Page 73 of Baited

A Haalux warrior, his bright blue markings flashing in the light, inspects a training sword.

“It’s not too hard…for us.” He’s sporting a fresh wound on his upper left bicep, and I inwardly cringe when I remember giving it to him. “But for you…” He shrugs. “Maybe.”

“We’re in need of wine and females,” Rych says, throwing an arm around my shoulders as I growl. “It’ll make my friend here all the sweeter.”

I growl louder.

“I don’t want a female. I want my female.”

Rych glares at me.

“What did he say?” The Xnosson bull moves closer. “About a female?”

Rych’s arm tightens around my neck. “Nothing at all.” He releases me, shoving me to one side and unsheathes his claws, moving into a fighting stance, slowly, deliberately but withoutlooking like he wants a fight. “We’re looking for a good time, an escape,” he says evenly.

I might have let go of everything when I was in the dome, but Rych is calculating, swift, and deadly. I’ve always known what lies behind his eyes and sparkling jewels. He’s a killer, like me, and he howls in the dark like me too, even if he pretends he does not.

I would not trust Rych, not in the way the rest of these gladiators are in this moment. In fact, I’m already planning how best to get away from him.

“Does he have a mate?” the Haalux asks.

“No,” Rych says.

“Yes,” I say at the same time.

“Which is it?” the Haalux demands.

“I have a mate. The procurator from the dome in Tatatunga sent me here, and I want to get back to her,” I say as Rych covers his face with his hand. “I need a way out.”

The Haalux and the Xnosson look at each other.

“Is she your fated one?” the Xnosson asks.

I feel the spike of pain again, like something wants to pull me into the air using my brain.

“She is myeregri,” I force out. “I nested for her. She is mine.”

The Haalux balances the sword on the tip of his finger. The Xnosson lowers his formidable horns. Beside me, Rych’s feathers ripple.

I stand firm. I do not wish to fight the other gladiators. All I want is my Izzy.

The Haalux cracks out a laugh like a whip. “We’ve all been there, haven’t we, Pilot?” he says to the Xnosson.

“Love and mates, eh?” he replies with a grin. “They’ll drag a male further than any pulsar cannon will fire him.”

“It’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” The Haalux slams his large shoulder into the Xnosson. “To forget.”

Neither of them look like they have forgotten anything.

“I’m Sye. This is Pilot,” the Haalux says. “The rest of this lot don’t have names, do you?” he calls out at the other gladiators.

There’s a chorus of laughter.

“So, you need to find your mate?” Pilot asks. “And you need to leave the dome?” He narrows his eyes.

“We’re not trusted here. Indentured or not, both procurators know we are here against our will,” Rych says. “We don’t get a pass.”

Sye chuckles. “Neither do we. It’s more of a providing the right amount of credits to a guard situation.”

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