Page 51 of Bound (Gladiators of the Gryn #3)

CHRISSIE

The meat processing plant is where Axel said it would be. I admit, I struggled to trust the big Voltes after what happened with Red, so I’m not exactly annoyed with Rych. Although I do think it might have made sense to wait for the others.

But then how long have I got? My breath was already short by the time we got here, my legs feeling like they’re made of rubber. All I want is to lie down and sleep.

Rych isn’t going to let me, and if I take a moment, it could get us both killed.

“There’s the shack,” I whisper to him as we peer around the corner of a building. “How are we going to get in unseen?”

“We’re not.” Rych grins at me, shoving his sword under his wing and pulling off the weapons bandolier he’s wearing, dropping it on the ground. “We’re surrendering…for a bit. How sick can you look?”

“Sicker than this, I suppose,” I say, my words cut off with a squeak as he lifts me into his arms.

“Look sicker,” he suggests, and I go floppy.

“Any good?” I murmur from the side of my mouth.

“Perfect, as always, my eregri .”

My heart thunders in my chest as he carries me over to the shack and bellows at the door.

“Let me in! My life for my mate’s.”

This is a spectacularly dangerous game we’re playing. I already know the Drahon make up the rules as they go.

The shack door swings open, and inside I see the exact opposite of the wooden structure on the outside, a smooth, clean corridor which leads to a set of metal doors.

Rych strides in, covering the distance to them in a matter of seconds. He puts me down in a single smooth movement as he pulls out his sword and the doors open.

The Drahon inside don’t stand a chance against my seasoned gladiator. Their bodies slump to the ground even as it seems he hardly touched them.

His sword flashes in the artificial lights, swinging and moving like it’s part of him as the initial wave of Drahon are all cut down. Rych spears one and then grabs his shoulder, pulling him down the blade.

“Where is Felia?” he snarls. The Drahon shakes his head. Rych twists the sword. “Where is she?”

“Two floors down,” he gasps. “In the lab.”

“Good.” Rych pulls his blade free, and the Drahon drops.

I’m pulled against his warm body, my brain seared with the destruction he has wrought.

“It had to be done, little spark. If there was another way, believe me, I would have taken it. But the Drahon don’t want credits, not in the sense of what little we have. They want power. And power means violence.”

“The Drahon did this to me—they put the virus in my body without a care for how it would affect me, or if I lived. I should not care for their passing.” I stare at the bodies.

“The mere fact you do is one of the many reasons I love you,” Rych says, nuzzling his head into my hair as if to take solace. “After this, I will never fight again, unless it is to protect my mate.”

“You really don’t want to go back to the dome?” I ask.

“I never wanted to be there in the first place. It was all I could remember. Maybe the Drahon can reverse what they did to me, maybe they can’t, but either way, I belong to you now, . You are my eregri and nothing will ever change that.”

A pulsar bolt zips over our heads.

“Looks like the Drahon have upped their weapons game, even if their aim leaves a lot to be desired.” Rych grins at me.

“Then it’s time to go. You’re a big enough target, after all,” I tease.

Rych’s eyes heat. If we survive this, I know he’s going to make me pay for my comment.

And I’m going to enjoy every second.

He rises as do I and uses his sword to deflect the few pulsar bolts which come our way. Having never seen him in action, I can’t help but be impressed. Rych is sexy under any circumstances, but when he goes full gladiator, he is sex on legs.

“Stop distracting me, little spark,” he growls. “Your scent will make me mate you on the spot.”

I might be about to die, the virus installed in me about to snuff out my life, but to be desired by Rych, regardless of what I am, is more than enough to keep me going.

We reach a set of ramps leading down and I’m tossed into his arms once again.

“Hold tight,” he says, opening his wings.

“You’re not going to fit!” I exclaim.

“I think you should know by now, I will fit anywhere I want to go,” he rasps.

Rych is in the air, and with a sudden, sickening lurch, he folds up his wings, and we drop until he flares them again and lands as easily as stepping off a plane.

“I fit,” he says with a wicked grin.

He goes to put me down, but I find my legs don’t want to work. I can’t stand without help.

“Rych?” I cling to him, and without a word, he pulls me back into his arms, taking the pulsar pistol from my pocket.

“We’re nearly there, my ,” he says, feathers fluttering as he marches down the passage towards a set of doors at the end. “Hold on for me.”

One pulsar blast and the doors fly open. I’m carried through into a large space filled with equipment. None of it looks very nice.

Around us, like mice, Drahon flee, all except one.

“I knew you’d be back,” the female says. “And this time you brought me my prize.”

“Save her,” Rych says. “Take the virus out.”

In a weird flash, the female is next to us. I’m struggling to hold my eyes open. I’m struggling to breathe.

“It’s too late, Gryn. The virus has bonded to her DNA,” she says, triumphant. “She is already dead.”

I close my eyes, wanting to fight the darkness, wanting to stay in the moment with Rych, wanting to have a future.

It shouldn’t end like this.

“I’m sorry,” I hear myself whisper as the lights go out altogether.