Page 61 of Bound

“He said that last time,” Klynn mutters, “and we were on vegetable rations for a week.”

“You should go,” I say to Maxym. “You’ve helped us enough and you shouldn’t risk a punishment or worse.”

“You are my brother in arms,” Maxym says, eyeing Klynn who is growling and drooling at the Zarvu, “as much as Klynn is. I will always protect you and your mate.”

“And this is me protecting you,” I say, calling out to the captain. “Come and get them. They were just visiting an old friend. They’ll go quietly,” I add with a glare at Klynn.

“If you need us…” Maxym says, stepping towards the guards.

“Well, there is one thing I could do with.” I look at his pants pointedly. Maxym shakes his head and strips off his pants and boots, tossing them over the planter Klynn destroyed.

I pick them up and pull them on.

“You owe me,” he says.

“I’ll add it to the list,” I reply as he and Klynn troop over to the captain and are duly bound at the wrists.

I clutch my Chrissie tightly as they leave.

“What do we do now?” she whispers.

CHRISSIE

I still feel fine, other than extremely anxious. It’s like I have a ticking bomb inside me, and I have no idea when it will go off. I could ignore it, or I could panic.

Only here, in Rych’s arms, I don’t want to do either. I want to fight it. I want to be with him. I want us to be together. I want to protect him from the anguish on his face.

I want to protect him from ever being alone again, like I was.

“Sweet mate,” he says quietly. “Where did you go?”

“I’m fine,” I say abruptly. “We need to find this scientist.” I look around us, but it’s pretty clear Maxym and Klynn did a good job. There’s no one left alive.

“She won’t have stayed,” Rych says. “The chances are she’s gone to another facility or is attempting to get off Trefa.”

“We should go back to Fenek. He might be able to help find her or, at the least, use his contacts to draw her out,” I respond. “I’m not going to let her go. She will fix you,” he says fiercely.

We pick our way out of the atrium. Rych eyes the amphitheater with disgust.

“Have you been in there?” I ask.

“All gladiators are sent there when we first arrive.” He growls. “It is a bad place.” His nostrils flare as he looks atthe distance between the atrium we’ve just exited and the amphitheater. “And the Drahon knew it.”

“Someone sabotaged Fenek’s transport. It’s beyond repair. We’ll need to find another way of getting back to Fenek,” I say, exhaustion from the crash, being saved by Maxym and Klynn from slamming into the ground and becoming jam, along with the subsequent massacre flowing over me.

Rych steps out in front of a transport traveling towards us and opens his wings. I cry out his name, but the thing stops within a hair’s width of him, and he slams his clawed hand on the front screen.

“Out,” he growls at the occupants, a set of Oykig females who scramble to exit, a knot of scales and tails.

My huge gladiator holds out his hand to me.

“Little spark, your transport awaits.”

“Interesting technique,” I say as I climb on board. “How did you know it would stop?”

“I didn’t,” Rych says. “But for you, I’d do anything. I’ll follow you anywhere, and if death comes for you, I will fight him until the end of time.”

I curl up against him, enjoying the warmth of his torso and the soft sweep of his feathers.

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