Page 12 of Infala: The Bonding Games
“Hey, why don’t you back off, buddy? Don’t you have a beauty nap you should be getting back to?”
The man turned his attention fully to the woman he’d been all but ignoring, the woman at his side also fixing her with a harsh glare. “Oh, your hopeless little female thinks she can talk to me like that. How quaint, wouldn’t you agree, Galla?”
“It really is quite pathetic,” the woman at his side commented. “She’ll learn her place. I’ll make sure of it.”
Ziana felt her temper flare. She’d known this sort of bully all her life. And even after being dragged across the galaxy, roughed up, forcibly tattooed and now shackled to some stranger, she was still having to deal with this sort of asshole? Frankly, she was sick and tired of it.
She stepped forward, a crazed look in her eye and a vicious smile on her lips. “I’m looking forward to it,” she said with an icy chill to her voice.
The woman wasn’t accustomed to people talking back, but she didn’t flinch. Regardless, Ziana could feel her discomfort, and it was Galla who broke contact first. “Come, Flagro. I grow bored of these two.”
“Very well, Sister,” he replied, turning his attention back to Dorrin one last time. “See you on the field, then.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
CHAPTER SIX
“You should not have spoken to her like that. Galla is possibly more full of herself than even her brother, and she is just as vicious.”
“She was being a bitch.”
“And now you will have to deal with her. And that means we willbothneed to be particularly on guard. I do not know what possessed you to be so foolish.”
“Like I said, she’s a bitch.”
Dorrin noted the eyes on them. He grabbed her arm firmly and led her away from the other competitors, his displeasure clear on his face.
“You are acting like a child.”
“Donotcall me a child.”
He shook his head. “Then do not behave as one. You’re even worse than I had feared. Of all the possible partners to be bound to for the games, whyyou?”
“Gee, thanks. And the feeling’s mutual. I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here. But these assholes seem to have other ideas about that, so, for now, at least, we’re stucktogether.” She gave the cable connecting them by the wrist a little tug. “Literally, I’d add. And what the hell is with that?”
“It’s for the amusement of the crowd as much as to ensure replacement partners do not attempt to flee.”
“But the others?—”
“Bound, yes, but the elite competitors have a longer tether. And regular competitors typically only remain so for the first few events.”
“Their cable looks the same length as ours.”
“It is, at the moment. But the five families have provided special cuffs. They contain a fair amount of additional slack should the competitors require it.”
“That’s not fair.”
“The games are not fair.”
“Then why do you compete? If it’s a rigged game, why put yourself in an obviously disadvantaged situation?”
Dorrin’s anger faltered with a frustrated sigh. “It is something I must do. Leave it at that.”
Ziana gauged his words and decided this was not the moment to push for answers. “Fine. But I still think this is a seriously messed up situation.”
“On that we are in agreement.” He leaned in a little closer, his mood evening out, at least a little bit. “Listen, you are new to these games. To this world, for that matter. I don’t know how you go about things on your planet, buthere? Here you must be smart. Strategic. Allowing your emotions to rule you will only harm both of us.”
Ziana gave a little nod. “It’s like that where I’m from too. But sometimes it’s just too hard.”
