by T. S. Ryder
"We will have to rely on the mercy of our viewers. Taskus Draw put up a poll to see how many think that I have done enough to earn my freedom and take you with me. But when you were hurt… I lost my head. I said things I shouldn't have. I overstepped my place. I accused them of terrible things."
"What sort of things?"
"It doesn't matter. None of it's true." He kissed her again. "Try to rest. You're still recovering. We'll learn our fate tomorrow."
Bianca nodded silently. She shuddered at the thought of returning to the arena, but the choice was out of her hands–for now. She hadn't lost the baby.
She had lost her arm. Her bionic arm felt the same as her flesh and blood one had. But it wasn't the same. Her stomach churned until she realized that it was bionic. It was full of delightful bits and pieces of technology. Stuff that she could use if she and Gylden decided to escape again.
***
The next day Gylden changed into a loose-fitting robe to face Taskus Draw and the public's vote. Bianca admired his naked body for a moment before a drone circled him. She turned away. It was so normal for him that he didn't blink an eye at this invasion of privacy.
She herself wrapped a blanket around herself as she put on a crop top shirt and a pair of booty shorts that did nothing to hide her problematic areas. But curvy women like her were beautiful out here the way supermodels were beautiful on Earth, so it didn't make much of a difference.
Once again she was reminded that they couldn't stay living like this, that they had to find some way to get away. She had plans. The bionic arm gave her everything she needed to make another EMP generator. Then they could get out of the barracks and to the docks. She was a fairly good pilot. The biggest issue was convincing Gylden that they could make it. But with the generator and his strength and sword, of course they could make it…
At the moment, though, they had to face the public vote to see if they would be sent back into the arena again.
Soon they were standing before Taskus Draw, whose face was so smug that Bianca's heart sank. The viewers must have voted for them to go back in. It was the only reason he could be looking so pleased. Why did he hate her so much? Just because of the fact that she figured out to break the collars off the creatures the first time they went into the arena? Or was it something else? Did he think that Gylden winning his freedom would hurt the ratings?
"The public has spoken," the alien drawled, tapping his fingers together. "Gylden. Bianca. You have both survived thus far in the arena against the odds. But you have both also insulted the viewers. First by acting as though their desires to see you come together was something shameful."
Which it is. Bianca fought to keep her expression neutral. We're real people, not fictional characters.
"And then by insinuating that they are murderers."
Bianca looked at Gylden. He bowed his head, as though ashamed. So that was what he had been talking about last night… And again it was the truth.
Taskus Draw let the silence pull out for far too long. "Despite this, they have decided to show mercy. Your freedom has been granted, Gylden. You are now a trainer, and your mate will join you in this task."
Relief poured over Bianca. She actually laughed, she was so relieved and hugged Gylden. He hugged her back tightly and kissed her hard. And for that moment, Bianca couldn’t care less if they were being watched. She kissed him back, pressing her body firmly against his. They were so caught up in their celebrations that it wasn't until Taskus Draw cleared his throat that either looked back at him.
Bianca saw the expression on his face and her heart stopped.
"However, there were quite a number of call-ins and complaints. It appears that the majority of our viewers don't want to see your figure ruined, Bianca. And as such, your pregnancy will be terminated immed—"
"No." Gylden pushed Bianca behind him. "You are not touching her and you are not killing our child."
Taskus Draw's eyes glittered. "Considering the mercy that the viewers have shown you—"
Gylden didn't let him finish. His blade flashed as he drew it. Taskus Draw stepped back, eyes widening. But he wasn't quick enough to stop Gylden from stabbing him through the heart.
Chapter Nine – Gylden
Gylden was filled with an intense feeling of satisfaction as Taskus Draw's expression went from fear to pain to anger to terror. When the Suesue fell to his knees, Gylden smiled and withdrew his blade. The fulfillment of all these years of longing to run Taskus Draw through left him feeling almost giddy, even as alarms started wailing.
