Page 87 of Baited

Ahead of us are Rych, Maxym, and Klynn. Klynn is leaning against the wall next to the procurator’s office flicking a dagger in the air. Maxym looks suitably brooding and Rych is grinning.

I push Izzy gently behind me.

“I thought you might need back-up,” Rych says.

“And why would you think that?” I growl.

“Because last time you got sent to Sartak, and Rych was dragged along with you,” Maxym rasps.

“Is it a good idea to intimidate the procurator?” Izzy asks.

“Yes,” chorus my fellow gladiators.

My fellow Gryn.

I look at her and shrug. “What they say.”

She narrows her eyes, and discontent rumbles down the thoughtbond, causing me to tremble a little.

“Is it true?” Klynn asks suddenly, balancing his blade on the tip of his finger. “You can understand this little female without needing to speak to her?”

“Thoughtbond,” Maxym says gruffly.

“Thoughtbond?”

“It’s a…thing,” he replies with less conviction. “A Gryn thing…I think.” His brow is furrowed.

“It means I can know when myeregriwants to mate with me,” I announce happily and get a sharp elbow in my side.

“We’re going to need to talk about what you share with others!” Izzy fires down the bond.

My feathers rattle.

“Are you talking through the bond right now?” Klynn asks, levering himself from the wall and taking a step towards us.

The snarl I produce is probably one of my best. Never usually the one to back down, Klynn immediately takes a step back, his hand going to the scar on his neck, the one he’s tried to cover with his own tattoos. His lips lift in a returning growl but otherwise he is silent.

“Are we going to do this?” Maxym asks.

“Do you want your freedom too?” I query.

“I cannot.” Maxym shakes his head. “My crimes mean I am chained to this place until my sentence is done or I die, whichever comes first.”

A spike of something comes down the thoughtbond, a clutch around the heart and…sadness? I’m not sure what it is, but I don’t want my Izzy feeling that way.

Rych shrugs at me. “I’d like to be free, I suppose,” he says without commitment.

Klynn looks at me sullenly. I don’t think he knows what he wants, grumpy vrexer.

I put my shoulder to the door and the lock pops easily.

“What the…” the procurator exclaims from behind his desk, slamming his hand onto a button.

“Bots,” Klynn says darkly. “I’ll deal with them,” he adds as the wall slides open and the guard bots light up inside.

“You are not allowed here without my express invitation, Gryn!” the procurator fires at us. “And you…you…” He points at me and Rych. “Are supposed to be in Sartak.”

“You didn’t get the message then?” Rych says, as the noise of Klynn systematically dismantling the guard bots increases. “We decided Sartak was not for us.”

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