Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Noelle followed him on shaky, bare feet, her skin blotchy and goose-pimpled. The spa’s metal floor was freezing, and she left wet footprints behind her as she stumbled after the orange dwarf. Every step she felt like her knees would buckle but somehow, she managed to stay upright.
She didn’t even have the strength to argue when they came to a tall, upright cylinder in the far corner of the room. It looked a bit like a tanning booth stood on its side—if tanning booths were made of dented steel and had ominous blinking lights on them.
“Now just step in here and we’ll get you all dry and warm,” Lupin said cheerfully, as though this was the most normal thing in the world.
Noelle hesitated.
“Is… is th-there s-something in there?” she asked, hugging herself tightly.
Lupin frowned.
“Something? Like what?”
“Another octopus monster?” she asked. “Something with tentacles?”
He rolled his eyes.
“Another what? Don’t be foolish. It’s a dryer—not a death trap. Now in you go!”
Before she could protest further, he gave her a firm shove between the shoulder blades, pushing her into the cylinder. The circular door slammed shut behind her with a metallic clang, sealing her inside.
“Wait!” Noelle gasped.
But before she could say more, a sudden whoosh of air hit her bare feet and rushed upward, sending her wet hair flying above her head like she was in the middle of a tornado. The wind was hot and dry, and it whipped around her body, tugging at her skin and wicking the moisture from every inch of her.
She gasped and stumbled, but the gust held her upright, keeping her suspended in place like a leaf caught in a whirlwind.
At least it’s warm, she thought, closing her eyes. Dios, it’s actually kind of nice after the pool and the hose…
But just as she was getting used to the buffeting winds, a chime sounded—ding!—and the door popped open, releasing her into the spa once more.
She stepped out on uncertain legs, blinking. Her skin felt too tight, like someone had stretched her across her own bones. Every nerve ending buzzed beneath the surface.
I feel like a cotton t-shirt that got shrunk in the dryer, she thought dizzily.
“All, all dry. Very good—now you’re ready for your other treatments,” Lupin declared, already bustling around the spa like a man with an appointment book to keep. “Here you go,” he added, shoving a towel at her.
Noelle barely had the presence of mind to grab it. She clutched the fabric to her chest, still blinking in shock.
“Other treatments?” she echoed hoarsely.
Lupin gave her a toothy smile.
“Of course, my dear. Now that you’re rejuvenated, we can move on.”
“Move on to what?” she asked, dread settling in her stomach like a lead weight.
He beamed, as though announcing a special prize on a game show.
“Why, to your first fertility treatment, of course!”
Noelle’s breath caught.
Fertility… what?
She stared at him, wondering what in the world could be coming next. She was afraid to find out.
17
NOELLE
“Come now,” Lupin said briskly, already bustling around the spa and pulling open a tall cabinet filled with strange gleaming tools and glowing vials. “You didn’t think the Skow brought you all the way here for a vacation, did you? You’re being prepped for auction at the Flesh Bazaar, and they like their merchandise fresh, hydrated, and most important—fertile.”
Noelle’s stomach twisted.
This can’t be happening. I have to be dreaming…hallucinating. Maybe I’m delirious from lack of oxygen.
But no matter how hard she pinched her arm—or how many times she whispered “wake up, wake up, wake up”—she remained firmly rooted in the waking nightmare.
Lupin returned, holding what looked like a thick silver collar, only it was too big to fit around her neck. It pulsed faintly with light—a thick band of gleaming metal about four inches across. Intricate engravings spiraled along its surface—delicate ridges and grooves like flowing vines, inlaid with hair-thin lines of glowing violet luminescence. Three small glassy nodes dotted the inside curve, each one shaped like a pearl with a tiny pulse of life inside. They seemed to swell and contract, almost like they were breathing.
Noelle stared at it in fear.
“What… what does that thing do?” she whispered.
“It stimulates the pituitary-hypothalamic axis to flood your bloodstream with reproductive hormones,” Lupin explained as casually as if he were talking about a manicure. “Don’t worry—this model is state-of-the-art, straight from Yonnie Six. It even adjusts for age-related reproductive decline! All the Mistresses there use it.”
He snapped it open with a soft metallic hiss.
“Now, I’m just going to fit this around your upper thigh…”
“No—wait—” Noelle backed up instinctively, not liking the look of the thing at all.
“Oh, do hush,” Lupin snapped. Leaning down, he darted forward and clamped the thick silver collar around her upper thigh.
The moment it clicked shut, the violet veins along the metal brightened—then the heat hit her.
It wasn’t a mild warmth.