Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 83205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
I hold it out, curious, and he runs his fingers over my skin, looking for something. I don't see any cuts or bruises. He grunts, surprised, and his gaze flicks to me. He stares into my eyes for so long that it makes me uncomfortable. "What?"
"You don't feel any different?"
I shake my head. "I mean, other than I'm no longer freezing my ass off. Did the temperature go up this morning?"
"You've been out most of the day. It's now night."
What…? Have I truly been asleep so long? I look around me for the entrance to the cave, but when I find it, it's covered by what looks like a stiff partition of some kind. I can't see anything outside. The last time I was awake, the sun was just coming up, but now I think it's dark.
How is it dark?
"I'm so confused." I scrub my face with my hands, and I could swear there's a faint blue glow from somewhere around here. I glance over at him and he's still staring at me…or more specifically, my eyes. "What is it?"
He shakes his head. "I did not realize your eyes would change so vividly. I should have guessed, but it is surprising to see. The other male's eyes were not nearly as bright as yours."
"My eyes changed? What are you talking about?" I touch my temple, but there's no mirror here where I can see what he's referring to. "Changed how?"
"They are blue. Just like the others." Corvak sounds thoughtful.
"What others?"
"The other gladiators I ran into. It is how I learned about the necessary parasite."
I know I heard him wrong. The words "necessary" and "parasite" don't go together. "What gladiators? What parasite? Wait—you ran into other survivors? Where are they?" I glance around the cave again. "I don't see anyone."
Corvak shakes his head. "You misunderstand. They are not allies. They are hunting us."
My throat goes dry. "Hunting…us? Why?"
"Because that is how the game is played. And it is why we cannot stay long in this cave." He sets the basket aside and reaches for the next item, and I realize he's wearing what looks like a chest harness of some kind made from leather, and stuck through holes in the leather are a half-dozen crude-looking knives.
Weapons. Because we aren't just worrying about our environment. We're worrying about others dropped here, too.
"Tell me more about this game, please," I say, feeling faint.
Corvak opens a leather pouch, sniffs it, and then holds it out to me. "Food. Eat. You'll need your strength."
I take it from him. It smells delicious, and not nearly as peppery as the stuff he brought me last time. I pull out a piece of jerky and take a cautious bite, and then a bigger one when it doesn't burn my mouth. "Don't change the subject. Tell me about these games."
He nods, watching me eat, and then goes back to sorting the goods in the cave. "The ones that clone gladiators like me, they have many different types of games they like to bet upon. There are organized games that take place in arenas, private games between competing stables, and games like this one, where gladiators are dropped to a remote location and must fight to survive."
I chew as I listen, but something's not adding up. "So why me and the other women? We're not gladiators. At least I know I'm not."
He nods. "You are the prize."
I cough, choking on my jerky. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Female slaves are sometimes offered as incentives to gladiators to perform well. You are here because we are expected to fight over you to win you, and probably to create more exciting drama for our owners to watch."
My lip curls at the thought. So they're chumming the waters to get the sharks riled up, and I'm the chum? "That is really, really shitty."
"It is nothing you need to worry about, because you are mine." He picks up another pouch, sniffs it, and puts it aside.
My hackles rise. Does he mean what I think he means when he says that? And if so, what do I do about it? There's no question that Corvak has looked out for me since the moment we arrived here. He protected me and carried me when I couldn't walk. He tended to me when I was unconscious. He kept me safe. The fact that he's starting to get possessive is a little unsettling, but what other options do I have than to go along with him? I can't strike out on my own.
I decide I'm going to ignore it. He hasn't tried anything. Maybe saying that I'm "his" is just some sort of translation confusion.
Sure, that's it. Let's go with that.
I take another bite of jerky. "So…what now?"
"If you are feeling well enough, I am going to find an animal and bring it back. I am going to get a creature with the glowing blue parasite to put inside myself. Then we will both be protected. The others said that if living things here do not have the parasite, they die. You have one, and I will get myself one. Then we will head out, to a place farther away from the others."