Page 42 of Bound (Gladiators of the Gryn #3)
CHRISSIE
I’m hustled out of the library, through the entrance passage, and out into the courtyard. In the passage outside, there is a blacked out transport waiting. I struggle uselessly against the iron grip of the reptile who has me and find he only digs his claws into my flesh instead.
I’m shoved into the transport and onto the floor as three of the reptiles climb in behind me.
I despair. The last thing I want is to lose Rych or for him to lose me. And these creatures obviously don’t care about anything given they’re burning the library for no reason at all.
The transport lifts from the ground, judders, and then slams back down. My captors look at each other. One shouts instructions at the transport which shivers like it’s attempting to comply. A screeching, wrenching sound pierces the hull. There is the stench of panic in the cabin. One of the reptiles points a pulsar up at the ceiling while the leader grabs his hand, pulling the weapon free as the third frantically tries to open the door, but the hull must be buckled as while the motor grinds, it doesn’t open.
A set of scimitar claws pierces the roof, and my heart leaps into my mouth as the metal is peeled back like a banana skin. A pulsar appears and the bolts take out all three reptiles.
“Little female?” A handsome face peers in through the hole he’s made. “Are these Drahon bothering you?”
I burst out with a laugh.
“They were a bit, Maxym,” I call up, unable to stop smiling. “They’re also trying to burn down the library.”
“I’ve sent Klynn in,” he says, a statement which doesn’t exactly fill me with hope for the state of the place. “Take my hand.”
He reaches in, and with ease, he pulls me free of the wreckage of the transport.
“Where’s Rych?” I ask, scanning the sky.
“There’s a problem,” Maxym says, helping me onto the ground, and my stomach descends into my boots. “The Drahon have taken him too.”
“What do you mean?”
“He went after the Loxzian, but where we thought the Drahon, that’s these”—Maxym points at the bodies of the reptiles—“things, were working for him, it seems it was the other way around.”
“So, maybe my boss…?”
Maxym shrugs. “At this stage, it’s anyone’s guess what’s going on here, other than both you and Rych were wanted by the Drahon.”
“I need to find him,” I say as Klynn appears, soot smearing his face and torso. At least some of it is soot. Other streaks might be bodily fluids which are not his own.
“I promised him I’d keep you safe,” Maxym intones. “So, I’m going to take you back to the dome where we can protect you.”
“I can’t leave him. Not to the mercy of these creatures. They were going to burn the library.”
“They failed,” Klynn growls. “And they don’t fight well.” He sniffs.
The tiny amount of relief I feel at the library being saved is overwhelmed by my concerns for Rych.
“We have to find him,” I say to the pair of Gryn, each one bristling with weapons and with the desire to do what their comrade asked of them. “Whatever they want from him and from me, it isn’t good.”
Maxym stares into the sky. “Vrex,” he says. “I made a promise.”
“If you’re with me, then you’re protecting me, aren’t you?” I reply. “Putting me in a cage doesn’t make a difference. I’ve been in a gilded cage too long already. If you put me there again, I’ll only escape.”
“As much as Rych is an annoying vrexer, I don’t want these Drahon to have him either. He fights better,” Klynn rasps, wiping one of his blades on the fabric of his pants. “They’re not even worth my time as practice.”
Maxym growls low in his throat. “Rych is going to kill me for this.” He looks at me and his wings droop. “Where should we start?”
“We start where this all started, back with my old boss, Fenek. I need to go back to his dwelling and see if I can find any more information.”
Maxym shrugs and levels his gaze at Klynn. “I’m up for these games if you are, gladiator,” he says.
Klynn snaps to attention, placing the flat blade of his sword against his nose and chin.
“You have my oath and bond,” he says without blinking.
“Ignore him. He does that sometimes,” Maxym says. “The rest of the time, he’s a feral vrexer who will stab you as soon as look at you.”
“Then I’m perfectly safe with both of you.” I mutter.
This is what Rych has for his rescue. A sick human and two tortured souls.
We’d better make this good.