by Bex McLynn
He turned back to her with eager eyes and an excited tone. “Do humans form mate bonds? Because that would be fantastic! The Teras don’t, but I’m game to give it try.” He nudged her with his bound hands, tapping her lightly on her sternum. “Just so we’re clear, totally want to give it a try with you.”
Stunned, she gazed up at him. Here she thought he would feed her some line about a kiss being nothing serious, sweeping it all under the rug. Instead, he eagerly proposed mating.
She tried to reform her thoughts after the scattering Therion had given her. She couldn’t mate him. She was pregnant with her sister’s baby. Once he knew that, well, he would surely feel differently about her.
Oh, good lord. It was going to be her, wasn’t it? She would be the one feeding him some line, hoping to sweep it all under the rug.
A chuckle bubbled out of her, sounding an awful lot like a giggle. She slapped her hands over her mouth, mortified to have outright laughed at his declaration. No. Wait. His proposal?
Her cheeks flamed in shame as she peeked up at him.
Therion’s bright gaze softened, yet it somehow increased in intensity. He reached out, careful to not bump her nose with his bound hands, and brushed his knuckles along her heated cheek.
“Gods, this color on your skin is so surreal.” His voice rumbled low like thunder.
“Therion,” she said softly, wanting to tell him about the baby.
Cupping her face, he planted a kiss on her crown. “Hold that thought, Maude. I gotta go get the riot started.”
His chains rattled as he reached behind her and dragged her cloak back over her shoulder, covering her. Then, with more dexterity than she would have managed with her hands bound, he rolled away from her, off the side of the cot, and popped up, onto his feet. He stood, so tall and lean, and rolled his shoulders while he stretched.
He spoke through his yawn. “I could really go for a brawl right now.”
Then he strode over and snagged something tool-like from Gummy’s bucket. Contorting awkwardly, he shoved the object into his pants’ cargo pocket.
“You stay here, all right? Don’t want you jumping in and getting hurt.” He turned to her, his expression elated. “Or are you some sort of elite soldier? Because then you can totally come with me.”
Again, she stared at him, speechless. What indication could she have possibly given to make him think she knew anything about combat?
“No?” he asked her.
She shook her head. “No.”
“Oh.” He looked disappointed. “Right, then. Well, stay here. I shouldn’t be but a moment.”
He nodded at her once, turned, and strode out of her cell.
Chapter Six
Therion hummed the Bulanii shanty as he strode out of the main compound building. The bit of Kora that had broken off from the main spider had remained wrapped about him. When he shielded his eyes from the glaring suns, he noted that his wrist had dulled to a mild ache, as if he’d slept on it. Thank Direis that Kora tagged him as clade. She’d fixed his sorry cock and now healed his broken bones.
A bloodthirsty smile curled his lips as he mentally listed all the damage Kora could mete out. Fucking brilliant, this vicious bit of tech.
Scanning the yard, he spotted Culler skulking in the shadows of the barracks along with the rest of the enslaved Teras. When the heat became too oppressive, the Gwyretti suspended training for a few hours. Those bastards then left the Teras out in the suns while they sought out the cooler lower levels of the compound. Today, though, the gladiator trainees and the guards idled in the yard and up along the powered-down rampart. They shuffled about like an audience waiting for a show to begin.
Aye, they got the riot invite, didn’t they?
Well, they’d have to wait a bit longer. Therion had something more important to attend to first.
He jogged toward the cluster of Teras hunkering in the shade.
“Cull! Hey, Cull!” Crotch Rotter squatted next to the hulking Teras, so Therion nudged him with his boot. “Go on. Shove off. Get.”
After Crotch Rotter squeaked and scampered off, Therion leaned against the wall, stared up at the twin suns, and let the euphoria of the past half-hour wash over him. Maude had been charming, and charming things always captivated Therion. Charm was simple appeal, and very few things in his life could be described as uncomplicated.
“Oh. My. Gods. Cull, I kissed Maude, and it was the fuckingest, most brilliant, moment of my life.” He heaved a sigh and cast a glance toward his confidante. “Don’t tell Zver.”
