I expect Kas to answer. To shoot my idea down as stupid, or reckless, or something else. Instead, he just stares at me for a long, long time.
"What? Bad plan?"
He puts a hand on my shoulder. "I'm getting all misty-eyed. So keffing proud of you, Sunshine. You'd make an amazing corsair."
I laugh. Maybe my plans are a little cutthroat, but I'm learning that there's no one in this universe looking out for me except me—and Kas—so it's time to be just as ruthless as everyone else. "Let me put on some heavy clothes and let's go tie up our new friend."
60
KASPAR
I'm on edge as we head back down from the tree. We wait a couple of hours—Alice's idea—just to make him sweat for a bit. In that time, the rain stops, and the skies begin to change over to the pale colors of sunrise. When we go down, Alice is wearing a heavy coat with pockets and has strapped every weapon we own to either herself or to me. Then, she rubs her body all over me to share her scent, and I'm not embarrassed to say I get rock-hard when she deliberately grinds against me.
Tease.
Then we head down. I take the lead and watch carefully as Alice descends. She's getting better with the rope, but I still don't like it. Probably never will. Hopefully it won't be for much longer. When my female is in my arms again, her feet solidly on the ground, she puts her hands into the pockets of the oversized coat and turns to me. "Lead the way."
It's obvious which pit our interloper is in. Sterre is seated at the edge, her tail lashing as she watches him down below. She doesn't back off when we move to her side, just carefully moves between Alice and the pit, not letting the human get too close. Smart Sterre. The gladiator is still down at the bottom, though the muddy bog is deeper now. He sits in hip-deep sludge, his skin spattered with water and mud, and looks up at me. He just looks tired. "Are you going to kill me?"
"We haven't decided yet," I admit cheerfully. "We wanted to hear more about this gladiator school before deciding."
The splice nods. He glances over at Sterre, and then Alice, and his expression changes. He looks over at me again. "You have a human?"
"She's with me, yes."
He watches Alice with a covetous expression, and I wonder if I'm going to have to kill him after all. "I've never won one of my own. How'd you get such a prize?"
I don't like the way he looks at her. I especially don't like the way he acts like she's some sort of trophy. I've heard of gladiators being rewarded with females before, but it never turns out well for the females. It only adds to my growing feeling of concern. I can't leave him alone with Alice, not for a moment.
The man in the pit twitches, and Sterre growls furiously, lunging at the pit's edge.
Alice puts a staying hand on her pet, and that makes me feel a little better. But only a little.
He thinks I won her. He probably thinks I'm a gladiator on the run, too. That I took my prize and made a break for it somehow. I glance down at my clothing, at the ragged kilt made from an old uniform, and my equally ragged hair and dirty, tarnished horns. Maybe I do look like a gladiator instead of just a corsair. Doesn't matter. He is going to learn quick to treat Alice with respect. "You—"
"He won me in a big fight," Alice says suddenly, her voice hard. "Took down two praxiians and one of those orange-skinned fucks. Broke their bones a dozen ways before he finished them off."
I grunt. Okay, that's the story we're going with.
The splice in the pit nods slowly. "Lucky. Most I've ever won is a keffing dinner with my master." He curls his lip in disgust. "I'd much rather have a human."
"Yeah, well, he won me fair and square, and if you so much as look at me strange, he's going to rip your head right fucking off," Alice retorts. "So eyes keffing down, got it?"
I blink at her belligerent tone, because it's very unlike Alice. To my surprise, the splice immediately drops his gaze, nodding. "Look. I'm not trying to cause you two any problems. I know what it's like to want to run off. They don't treat us like we're worth anything. Me, all I want is a good meal, a good female, and a soft bed. I sure don't want to risk my neck with all those new glads they unloaded."
"New glads?" I ask. "What new glads?"
"The lord that runs the school, he got a whole shipment on the cheap somehow." The man shrugs. "Heard a lot of ’em were cloned but he also picked up a big fish. Crulden the Ruiner. Not looking forward to getting into the arena with that one, if you catch me."