Page 79 of Aria's Ascension

His argument was that if something terrible happened while she was fussing over him like a ‘mother vi’itus with a newborn pup’ she’d blame herself—which she would—and he would blame himself for her being upset. “Besides,” he’d said, “I feel perfectly renewed.”

So, he’d scooped her up and set off to find the other ‘love-starved bastards she’d bewitched.’

They found Kix, Thrasin, and Rellik coming out of an elevator on the other side of the concourse. When they caught sight of her cradled in Tirox’s arms, her own crossed and a disgruntled look on her face, Kix and Rellik broke out in smiles.

Meeting in the middle, below the atrium, Kix stared down at her, the sparkles in his pupils twinkling with amusement.

“He did not listen to your demands to rest?” Kix guessed.

Aria grumbled and cut her eyes up to Tirox. “Bullheaded. Are you planning to put me down, by the way?”

Tirox just smirked and cocked an eyebrow but made no move to set her on her feet. Hiding her smile, she sighed and glanced back at the men in front of her. She didn’t really want him to put her down, anyway.

“What did you find?”

“We searched the building in its entirety. There were no guards, other than those we killed. We did discover a room in which the Gaelli workers were being held. They are slaves as we suspected. We decided the best course was to leave them locked there.”

“What? Kix, we can’t just—”

“We ensured they have adequate sustenance. We also checked the one that was in the room with Tirox for injuries before leaving it in their care. I thought you might wish to contend with the crashed vessel first, yes?”

She narrowed her eyes, but caved fairly quickly. “I don’t like leaving them locked up like prisoners, but, yeah, you’re right. Triage. Okay, let’s head back to the crash.”

She looked at Thrasin when he rumbled softly and frowned. He appeared eager but, while she more than appreciated his willingness to go through that painful transformation, she wasn’t ready to watch it again. That was another thing she wanted to talk to the ants about: if there was a way to make his shift from one form to the other less excruciating.

Having obviously read her expression, Rellik murmured, “Have no worries, little Queen. We found runners on the highest level. Your growly mate need not go through the change.”

“Runners?”

Kix interjected, “Gravity vehicles, both personal and cargo sizes.”

“Nice. What other goodies did you find?”

The three of them exchanged a speaking glance before Rellik gave her one of those cocky smirks he was so good at and answered cryptically, “A great many things.”

* * *

After a quick tripto the weapons fabrication room on the lab level, where everyone armed themselves with their preferred weapons, and a trip to the labs themselves, where everyone used the tubes to get dressed, their next stop was the twelfth floor, where Zhrovni kept storage.

There, they stocked up on healing rings, one for each of them, and a few extras, just in case, as well as food and water that Tirox carried in one of the duffle bags. Last, was the fourteenth floor where the vehicles were located.

From what they’d discovered, the underground levels were used exclusively for gladiator maintenance and storage. That included the warehouse room where the original bodies were kept, the modification suites where he essentially lobotomized people, the labs, clone fabrication rooms, a few healing suites, and the weapons fabrication room.

The ground level was where the masses entered to attend the tournaments, shopped, and ate. More restaurants, shops, and entertainment parlors were located on the second floor, according to Rellik. Something about his tone as he said the last prompted her to question what, exactly, an entertainment parlor was.

His grimace told her she wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Ahh, spas, beautification salons, and massage parlors catering to the varied beings who frequent this place,” he clarified.

He was hiding something from her.

“And?”

His mouth tightened at the corners, but he glanced at her and added flatly, “Pleasure lounges where beings go to…relievethemselves onVeiledslaves. Most only allow their patrons to fuck the slaves, but there are some that specialize in… darker lusts.”

She didn’t question how he knew that, afraid she already knew the answer. Instead, she asked, “Veiled?”

She could see the gratitude in his fiery eyes when he peered down at her and gave him a sad, but understanding smile in return.

---