Page 77 of Caged

“You’ll still need restraints.” There is a click as the bars are deactivated and he holds a pair of wrist restraints through to me.

I take them and clamp the things around my wrists. They tighten uncomfortably as the captain opens the door of the cage and is shouldered aside by the larger Habosu, who clearly thinks a Gryn in chains is less dangerous than one without.

I slam a wing into his face, bursting his nose and causing him to spiral away from me with a howl of pain and a gush of green blood. I make no further move, simply staring at the other Habosu benignly.

A smile appears briefly on the captain’s face before he unleashes his holo-whip.

“Never trust a gladiator, Habosu,” he snarls. “They only understand one thing.”

He unleashes the whip, the tip striking the air right next to my face with a crack, but not touching me. I reel away as if I’ve been hit, moving towards the doorway.

It’s fast dawning on me, the captain doesn’t want any part of this, but he can’t show it, and I need all the allies I can get.

Outside the cell block, I’m ordered to turn left, which isn’t the usual way up to the dome. I check on the captain, but his features are inscrutable again. The Habosu bring up the rear, obviously plotting their revenge.

We reach a level which is close to the dome floor, and as we do, the captain suddenly slams himself into me.

“What did you say, Gryn?” he roars.

“I said, if you don’t take that whip out of my face, I will kill you,” I reply evenly.

“Go inside,” the captain snarls at the two Habosu. “I want my time with this one before I hand him over.”

He holds the whip up and it buzzes next to my cheek.

“With pleasure. Just leave him with enough flesh to have it stripped in the dome,” the uninjured Habosu says as the pair of them hurry past and through the thick door.

“I’m sorry, Sylas,” the captain says as soon as they are gone. “I can’t stop this.”

“I understand, captain. I’m ready.”

“They’re going to make it impossible for you to win the fight against the shadow soldiers,” he says, backing away from me and pulling out a small dagger, which he slips down my boot. “But then they don’t know you like I do.”

“Thank you. I need a favor, just one more, from you, if you can manage it?”

“Anything, Sylas,” he says.

“I need someone to protect my mate, someone on the outside. Can you help?”

“The little human?” he asks with a sly smile.

“She is with young, my young,” I say, my heart pounding blood into my ears. “If she is safe, then nothing else matters.”

He places a hand on my arm. “You are not alone, gladiator. I always preferred to think of us as a family here, albeit somewhat dysfunctional, and with some of you being stone cold killers from the pits who don’t deserve to live.” He shrugs and sighs. “But that was never the Gryn. Of course I’ll take care of your mate.”

“I think you’ll find we’re all stone cold killers, captain.” I laugh. “But what’s going on here, it’s bigger than all of us, and if I can find a way to stop it, to get back to myeregri, I will.”

“It’s what I want for you too, Sylas,” he says. “Be on your guard in there, at all times. I don’t know what they’ve got planned, but I do know it is planned. Now pretend I’ve used this whip on you.”

He pushes open the door, and I bend double as I’m shoved through.

“He’s all yours,” the captain says. “Good luck.”

I know the last remark is aimed at me, and as I straighten up, I see my execution squad.

ALEX

“We have two aims in penetrating the dome,” Gytha says to the team she has assembled. “One is to get to Sylas and to reunite him with his mate as well as get him weapons.” She looks at me carefully. “After which you’re on your own. A gladiator is too dangerous for us to deal with.”

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