Page 5 of Captured By the Scaled Outlaw
“Do you think I’m fucking stupid? Huh?” a deep voice hisses. “That I wouldn’t have eyes in the government to sniff out traitors?”
A man sobs. Words fall from his mouth in disjointed vowels and consonants, resulting in blubbering mumbles rather than sentences.
Something is thrown into a wall and shatters, the pieces scattering to meet an abundance of broken bits of clay, glass, and metal on the ground.
“I took mercy on you and your brothers,” the voice hisses again. “I gave you jobs, a place to live… but that’s never enough, is it?”
The man chokes on his rebuttal.
The voice growls deeply, vibrating the furniture nearby.
“I should have just eaten you while the others watched. Finger-by-finger, limb-by-limb until you were nothing but meat chunks within my stomach bile.”
The man gasps. “No! Sir, please, I’m s-sorry… we needed the money. I—” The man’s sobs are cut off by a snapping sound, followed by crunching. A horrific scream escapes the man’s mouth, so pained it rattles the windows.
Ginny’s and Guy’s gazes drop to the ground.
“Damn, you sure like to scream and cry,” the voice spits through a full mouth. “You’re gonna need to shut your mouth unless you’d like to join your other body parts in my stomach.” The voice cruelly laughs.
A group of Lizardfolk rush in to remove the man wheezing for air, wails catching in his throat.
As they pass us, I see that his right arm is missing. One of the humans tries desperately to tie a tourniquet around the heavily bleeding nub, their eyes filled with panic. My stomach feels queasy at the sight. I’d throw up the food in my stomach if there were any.
Claws click along the stone flooring as the source of the shouting saunters closer to us, the crunching sounds growing louder.
“What the hell do you want, Ginny?” he huffs through a mouthful of bone and flesh.
Ginny stands tall at attention, her previously casual demeanor dissolving into something more serious and dedicated. “Good morning, Lowell. The prisoner hasincessantlyrequested to speak with you, sir,” she says, stepping to the side to reveal where I stand.
My eyes lift to the space that Ginny no longer occupies, my gaze filling with the sight of an enormous Lizardfolk who stares back at me. His eyes are a deep amber, reptilian pupils pulled into thin lines.
This is Lowell. The ‘boss’ of Gaia 4.
My heart sinks into my stomach as I’m swallowed by his enormous shadow. TheWANTEDposters that litter Nilsan’s bulletin boards hardly capture the staggering height and mass of this creature.
A chill runs up my spine.
Lowell snorts a sigh from his nostrils, the warm air whisking stray hairs away from my face.
His scales are unlike the other species I’ve seen. They are smooth and round rather than spiny, his slick scales dark-grey, his underbellyand neck a dull cream. He looks more serpent than lizard, his neck long and muscular.
His tattered leather jacket hugs his bare, broad chest, his collarbone covered by a dark-green bandana soaked with a dark liquid. Ill-fitting cargo pants are ripped at the knees to fit large feet, black claws scraping the ground.
“May,” he calls.
Blood dribbles down the sides of his mouth and onto his chest, his pink double-tongues licking at the corners of his mouth to expose rows of sharp teeth.
I tense.
How does he know my name?
When I don’t answer, Lowell narrows his eyes at me. His pupils dilate rapidly before returning to slivers, tongues whisking away the traces of blood more feverishly than before.
“Well, what the fuck do you want?” he growls, wiping his claws on the bandana around his neck. “Speak.”
My throat constricts as I try desperately to clear it, but my words fall flat as terror grips my chest. I stand before him, stunned, wide-eyed, and gawking. Lowell’s upper body is wide, tapering down to a slim waist and thick tail matched by two equally thick thighs and reptilian feet. Two scaled horns slide out from the back of his skull, accentuating the sleekness of his head.
His appearance is intimidating, but despite the scars and gore smeared across his face… he’s incredibly handsome. An unfamiliar warmth tingles up my legs to my abdomen each time his gaze washes over me.
