Baited (Gladiators of the Gryn #2)

Izzy

IZZY

W e exit the transport at the rear of the dome. I have two massive Gryn gladiators at my back, but my concern is more for them than it is for me. I’m doing my best to keep my feelings hidden from Blayn, but I don’t know how good I am at it.

He looks as tense as I feel when we approach the main rear gates of the dome.

“What do we do?” I ask in a hoarse whisper.

“They’ll come to us,” Rych replies, shaking his wings, and Blayn follows suit.

The ripple of feathers reverberates within me, as if his wings are my own. I feel how it calms him, primes him. I feel him make ready.

I feel his arms around me, his kiss on the top of my head, and then I’m tucked behind a wall of wings.

“Hey!”

“Please, my eregri , stay behind me until we get into the dome,” Blayn exhorts.

I grumble internally and he does his best to soothe me.

Ahead, the doors crack open and then swing outwards to reveal a line of black-clad Zarvu guards, each one toting a large ray gun. Blayn and Rych step forward as one, advancing on the guards until they part to allow us access into the dome.

I look up as we enter. There are more guards on a gantry high above, and as the doors close again, the walls close in, and my breathing quickens.

Blayn’s thoughts surround me. He is bold, he is brave, and what’s more, he isn’t scared in the least. I drink them down, allowing the emotions to settle in my stomach.

If my sweet, deadly gladiator isn’t scared, then I shouldn’t be either. Warmth radiates in my chest as Blayn realizes what I’m doing. He’s proud of me, and that is a feeling I haven’t had in a long time.

The captain marches out across the central square towards us.

“Hooves and horns!” he exclaims. “Why are you here?”

“Sartak didn’t work out for us.” Rych studies his claws and then tips his head up, squinting at the captain. “So, we thought we’d cut our losses before we destroyed the dome.”

The captain makes a deep lowing sound of frustration.

“I want my freedom,” Blayn says. “And the procurator is going to give it to me.”

“He’s…busy,” the captain says, his dark eyes avoiding Blayn’s.

“He’s not too busy to hear what I have to say,” Blayn responds. “Tell the guards to stand down. I don’t want anyone getting hurt,” he adds breezily, as he looks around at the vast number of guards.

I hear the captain grinding his teeth as he glares at Blayn and Rych.

“I just want to be given proper opponents.” Rych holds his hands up. “This is between Blayn and the procurator. I want nothing to do with it.”

He takes a step away from us and walks off toward the entrance into the dome proper. I see the captain look over at the guards who part to let Rych through.

My stomach tightens. Why would he just leave us?

Less threat .

The thought rumbles through my brain in Blayn’s voice. It makes my insides loosen a touch.

Blayn hasn’t let his gaze wander for an instant. It’s concentrated on the captain alone.

“I know where the dome obtained me. I have evidence. The procurator will want to see his ‘prize.’” Blayn growls.

The captain holds his gaze for a beat longer.

“Stand down,” he calls out. “The gladiator is not a threat and can go where he likes.”

The charged atmosphere could be cut with a knife, or a set of Gryn claws. For a moment, I’m not sure the guards are going to obey the captain, but then, with a slow clicking, the ray guns are lowered, and they adopt a less combative stance.

“Thank you,” I say to the captain, although my voice is hardly audible, my throat is so tight.

“You’re welcome, little one,” he says. “It’s about time the dome was challenged, even if it means my job. Let me thank you for helping this great lump realize his true potential.”

Blayn bristles with hurt pride. “I am not a great lump. I think you’ll find that’s Maxym,” he says, grabbing my hand and pushing past the captain.

“I think you’ll find I’m a gladiator,” he calls back over his shoulder.

“And a Gryn,” I remind him. “You were a Gryn first. The dome made you into a gladiator.”

We make our way through the entrance and into the depths of the dome. Blayn pulls up short, presses me against the wall, and kisses me to oblivion.

“What would I do without you?” he says as I’m let up for air. His claws prick into my scalp as he buries his hands in my hair.

“I don’t know. What would you do without me?”

“My eregri , you make my cocks hard and my brain function. Being a gladiator is what I thought was all I’d ever known, but it is not, and it took meeting you to help me realize it.”

“What about your family?” I ask. “Do you want to find them?”

His face darkens along with his thoughts.

“They…left me.”

“They loved you, and they couldn’t bear you not being there,” I respond. “I’d be the same.” I look at our surroundings. “When you were taken to Sartak, I didn’t want to stay in Tatatunga.”

“But you came for me?”

“I knew where you were, and I had a guide, if you were worried.”

“All I wanted was you. There was nothing else but you.” Blayn sighs. “Although if I’d known you were coming, I’d have escaped earlier.”

He gives me his grin, the one which lights him up in a good way. Even if it is verging on the unhinged on this occasion.

“We’ve got a procurator to face,” I say. “And we’ll do it together.”