Page 12 of Bound to the Alien Gladiator
He smiled over his shoulder, and Khit charged. I screamed, the sound eaten up by the crowd. Tezakk turned and blocked her swing. Weapons locked together, and Khit growled in his face. Their sharp teeth were inches from biting something sensitive. His tentacles pressed back against his skin, and he slammed his head forward. The crack ricocheted around the pit as Khit stumbled back, their forehead split and bleeding.
They touched the blood flowing from their cut and smiled. “That’s two I owe you for now.”
And their battle began. Metal slammed into metal; bodies danced and swayed in a beat all their own. The crowd fucking ate it up. Tezakk’s movements were graceful and always with purpose, but he hesitated every now and again. Almost as if he were second guessing his next move or unable to make it.
Every time he paused, Khit pressed their advantage, pushing him back and forcing me deeper into the water. He wouldn’t have to tell me to run for it because I’d be swimming with only the rigor-set claw of a lion beast to protect me from the lizard that just wouldn’t die.
You’d think a blade in the eye, a pole in the jugular, and a mouth full of wooden splinters would have slowed that animal down, but that damn knife hilt broke the surface too close to comfort. The pallet Khit had slammed their axes into was the only thing separating it from me, even as the blood seeping down my leg called the lizard to slaughter. I swirled the red liquid with my fingers.
Tezakk’s back closed in as he fought off blow after blow from Khit’s axe. I wobbled in the shifting sand, arms flung wide to keep my footing. I struggled to stay out of his way, pushing myself farther and farther back.
“Tezakk,” I warned as the frigid water hit my hips.
“I know.” He grunted and lifted his axe high in the air. The crowd roared as he swung it down.
Khit grunted as they blocked the blow but stayed in place. Tezakk forced me back, but unlike him, I could float. He needed to get out of the water before it swallowed him whole, but Khit kept pressing their advantage.
Khit laughed and swung out, locking the pair of axes inches from Tezakk’s side. They leaned close to him but stayed out of reach of another headbutt.
“Are you ready to fight again at my side?” They leaned away and locked eyes with me. Khit’s lip was split, and dark purple bloomed on their forehead. Still, I knew they could easily kill me. “Leave this weakling and take a Mate with actual strength.”
Anger surged. No one could replace me. I shifted closer. “Fuck you.”
I swung the paw at Khit’s face. The claws raked from temple to chin. Khit’s skin parted like a sharp blade through flesh.
Snarling, they stumbled back, clutching their cheek as blood gushed from what should have been a light wound. I examined the furred limb in my hand. “What the hell is in these things?”
Tezakk gently pushed me back, his axe held at the ready as Khit struggled to regroup. “An anticoagulant. Atroba has the beast’s claws coated with it before each match. Makes things more exciting,” he said wryly.
Now it made more sense why he wanted me away from the Lyigrith. I was thankful Atroba hadn’t coated the lizard’s teeth with it. Which reminded me. I spun in a circle. Where the hell was it?
Khit dropped their hand, but the blood continued to flow, coating their leathers, joining with that of the cut Tezakk had made in his first attack. The green liquid swirled around the knee-high water they stood in. “I had hoped we could work out our differences. You were always such a fan favorite.”
Metal flashed.
“Rena, run!”
I spun and stumbled, but Tezakk was there to pick me up. His heavy weight parted the water much easier than my soft skin. Heat flowed over my shoulder. Water exploded, but the loud crack concussed the air. Tezakk fell, taking me with him. I kicked free and bobbed to the surface. He was shoulder deep in the water, yellow seeping into the eddies surrounding him.
The bone in his shoulder was exposed. He was missing a huge chunk of flesh. Panic set in as I struggled to get closer. “Oh no, no no no . . .”
“I’m okay,” Tezakk bellowed over the screaming crowd. His body bobbed around as he tried to keep his shoulder out of the water. “The blood will stop flowing shortly.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and pointed with a spray of water. “But what about your arm?”
The singed skin at the edges of the wound couldn’t be good.
He quickly glanced at it before refocusing on Khit. “It’ll heal.”
Breathing through my panic, I searched the shore as Khit fought with the illegal gun. I shouted over the booing crowd, “How did she get that past the guards?”
“A question for another day.” He grunted and lifted the head of the axe out of the water. “We should focus on moving while her weapon recharges.”
He pushed me toward the platform where I’d last seen the toothy lizard. “Climb up.”
“And where are you going to be?” I fought his movement. “Besides, those things aren’t exactly safe. That supercharged gator chomped through Khit’s boat like it was a child’s toy.”
He asked, “Do you still have your claw?”
