THE MONSTER CAME BACK later in the night, or what Arest thought of as the night, and prowled around the room. Arest’s own muscles had gone cold and stiff from his confines. He longed to run, but settled on squats and vertical pushups, body parallel with the bars and pushing from a headstand.

The scent told him he wasn’t alone.

This wasn’t the monster’s first time back. As the hours of the day wore on, he’d come in and out, walking right up to Arest’s cage and sniffing him out. Another of the smaller creatures had wandered in to its own doom, and at each opportunity, Arest watched.

But this time was different. Instead of sniffing or devouring an unprotected beast, the monster ambled up to the cage on sure feet. He crouched beside it and studied Arest, their eyes locked.

He saw intelligence. And anger. So much anger. Even more, he saw himself, the thing he’d been becoming until crash landing on this forsaken planet and finding his salvation in the arms of an irresistible woman.

But understanding did not lead to pity. Pity got a man killed, and the longer Arest stood in this cage, the more sure he became that his job was to end this beast any way he could.

His only warning was a tensing of the monster’s shoulders before it lunged for him, plunging a thick arm between the bars of the cage, expertly aimed to skewer him on its claws. Arest jumped back, pressing himself flush against the wall and barely missing the swipe of huge claws.

The monster pulled back, intelligent enough to know he couldn’t reach Arest. And Arest studied him with new eyes. This creature could end anything with brute force, but it had to be smart to take its prey unsuspecting, lunging with moves too fast for its size. Had it been something else before? Like Arest? It was the shape of a man, two legs, two arms, and a head, but hair covered its naked body, thick enough that it was almost a layer of clothing, obscuring the parts Arest would rather not see.

And obscuring any weaknesses.

But it was made of skin and bone, not rock or the metal of this cage. As long as his claws here strong enough, he could tear through skin and take it down. He just had to be cunning... and close.

As the monster disappeared into the shadows and down whatever hidey hole he’d claimed, Arest looked around again. This time, something caught his eye. A red light blinked high on the ceiling and a shaft of light reflected off a piece of glass embedded up there.

A camera.

As he stared, the light went black, no longer signaling whether the camera was active or not. He’d guessed he was being monitored, and now he knew for sure.

It changed nothing.

His stomach growled and Arest knew he had to make a decision. He’d lost his pack at some point and had neither food nor water. The stone behind him would not open again, not until he did what he was supposed to. Maybe not even then. But his only chance at survival was to kill the monster. Only then would he be able to find Stella.

A panel in the stone next to his cage opened and Stella was thrust through. Without thought, Arest stepped on the controls of his cage to raise the bars and pulled her in, lowering the bars before the monster could realize he was vulnerable.

He pressed her against the wall and the bars brushed against his back. If the monster came back, he’d be able to get one of them, and Arest would do anything to keep Stella safe.

He ran his fingers through her hair, cradling her face and touching his forehead to hers. Her own fingers pressed against his chest, sliding around and making him think of things that were completely inappropriate for the location.

“How?” he asked, wishing his mind would give him more words. “Here?”

She kissed a line along his jaw, holding him close, and as she touched him, he realized this had nothing to do with sex. She was checking him for injuries. “You’re okay,” she said, more to herself than him.

Okay might have been relative. But he had Stella in his arms, right where she belonged. “How?” he asked again.

She took a deep breath and hot air blew over his shoulder. “There’s an android in charge of this place. He has a feed in here, but he can’t hear us.”

She stroked a hand up his back and Arest made a noise in the back of his throat that he didn’t know he was capable of making. His soul rejoiced that she was here beside him even as he would have wished her anywhere else.

“He said that you were taking too long,” she continued. “You needed motivation. Me.”

He was going to murder the android for putting her in danger, even if the thing wasn’t technically living. Just as soon as he got them out of there. He reached down to disengage the cage once more, but Stella put a hand on his chest to stop him.

“He’s going to try to subdue you once it’s done,” she warned. “But he won’t kill you. We need to stop him before he calls his operator. There’s a storm outside that’s blocking him. He can’t get new orders yet.”

None of that mattered. Not right now. Not when he had to keep her safe. He heard the distant sound of footsteps and knew their time was up. Arest cradled Stella’s face and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth before pushing her as far back as he could and raising the cage bars. He stepped out and she stared at him, a hand on her lips, tracing where he’d marked her.

Then, without being told, she reached down and pressed the button to lower the cage and block herself off. Arest gave her a sad smile and turned towards the shadows.

It was time to end this.

***

SOMETHING CHANGED IN Arest as he stepped outside of the cage. This wasn’t the man who’d held her close or brought her to the heights of pleasure. As he stepped further and further away, the man burned away until she saw the beast underneath, the thing he’d been made into.

And it was beautiful.

Violence flowed over him like a work of art, but nothing so restrained as the things she saw in museums. He didn’t step out to fight. He became the fight, ready to rip into his opponent, no matter the cost.