The doors burst open. Gylden turned fluidly. He grasped Bianca's arm and pushed her behind himself. Guards poured in, armed with blasters, electrical sticks, and cudgels. The T'shav grinned as the leaped into the midst of them, slicing at the nearest once. The guard's uniform seemed to ripple as his blade came down; it thickened on impact, protecting the guard from the traluthian blade.
Nanite armor. Gylden's smile slipped from his face. His sword was useless against such a defense.
The guard he had tried to cut punched him in the face. Gylden stumbled back, letting his sword fall. Another guard punched him in the kidneys and he dropped to a knee, groaning in pain. His heart hammered. Their blows didn't hurt too terribly much, he had to wait just for the right moment to take them down. But how could he do that?
Nanites could only survive one bolt from a blaster. Gylden kicked out the feet of the nearest guard and rolled over him, narrowly avoiding the electric sticks from the other guards. They were all concentrated on him, ignoring Bianca as she crouched behind Taskus Draw's desk. Good. It was easier for him this way, not worrying about her getting hurt.
Gylden grabbed the guard's blaster, easily flicking it from stun to kill. He put a double blast into the man's chest before turning. The others aimed their guns at him, but as they let off their rounds, he rolled again. One of the blasts hit a guard, making him stumble back. Gylden leaped to his feet, firing rapidly.
A shower of small, black dots burst off the guards' bodies. Gylden could see the nanites left scrambling to cover the exposed area, but even as the guards moved in as one, he dropped the blaster and struck out with fists and feet. It was easy to twist a knife from one of them. The thinned nanite armor was no protection against the sharp blade.
Within seconds it was over. Gylden stared down at the bodies, a savage grin on his face.
"My life doesn't belong to you anymore!" he shouted as a drone flew into his face. "My life is mine!"
Bianca peeked out from behind the desk. Her face was bloodless, but she pressed her lips together in determination. She scrambled out from behind the desk and dropped to her knees beside Taskus Draw. Gylden's brows rose to his short hairline as she started patting the fallen host's body.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for his security keys," she said. "I don't have time to build another EMP generator, but if we have his keys…"
Taskus Draw coughed, blood trickling from his mouth. Gylden snatched up his sword and stalked over. He put the blade against the host's throat but hesitated. He wasn't even sure why he hesitated. Despite wanting to see the man dead, and his own conscious saying he couldn't leave him suffering in spite of his evils, Gylden couldn't kill him. Not like this.
"I wonder how many viewers are tuning in to see if you live or die," the T'shav said, his voice perfectly even. "I wonder if we should have a public vote on whether I could cut off your head or not. Or perhaps it would be better for my fellow gladiators to vote."
Bianca gave a cry of triumph as she pulled Taskus Draw's bracelet off. She pressed a few of the rubies embedded in the gold, and the large sapphire glowed with a green light.
"This is it. It'll let us get anywhere if I'm correct." She jumped to her feet and grabbed Gylden's hand. "We have to go now. More guards will be on their way."
Gylden nodded. She tugged on him, and he turned his back on the dying host. Bianca led him through the corridors, always holding his hand. They ran into g
uards a few times, but they were simple to deal with. A strange feeling beat against Gylden's chest as they ran. This was escape. This was freedom.
When they got to the docking yard, Gylden almost stopped. Just beyond the ships was a wide expanse of utter darkness. He'd never seen that sort of deep dark before. He'd been kept in the center of the ship when he was brought here, and he lived in the constant light of the filming drones ever since. He shuddered as he considered just how dark and empty space was.
"Hurry," Bianca urged, running for the nearest ship. "We have to leave now!"
Gylden followed her onto the ship. His stomach twisted itself into knots as Bianca jumped into the pilot's chair. She worked quickly, her hands flying over the controls, and soon they were off. Ships followed them from the station, but with a few adjustments to their course, Bianca had them away into the deep of space before any could lock onto their position.
Both sat absolutely still for a long time before Gylden stirred.
