Page 46 of Gladiator's Captive

“How do you plan to get the money to buy your way out?” Sayk asked. “Even if you worked for me, it would take you years to accumulate enough.”

The image of Serena’s necklace came to my mind. The star ruby, dazzling and large like a quail’s egg, flanked by diamonds. Priceless.

Then I remembered the way Serena had looked at it. What she had told me, that it was the only thing she had left of her mother.

No, I would not take it from her.

My gaze wandered again to the circle of sand. The arena, a place of blood and death. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Sayk follow my gaze.

“The Breath of Death would fetch a handsome sum in our arena, that’s for sure,” Sayk said in a quiet voice. “Maybe even enough to pay for both passages. If you amp up the stakes enough.”

I swallowed hard. I knew what Sayk meant.

“I’m not killing anymore.”

“We’ll see, Muharib, we’ll see.” With this, Sayk turned his back to the city. “When the time comes, we all lose our souls or our lives. The choice will be yours to make.”

I watched Sayk leave, his stride confident and slow as he made his way to the long, winding stairs to the lower city. I didn’t wait long to follow him into the viper’s nest that was Tartarus.

Chapter Twenty-Three

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Serena

I recovered rapidly, as Doc had predicted. She was an attentive caretaker, fluttering close by without crowding me.

Just a few hours of sleep later, I felt good enough to get out of bed.

“Ready to leave the nest?” Doc turned to me with her nano-sensor in her hand, a broad smile on her lips. “Your big alien surely looks like he wants to take you somewhere very private and very fast.”

I chuckled as Doc passed the metal wand over my body, reading my vitals and measuring my skin’s recovery from the severe sunburns.

“Rager is intense, this is true.” My cheeks flushed with heat as wicked thoughts ran through my mind. I was as eager as he was to find myself alone with him again.

“All good, little bird.” Doc smiled wide and bright as she helped me sit up in the narrow medical bed. “You’re officially not my patient as of this afternoon!”