Culler’s brow dropped. “Why the fuck are you talking to me?”
“For that reason right there. Because you don’t talk to people, you murder them. So my deepest, most precious secrets are safe with you. And even if you told anyone, you’d probably kill them right afterward.” Therion sighed and smiled. “Gods, she’s warm. Like, buried-up-to-my-neck-in-hot-sands warm.”
Culler grunted in bafflement and shook his head.
The bruiser didn’t get it.
“She’s got all these curves are that just so damn curvy. And her hair is just…” His words devolved into an appreciative groan.
With Maude pressed against him in her cell, seeking his cooler body temperature, he had woken up harder than sard. He told her he hadn’t looked, but by Unholde, while she’d slept, he couldn’t tear his eyes away. He’d been fucking undone by the rise of her shoulder, the dip of her waist, and the swell of her hip. Plus, the spider covered her skin like silvery, ethereal praal. Sure, Direis could blind him for being a dirty bastard, but even his divine self couldn’t part Therion from the image of Maude draped over him.
“Seriously, it was fan-fucking-tastic.” When Culler said nothing, Therion knocked him on his meaty shoulder. “Hey, are you listening to me?”
“No.”
“Well, then who am I gonna talk to about her skin changing color? ‘Cause she does this thing—”
Culler snarled. “We rioting or not?”
Right. The riot.
As well as forever treasuring the image of Maude’s supple body, Therion would also be keeping the image of her fear. Until a few hours ago, Maude had walked around this gods forsaken cesspit with a smile on her face and a pep in her stride. Then the Gwyretti destroyed her innocent view, shattering the shaded lenses that had obscured their true, devious activities. In the process, they had hurt Maude.
Therion snarled, and Kora rippled her plates about his wrist. “Oh, we’re totally gonna riot.”
With vicious delight, he would show them the one thing he was good for—causing mayhem. Being the Bane.
Maude paced her cell, her eyes locked on the stone ceiling above her. It was pointless to stare; she wouldn’t see or hear a thing this far underground. Not even a riot.
She understood why Therion stashed her in her cell. She didn’t like it, though. Uncertainty frayed her composure, rattling her like a jar of marbles. Her inability to help frustrated her. It also sickened her that all this fuss—all this dangerous commotion that was about to begin—revolved around her. Throughout her life, Maude rarely found herself to be the problem. She usually ran herself ragged trying to find solutions. Nicole always told her that it wasn’t her job to solve other people’s problems.
“Teach them how to swim,” her sister would say. “Don’t be their life preserver, or they’ll drag you down too.”
A scuffling noise—the soles of boots grating sand across the stone floor—and a muffled grunt drew her attention to her cell door. Apprehension skittered down her spine as the spider rattled.
“[I wake.]”
Ignoring the voice, Maude went to the open door and peered down the corridor. She gasped. Gummy, that old Teras man, was squared off against Tapuc.
“Gummy!” Maude called out as she hustled down the hall.
Tapuc gave her a startled look, then hissed and backed away from the old man. His frill, which had been spread wide as he stared Gummy down, now collapsed.
She pointed at Gummy as she addressed Tapuc. “Were you bullying this man?”
The guard sneered and his frill unfurled part way. “Go back to your cell.”
Like hell she would. Gummy’s problem had become Maude’s problem.
She wanted to stomp over to Tapuc, but she had more sense than that. Badassery wasn’t her wheelhouse, and she knew it. Calm prudence most certainly was, so she continued forward, keeping a cautious eye on the guard. His hand had lowered to the butt of his weapon.
“Ech, he won’t stun you, girly,” Gummy said as he continued to glare at Tapuc. “He wants to, though. I can see it in his eyes.”
“No one’s going to stun anybody.” Maude reached out and pulled Gummy back a few steps.
Gummy glared at Tapuc. “I’d stun him in the crotch.”
“Fucking Teras,” Tapuc hissed. He turned his scowl to Maude. “And I told you to go back to your cell. No one in or out until this fucking farce of a riot has been dealt with.”
