AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The woman on my right began to sob; her cries heard throughout it all.
I could not simply stand here.
My heart was beating too fast.
I would never forgive myself if I allowed Jax to be killed this way.
Knowing it was wrong, but not giving a damn, I shoved hard on the barrier railing and kicked my feet over. I heard one of the Mian guards shout a curse, seeing me leap over the side, but I did not stop. I rolled as I hit the dirt and grabbed the two blades from the dead Human male, never taking my eyes off my destination.
I might be small, and it did tend to work in my favor as surprise, but I was deadly in a fight. My body was made for this. I had natural grace and each swing of my blades as I worked to the middle of the arena hit each mark, knowing where to slice just once to terminate these bastards. Humans were not here as sport, and we would not be killed off as such. I shouted in fury as a Mian stopped in his tracks, obviously seeing I was female with my skintight spacesuit. I launched one of my blades right at his throat, and then raced straight for him. I had the blade back in my hand even before he hit the ground, gurgling on his own blood.
Jax saw me coming, and he fought his way to me. His own grace rivalled my own. This, right here, was one of the reasons why we had never dropped out of the government program. We were excellent at fighting beside each other, and we knew it. He motioned that there was an attacker behind me as I ran straight at him. Moving with ease, he bent with his hands lowered. More than used to this, I kept running and placed my right foot onto his hands and allowed him to throw me up and backward.
I heard the roar of the audience falter as I soared up and threw the air, arching my back and twisting. I landed directly on top of the advancing Mian’s shoulders, my legs spread on either side of his head, and sliced clean through his neck. I ignored how the roar of the crowd erupted into shouts of wrath as blood spewed from the Mian’s throat, instead focusing on how he fell forward.
Jax caught my arm, steadied me, and grabbed the downed Mian’s sword.
With much annoyance, he tossed away one of the useless blades he had been ‘gifted’.
We fought together as one, even as more Mian warriors blazed down from the bleachers. They wanted to eradicate the Humans in their midst. Those fifteen minutes were the longest of my life. I had never fought so hard against a foe who was superior on all levels of strength and speed. It took everything Jax and I had to remain standing and alive. But the halo-clock counted down its final tick, an alarm shrieking through the air that the fight was done.
I still did not lower my weapons. Neither did Jax.
Until they were taken from us when we were led away through the gore of the dead.
Sitting on the floor inside a room of the coliseum with the surviving forty-one Human men, I braced my elbows on my knees and tried to regulate my breathing. My body was completely spent. I was exhausted beyond belief. My muscles twitched and burned from overuse. But I knew my oxygen was getting low. There was only a half-hour left until the oxygen would run out. The Mian needed to get these helmets the hell off us, but instead, they had kept us waiting for ten grueling minutes of silence. During training on Joyal, none of us had ever followed through with a malicious blow, much less killed someone before. Our thoughts were lost in the chaos of survival here.
There was a noise outside the grey sterile room we sat in, and all heads lifted in that direction.
It sounded like masculine deep timbers arguing past the thick metal door.
Another minute passed before a Mian man, the first litigator I had encountered after my name had been called on Joyal, opened the door. He surveyed us silently, half standing inside the room. His eyes narrowed as they traveled over us before he barked, “The female. The one who disobeyed orders. Get out here now.”
My shoulders tensed, but I quietly stood to my feet. I tried not to grimace as I traipsed dirt and dried blood across the tiling from my boots. I glanced once at Jax when he started to stand, and I silently shook my head. I would face whatever punishment was given. He was still alive and I was grateful.
“Sit down,” the Mian delegate growled, staring beyond me at Jax. He paused a moment, and then grabbed my elbow, still watching over my head. “She won’t be harmed, so cease your aggression.”
I was not sure if I completely trusted his word as he slammed and locked the metal door behind us. He continued with his unrelenting, bruising hold, jerking me down the long hallway. Just when I was really beginning to worry as he marched us down twisting and gradually darkening hallways, he stopped before a frosted glass door, opened it, and shoved me inside. I stared at the door when he slammed it right in my face, not entering with me.
“Hey,” I shouted. I lifted a hand and tried opening the door, but it would not budge. “What are-”
A throat cleared behind me.
I froze.
Then, ever so carefully, I turned. I did not move from that position.
I could not.
No, I just stared.
The charcoal grey room was small. It was only lit by two lamps on the left and the right walls. A marble round table sat in the middle with four black chairs around it. There was also a black couch against the far wall, facing the entrance to the room.
Four Mian were inside the room with me.
I had never seen four men who were quite so frightening.
They were actually gorgeous, but their eyes…
There was a cold remoteness about their glowing gazes that kept me rooted where I stood.
These four men were something…other.
Two were on the left side, with one sitting on the table with one of his legs lazily swinging, while the other sat relaxed on his chair with his legs spread. The one on the table had the most beautiful golden hair I had ever seen, the color not natural for a Human. His gaze was a darker shade of his hair, a brutal gold. The man on the chair, his hair color was rich black, the same shade as my own, but where my eyes did not glow and were chocolate brown, his were piercing silver. Both had a deep bronze complexion and wore the tattooed mark of the west near their left eye.
The other two were farther into the reaches of the room. In contrast to the other two Mian being night and day in coloring, these two both had brilliant white hair. One wore it long, almost down to his waist, while the other wore it in indescribable choppy lengths to his shoulders. The one leaning nonchalantly against the wall had black as midnight eyes and the one perched on the arm of the couch had crystal blue eyes. Both bore the tattooed mark of the east near their right eye.
It was odd, but I could tell these two groups of men were Vaq pairs. They seemed naturally at ease with the proximity of each other’s closeness. I only wished they did not radiate so much menace that I now wished I had used the restroom before changing into my space attire.
