Page 74 of Caged

Maxym flares his wings. “What do you mean? Has mating addled your brain? Free?”

I clutch at my forehead, the memories so close I can taste them.

“We…were…free,” I force out past the blocks which want me to stay silent, to be someone I am not.

Maxym narrows his eyes.

“Our memories were altered, memory implants.” I slam the heel of my hand into the side of my head as if it’s going to help.

“There’s something in my head?” Blayn growls. Claws unleashed, he reaches for his hair.

“No, Blayn, there’s nothing in your head,” Rych says rapidly. “Sylas means there have been memories put in there which are not yours. Not that there is anything in your head.”

Blayn snarls, eyes wild, but he sheathes his claws, and his heaving chest subsides a little. A Blayn storm has been averted…for now.

“There’s nothing in my head which shouldn’t be there.” Klynn appears from beside Rych.

“That’s what they want you to believe,” I snarl at him, willing my brain to allow what I need to break through. “But finding my mate, it cracked them open, not completely, but the Zavaro did something to us, and I don’t yet know why.”

“Zavaro?” Rych murmurs.

Maxym goes almost rigid.

Even Klynn goes quiet.

They’ve all been in contact with the Zavaro, I can feel it. They can feel it.

“What do you remember?” Maxym asks me.

“I…can’t. Not yet. But what I do know is I’m back here for a reason, and they took my mate and my young.”

Rych snorts. “Your mate is with young? You’re a quick worker.”

“She is filled, ready to grow ripe and round.” I sigh before snapping back with a growl. “We were lied to. We can have young.”

There is a silence which settles over the caged area.

“What do we do?” Klynn asks.

“I’m going to fight for my mate. I’m going to fight to regain my memories. I do not belong in the dome for the reasons which put me here. It is all a lie.” I look over at the rest of the Gryn, my fellow gladiators. “You are welcome to join the fight, or not. You are welcome to stay or leave as you see fit. All I ask is you don’t get in my way.”

Klynn produces a sword from behind his back. “I’ll fight anything for anyone, just as long as there is blood,” he rasps.

Blayn releases a blood-curdling growl and looks entirely feral. Rych grins with abject glee.

As a fighting force, it’ll have to do.

“I presume you have a plan, Sylas?” Maxym taps the bars. Sparks fly from them, but he doesn’t get flung across the room.

“I have to fight. There is no other option, but if we can get to the procurator, force him to tell us what he knows about the Zavaro, then we can take back what’s ours,” I reply.

Klynn cocks his head on one side. “Maybe it is true,” he says. “Maybe you are a leader after all.”

ALEX

Wolfie, who it turns out is called Axel, bundled me into a small air transport and activated the privacy mode, taking me on what seemed like a short trip into Tatatunga. On arrival, my feet hardly touched the ground as I was hustled through a number of corridors and shoved into a windowless room with no furniture.

“A cell?” I glare at him. “You’re keeping me prisoner?”

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