"Is that it? Are we free?"
"Almost." Bianca pointed at the drones still hovering over their heads.
Gylden grunted and rose the blaster he still held. Five quick blasts and the drones burst into thousands of pieces, the charred ruins falling to the floor. It felt good. Really, really good. He grinned and turned to Bianca. Her hands were shaking, her eyes wide but she smiled back at him.
"We're free."
She threw herself at him, her arms wrapping around his head, but after only a few kisses Gylden pulled away. Bianca looked startled, and he shrugged apologetically.
"We have to talk."
"We can talk after."
"No… you were only with me because you were forced to be. Now that we're free… where do we go from here? I've never had this sort of choice before. What am I going to do? All I know is how to kill, and even if we're free for now, we're still technically slaves. We belong to the Rayne Five Network. Nobody in this galaxy is going to help a couple of escaped slaves."
Bianca's expression hardened with determination. "That's where you're wrong. There are plenty of anti-slavery groups. And as for where to go… Well, all humans have an open invitation to go to Zon's Sanctuary. He protects humans, he'll protect you, too."
Gylden frowned. Zon was one of the few people outside the network that he had heard of. "But he's a bloodthirsty, ruthless warlord."
"He's built a place for humans to live in peace, away from the corporations that want to experiment on them or sell them or any of that stuff." Bianca grasped his hand. "Where else can we go?"
The T'shav opened his mouth, but he didn't have any answers. Billions of people knew their faces. Could they find refuge anywhere? And if Zon was the ruthless warlord he had always heard he was, then he would have a need for a good fighter like Gylden. Perhaps he was trading one life of violence for another, but maybe it didn't matter.
Bianca was safe. Their child was safe. He rested a hand on her belly and smiled. His mate put her hands over his, and when he met her eyes, he could see the truth in them. She wasn't going anywhere, and neither was he. The future might be uncertain, but there was one certainty. They would face it together.
Chapter Ten – Bianca
The Rayne Five Network played recaps of what Gylden had done for a few days, with constant reassurances from the network that the network was looking for the two escaped slaves, even going so far as to place a bounty on their heads–alive, of course, since that was what the public apparently wanted. There were also regular updates for the impossibly long surgery that Taskus Draw was subject to.
Seeing him on the table, surgeons working on him, made Bianca's bionic arm ache and her stomach twist. She watched his glassy eyes and wondered if he was aware of everything that was going on around him like she was during her surgery. And despite what a truly despicable person he was, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. It wasn't anything she wished on anther being, to go through that.
On the fourth day, he died.
Bianca wasn't sure what to feel. Should she be a little sad that a person was dead? Happy that a murderer was dead? Gylden expressed no such confliction. He walked around the ship with a giant grin on his face until Bianca turned off the holoscreen.
There was no noticeable difference between her bionic arm and her flesh and blood one except visually, on her bicep. Everything else felt exactly how it had always done before. It was odd; Bianca felt like she should have gone through more of an adjustment period, but there was nothing.
"The network is still after us," she told Gylden, tinkering with the circuitry in her arm. It was fascinating stuff, and when she thought about it, she could actually have weapons up her sleeve–literally. The ship was full of things she could use. "We don't have enough fuel to get us all the way to the Sanctuary. We have no money—"
"We'll just have to steal a new ship. It's going to be okay, Bianca. I won't let anything happen to you."
He sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. As had become a habit, both of their free hands drifted to her stomach. She was pregnant. A little baby was growing inside of her. Gylden's baby. Her worries melted away and she grinned up at him. He always knew exactly how to make her feel better, give her new hope again.
"You never told me about your life on Earth," Gylden said, resting his head atop hers.
"I've done my best to forget."
"Because it's too painful?"
Bianca shook her head. "Because I'm so glad it's over."
Gylden arched a brow in silent question.