Maude tucked her arm through Gummy’s. “He’s obviously not part of the riot, since he’s down here and not up there. He can wait it out with me.”
“Nah.” Gummy flipped his hand at Maude. “I ain’t waiting around. I got a riot to start.”
Tapuc laughed. “You’re gonna start the riot? By doing what? Tossing around your shit bucket?”
Gummy jabbed his thumb toward his own chest. “I’m gonna fucking light this place up,” then he canted his head toward Maude, “After she darts your ass. It’s gonna be hysterical.”
The guard sneered and shook his head. “You’re just like that fucking Banger. Nothing but a godsdamn arrogant arse. All you Teras are so full of shit, running over the Tendex like a fucking crotch rash—”
Maude, who was stunned by Tapuc’s vitriolic rant, stumbled when Gummy jammed his elbow into her. “We gonna listen to this shit all day? Or are you gonna stick a dart in this arse?”
Tapuc lunged at Gummy, tearing him away from Maude. “Fucking had enough—”
Maude shouted as she threw herself onto Tapuc’s arm—the one that he’d pulled back, readying to punch the old man. The Gwyretti snarled. Releasing Gummy, he swung at Maude with his other hand.
Good lord. This was going to hurt.
Her arm—fully encased in metallic scales—struck out, blocking Tapuc’s blow. As her whole body jolted with the impact, her other hand snatched Tapuc up under his chin. Another jolt rocked Maude, signaling that the spider fired a dart.
Maude gasped. The spider had carried out both moves, manipulating her to block and then attack.
Tapuc staggered back, hitting the wall of the corridor. His hands grasped frantically at the dart protruding from his neck as he slid down to the floor. He struggled to keep his eyes open, yet both sets of his eyelids closed and fluttered.
“Gummy,” Maude choked out. “I didn’t mean to.”
Gummy cackled as he brushed her aside and removed a device from Tapuc’s limp wrist. “Ain’t worth crying over this one. He’s just the piss that gets tossed out with the turds.”
Maude’s eyes continued to rove over Tapuc. His frill, which had snapped closed about his head as he struggled, now rested passively around his head. He moaned groggily.
Good lord, she didn’t mean to—
Her stomach churned, and she gagged. She bent over to retch, but cool hands grasped her shoulders.
“Ain’t got time for that, girly.” Gummy tugged at her. “We got shit to do.”
Therion strode out onto sands of the arena. Most of the compound’s guards lollygagged on the rampart of the bailey.
“I call that fucker, right there.” Therion pointed at Kesken with both of his bound hands.
The bit of Kora bound around his wrist gleamed in the blazing sunlight. He pivoted slowly, staring down any Teras grunt who had the anthers to glare back at him.
Turned out to be the whole lot of them.
Fuck ‘em.
“Seriously, I’m not playing around here.” Therion pointed at Kesken again. “When the riot starts, no one else touches him.”
Kesken barked out a laugh. “Why? Because you’ve got a score to settle?”
Therion shoved both hands into his pants pockets and began rooting around. “Not me. Maude. You hurt her feelings, so I’m gonna break your legs. Then I’m gonna drag your screaming ass over to her so she can spit in your face. It’ll be hilarious.”
“You’re gonna kick my ass while you’re still in fucking chains?” Kesken hissed the Gwyretti version of a snort. “While I’m up here and you’re about to be pissing blood onto the sands?”
A Gwyretti guard stationed in the yard started toward Therion, shoving aside the handful of Teras slaves who clustered near the gate.
The guards—a worn-out fella with a paunch—pointed at Therion. “What the hell’ve you got there?”
“Torque spanner.” Therion twirled the utilitarian tool in his hand, improving his grip.
The guard narrowed his eyes. “How’d you get a torque spanner?”
Therion sighed and let his shoulders drop. “Because some antherless idiot named Gummy thought it’d be hysterical to hide it in a shit bucket. Had to wash the damned thing, like, three times.”
Besides subjecting him to endless ‘echs’ and godsawful flatulence, his grandmother had taught him that only a fuck-all catastrophe couldn’t be fixed with a torque spanner and a bit of grit. When he was a tyke, she had found him whining over his lack of technopathy. Instead of coddling him, she’d whapped him upside the head and had grumped, “Ech, technopathy. What ya need is gumption.”
