Page 36 of Gladiator's Captive

I stared at him, blinking repeatedly.

“What about the necklace? It’s more than enough.”

“Not until we know who we can trust.” Rager shook his head. “Or if we can trust anyone in a town full of outlaws.”

I nodded, fear fluttering at the edges of my mind, but my heart light.

“Now come, my precious Serena. We are headed for the unknown together, you and I.”

As I followed Rager outside to where the transport waited for us, the stone in my stomach lifted. For the first time in my life, I was not only free, but wanted.

Chapter Eighteen

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Rager

I scanned the endless, barren landscape of Valcan’s deep desert without finding what I was looking for. The location of the key to find Tartarus was further than what I had anticipated and I watched anxiously as the sun rose in the distance.

A rattling sound came from the transport’s engine and I grit my teeth. This wasn’t the first complaint of the old vehicle, but it could be the last.

I shouldn’t have brought her out here.

The transport stuttered again, but this time, the coughing sound rattled for longer. It was going to fail soon and then, Serena and I would be left exposed to the harsh desert sun for the entire day.

I cast a glance at my sleeping mate. Serena’s expression was sweet and innocent as she slept. Her skin was soft and fragile, her limbs slender and her joints fine-boned. She was not built for survival in the open desert. My guts twisted and I recognized the alien feeling of fear.

I hadn’t been scared for so long, it took me some time to understand what it was that I felt. The last time I felt fear was the day I realized the Galactic Empire had surrounded my warriors and that most if not all of my warriors were going to die. My fears had been founded that day. Out of the thousand warriors I led, only a handful still breathed as the Galactic Empire washed over our last stronghold. Of those who lived, I knew of no survivor to this day.

Losing Serena would be even worse than that day. She had become the stone upon which I was building a future I had refused to even envision before I dragged her with me over that balcony.

No. I won’t allow anything to happen to her.

But even though I formulated the thought, I knew the desert’s sun was not a foe I could vanquish. My only chance to save Serena was to find the key.

And the key was nowhere to be found.