Page 59 of Bound

The second eyestalk spins and he lifts his head. “What?”

“You heard.”

Behind me there is a sudden scraping of chairs, which suggests Maxym and Klynn have been unable to wait more than a nano-second and have entered the tavern. The eyestalks blink.

“I’ll have you know, this place has a great hygiene rating,” the Panupal grumbles.

“For a barn, I presume. I want to know if you’ve seen or heard of any Drahon in Tatatunga.”

“Drahon?” the Panupal says, the inflection in his voice giving away his knowledge.

“Do you see those gladiators who are presently clearing your bar?” I query. The Panupal nods. “They’re with me, and I said this place looked like they wouldn’t have to wreck it for me to get the information I needed.” I lean over the bar. “Thing is, they love wrecking things, so you have about ten nova-seconds to tell me what you know before they start smashing the place up.”

I lean back and pull in a breath of slightly clearer air as the Panupal weighs up his options.

“The Drahon have been in Tatatunga for the last three nova-months gathering supplies. I’ve heard they have a base, a facility, near the old amphitheater on the outskirts of Holbak.”

“Thank you, that’s been very helpful.” I turn my back on the serving area to see Maxym and Rych about halfway to me. I give them an indication they need to turn around and leave by spinning my finger in the air.

They both look at me blankly. It’s a good thing they’re the planet’s best fighters.

“We’re going to Holbak,” I say, walking around the pair.

I’m pretty sure I hear Klynn grumble something about this not being any fun as I pass, but at least they follow me as we head back to the transport.

“The Drahon have a base somewhere near the old amphitheater,” I explain to the Gryn once we’re inside.

Both of them bristle alarmingly.

“I do not like the amphitheater,” Klynn snarls. “It’s bad.”

“We have to find the base, not go back there,” Maxym says quietly, putting his bear-like hand on Klynn’s shoulder.

“Never going back there,” Klynn replies as the transport slips into the traffic above the city.

His eyes are darker than ever, and I see one hand is shaking badly. Klynn under normal circumstances is dangerous enough, but like this…I’d rather not be in a confined space with him.

Although, as the engine explodes on the transport and it drops out of the sky, I realize which is preferable, crashing or being with two feral Gryn in a tube.

Turns out, on balance, I prefer the Gryn.

RYCH

I look at the scattered bodies of the guards. Defeating them was easier than I expected, the one problem being Felia has managed to escape in the mêlée. Given she’s the one who knows about my Chrissie, and potentially knows more about me than I do, she is the one I want.

Unfortunately I don’t have any live Drahon to ask. Perhaps not inevitably, given I hate the creatures with a force inside me which seems to be entirely ingrained. They didn’t even need to capture me or threaten my mate for me to hate them.

I have to find my Chrissie. The Drahon can wait until I do. And when she is in my arms, I will bring her here and force them to make her well again.

I will not lose her. Not after all the time I’ve spent fighting for nothing. Chrissie, my mate, myeregriis what I fight for now.

Stumbling over the bodies, my legs still suffering from the narcotics, even if my claws were not, I find myself in a wide passage lined with metal. The tang in the air over the stench of the Drahon suggests we are underground, and I need to make it up into the light.

Lifting my head, I do my best to work out the best way to take, although the pulsar bolt which flies over my head ends updictating I turn left in any event. Returning fire with a pulsar I took from the guards who attempted to subdue me, the thing fires twice before jamming.

“Vrexing Drahon.” I fling it away and move as fast as I can through the maze-like corridors until I reach a hover-lifter similar to the ones used in the dome to transport beasts from their cages under the arena to where they will do the most damage.

The doors spiral open, and I grab hold of the first Drahon to exit, swinging him around to hit the one behind him as I take charge of his pulsar and spray the rest of the interior with pulsar bolts.

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