Piper Cross, an undercover spy, must relive her past as a child gladiator in order to bring the underground arena to justice.
*****
Growing up gladiator is brutal. The cells are cramped...
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It was surprisingly easy to evade the notice of the guards.
They were so busy looking out — training the scopes of their rifles on rustling branches in the distance — that they rarely thought to look up. I padded across the slick rooftop, thankful that the sun had melted most of the ice from the previous night. It would have been difficult to explain a slushy deluge crashing down upon the guards if I misplaced a step.
From then on it was simple to hoist myself up into the clawing clutches of a snow gum, the gnarled wood providing sturdy, interlocking branches that formed a bridge across the mountainside. Every so often I held still to avoid the attention of a patrolling unit, allowing the distant sounds of squealing laughter to mask the slow and steady beat of my heart. It was almost jarring to hear children playing soccer so happily outside, while men with guns patrolled so close at hand.
It was by the bathhouse that my heart rate spiked, crashing through my head like a symbol. The reason manifested in the shadowy overhang by the entrance; it was a communal facility, for men and women, and one of each were pressed up against the wall while the guards looked dutifully anywhere else.
"I told you to stop following me," Colden growled, his fingers tightening on the woman's throat.
"But I miss you," Lila choked out, her eyes wide and pleading. "And I'm worried about you."
His grip eased, but the scowl deepened. "You always knew this day would come. Isn't that why we agreed to this arrangement in the first place? Because we both knew we were going to end up with somebody else?"
"Not by choice," Lila stressed, clutching at the collar of his shirt. "Matthew is a cruel man. My parents care only for power, but I thought..."
Colden chuckled, a dark and humourless sound. "You thought I would protect you from that fate? The man holds the second highest rank in the state, Lila. Why would your parents settle for less?"
She simply looked at him, silently begging him to understand. Colden stepped back, slowly shaking his head.
"Please," she whimpered. "I need you."
Her face was a perfect mask of desperation, but the fingers undoing the top buttons of his shirt were all too practiced, full of feminine wile.
His voice dropped a notch. "What do you think you're doing?"
"One last time," she begged, her hungry gaze going straight to his mouth. "At least let me give you a proper goodbye."
For a split second, I thought he was going to look up. Colden's shoulders tensed with the weight of his decision, and his head turned to the main building, where he no doubt thought I was still sleeping off the effects of whatever that conniving bitch put in my tea.
Was this why she drugged me? So she could get Colden alone for one last attempt at stealing his heart? It made me wonder if she was the one who left that secret message, just to get me out of her hair. Lila's plump lips travelled down the planes of Colden's chest. He shuddered and threw her against the wall again. She purred with smug satisfaction.
