Page 36 of Kidnapped By the Monster

"And I've already given my response to that." My father's deep voice rumbles over the room. "I will not be retuning her to a place that is no longer her home. To a people who betrayed her. To a leader who put her in harm's way."

"It was for her own good," the President grits out. "She had a mental breakdown upon her sister being sent down."

"Is that the lie you're telling these people?" I growl. My father's hand curls into a fist on the table at me having spoken when truly I know I have no right to. I am here to witness and protect. But this is my mate we're speaking of. I cannot stay silent. But he doesn't silence me, so I continue. "You put her there to make sure she couldn't tell anyone about the deal you'd made with Keri. To make sure people didn't know who you truly are."

The vice president's eyebrows furrow as she turns to look at her leader. "What is he speaking of?"

"Of course he's lying to make him killing those innocent men seemed justified."

"These men groped my mate." I slam my hand down on the table.

A few things happen. The vice president jumps, her hands flying to her pearl necklace. The cabinet members visibly flinch and wince. The men wearing all black behind the president's hands go to the guns at their waists. I don't give a fuck about any of it.

"One was readying to molest her when I came through the window. Don't you dare fucking call them innocent in my presence. I gave them the end they deserved. I would have drawn it out had I the chance or time. My mate was strapped down to a cold table, helpless, crying, and all because you refused to just let her go home, terrified she would tell others of how you made a deal with a sacrifice who tried to run. That she wasn't truly thrown in prison like you threaten them with. What would happen then, without you being able to control them with terror of monsters and prisons?"

"You've all seen the footage," he says. "The video speaks for itself. He brutally murdered those men. He must pay for that."

"I defended my mate. If humans are too weak to understand that, then your women are better off with us than males who would not even keep them safe."

"And what is conveniently missing from the video," my father cuts in, "is Kayo and Leah leaving together. Because that would mean everyone could see how she placed her hand in his, and proceeded to willingly leave with him. That wouldn't fit the narrative, right?"

"All of this is meaningless." The President dismisses our words with a wave. "Here's what is known. A monster came above ground and killed three humans, in direct violation of our treaty agreement. A sacrifice was given, to your other son might I add, and then a woman was taken from our women on top of that sacrifice, also a violation. All that will rectify this breaking of our peace is handing both Leah and Kayo over, the former to be returned to her home and the latter to be executed."

I don't even care about his threat to execute me, because all I can hear is him saying Leah will be returned home, the same lie he told her before he had her turned over to a mental institution. And he's lying now. I'm sure of that. My father's head shakes, and I know he's certain it's a lie as well.

"Neither of those things will happen," my father says, finality in his voice with no room for brokering.

"Then, there's nothing to talk about." The President abruptly stands, rebuttoning his ugly jacket. "Your son is a fugitive, and your village is harboring him, as well as holding a human woman hostage. Both offenses are acts of war. I invited you here to give your people one more chance to see reason, to avoid a war you surely will not win, but I can see you wish to persist in your stubborn ignorance."

"You must consider a few things when you speak of starting a war with us," my father says in a low, menacing voice.

I've rarely heard him ever use it, but I know that when he does, violence usually follows. I look at my brothers and they give me barely noticeable nods, because they hear it too. They sense it too.

"Last time you forced us into a war, we decimated your soldiers, making women widows and children orphans in minutes. You had your guns, your advanced technology, and what you thought was your superiority then, and still you lost. Still, the people you sent down were slaughtered and when we came above ground, our swords, knives, fangs, and claws allowed us to murder anyone who stood in the way of our revenge. It was your people who sought peace. It was your people who offered us the treaty. It was your people who could not endure the way the war was going. Not us. And if I know one thing, it's that history repeats itself."

My father raises now too, adjusting the row of knives strapped across his chest as he begins speaking again. "Are you ready for that...President? Are you ready to explain to your people the hopeless war you will begin to hide your secrets? Are you ready to let the people in this room die for your lies?" My father leans forward, fists to the table. "Are you ready for the hell we will unleash should we think you're even considering broaching our village? I know you aren't, and if you're a smart man, you'll come to know it too."

The President's nostrils flare, mouth tight with anger, but he doesn't say a word. But the faces of those around him, the vice president, his cabinet, his protectors, they look far more thoughtful than the President can afford for them to.

Then, my father turns his back on the President, walking out of the room. I let my brothers follow him first, while I stare into the President's eyes, at this man who hurt my mate so much. He will pay. One way or another, he will pay. I give him a smile that is pure malice, pure rage, pure madness, before I turn and leave as well. I hear the men we brought with us walking behind us. Could we be attacked in this hallway, on the way to the only entryway into our village from above ground? Sure. But we all walk confidently anyway, sure that the humans know that if we do not return, they wouldn't make it home either.

We reach the door between our home and theirs, guarded by more Grounders and begin the long descent down. They offered, when our clearly fragile peace had been achieved so long ago, to build a shaft much like the one the females are lowered down in on draft day, but we'd insisted on only having these stairs instead, not wanting to make it any easier for the humans to get down to us. A shaft is only allowed down into a tunnel built in to the cavern the male receiving his mate builds, and it's filled in with dirt within minutes after she’s lowered down, never to be used again.

The steel door that can only be opened from our side is closed behind us, and the lock spun and spun to the right until it can't go any further, closing off our village from their center. No one says a word for the time it takes us to walk down hundreds of feet into the ground. But my mind isn't quiet. Thoughts are racing through it. What will happen if a war does come? How will we protect all the women and children down here, although I know for every male here, not protecting them isn't an option. And something else, something about our meeting keeps nagging at me, asking me the same questions over and over, making dread and anger rush through me in equal measures.

We end up in my father's receiving area, where he meets people in our village to hear out their grievances, but has now become the place where he comes to meet and talk about war.

Maybe I should feel some type of guilt about that, the upheaval I've brought to my people, my village, and my family, but I'd do it all again if it means Leah being safe and whole.

"What now?" Linc is the first to speak.

"Now we prepare for war." My father sighs, his first show of weariness now that we're only among other Grounders.

"So, you do think he'll proceed?" one of the fiercest warriors, Dalin, asks.

"Yes," my father answers. "Like I said up there, if the President was a smart man, he would see this is a losing battle, but he's not smart. He's blinded by the need to keep all his shortcomings and lies from surfacing. He will do whatever he needs to to keep that from happening."

"So, we strike first?" another warrior, Cakor, questions.

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