Chapter 180: Chapter 180
It’s almost exactly what Tempest thought she would find.
Any other time Tempest was taken out to tour a specific settlement or stronghold she was surprised by just how advanced or not advanced the place was.
She remembered how confused she was when she saw the poor class and how they lived there.
But here in the human settlement, it was exactly what she expected.
The homes were all made of what looked to be brick, but not perfectly made. The roads had something that looked like asphalt down, but they were cracked as if it too wasn’t perfectly made. It looked like a simple rural town that she would see in America.
As much as she didn’t want to feel that way, she instantly felt like she was home.
There was something about the lack of metal everywhere that soothed Tempest.
Still, she knew that she couldn’t waste too much time just going over the various buildings. She had to get to Aliq.
"I need to go see my friend." She said, stopping the older woman.
"Who is your friend?" The woman said, walking slowly but not stopping as Tempest had.
"Who are you?" Tempest asked, realizing she didn’t even know the woman’s name.
Finally, the older woman turned and looked at Tempest. It dawned on Tempest that she hadn’t yet looked at Rynax or Gerax. It was as if the older woman were ignoring their presences all together.
"I’m Gretchen but everyone here calls me Hen."
Gretchen was the most earthly-sounding name she’d ever heard. "Okay, Hen. I need to go find my friend Aliq. I know you guys think that he’s dangerous, and he is, but he’s not going to calm down until he sees that I’m okay. He’s very loyal and serious about his duty to protect me. If he thinks I’m harmed, he’s not going to stop being a problem for you."
"A problem we have already handled." Hen tried to walk away, but Tempest grabbed hold of her arm to stop her. That was the wrong thing to do.
The two guards that were flanking her moved in and Rynax and Gerax both growled.
"No! Stop it!" Tempest shouted before anyone could do anything that they would regret. "I’m sorry for grabbing you but I don’t know what you mean by that. What do you mean you’ve already handled him. Tell me he’s okay."
Hen sighed and rolled her eyes, "He’s fine. We just have him locked up."
"You can’t really think something metal is going to keep him from getting out forever. He’s going to find a way out of there." Tempest nodded her head.
"We may be a simple group of people but we’ve learned a few things over the years."
Tempest didn’t know what Hen meant by that, but she knew it didn’t sound good for Aliq. What had they learned that could subdue an Alpha?
"Please, just let me see him. Let me talk to him, and I promise you that he won’t be a danger any longer."
"You’re willing to take that chance. Put your life on the line for him."
Tempest answered right away. "Yes, I am."
"Then you are more brainwashed than we initially thought." The older woman shrugged her shoulders and continued walking.
"I’m not brainwashed. I just know these people. I know what they are like and what they will do. You don’t need to keep him locked up. I promise you he isn’t a danger or he won’t be if you just give him some time. I can make it so he’s calm."
"How can you do that? Are you saying you can get through his alpha instincts? I mean, that’s what’s wrong with him, am I right?"
The older woman had a point. If Aliq was deep within his alpha instincts, it didn’t matter what Tempest said. He would continue to fight. She turned to look to Rynax. If there was anyone here that would be able to calm him down, it would be him, and that was only if he didn’t succumb to his own alpha instincts. It could very well turn into a blood bath.
Rynax nodded his head once as if he understood what Tempest was silently asking him.
That was all she needed from him. "I have a plan. It won’t cause any injury to your people. Just let me see him please." Tempest was begging. She felt more and more to blame for everything that was happening here. She should’ve been more vigilant. She shouldn’t have basically twisted Aliq’s arm to get him to come with her. She forced all of their hands in one way or another. She was only thinking about what she wanted not what would happen to the people that were with her if she were hurt on her journey to the human settlement.
"You’re lucky I want to see this plan in action." Hen turned and looked to her security. The woman to the left had yet to speak and Tempest was surprised by how deep the woman’s voice was when she finally did.
"He’s this way."
The woman sounded like she smoked three packs of cigarettes a day. Tempest knew that wasn’t a possibilty since there were no cigarettes on this planet but it was the only thing she had to compare it too.
"Thank you." Tempest said to Hen as she followed the guard. Rynax and Gerax were steps behind on their best behaviour. Tempest knew that they had to be uncomfortable.
Along with their wrist devices, the humans had stripped them of anything that they could use for a weapon. Not that they would really need it. Rynax could singlehandedly do most of the damage needed to get rid of nearly everyone in the human settlement.
Tempest was sure the women around her knew that.
She didn’t speak on it. She instead just let it sit in the back of her mind. They were moving around as if they didn’t have a care in the world as if they knew there was a danger but they weren’t really worried about it.
Tempest expected to see another small building where they kept Aliq but instead the woman directed Tempest to what looked like a storm shed. There was a door that led down into the ground.
"You have him in there." Tempest’s eyes went wide.
"As Hen said, we have him under control." The woman with the deep voice said.
Tempest didn’t know how to take that. She turned to look at Rynax waiting for him to follow her down but something was wrong.
He was sweating and he looked like he would be sick at any minute.
"Are you okay? What’s the matter?" Tempest asked moving closer to him.
