Page 15 of Adtovar
Because of the augments, I was stronger and faster than any other Aljani… than most other species, for that matter. If the universe wouldn’t destroy me for leaving my mate and child to die, I would do it myself. I joined a brutal gladiator familia, the first of many, and went into the ring looking for a way to die and end the endless pain and loneliness.
Yet something inside me wouldn’t stop fighting... or perhaps the gods themselves hadn’t finished with me. I didn’t die. Instead, I excelled in the arena, using the fights as a way to cleanse the burning rage and guilt seething inside me. I was brutal. I was merciless. I was champion.
I’d relegated myself to a life in the arena… enduring one bloody battle after another until the gods smiled at me. Duke Ako heard of the undefeated Aljani gladiator and attended one of my fights. Impressed, the Duke purchased my contract. I expected another master and, instead, found a comrade. Duke Ako lost his mate, too, and shared grief gave us a sad kinship. He released me from the pit and offered me a job. Instead of fightingto injure, I would fight to protect. Ako gave me reign over the protection of his most precious treasure. His son Nansar.
Only Nansar was no treasure. He proved a spoiled brat who coveted his father’s throne and would do anything, even aligning with the vicious Kerzak, to see his father deposed. When I stood against Nansar’s actions, I ended up back in the pit. But this time, it proved a blessing. I met my human daughter Willa and her mate Charick and together, with the help of others, we were able to stop Nansar’s schemes.
In all those long years, thoughts of mating again never entered my thoughts. My loneliness was a punishment from the gods for abandoning my mate and child, one I was most willing to bear. While I was grateful for the second chance at life and family gifted to me by meeting Willa and Charick, I never dreamed of more. It was unheard of for the gods to gift more than one fated mate in a lifetime. Instances such as that were rare and magical.
But it felt the same. The tingle in my horns. The irresistible urge to scratch along the slick bone. Could the gods be so forgiving? Could I receive another gift… another mate? The thought lingered, intriguing and unsettling. And one I certainly didn’t need Bozzo to discover.
It pained me to speak of Keela and Akelia. I hated the idea of uttering their memory in the presence of someone so unworthy as Bozzo. But to protect Maddie, I would conjure the pain once more.
“I had a mate once… and a child. They died. I do not want the heartbreak of having another.”
Bozzo studied me for a long moment with his piss-yellow eyes. When he spoke, his voice was soft, almost parental, and strangely empathetic.
“Sometimes the gods give us what we need, not what we want or think we deserve.”
I snorted, trying to pretend I found his comment ridiculous. But his words buried into my heart like a warm blade. Could he be right? Now was not the time to ponder the whims of the gods. I needed to get Maddie to safety. I schooled my face to something I hoped appeared as aggravated disdain. “I do not have time for this theory of yours, Bozzo. I am due on the Ardeese Valout in a moon cycle. I will purchase all the females, plus four gladiators of your choice.” I regretted not asking for the males Maddie mentioned but felt in dire straits of losing the upper hand in the negotiation. I needed to make a deal Bozzo he could not refuse. I named a number of credits, several thousand more than the gladiators and females were worth on the open market. Bozzo’s yellow eyes went wide, and he shifted in his seat, the secretions seeping through his pores like heavy sweat.
“That’s a lot of money,” he finally uttered in a rough voice.
“It is,” I admitted. Bozzo was no fool. To pretend otherwise would make me one.
He steepled his stubby fingers together, resting the roll of flesh that stood in for a chin atop them. “I’m tempted,” he admitted, but his smile was sly. “But it occurs to me that a way to make even more money is for the legendary champion Adtovar to enter the arena again.” His grin widened, and he licked his lips as though finding the words delicious. “Especially an Adtovar that has been spit-shined back to his prime.”
“I’ve already told you. I don’t fight anymore.” The words felt like a lie, especially since all I wanted to do was beat this greasy bastard to a pulp.
“Perhaps.” Bozzo tapped his fingertips together, studying me. “Perhaps you will not fight for yourself. But maybe you will enter the arena to win your mate’s freedom.”
“I do not fight.” I reiterated, digging my claws into my palms to curb the need to scratch. Every time Maddie came into my thoughts, my horns itched like crazy.I wanted to disavow heras my mate, but the words choked off before they reached my tongue.
“I will sell you the gladiators,” Bozzo waved his hand like it meant little to him, then his eyes narrowed slyly. “But not the females. However, I will allow you to win them.”
“Win them?” I grated.
“Each match you win equals one female, with the human female being the last won.” He offered with a sly, self-satisfied smirk.
I knew I should say no. I should pretend the females meant nothing to me, take the gladiators, and return to theHistoria. Once there, we could make a new plan to rescue the females.
But the idea of leaving Maddie made me sick to my stomach. I couldn’t leave her, and I didn’t want to. Perhaps I should just kill Bozzo and deal with the fallout. No. The Alliance Rescue mission was too important. I could do nothing to derail it. There was only one pathway to Maddie’s freedom.
“If I agree, I want two conditions.”
Bozzo’s slimy, fat lips ticked upward, and he nodded at me to continue.
“One. I want the females left alone. You will stop using them as prizes until I am given the opportunity to win them.”
“And two?”
“I want my quarters in the female’s section. To protect them.”
Bozzo laughed loudly, not believing my excuse. I wasn’t sure I believed it myself.
“You don’t trust me to keep the females unharmed?”
“Not as far as I can throw you,” I snapped.
