Page 87 of The Pleasure Contract

Wrong.

When he sees the diabolical scene, he almost falls off his drak saddle. The fear is written so clearly on his face, it’s almost too much to look at – too staggering an emotion to fill a screen like that.

He kicks Puff and Lady into overdrive, roaring my name as they turn and swoop close to the action. He drops from their back way too soon, falling from a seemingly impossible height – but somehow he manages to land with a terrifyingly elegant roll. A roll that turns into an instant sprint toward the fake monsters and the fake-me.

He screams my name like a battle cry.

The commentators are saying something, but I can’t hear their excited words over the grunting and screaming Az is doing as he single-handedly destroys those horrifying creatures – first with weapons, then with his bare hands. Even as they all pile on top of him, he throws them off like some kind of battle god. He comes up from the scrimmage wearing bloody scrapes and scratches, and I’m once again reminded that behind the holograms is real mass – capable of harm.

“Why isn’t he realizing it’s not me?” I ask no one in particular. “Why isn’t he just ignoring it? It’s not me!!”

“I’m not sure he can,” Zek says, still watching the screens in awe.

“Oof! He’s not gonna like that!” one of the workers comments, and my eyes zoom to the screen he’s monitoring.

One of the monsters just snapped my neck.

38

Az

“NO!” I roar, scrambling over the bodies of my foes. “No, no, no! Lois!!!”

I’m screaming. I’m screaming while I’m slaying all those that come near me, trying to stop me from getting to her.

And… somewhere in my mind, I know it can’t possibly be her.

I do know that. I haven’t lost all my sanity.

But what if-

She left the Lords’ Gallery.

What if she somehow made her way into the arena?

And does it even matter if she’s real or not? The sight of what I just saw? Her body hanging limp and lifeless in the arms of a monster?

Rage is burning up inside of me. A sorrow so deep, all the known planets could never fill it. All because I was shown this image.

I exact quick use of a dagger to the throat of the monster who holds Lois. Her body thuds to the floor in a sound that makes me want to throw up.

“No, no, no!” I cradle her.

She feels so real. The weight of her. The softness.

What if?

Without hesitation, I sink my fangs into her throat and pump out my active healing venom.

“Come on, Lois. Come on!” I say, going back to give her more – giving her so much that the taste of my venom floods my mouth.

Distantly, I hear the crowd’s collective gasp.

I don’t give a shit.

It’s not doing anything! It’s not-

My Lois melts in my arms. Not like she does when she allows me to hold her in a cuddle, either – she literally, physically, melts until there’s no longer any of her left for me to hold.