him to live in the city of Edenhart for much longer. If Edony saw him here… she would kill him without hesitation. He may have tried to kill me, but… he was still a man, and I didn’t want him to lose his life for a senseless reason.
I also felt some kinship with him, since we were both men of science.
“Goddamnit,” I grunted.
I stood up straight, nudged the scientist’s leg with the tip of my shoe, and when he didn’t rouse, I turned back toward my dropped maps. I bent down beside them and carefully placed them into the crook of my arm. They weren’t really that important at this moment, but they were ancient, and I was sure if they got any blood on them, they’d be unreadable. I began to stand but something cold and sharp bit into the back of my neck.
“Move another muscle,” a heated voice hissed. “And I’ll chop your fucking head off.”
Lucien? How? He was unconscious just a second ago… Had he been faking? I’d hit him hard enough to knock him out unless he was an expert actor. I couldn’t let it end like this… If Lucien killed me, my women would be alone in the world, and they needed me more than anything. Had the last time I saw them been the last? All of them were inside waiting for me, and I bet that none of them knew what was going on… How would they find me if I didn’t escape this? Would I be nothing more than a headless corpse on the lawn?
“Lucien,” I grunted. “Listen to me. If you kill me, Edony will destroy you. Put down your sword and walk away. Go back to the capital and put all of this behind you. Edony will never love you, she’s made that pretty clear, but if you let all of this go now, you’ll be able to live. Go home to the capital… find yourself a nice aristocrat, and become her consort. I’m sure that once a few months… even weeks have passed, you’ll forget all about the Duchess.”
“Enough talking, Rayburn,” the blonde snarled. “I’m tired of hearing your lies. Groveling to me won’t get you anywhere. All you want to do is save your life and keep living in the Duchess’ favor. I vowed that I’d kill you, and here I am to make good on that promise.”