By Unholde, did Therion have buckets and buckets of gumption.
Using the familiar tool, he deftly opened one of his shackles’ cuffs. The paunchy guard swore and charged at him.
Therion adjusted his footing in the shifting sands. As he clasped his hands together, Kora compressed tighter about his wrist. She anticipated his intent with fucking brilliance.
Meanwhile, the Gwyretti arse charging him anticipated shit.
Therion rotated at the waist, hauling off as he twisted back around. The loose manacle swung like a mace and connected with the paunchy guard’s head. The Gwyretti crumpled to the sands.
Therion gazed up at the rampart. The guards and gladiators no longer tossed jibes and insults at him. They pinned him with murderous glares.
Keeping his eyes on the Gwyretti, he passed the torque spanner to his freed hand and smoothly shed his remaining cuff. The shackles fell to the sands as he tossed the spanner to the nearest Teras.
Kesken snarled. “I’m gonna tear your anthers off and make you eat them one by one.”
“I’m gonna rip your frill off and use it to wipe my ass,” Therion shot back. “Then I’m gonna shove it down your gullet while I stomp on your godsdamn throat. If you fucking live through all that, I’ll kick your rotting cock so hard, you’ll be spraying piss from your mouth.”
Kesken bellowed as he shoved away from the wall of dead electrified netting and leaped off the rampart—a good story above the arena—and landed in the sand. He rose from his crouch and his frill snapped fully open. Adjusting his grip on his staff, he charged at Therion.
Maude stumbled as Gummy hustled her up the stone steps. The air grew warmer as they ascended.
“Wait.” Maude snatched her arm back. “Therion wanted me to stay underground.”
“Ech, we ain’t going all the way up. Just to the power cell cluster.”
“To the power what?”
Gummy glanced over his shoulder at her and heaved a sigh. “Ain’t got time for this, girly. You want that lanky idiot up there thrashing against armed guards or do you want to even the odds?”
“I don’t know.” Maude shrank back and looked down the corridor as if she could see the outside world.
She didn’t like what she envisioned. Therion stood in the arena sands with his hands bound so tightly that his shoulders rolled forward. She imagined him covered in bruises and blood.
He
r feet shuffled forward, carrying her back toward the stone steps, where she would—
Do what, exactly? She wasn’t a fighter, and she sure as hell didn’t want to take the spider into a fray.
Maude turned back toward Gummy. “How can you even—”
She stared down an empty corridor. The old man had disappeared. Then, she heard the sounds of clanging and blasphemy tunneling toward her.
“Godsdamn fucking scavengers!” Gummy shouted. “Girly! Get your ass in here. Need a kickstart.”
Her heart started a steady thrumming that had her rubbing at her chest.
“Girly!”
“Coming, Gummy.” She headed down the passage. “Coming.”
Following the clanging sounds, she found Gummy in the last room on the left. He stood before a bank of tall, metal cylinders that had darkened display screens. One cylinder in particular, he booted with his foot.
“Gummy?”
“Aye.” Gummy stepped back, giving the cylinder a fierce frown. “Need you to fire this all up.”
Confused, Maude looked at the cylinders. “You need me to do what now?”
“These’re power cells. Need you to get ‘em running. I switched the main, but these clunkers gotta prime. We ain’t got time for that. Need ‘em running now.”
“I’m not sure what I can do about that.”
Maude could sense Gummy’s frustration, , but her sum experience with electrical engineering was flipping a light switch.
Gummy ran his green-gold gaze over her. “How you feeling?”
Maude bulked. “Fine?”
Gummy rolled his eyes. “How’s your gut and your noggin?”
“Head feels foggy and my stomach’s queasy.” But those were her pregnancy symptoms rearing their head at the worst time.
Gummy nodded, as if in approval. “A’right. It’ll have to do.” Then he narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t try and stop it from doin’ what it’s gotta do. Hear me, girly?”
She heard, but did she understand? Not at all.