"I don’t know. There’s something in there. Something about that hole that is hurting me." Rynax said shaking his head as if he were trying to force the feeling away.
Tempest turned to Gerax. He looked worse than Rynax and was actually curled over holding his hands on his knees so he wouldn’t fall to the ground.
"What are you doing to them? How is this possible?"
"Trade secrets, Hollywood." The woman smirked at Tempest.
She scoffed at the nickname. She wasn’t even from that part of California but it wasn’t the first time she’d heard someone call her that before.
"Fine... I’ll go in on my own." Tempest said and Rynax instantly grabbed for her. Tempest was surprised there was no strength behind it. She could tell from the expression on his face that he was surprised by that fact too.
"We don’t know... what’s down there. You can’t... go." Rynax said, his words were coming out pained.
"All I know is Aliq is down there and whatever is affecting you isn’t affecting me. I’ll be fine. If he’s as bad as you guys are then he can’t do anything to hurt me. He wouldn’t." Tempest was sure of what she was saying. She was more concerned about what condition Aliq was in.
She took a step away from Rynax, he didn’t even have enough strength to take a step forward with her. He simply just let her go.
Tempest took a step toward the door and reached down for the handle. She pulled it open and the first thing she heard from inside was the pitiful moan of Aliq. It was all she needed to hear to spring into action. She raced down the stairs, they were made from stone but were somehow still rickety. What she saw in the small bunker like space made her heart squeeze in her chest.
Aliq was wrapped in long metal wires, it looked like barbed wire from a far. Trickles of blood dropped to the floor.
There was no window but there was two little fans in each corner that seemed to be circulating the air. She could see something that looked like pollen swirling around the space.
Aliq’s face was inflamed, his eyes nearly swollen shut.
He looked as if he were having a severe allergic reaction.
The walls were lined with nets. It took Tempest a second to realize they were the same kind of nets the warriors had used before to subdue them in the valley. They must be electrified.
Tempest couldn’t understand what it was that was affecting Aliq in such a severe matter. All she knew was she had to get him out of here.
She took a step toward him and he let out a ferocious growl.
Tempest hesitated for a second. He was still consumed with his Alpha instincts but she could tell that he couldn’t do anything about it.
"Aliq...it’s me. Are you with me?" Tempest asked taking a slow step in his direction.
He snarled again but this time it wasn’t as ferocious as the first time.
"Oh, what have they done to you. Will you let me help you? Are you there?" Tempest took another step in his direction.
"Tempest?" Aliq questioned his head moved from side to side as if he were searching for her. He couldn’t see.
"I’m here. Are you going to hurt me?" She asked taking another step forward.
"No, never... I can’t breathe. I don’t know why I can’t breathe."
She lunged forward and put her hands on his face. They weren’t just subduing him. They were killing him. Slowly but soon enough they would kill him if they kept him like this.
"Don’t worry. I’m going to get you out. I promise." Tempest instantly started trying to undue the binds on his body but every time she pulled a piece of metal he’d cry out in pain. It was as if the metal wire was imbedded in his skin.
She felt the panic rising in her body. She couldn’t ask Rynax or Gerax to come in here to help her and Aliq couldn’t help himself.
She needed to calm down.
She took in a deep breath through her nose and released it through her mouth. She did that over and over again. Something was familiar about the scent.
Instead of focusing on Aliq, Tempest bent down and picked up a large piece of whatever it was that was floating around.
There was a slight purple tinge to it.
She pressed it to her nose.
"Lavender? You are allergic to lavender?" Tempest couldn’t understand it. It was so simple and soothing back where she was from, but it looked like it was wreaking havoc on Aliq.
There was no way that she would be able to clear the room of it, she’d have to get Aliq washed. First she had to figure out a way to get him loose.
"Hold on, just hold on. I’m going to help you." Tempest turned and ran back up the stairs.
Gerax and Rynax looked worse than before. "Get away from the door. Get as far back as possible. Find some water and wash your skin if you can." The pollen must have been finding it’s way up from where it was in the small cellar.
The guard looked at Tempest with narrowed eyes. She was obviously pissed that Tempest was doing what she could to help the alien men in her midst.
"You’re going to kill him. You realize that? Have you never seen an allergic reaction before?"
"That’s not my problem."
Tempest got in the woman’s face. She wasn’t a fighter but she felt the urge to punch the woman square in her jaw. "I’m about to make it your problem. Give me something to cut Aliq free."
The woman made a show of patting her body. "Sorry, fresh out."
"Fine, you don’t want to help me. I’ll do it my way." Tempest turned around and stormed back down into the storm cellar.
She looked around the room again, there was nothing there but the fans and the net.
She rushed to the fans and picked one up before she threw it done on the floor. It shattered into pieces.
"Hey! What are you doing?" The guard from above stuck her head into the cellar.
"What I have to do." Tempest said over her shoulder.
There wasn’t anything there she could use to cut through the metal wire but she could use the fan blades as a sort of spatula. She would be able to pry up the wire before she unraveled it from around Aliq’s body.
It would be a long process and it would hurt but at least she would be able to get him out.
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⏸ PAUSE■ STOP
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