Page 10 of Xeda

Her hands tightened into fists. "I'm not afraid to clock a man in the face. Or should I say, boy?"

The guard came at her when another of his team shouted back at him. "Leave her, James. Stop fooling around."

James fixed her with a murderous glare, his finger pointing at her face. "Watch yourself, bitch." He turned from her, and she wanted to fight him. She wanted to fight them all for what they were doing.

A hand wrapped around her arm before she could decide to take a step toward them. She looked around and saw Janna, tight-lipped and rigid, giving her an annoyed look. "I need your assistance with the pens, so don't get into some worthless fight. I'm not getting left having to do your work while you sit in the glasshouse."

Ophilia opened her mouth to argue, then closed it firmly. Janna tugged at her arm, then let go, heading for the pens. Ophilia frowned. She looked back at the unit and at the men and felt herself shaking. She let out a slow breath, knowing she couldn't take them all even if she wanted to.

She forced herself to walk, to leave the training grounds behind and follow Janna to the pens. Rick was still working on caring for the two new arrivals so was nowhere to be seen. She got her supplies and started for the first pen, still listening to the distant shouts of men and the throat-tearing roars of rage from the vrisha.

* * *

She was scrubbing down Neptune's cage when Rick appeared, giving her his award-winning sneer.

"You got into a fight today with one of the guards?" he asked as she noticed him.

She put down her cleaning brush to face him straight. "No, I didn't."

"This after you disobeyed Hendrik's orders. You want to go to the glasshouse?"

Ophilia sighed. "No, but—"

"No more of this shit, Ophilia. You do your work and you do as told. If it had been my way, you'd have been stuck in the kitchens. Or cleaning the guardhouses. And I wouldn't be dealing with your bullshit. Thankfully, I won't have to for a while even if I'll be stuck doing the pens with Janna."

Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You owe Hendrik a favor for not assisting him like asked the other day..."

Anger burned up her insides. "He wanted me to punish the vrisha for nothing! It was just mindless—"

Rick fixed her with a nasty stare, cutting her off with a gesture of his hand. "Don't." He pointed a finger. "I don't care. You're going to go see Hendrik after you finish here. He'll tell you what he wants."

Her blood was boiling as Rick disappeared. She scrubbed Neptune's pen until her hands bled, then put away her supplies before begrudgingly heading back for the training grounds.

She found Hendrik there by the yard, watching as two grex fighters wrestled and fought in the sand. A few soldiers lumbered around watching, making sure the pair of fighters didn't think to turn on their oppressors instead. Hendrik shouted at one—Zeckta if she remembered his name right—who was pinned by his opponent, his body flailing.

“Come on, you damn reptile, get him off you! Bite him, bite him! That's it!"

Sand flew up as Zeckta clamped his jaw around the other and rolled. Blood was already staining the ground.

The grex fighters had been broken for several months now, a collar around each of them. If they tried to run, the collar was programmed to suffocate them. If the soldiers didn't shoot them first. They were decent in a fight but never won in the bigger games. They were usually stuck in smaller, more private fights, for smaller parties to enjoy and bet on.

Just another thing she hated about this place.

Zeckta was able to pin his opponent and knock him out, garnering a cheer from Hendrik. The soldiers moved the unconscious grex back to his cell while Zeckta was given a treat—some fresh jerky and water—before being sent back to his. Eventually, Hendrik noticed her and waved her over. Ophilia reluctantly approached him.

"One of my trainees is sick. Didn't take too well to somethin’ he ate. Or so he claims," Hendrik said as his eyes leered over her. "I need someone to clean up here." He smiled at her, as if he knew something she didn't. He took out a cigarette and sucked on it, blowing smoke toward her. "You wouldn't stun that vrisha when I asked, so maybe you'll enjoy having to clean him up instead." He tilted his head to the storerooms. "Should have everything you need in there."

Her eyes drifted over to the cell. "Alone?"

"Dane will be there too. And the guards will be watching." He leaned forward. "You can handle that, can't you?"

She looked back at him, clenching her jaw. "Yeah, I can."You bastard.

He watched her for a long moment, then nodded his head. "Good, good." He took out a black remote from his pocket and handed it to her. "That's to keep the fighters back while you clean up their units. Don't want to get your pretty little head eaten." He chuckled. "Dane has one too." He showed her which buttons to use to immobilize the fighters when needed. "Now get on it. I want things spotless before the sun is down."

He lumbered away. Ophilia clenched the remote in her hand. She looked over at the vrisha's cell, suddenly growing tense.

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