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

31. Nobody Keeps Bo In The Corner

The Beast's fangs shone in the low light, and his skin glowed with that unearthly light that hid in his blood. He loomed over her, blocking the sky from her view—blocking everything but the anger that poured from his brown eyes.

"How dare you go into my room and take my things?" he snarled.

"It's not yours-" She didn't get to finish her argument before the Beast held the radio up and crushed it in his fist. Pieces of plastic and metal splattered Bo and the floor, tinkling like rain.

"NO!" Bo screamed. Before she knew what she was doing, she'd made a fist and aimed it at the Beast's chin. He dodged the blow, catching her arm and twisting it around so that she ended up spun around and helpless. The Beast held her pinned, with her one arm behind her back and the other caught between her hip and the table.

"Get off of me! I need to go. I need to go now."

The Beast yanked on her arm, forcing her to stumble backward as the pain in her shoulder made her his puppet.

"Listen to me!" she said, gritting her teeth as he forced her to a corner of the room where he could release her and not have to worry about her reaching the door before he could catch her. He let go of her arm and she spun around with her own vicious snarl. "My father is sick, very sick, and without me he is going to die. I have to go home before it's too late."

"That's not our deal. You have to stay," the Beast said, walking over to where the display screen had been dropped to the floor in the scuffle. For a moment Bo held her breath in fear that she'd somehow damaged the device, but then she saw the unblemished screen as he dusted it off. He handed it to a Service-Maton that appeared in the doorway behind him. She'd never seen them in the sky room before, but it didn't surprise her that he had secret spies everywhere.

"Take this," the Beast told the robot, "and lock it up."

"Wait," Bo said, but the Beast held up a hand. She halted, despite herself.

"You were allowed to look at your family only under the condition that you behaved, and I don't see why it surprised me that you've gone and broken your word a second time."

"I'm going to get to my dad, no matter what you say. With or without your permission, I don't care."

"Try it," the Beast said, his face as still as stone. He turned and addressed the robot. "I've changed my mind. I'll take the device, and I want you to take the prisoner to her quarters."

He stepped aside to let the robot through, and it immediately grabbed Bo's wrist. She knew better than to struggle, but she still made a point of glaring at the Beast for as long as she could see him. When he was out of sight as she was forced down the stairs, she muttered curses and anything else nasty that she could think of at the Service-Maton. It hovered on, not speaking to her which enraged her even more. She knew that it would update the others on her position, but she knew Madame and Dent and Fil and Chan wouldn't even have an ounce of sympathy for her. She was stupid to have ever thought of them as anything but the servants of an alien.

By the time they reached her room, Bo had run out of dirty words and just settled on a burning glare as the robot left her by her bed and retreated through the door. The lock clunked into place, and Bo grabbed a pillow to scream into as loud as she could. The tears started soon after, hot and angry.

She couldn't believe she'd actually started to think of him as human. She'd begun to think that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't as bad as his reputation had made him out to be. He could be funny, he could be nice. He'd helped her brighten her room with roses, he'd been a dutiful student, he'd begun to think of others and give her a present. How could she have let all that fool her? He may have been half human, but he was so deeply alien that it didn't even matter. He was the Beast of Lyx; he had no heart, and this only served as a reminder of that fact.

And now her dad was going to die, all because she'd thought an alien could be reasoned with. She should have killed him when she'd had those rose sheers within her sight. She should have forced him to let her out.

Her thoughts ran rampant, making little to no sense as her brain ran on overdrive being fueled by her haywire emotions. She lost track of time, only noticing that the sun rose and the new day started. Eventually, she rolled over and sat up. A few deep breaths dispelled her quagmire of heavy thoughts, and all that was left was the burning desire to be rid of this place.

Walking to the balcony, she peered over the edge to the dark grass below. A group of Service-Matons passed by every so often as they went about their gardening duties. She knew this wasn't a coincidence. Her lips pressed tight together and she stepped away from the edge. Over the balcony was out of the question as an escape route. The Beast wouldn't let her use the same escape route from her room as before.

For a few moments she was stumped as to how she would get out. She had some doubts that she'd even make it as far as the forcefield this time, but she knew that she had to at least try. And, in fact, she promised herself that she'd try again and again and again, as many times as it took until one day she made it out. He'd be so sick of her escape attempts that maybe he might even let her free on his own, if only to be rid of the nuisance she firmly resolved to be.

As she stood thinking, her eyes swept over the bricks that she'd used to climb to the roof the other day. This sparked an idea.

The robots were patrolling the hallway outside her door, and she was locked in, but she was certain that the Beast hadn't thought to place any Service-Matons on the roof. They'd have a hard time getting up there in the first place. She had a good chance of getting to another part of the mansion and finding a window she could climb into. She'd still have to navigate the halls of the rest of the house, but she thought she could rely on the majority of the robots being stationed at her room. They wouldn't expect her to come out of a room on the complete other side of the house.

With this half-baked plan, Bo hauled herself onto the roof and began her clumsy trek to the other end of the house. She scraped her hands and knees more than once, and nearly fell off the edge of a steep incline, but her determination got her through in the end. She stopped when she reached the opposite side of the mansion and peered over the edge. Sure enough, it had a mirrored balcony to hers. She said a silent prayer of thanks to the symmetrical architect, and swung down.

The door opened easily, and she slipped into the room beyond. It looked much like her bedroom, only empty of furniture. Bo didn't waste time exploring. The door stood across from her, and she went and checked the handle. Thankfully, the lock was on this side of the door and she was able to flip it easily. Bo pulled it open and walked into the silent hall beyond. The gallery stood empty, but she saw Service-Matons hovering in the hallway where her bedroom was.

Holding her breath, Bo slid toward the stairs that led up to the sky room. She stepped carefully up the metal steps, her eyes constantly scanning for any Service-Matons. None interrupted her progress, and soon she stood in front of the two spiraling staircases. One led to the sky room, the other to the armory. She wasn't interested in the sky room anymore. She needed weapons if she was going to escape.