Baited (Gladiators of the Gryn #2)

Blayn

BLAYN

N o one seems to be moving fast today. Even my fellow Gryn are slow as space worms. As for the competitors, they’re lucky this isn’t a killing match or the place would be littered with bodies rather than body parts.

Of my wound, I don’t feel a thing. It’s as if it never happened.

“!” Maxym growls at me as I spin around him in the air for the hundredth time. “We’re done here.”

And it appears from the destruction below, we are. The doors to the ante chamber are open, and I dive through, ignoring the clerks until I see the captain.

“Where is my mate?”

“She’s with the procurator,” he says.

I bristle. “I want her.”

He looks me up and down. I’m well aware I’m covered in everything the dome can throw at a gladiator, but I don’t care. I need to get to Izzy, especially if she’s with the procurator. I do not trust him as far as I could throw him, and it would be a long way.

“Come with me.” He dips his horns and walks through the ante-chamber to the hospitality entrance.

I’ve never been through this particular doorway before, and I give my wings a good shake as I enter the rarified atmosphere. I may have left some marks on the pristine walls.

“Stay back, ,” the captain says as I get close behind him. “I don’t want to put you in bonds.”

“I want my mate,” I reply.

“And I’m taking you to her,” the big Knosson states. “But if you want me to trust you, you’re going to have to stay back.”

My feathers fluff. I want to rouse, but I want Izzy more.

“Fine.” I take a step back from him. “Satisfied?”

The captain shakes his big head and continues at the same slow pace until a familiar scent hits me.

“ Eregri,” I growl under my breath.

A door slides open, and all I can smell is her, my beautiful mate. The captain blocks my way initially, but then he relents and allows me into the box. I’m across it in two strides and have her in my arms, my head buried in her neck, sucking in her essence as if I’ve never scented her before.

“Izzy,” I rasp, because her name is the only word I want on my lips.

“I’m so pleased you’re safe,” she says in my ear. “I was so worried.”

“You did not need to worry. No one was going to touch me today, not when I have you to come back to.” My mouth takes hers and I’m lost in our ky-ss.

At least until someone clears their throat loudly.

With a snarl, I release her and face the procurator.

“You have done well today, ,” he says. “The parade and your performance in the dome—you have made me very happy.”

I glare at him. Making the procurator happy is not something I care for.

“He placed a large bet on you,” Izzy says quietly.

I snort out a breath, turning back to her.

“And as a reward,” he says, piquing my interest slightly, “I’m allowing you an opportunity of a lifetime.”

“He’s sending you away, to Sartak.” Izzy’s voice is only just audible.

“You will go to Sartak to be my prize attraction in the new dome,” the procurator announces.

There is a scatter of approving noises throughout the procurator’s hospitality box.

“You do wish to go, don’t you, ? It is an honor to be chosen for this venture,” the procurator says.

I look down at Izzy. Her face is taut, her eyes sliding away from me.

“If I go, my mate goes.”

“Not possible,” the procurator says. “Sartak is no place for a fragile creature like her. She would be in danger every nova-second, and you would be distracted. She will remain here as an…incentive..for you to do well. And you will do well, given you are indentured to me.”

I’ve never wanted to destroy another creature more than at this moment. The captain has his hand on his stun stick, and the Zarvu guards posted inside the box have pulsars at the ready.

This entire place will erupt if I do.

The dark and the light, they have forsaken me. My world spins around my Izzy. She is my center, she is my everything .

I don’t want to lose her, I can’t lose her, but I can’t put her in danger either.

“And if I do what you want?” I ask through gritted teeth.

“Then you will get your reward.” The procurator grins.

“Which is?”

“First, you do as I ask. All will be revealed later,” he replies, turning his back on me as a dismissal.

Of all the creatures I’ve ended, I’ve never wanted to end anything as much as I want to end him.

“.” The captain says my name quietly. “Quarters.”

I feel Izzy’s hand around my bicep and find myself following the captain until we reach the ante-chamber again.

“I’m sorry, . If there was any other way…” He shrugs. “At least you might have the opportunity to win your freedom at Sartak if you do well. That’s the reward, for you to be released from your debts.”

“Are you telling me is a prisoner here?” Izzy spits out, her face alive with an anger I’ve never seen before.

“No, is indentured, like the procurator said. He has a debt to pay off, and once it is done, or if the procurator deems it, he can be free of his servitude,” the captain says, then a clerk catches his attention, and he hurries away.

“I need to nest for you, my eregri .” I stroke my claws through Izzy’s hair. “I need to be close to you.”

“This is wrong, ,” Izzy says, staring after the captain. “You shouldn’t be forced to go anywhere. I’m sure we can find a way to buy your freedom.”

“I owe far more than I’ll ever be able to make to pay the procurator back.” I flip my wings back, folding them one over another. “Even with my bonuses, which I can keep. As long as I fight in the dome, my debt increases.”

“Then we’ll find a way to be together, no matter what.”