Page 109 of My Wild Pet

“Come on!” Gael shouts. “Things have changed. We need to leavenow!”

I hesitate. Is this another trap? An illusion.

“It’s not real,” Briar says shaking her head. “Maybe we’re still in the Bond Breaker. Maybe winning was an illusion?”

Gael quickly whips out a blade and before I can stop him, he takes Briar’s hand and slashes a deep cut across her palm. She cries out, clutching her hand, blood flowing between her fingers.

“Holograms would never do that,” Gael tells us wiping his blade clean on his black trousers. “Allies helped push the BondBreaker up, so I could get you now before your trainers lock you away forever. Now move! Do you want freedom or not?” Gael snarls as he deactivates the tracking on our collars with a small piece of tech. “Those will only scatter your location and make them unable to render you unconscious for a few minutes. Follow me quickly if you want your freedom. You won’t ever get another chance!” Then he jumps off the platform into the smoky darkness.

Briar and I exchange one charged glance then we hurry after him.

Just as we leave the arena through a crudely made hatch, the lights switch back on and I see Aefre, high above the arena floor looking for us. My throat constricts with emotion. I owe him everything. And I’m betraying him in front of the entire galaxy.

“Ember… Ash… don’t do this. Please…” Aefre’s voice sounds over the arena. “You can have your own room on theLuminous Arc.”

I freeze.Mon Dieu, I never thought I’d hear him beg.

Gael yells at me to keep moving, but my legs feel like lead. The collar is still there, binding me to Aefre in a way I can’t just throw away. For the last twelve years of my life, he’s taken care of me in his own alien way. I press my hand to the metal ring around my neck.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, knowing he can hear me. “I… I can’t keep living like this, Master Aefre. I need my freedom.”

Before Aefre can answer, Briar swats my hand away from my collar. “Too little too late. He should have offered us that room a long time ago. But even then we’d still want freedom, wouldn’t we?”

“Hurry the fuck up!” Gael shouts. “We are leaving with or without you two!”

I close my eyes, tears forming. I imagine the hurt in Aefre’s eyes. I click my collar to hear him again. I can’t resist. His voiceis strained, “Ember, you’ll—be lost out there. You won’t be able to protect Ash or yourself. Let me help you—if you want freedom we can talk about it.”

A tear slips down my cheek. “I know,” I say, my voice unsure, “but… I have to try. I’m sorry it has to end this way. Thank you for the last twelve years. And by the way. My name is Gabriel and she is called Briar. Farwell.”

Briar grabs my arm, pulling me forward into the hatch, descending into the bowels of the arena. My collar continues buzzing with half-formed words, but I force myself to keep running.

I hear Gael up ahead. “Here they come!” he yells to someone else. “Come on Grand Champions, hustle!”

We scramble inside a transport, our hearts pounding. The door seals shut with a satisfying lock, and engines roar.

Gael hits the thrusters, and we rocket away from the Celestial Spire.

Alarms chime from the cockpit, indicating a pursuit.

Briar crouches next to me, cradling her wounded hand. My collar crackles one last time with a faint, broken transmission of Aefre calling my name, “Ember let me help…”

Gael flips a switch that cuts the feed without a word.

And just like that, I am free… But in the back of my mind, Aefre’s image lingers, questioning this choice.

Who is the stranger that I’ve entrusted my and Briar’s life to now?

CHAPTER 70

Briar

Gael ushers us through a narrow corridor from the transport onto his own ship. I hug my arms tightly around my body as we walk. Gael gave me the clothing off his back. It’s the first time I’ve had clothing to cover my breasts and groin in eight months and I’m relieved. However, the fabric can’t stop me from wondering anxiously about what happens next.

Gabriel hovers protectively behind me. I sneak a glance at him over my shoulder. He looks torn, like a man traveling between two worlds—one that kept him leashed since he was sixteen, and another that offers freedom but no promises.

We’ve all been silent since Gael said “Run!” And like obedient human pets, we obeyed a different grey man. Ironically, this is exactly the kind of behavior Aefre always said made humans not fully sentient. That we don’t think about things logically, but act solely on instinct.

“In here,” Gael grunts, leading us into a small medical bay. The walls are white, but scuffed with the marks of countless procedures. Instruments hang from the ceiling on retractable cords, clinking softly as we enter. The room smells heavily of antiseptic.

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