Page 3 of Warlord's Plaything

Hold it.

Daring him.

Challenging him.

His lips part slightly, like something about this amuses him. Like I’m the most interesting thing in this godsdamned pit.

Then he stands.

A single motion, but the entire arena falls silent.

Xyron steps forward, resting one gloved hand on the marble railing of the noble’s box. The way the mage-lights glow against his obsidian skin is fuckingotherworldly.His silver hair catches in the torchlight, shimmering in the heat.

Then, finally, his voice.

Low. Cold. Commanding.

"Bring her to me."

The air leaves my lungs as fear takes a hold of me.

2

XYRON

She shouldn’t have survived.

The Direfang should’ve torn her apart—should have cracked her bones between its jaws, should have ripped that stubborn, defiant fire out of her and left nothing but twitching, cooling meat on the sand.

But she’s still standing.

Dripping in blood, chest rising and falling like she’s just been fucked within an inch of her life, eyes bright and burning even as they drag her from the pit like a piece of discarded flesh.

Damn her.

I lean against the polished marble railing, gripping the stone hard enough that the jagged edges dig into my palm. The space is thick, pulsing, charged with something primal, something raw. Below, the crowd has already moved on to their next fix of carnage, but I can’t tear my eyes away from her.

Hira.

The fucking human.

A slave.

Athingthat should mean nothing to me—just another piece of meat, another disposable distraction, another fleeting sourceof amusement in a world where entertainment is best served on a bloodstained platter.

But fuck if she isn’tmore.

Something about the way she moves—like a caged animal too wild to break, like she’s just waiting for the chance to snap those pretty little teeth around the throat of the bastard holding the leash—twists low in my gut.

There’s nothing delicate about her.

Nothing refined.

She’s feral, sharp edges and bruised skin, covered in sweat and violence, and still, she glares up at me like she’s the one in power.

It should infuriate me.

Instead, I feel it like a fucking pulse in my veins.

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