Page 10 of Auctioned to the Convicts
“Get Griggs’s unit out of there!” A man yelled. “The fight’s supposed to be one-on-one!”
A hand to his head came away bloody.Stupid, shortsighted. It served him right. He knew better than to trust The Company and the men who worked for it. Expecting a fair fight had been downright foolish.
Shouts surrounded him, but no guards rushed the circle of onlookers to intervene. A few isolated fights broke out. Energy weapons fired, the charge filling the air around him. His skin felt as if a thousand ants were crawling over him. The guards had their weapons on high.
“Finish him, Griggs!” another man shouted. “I want to fuck her already.”
That wasn’t going to happen.
Blurred vision be damned, Ky’Li rose and delivered punch after punch, until Griggs fell into a blubbering mess on the ground before him. Ky’Li kicked Griggs in the side, to see if he’d stir. He didn’t.
“We have a winner!” Dresden announced.
The crowd closed in around him.
“I have you,” a man whispered as arms caught and eased Ky’Li to the ground. The man pried Ky’Li’s eyelids open one at a time. Ky’Li yanked his head away, instantly regretting the motion.
“Not good,” the man said.
“Maybe we should get him out of here, Vaughn,” another male said. “It doesn’t matter that Griggs is down. His unit—”
“But he won, didn’t he?” the sweet feminine voice asked.
Ky’Li relaxed just a bit. She was okay. His female.Hisfemale was okay.
“Manager Dresden,” Vaughn called. “Do I have permission to move the challenger to the med-center?”
“Does he have credits to pay, Dr. Caster? This isn’t a job-related injury.”
“He’s new, Manager. No credits to my knowledge.”
“Then no treatment. He already owes fourteen credits to Griggs for the cost to challenge. He has a day to pay Griggs. Unless he wants to forfeit the woman to Unit 148. My guess is they’d pay for his treatment and dismiss the challenge fee in exchange for the prize.”
“I’m not a damn prize,” the woman mumbled under her breath.
Ky’Li forced his eyes open. Gods, he loved her fire. She had a soldier’s spirit, but the heart of a woman through and through.
“Hi, there,” she said. Her smile was weak, not insincere, but nervous. Gentle fingers covered his bruised hand.
Home. She felt like home.
“We’ll figure this out, okay? Just hang in there,” she reassured.
“Name?” he coughed out.
“I’m Hannah.”
Beautiful name, for a beautiful woman. “Ky’Li,” he offered. She needed to know his name. It was important that he did not go to the afterlife unbound.
Her fingers gently trailed over his bloody and bruised face. Yes, he’d made the right choice. She was worth the sacrifice.
Ky’Li started coughing again.
“Shit! He’s coughing up blood,” the doctor, Vaughn, said.
As hard as it was, Ky’Li dragged his eyes from his female to the man with the light blond hair and a slight beard beside her. Didn’t the man know facial hair was an affront to the gods? These men from Argus held strange customs and no honor from what he’d seen so far.
“Who’s your unit?” Dresden asked, staring down at Ky’Li. The manager stood behind Hannah and Vaughn.