"I didn't have a great family. Things were really rough. My parents were constantly making me feel small and stupid. I never did well in school, despite the fact that I loved to learn. Since my life out here, I've found I'm really good with technology, but on Earth, it was like nothing I did was good enough. I wasn't smart the way my parents or teachers wanted me to be smart."
Gylden's hand rubbed small circles on her belly.
"I dropped out of school at sixteen. Started dating a guy who ended up using me to finance his drug habits. He got me addicted. And it continued to spiral from there. I dragged myself out of that relationship into an even worse one. I had a string of boyfriends that would suck my finances dry and gave me only the barest level of affection back. I'm just glad that I never got pregnant."
Gylden tensed, and she shook her head, cupping his face with her hands.
"You're different. You protected me. You got me out of there. And…" she took a deep breath, feeling vulnerable. "I love you."
A sly smile stole over his face and he bent over her, pressing a deep kiss to her lips. "You love me, huh?"
"Yes. If you don't feel the same way, I'll understand—"
"Shh. What makes you think I don't?"
Bianca ducked her head, blushing. "Well… we were together because of the network, and I couldn't know if everything you said to me was real or just for viewers…"
Gylden shook his head. "I may have started off exaggerating for the public, but the core of it was always true. I picked you for a reason, and the time that has passed with you has only confirmed it. I told you I've never known love. Well, I know it now."
Bianca felt her heart swelling. She wrapped her arms around Gylden's neck and kissed him deeply. He pulled her closer, hands gentle as they moved up and down her back. The warmth of the love in her heart spread out through her body, making Bianca feel like she was as light as air. This was what she had always wanted. Her perfect match, the second half of the flipped coin, the completeness that made her whole.
Gylden tucked his hands under her shirt, caressing the soft skin of her stomach. Bianca leaned into his touch, wanting more. As his hands moved up, capturing her breasts, a new type of heat began building in her. She moaned with desire, flicking her tongue over her mate's lips. He opened them, letting her in.
Desire flooded her. Every inch of her skin began to burn, her heartbeat increasing. She eagerly relished the taste of Gylden's mouth on hers, moving to straddle him as she
breathed in his heady scent. His strong fingers continued to drone her breasts, sending tingles down her body. He abruptly withdrew and wrapped his arms around her hips. He stood, lifting her.
Bianca gasped. She clung to him, expecting to be dropped at any second–most of her boyfriends refused to even try to lift her, and those that gave in to her pleading always dropped her on purpose–but Gylden held her close, carrying her towards the little bedroom. Bianca's worries ebbed away and she giggled.
"What's so funny?" Gylden grinned at her
"Nothing. It's just so nice."
Gylden's brow furrowed at that, but he nodded and set her down on the bed. His hands ran up her body, stripping off her shirt. His gaze darkened with desire as he stepped back and look a good look at her. He shucked off the loose robe he wore, baring himself in all his glory to her. Bianca couldn't suppress another moan. She looped her thumbs into the waistband of her booty shorts and pulled them off.
She moved up the bed before lying down, letting her knees fall open. A feral growl rose out of Gylden's throat, surprising her, but not in an unpleasant way. With a saucy wink, she slid her hands between her thighs. Gylden's muscles knotted as he watched, the dilation of his pupils hardly visible in his dark eyes, his massive chest heaving.
When Bianca let her head fall back and she let out a throaty moan, Gylden came for her. She giggled again as he jumped onto the bed before her. His hands roamed every inch of her as he caught her mouth in his. He nipped at her lower lip before trailing kisses down her neck. Rough at first, but gentler as he moved between her breasts and to her stomach. He ended with a kiss so light she could hardly feel it just below her navel.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you, too."
He made his way back up, his touch tame and gentle this time. When he got back to her mouth, he entered her. Floods of pleasure coursed through Bianca, and she immediately rolled her hips, encouraging a quick pace. Gylden chuckled, grasping her hips tightly. He held her in place as he started a slow rhythm. Bianca's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she grasped at him, trying to anchor herself as heady pleasure made her forget everything but that moment.