Page 48 of Bound (Gladiators of the Gryn #3)

RYCH

Chrissie is cool against my skin, and I cannot wake her as we arrive at Fenek’s compound. As much as I hate the things, I race with her up to his room where the medi-bot should be tending to the Kijg.

Fenek is sat up in his bed, his scales pale, but he’s alive if nothing else.

“You found her!” he exclaims, seeing Chrissie in my arms.

“The Drahon told me unless the virus is removed, it will kill her.” I place her gently on the bed.

“Tend to the female,” Fenek orders the bot.

I growl.

“Let it do what it can, ,” he says gently. “She needs all the help she can get, even from a bot.”

“We have to find the scientist, Felia,” I growl. “She got away. She’s the only one I know can help Chrissie.”

At the mention of her name, Chrissie groans, her eyelids flickering. The bot moves away from her, which is a good thing because if it hadn’t, I’d have rent the thing in two.

“My eregri ?” I murmur as I gather her to me.

“Hey,” she says with a weak smile, her beautiful eyes dull. “Guess I spoke too soon about feeling well.” She puts her hand on my chest, but it slides away.

“I’m going to make the Drahon get this virus out of you, my mate. Then I’m going to kill them all.”

“Good,” Chrissie says. “But where are Maxym and Klynn?”

“Back at the dome, my mate.” I remind her quietly. “The captain took them, remember?”

She nods, her eyes closed again and I feel the bond weakening between us.

“Not exactly,” Fenek says, interrupting us. “I might be able to help.”

I give him a withering look. “You’ve helped enough. And in your present state, you’re more of a liability than a fighter.”

“I wasn’t offering my services,” he chuckles, “but those of the resistance.”

“The resistance? They’re useless.” I snort. “They claim they’ll bring down the dome, but they’ve done nothing.”

Fenek shakes his head slowly, clucking his tongue. “Young Gryn, you really don’t understand anything other than fighting or mating, do you?”

I bristle, all my feathers shaking until Chrissie slips her hand into my feathers, and it feels so vrexing good, I forget myself. I’m not even listening to Fenek anymore.

“…and that’s why the resistance is still fighting. Only they’re not taking direct action at the present time. They’re working from within, and this is the information they need to take down the council and the Drahon.”

“All I want is my mate to be well. All the rest is meaningless,” I snarl at him despite my mate’s fingers working at my feathers.

“I quite understand.” Fenek smiles.

I want to kill him.

“If the resistance will help us, and if helping us helps others,” Chrissie says quietly, “then it’s fine, . We should let them.”

“I don’t want to replace one regime with another,” I respond. “I don’t want Maxym and Klynn to be in any worse situation than they already are.” I glare at Fenek. “Because power isn’t all, but some believe it is.”

“The resistance is not after power. They just want Trefa to be fair, for those who are repressed to be free, for those who are enslaved to be free. They don’t want to rule, they just want those who rule to rule for all.”

“Because you can’t remove the gak from the rest of the cesspit?” I retort.

Fenek shrugs. “Something like that.” His scales flush with color. “But surely Tatatunga being better is preferable to how it is now?”

“,” Chrissie says quietly. “You know what this place is like. I think better is an improvement.”

I lift my lips in a snarl at Fenek, as if he’s the source of all my pain. “I want revenge on the Drahon. They know what I was before I ended up here. They’re responsible. I can’t promise there will be no violence for what they have done to me and my mate.”

“And the resistance will not want such a promise.”

“Because I am a weapon?”

“Something like that.”

Fenek’s smile has morphed into what I remember, shrewd and knowing. It’s my turn to feign indifference.

“It’s not like I haven’t already been used by Tatatunga. It was supposed to have brought me great wealth. Instead it led me to my sweet Chrissie.” I drop my head to hers, extracting the gentlest of kisses. “If using me helps her, it’s all I want.”

“Then they’re waiting for you down below,” Fenek says.

“My little spark.” I gaze into Chrissie’s beautiful face. “We have to go. Can you walk?”

“I can.” She unfolds herself from my grasp and gets to her feet.

The medi-bot comes to life, moving towards us. I pull out my sword.

“The patient must rest. The virus is multiplying,” it says.

“Fuck that. I’m not resting unless I’m dead,” she retorts, putting a hand on my abdomen, warmth blooming under her touch.

“And anything which wants to kill you will have to go through me.”