Stella trusted him with her life, with her body, and perhaps with her heart. But as a monstrous creature emerged from the shadows, she didn’t know that she could trust him to overcome this obstacle. The camera feed hadn’t done the thing justice. It stood more than three meters tall and had the shape of a person, but with overgrown muscles and teeth as big as a crocodile’s. Its claws were machetes and Stella’s fists clenched as it swung out at Arest, only missing him as her man jumped back at the last second.

She wanted to close her eyes, but even as they fell closed she forced them back open. She pressed herself far back against the wall, as far from the bars as she could. That thing had big arms and she didn’t trust the cage to keep her safe.

What went on between her beast and the monster seemed like more of a sparring match than a fight. They feinted at one another, swiped and dodged, but neither got in their blows. Though Stella wasn’t the praying type, she whispered one, hoping some Earth god or the ones on this planet would hear and keep Arest safe.

A blinking light in the ceiling high above her showed that the Keeper was watching, and she knew he felt whatever the android equivalent of satisfaction was. His plan had worked perfectly. The moment she was put at risk, Arest stepped up and did what he was supposed to with no regard for himself.

The monster lunged and she gasped as his claws caught on Arest’s arm, sending a spray of red blood across the wall. But the wound merely looked terrifying. Arest didn’t even glance down to check on the bleeding, instead charging in and diving, aiming for the monster’s feet, which came more than halfway up his chest. Claws dug into the monster’s leg, but like Arest, he didn’t seem to feel it. Arest rolled away, putting space between them once more.

Stella looked around. Was there anything she could use to help? Could she distract the monster or give Arest some kind of weapon? The Keeper had said he was instructed to render any aid that he could, but that didn’t seem to involve a blaster or a las gun. As the monster roared, she realized it was probably because this facility couldn’t risk arming something like that.

Why couldn’t he just be some simple creature like the ones they’d encountered in the hallways?

Arest came back at him, stabbing and pulling wildly without any effort to dodge. The monster came down on him hard, claws scoring his purple skin, but he couldn’t get a good hold. The monster was too tall and Arest was too close.

Something about the fight changed, the energy shifting. The smell of blood hung in the air, strong enough for even Stella to smell it. But she couldn’t tell whose it was. Arest gave his whole focus over to his work, stripping at the monster piece by piece, using his claws and even his teeth to cut into its thick skin and tear, make it bleed.

Bile rose in Stella’s throat, but she made herself watch. Everything human she thought she’d seen in Arest was gone, and now he was just an animal, one made of violence and cunning. He worked at the monster methodically, showing no sign that the damage he’d endured hurt. He might not have even been aware that he’d been cut.

With a roar of his own, he struck deep, hitting something vital in the monster’s leg. It kicked out, catching Arest in the stomach and dropping him to the ground.

“NO!” The cry ripped out of her, but neither beast paid any attention to her.

The monster stood at his full height, heedless of the blood pouring out of his wounds in waves. He was done for, she knew, losing too much blood too quickly to recover, but he wasn’t dead yet and Arest lay on his back, rolling weakly to his side instead of jumping back up and fighting.

No! She couldn’t let this be the end. The monster took another step toward him and growled, the sound sending a shiver down Stella’s spine. She didn’t care. “Hey!” she called. “Hey, you ugly thing! Look over here!” She was as safe as could be behind the bars and didn’t dare try to lower them. She wouldn’t tempt Arest into doing something stupid.

She just needed him to get up and out of the way.

The monster didn’t pay any attention to her and the only thing that was saving Arest was how far away he’d been kicked. On the monster’s next step, he stumbled, knees wobbling, but he didn’t go down. Stella yelled again, but his entire focus was on his prey.

She looked down at the control panel on the ground. Arest still wasn’t up, and he wasn’t looking her way. The monster slowed and fell to his knees, but he still wasn’t dead.

To hell with it.

Stella pressed the button and raised the cage bars. The monster looked toward her and her heart leapt to her throat. It pressed a hand down on the ground and managed to get a foot up, its eyes intent on her. She stayed in place, her foot poised over the controls. It could move fast, but not while it was injured, not while it was dying.

She hoped.

It stood and she said another prayer.

With an anguished cry, Arest sprang at the monster, latching onto its back and using his claws to climb up until he had a hold on its neck. He dug in, using all of his strength to end the thing. After a short struggle it fell forward, clutching at its neck as the light left its eyes.

Stella rushed forward and pulled Arest off it, checking him for life threatening wounds. He bled from dozens of cuts and she could no longer tell what was the purple of his skin or a bruise. She ran a hand over his hair and his eyes snapped open, electric blue boring into her with terrifying intensity. “Not safe,” he rasped out. “Keep you safe.”

She kissed his forehead, cradling him close and wishing like hell she had a first aid kit. He needed regen gel and a pain pill or six.

“I’m safe,” she said. “It’s okay now.” When the door she’d come through earlier slid open, she wasn’t surprised to see the Keeper standing there.

Holding a gun.