Page 46 of Healing Creek
“Yes,” he rumbled. “Your body has become tighter. Did I love you so poorly?”
There was humor in his tone, and she tried to be satisfied with the tease he meant it to be. She wanted him to tell her he loved her and mean it. It felt almost cruel to use the words as a joke. But he didn’t know that. He would never be intentionally cruel. It was one of many things she loved about him.
He’d made no mention of her use of the word love. She knew he’d noticed. He noticed everything she did. She wished she knew how he felt about her. He cared for her. He wanted her. But love, she wasn’t so sure.
She skimmed her thumb idly across his fingertips. The shape of the rough skin there told her he’d once had claws. She couldn’t imagine an injury that would have caused him to lose all of them.
“What happened to your claws?”
The hand stroking her back stopped and his breath caught.
She waited. Giving him the same space he would give her to sort through his feelings and memories. She understood the truth would not be a happy story, but she hoped he would trust her with it.
His body shifted beneath her as he sat up, sliding back to the headboard and pulling her into his lap. His face was solemn. No. It would not be a happy story. She wanted to pull a sheet around herself, but she supposed if she was asking him to be vulnerable, she should be vulnerable as well. “Tell me, Creek.”
He nodded then looked away as if he couldn’t bear to see her reaction to what he would say. “I told you I was trained to fight alone. I was a cage fighter at a time when Roma could afford to lose many Dogs for the thrill of the patrons. Two Arena Dogs were sent into the cage. Only one would leave alive. We were trained to be vicious and bloody. It’s what the audience liked. It was all about filling seats, encouraging patrons to wager on the fights, satisfying the crowds.” His voice was cold and devoid of life, as if it had been someone else in the cage and not him.
When his words stopped, Grace waited. What could be worse, she wondered. For there was almost certainly something worse coming. She squeezed his hand.I’m still here, she wanted to say. But she remained silent.
He sighed but went on. “Sometimes our opponents were other Dogs trained for the cages, sometimes they were Dogs that had disappointed their master or become too dangerous. Dogs the masters wanted dead. They were not trained as well for this type of fighting, but we were told to make the fights last. The crowds still needed to be appeased and they needed time for more wagering.”
Creek finally faced her. He reached a hand toward her face but stopped before touching her. He stared at his own hand as if it was still covered in the blood of his opponents. He let it fall to the bed.
Grace wanted to take his hand and press kisses to it. She wanted to put her hand against the strong heartbeat in his chest. But most of all she wanted him to get out the poison that was making him so miserable.
Creek took another deep breath. “As our numbers declined and no more Dogs were being created, fewer cage matches were fought. It should have been a blessing.”
“But it wasn’t?”
“It wasn’t. More of the matches were to punish untrained or unruly Dogs. More and more I had to work to keep my opponents alive longer when I could have ended things quickly with less suffering. Eventually, I learned that I could use my claws to bloody them. Weaken them so quickly that drawing out the fight was pointless. The patrons didn’t want to see me fighting a Dog that could barely stand.”
“They punished you for it.” Grace was certain. He’d looked away again. This time she cupped his cheek and brought his gaze back to hers. “You tried to be merciful, and they hated that.”
“They took my claws,” he affirmed. “Ripped them out, one by one.” His face was a blank mask.
Grace pressed her body to his and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you for telling me. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for living.”
His arms came around her and he held on tight. As they sat there, tears fell from her eyes. She felt his chest shake beneath her cheek and knew he was crying with her. Crying for his pain and for the men he’d killed to stay alive. Death was the only other choice he’d had. And the Dogs living with the resistance had rejected him for his choice. For living. But the resistance only rescued Dogs that had been believed to have died. It was the medics who snuck them off of Roma after they’d appeared in the death rolls. So eventually…
Grace’s chest tightened. She could barely breath. With horrific certainty she knew…Creek had made a different choice…and died.
Chapter Nineteen
Haven,Umbria
EarthAllianceBetaSector
2210.200
Umbria was a lush, verdant world with only a few medium-sized cities. The resistance base was far from anything resembling a town, hiding in the green. TheHawleyflew over the heavy foliage that covered a deep ravine and the resistance base built into its walls. Before they’d boarded Feeona’s personal transport, Creek had explained that the base was inaccessible from the air. There was a secret hangar where a very few resistance ships remained hidden, but it was a long, difficult hike from the base. They landed much closer to the edge of the ravine for the benefit of Samantha, who’d insisted on accompanying her mates, and for Grace. Grace—his sweet, strong, but fragile heart. He hadn’t claimed her formally. It seemed wrong to trap her in promises before she had seen the truth of him, but in his heart, she was already his.
Creek was surprised that Mercury had allowed the females to come. They were meeting allies, but those allies had refused to respond to any attempt to make contact over the communications system. That didn’t surprise him, but he’d expected Mercury to be concerned. Instead, he’d taken Creek’s word that it was normal. Only Carn and Hera had remained on theAbundanceto keep an Arena Dog presence there.
Creek pushed open the ship’s door and stepped onto the ground that had been claimed for the Arena Dogs. But shouldn’t they be making their own claims? Hadn’t they always settled for what was given? He turned back to face the open door. “We walk from here.”
He extended a hand to help Grace, already following his lead, to step down onto the ground. Her grip on his hand was strong and her delicate steps brought her to his side. He’d insisted on wrapping her ankles for extra stability before she slipped into the sturdy boots he’d found for her. Unless things had changed, the way would be rocky, and he wouldn’t have her spraining her tendons or slipping and risk her falling down the steep path.
He led her a little away from the ship and waited for the others to gather.
