Page 78 of Hunters and Prey

An official with a booming voice introduced the first fighters, then a pair of muscled mers swam into the arena.

Matteo leaned forward with his arms resting on his thighs, hands loosely draped between his knees. Within moments, his attention laser-focused on the match, and it thrilled her to see him take interest in one of her favorite sports.

Mers rarely died in the arena, encouraged to avoid lethal strokes if they could help it, but accidents happened, and blood was often spilled. They swam through the water in a perilous dance, hurling their spears and clashing with tridents. A match didn’t officially end until a fighter yielded in defeat, the referee called an end to the battle, or one of the gladiators lay dead.

“Fuck, they’re good,” Matt breathed, leaning forward and staring through the glass partition separating them from the flooded arena.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” El replied. “The championship fight is last, and they’re both amazing.”

The battle ended in a yield, and medics came for the battered loser. Blood streamed around him in a murky red cloud, but his opponent was none the worse for wear.

Courses came between matches, beginning with a delicious soup, then a seaweed salad followed by baked fish and more wine than two people needed. Her head grew fuzzy, and warmth coursed through her with ebbing waves of elation each time their generous server topped off the glass. By the end of dessert, El had more than a buzz, Matteo’s arm was around her shoulders, and she felt on top of the world long before the main event started.

The two confident merwomen swam into the arena, both propelled by theirlong tails and holding tridents. Matteo sucked in his breath, glancing from the armed ladies to Elpis’s legs. “I almost forgot you can do that. That means they’re high mers, right? Like you?”

“Yes. Though it’s unusual for high mers to become gladiators,” she replied. “Some enjoy it for the glory after they’ve left the service of the Royal Army.” When he cocked a brow at her, she grinned. “After a few decades, or even a couple centuries of surviving the Gloom, you ache for the freedom of civilian life, but you also love combat. Becoming a gladiator is the best of both worlds.”

“The best of both worlds, huh?”

“Yes. What other way could—” When she glanced up and saw his heated gaze on her, Elpis forgot how to breathe. She pressed her knees together and tried to ignore the wicked pulse, the sheer need he inspired with only a look. She forgot the rest of her sentence.

His warm chuckle stirred a few wisps of her hair, then he touched her cheek. “You were saying?” he asked, cupping her chin with his forefinger before brushing an errant crumb from the corner of her mouth.

That’s it. She’d bent the rules of reality and drank herself into a coma, having one last fantasy before she perished of improbable, impossible alcohol poisoning.

“And nowww,” the announcer called out in his booming voice, shattering the moment, “the battle that you’ve all been waiting for!These two haven’t faced off against one another in twenty years, after their last fight ended in a technical disqualification for Hydna. I hope you people in the audience are ready to see what happens when an Unstoppable Force meets an Immovable Object. Your eyes will never be the same again!”

Cheers went up down below from the thousands of spectators. Her pounding heart flooded adrenaline through her veins, though it had nothing to do with her anticipation of watching Artemis and Hydna brawl and everything to do with the man holding her close.

More than anything, Elpiswanted to kiss him, hungering for the taste of his mouth and wondering what it would be like to explore his body and those wonderful muscles without injuries requiring her attention. He man was off-limits, beneath her according to some.

Being human didn’t make him lesser, but his dedication to proving himself worthy of their gliders made him an equal in her mind.

This man was dangerous.

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