Page 50 of Champion
“That won’t work.” Willa turned in my grasp, her hands landing on my chest. “Nansar is going to have your skiffdestroyed tonight after everyone is asleep. He wants to make it look like you died trying to escape.”
Fuck!
“That still gives us time,” Adtovar mused, his eyes assessing the window, the pink moon just visible amid a myriad of stars.
“Time for what?” Xabat pressed, moving to stand beside Adtovar and copying his stare into the night.
“To hijack that skiff,” Adtovar announced with a grin, clapping Xabat on his shoulder.
“My skiff is not far away.” It was the only good thing in this scenario. “But how do you propose we get out of the pit?” Guards always patrolled the gated exit. The very reason we had not already escaped.
Adtovar glared at Zahavi and cleared his throat.
In answer, Zahavi assumed the demeanor of a youngling caught in mischief. Yet he pulled a tan pouch from his pocket and poured a small amount of the contents into the palm of his hand. The healer glanced at Adtovar, grinned broadly, walked up to Rickon, and blew a puff of black power directly into his face.
Rickon flinched, his face contorting with anger, but for only a second before his eyes rolled back in his head, and he hit the floor like a rock.
“Holy shit!” Willa jerked. “What did you do, Zahavi?”
“He’s fine, just asleep,” Zahavi grinned, bending over and laying a hand on the Gudari’s chest to check his heartbeat. It appeared the healer might have enjoyed putting Rickon on his ass. Not that I blamed him.
“You have had this magic all along, and let us linger in the pit?” Cristox demanded, flexing his broad shoulders, paw-like hands fashioning into fists.
“Not all along,” Zahavi assured him. “I heard a rumor long ago that Zarpazian scales could be turned into a form ofsleeping powder. I didn’t know if it would work, but since we had a dead Zarpazian lying around, I thought I’d test the theory.”
Xabat poked Rickon with the toe of his scuffed boot and chuckled. “He’s out cold.”
“We don’t have enough powder to knock out the entire Aljani guard, but there’s usually only three on gate duty during the night.” Adtovar schemed, patting Zahavi on the shoulder.
“We need to knock them all out at once.” I let my mind play over the scenario, ferreting out holes in the plan. “We can’t leave a single guard conscious long enough to raise an alarm.”
“Like a smoke bomb,” Willa suggested.
“A bomb made of smoke?” Adtovar frowned at the concept. “What good would that do?”
Willa rolled her eyes, and a faint giggle trilled from her lips. “A smoke bomb is a way of delivering the knock-out powder to all the guards at once. Of course….” She tapped her lips with a finger, pondering. “I don’t have the first clue how to make a bomb like that.”
“Bomb, did you say?” The low, gruff tone drew all attention to the massive green alien leaning against the wall in a darkened corner of the room. I think these were the most words I’d ever heard him say.
“Yeah, a bomb?” Willa regarded him curiously and smiled.
Kariosak stood, the top of his head nearly brushing the ceiling. Dark eyes narrowed on me, then flickered to my mate, softening in expression. “I may have dabbled in explosives a time or two.”
Willa smiled, and the orc-ish alien’s cheeks turned a darker green. My mate had every male in this room wrapped around her little finger. It should make me jealous, yet all I felt was a sense of pride that I could call her mine.
My mate clapped her hands together, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Looks like we got a plan.”
I was really beginning to hate when she said that.
Chapter 16- Willa
We gave each gladiator a specific task to prepare for the upcoming—for lack of a better word—battle. Kariosak and Zahavi huddled in a corner, meticulously working on crafting a smoke bomb. Adtovar, Cristox, and Xabat set out to scout the exit, their movements stealthy as they disappeared into the darkness. We tasked the remaining gladiators with choreographing a believable performance for our appearance in the coliseum tomorrow. Charick and I had our own mission to carry out. We slipped through the shadows, silently making our way back to my room for a few precious moments alone.
I hadn’t been back to my room since my run-in with the assassin. At the first step into the four walls, goosebumps broke out all over my body. There wasn’t a sign left of the Zarpazian. Someone had even washed away the blood. Yet in my mind’s eye, I saw him there… and relived the moments when I thought Charick dead by his hand.
I turned just as my mate shut the door and buried my face against his chest, my arms going tight around his middle as if somehow my grip could bind him to me forever.
“My heart.” Charick groaned as his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer as his lips met mine in a desperate kiss. The world faded away as we lost ourselves, worries about the impending battle melting into pure desire and longing for each other. We stayed intertwined for several minutes before slowlycoming up for air, both of us feeling the depth of our connection more than ever.
