The next door was closed. I pushed it open and stuck my head in.
Twenty enormous purple monsters turned and stared back at me.
Chapter
Fifteen
Panic gripped me for a second, then, I backed away slowly. “Ah. Excuse me. Sorry.”
Shit. Not what I expected. Far, far worse than what I was expecting, in fact. I thought I’d catch a hint of lavender sparkle magic or a touch of violet skin. Instead, every single creature in the room was bright-purple, enormous, tense, strapped with thick muscle, veins bulging, eyes wide, focused right on me. The berserkers were absolutely terrifying. “I’ll just be heading out now—”
A low rumbling sound rolled towards me. “Stop her.” The voice sounded like furious rocks grinding together. “She can see us,” another one grunted.
A woman lumbered forward as I backed out the door, swinging her enormous shoulders and moving far faster than she should have been able to. Panicking, I staggered backwards and tripped over Cecil behind me.
He let out a strangled yelp. “What the fuck, Chosen?”
“Chosen?” The woman charged at me. I tried to shut the door, but she rammed against it, threw it open, grabbed me by the shirt, and dragged me inside with one hand. She yanked Cecil’s collar with the other, tossing him into the room like he was a tiny toy poodle, and slammed me up against the door.
Cecil snapped. “Let me go, you purple freaks!”
“Quiet.” A male berserker—muscles bulging so much he looked like every part of his body was having a separate allergic reaction—put his hands on Cecil’s snout and held his mouth closed.
They moved closer. Twenty terrifying monsters surrounded me. All my bravado disappeared.
The big woman who had dragged me inside moved closer, studying me carefully with glowing violet eyes. She was only an inch or so taller than me, but at least twice as wide, almost blocking out my view of the rest of the room. Her tight pink booty shorts barely covered her bulging glutes. Enormous pecs strained at a matching sports bra, distorting the logo on the front so much I couldn’t make out what it was. The only part of her that wasn’t glowing purple was her hair, which was bleached blonde and braided back off her face into tight cornrows.
Her muscles were insane. I could count every single abdominal muscle on her stomach. They looked like buns on a tray. “You are the Chosen One.” She glared at me, huge arms crossed over her chest.
I licked my lips nervously. “I am.”
The circle of monsters edged closer. Too close. Everything was too close. Even the atoms in the air condensed, vibrating with unbearable intensity.
“Why are you here?” The female berserker narrowed her eyes. “Tell the truth, or we will rip your arms off.”
Be brave, Susan. You’re a smart, capable woman.
My knees shook. Turns out, mantras don’t work when you’re surrounded by monsters.
“I— I—”
“She’s not the Chosen,” a huge male at the back grunted. He appeared to be wearing a Hawaiian shirt, the buttons straining against his enormous chest. “I said from the start that the Chosen is meant to have magic.”
But I did have magic. It was about time I started to use it more often.
I took a breath and focused. Heat pooled in my gut. Mentally, I reached out to it, spooling it, winding it within me, and letting it seep power into my limbs. Power surged through my blood. It was mine to command.
Now, what was I supposed to do with it? I could freeze them all for a few seconds—I could probably push a few of them, hurt them, maybe, throw them in the air, grab Cecil and run.
They would chase me, of course, but this was a crowded arena with plenty of security. It was the reason we were having so much trouble abducting a berserker in the first place.
I took a shallow breath in, then another, watching them carefully. Apart from the bulging muscles and glowing purple skin, they looked…
Normal.
I frowned. “I thought you only manifested your magic when you’re channeling powerful emotions?”
“We do,” the blonde female said. Her brow creased for a second, then, her face hardened again. “Tell us why you’re here. Or we will rip you apart, piece by piece.”
It wasn’t a lie—no buzz rolled over my skin. She could destroy me with a click of her fingers.
But the threat still sounded empty.
I looked around the massive woman, staring at the berserkers surrounding me. They were all manifesting their magic. All of these berserkers were channeling very powerful emotions right now.
But what powerful emotion were they channeling? It didn’t feel like anger. Was it… fear?
The blonde leaned closer, her violet eyes glowing brighter. “Speak,” she rumbled. “Now.”
I was still too confused. I held up a finger. “Can you give me five more seconds?”
The woman frowned. “Why?”
“I’m still thinking.”
The berserkers glanced at each other, but nobody punched me. My train of thought, already shunted right off-track, chugged on to a place I didn’t expect.
These creatures in front of me might look like terrifying monsters, but they lived here in the human realm. They lived and worked in my own world. And now that the blonde’s huge pecs had deflated a little, I could see the sponsor’s logo on her sports bra appeared to be for a children’s daycare.
