A rustling awoke Alex and she saw the room was lighter. She twitched and her living blanket of Anolis males melted off her.
"It's almost the second hour. We must smuggle you into the audience chamber," Kress said.
Alex looked at Trac and saw he was worse. His color was pale, his chest hardly moved with his shallow breaths, and his limbs unnaturally limp and still.
Probably dying.
She put her hand on his arm and looked up. Kress nodded and her hand flared. At least Trac wouldn't feel any pain.
"Goodbye, Trac. I really will kill the ones who did this to you, come the revolution." On impulse, Alex leaned forward and stroked her cheek along his muzzle, mimicking the motion that the males favored.
Kress watched somberly before he motioned for her to follow.
***
Kress led her through an intricate maze of back passages. He peeked around an corner and whispered to Alex, "There. The throne room doors are open. Dash in and proclaim your rights."
Alex nodded and speed burst through the doors. She stopped in the middle of the throne room. "I invoke the right of reclamation," Alex announced.
The Gilas, the Kuni, and an impressive number of Anolis warriors stared at her, various expressions on their faces. No males could be seen, the brothers or otherwise
Cla stood next to the gilt throne, lavish with large clawed feet and swords carved into the heavy wood. "Your former friends have been added to the Kuni's den. There is no right of reclamation. Take her."
Alex slipped away from the guards and joined the Gilas. "You know I'm szarek, right?" she asked the huge, muscular reptiles.
The Gilas nodded at her and hissed-growled as a group when the Anolis guards menaced Alex. The guards backed up and looked at the Kuni, who motioned for them to stand down.
"I can't say I'm displeased by the news, Cla. How much did it hurt to hand over Gabe?" Alex shot Cla a smug look before addressing the Kuni again. "As a warrior, I can challenge even the Kuni for a captured mate."
"That is for enemies, in times of war." At last the Kuni spoke.
"Yes, your majesty. Cla declared me an enemy of the state. That's why I still claim the challenge."
"I was not aware of this." The Kuni shot Cla a sharp stare. "Very well, your persistence is well known. I accept the challenge. You know that the secondary mate of whomever you claim will engage in the battle."
I know that. I hope Cla catches hell from the queen for her actions.
"Bring the three to the arena and notify their secondaries," the Kuni ordered.
Messengers scurried off at the Kuni's bidding. She addressed the room again. "Guards, please escort the mamm--this warrior to the arena. Honorable Gila representatives, we have arranged this match for your entertainment."
Alex knew a good recovery when she saw one. She looked up at the Gilas and they gave her the equivalent of a smile. She smiled back. She realized that they didn't believe the Kuni either.
"Good luck, szarek," the largest Gila told her.
"Enjoy the show," Alex replied.
"Cla, you are dismissed to ready yourself," the Kuni said.
***
Once in the arena, much like the Gila Roman-style amphitheatre, Alex scuffed the dirt nonchalantly, trying to ignore the filling seats. How the populace found out so quickly about these matches was beyond her.
Didn't they have jobs?
Alex shoved annoyance out of her mind and reviewed her latest duels. She lowered her mental shield as best as she could against her old memories of training with swords and various knives.
A ringing tone sounded, followed by absolute silence, as the Kuni entered and took her seat in the elaborate box in the stands.
Alex's heart quickened as she saw the brothers file into position beside the Kuni. Sure enough, each one was accompanied by a female.
Cla stared haughtily down at Alex, full of confidence.
"Not today, Cla," Alex muttered under her breath. "But soon, real soon, and you won't be so smug then."
Now, who to choose?
Gabe's face told her, 'I told you not to come here,' and she was sure he could read her 'too fire trucking bad' look.
Cale imperceptibly shook his head when she looked at him. Cale was safe in Deela's care.
Rile, then.
He must have been causing trouble, for his chest was littered with fresh cuts, and one eye was swollen. Alex gave his companion a long, measuring glare. She wasn't that jerk Caj, which didn't surprise Alex. It was Mina, who had handed Alex the dagger.
Mina was sharpening a blade nonchalantly. When she saw that she was object of Alex's attention, she twisted the blade until it glinted and earned Alex's instant hatred. Alex would bet her life that Rile had been tied or held down by others.
"I claim Rile," she announced.
Cla gave a surprised start, but settled back with a conceited look and said something to the Kuni. Alex didn't have to hear her to know that she said 'coward'.
"As you wish. Mina, you may enter the arena." The Kuni waved her hand.
A guard handed Alex a dagger. Mina was as tall as Cla, if not as bulky, so she had a longer reach than Alex.
Maybe I shouldn't have picked this Mina, especially if she is as good as Cla. I haven't accessed all my knife training through my brain damage yet. And my ability to access that kill instinct is just about nil.
Alex took a solid forward grip on the dagger because she needed the length advantage against the larger Anolis females.
Mina entered the arena, a reverse grip on her dagger for greater maneuverability, and turned to face the Kuni. Alex faced the Kuni as well.
The Kuni waved her hand and Alex was knocked off her feet, Mina's weight crushing her into the dirt. She blocked Mina's blade and sidled out from under the less maneuverable reptile.
The crowd roared. Alex kicked Mina's midsection and slammed the side of her head, trying to knock her over.
Was this a fight to the death? That wasn't a good thing to forget to ask.
Fortunately, she hadn't picked Cale. Deela wouldn't be much help to her friends dead. Assuming Alex won. Deela would probably be happy to kill Alex.
Mina went down, but not on her back. Alex moved in, but Mina grabbed her ankle and slashed her leg. Alex fell, giving Mina time to regain her footing. But Mina was overeager and her lunge at Alex ill-timed.
Alex struck down with her knife, narrowly missing Mina's flank. Alex let Mina rise to her feet a second time and this time tried a sweep that Gabe had taught her, but Mina was too solidly planted.
Stop trying that sweep. It never works on these creatures.
Mina's dagger flashed and Alex was forced back. Mina wasn't as good as Cla or some of her cuts would be serious penetrations instead of slashes.
Maybe I should try ramming Mina onto her back.
Alex assessed the bulkier, heavier reptile.
Maybe not.
Mina crouched low, giving her stability. Zilik had told Alex that in fighting the Anolis, she should let them attack, and then move quickly to throw them off balance.
Mina's dagger raked down her side, a hot blowtorch of pain and Alex staggered back. Another knife slice sent her to her knees. Alex stared at a cold, ugly death.
I'm about to die here, a sport for the crowds to enjoy, for someone who no longer loves me, probably never loved me. I'm a fire trucking fool. Love was never part of the plan. Fight and die, idiot. But I want to save Razz and his kind and kill all those females who tortured him and Trac. I have a bigger mission now.
Alex filled with fury, remembering the dying Trac. She grabbed a handful of sand, sticky with her own blood, and flung it in Mina's eyes.
She lurched to her feet while the reptile was blinded. Mina recovered before Alex could press her advantage further.
Alex glanced up at the stands. Rile was sagging now, held up by a distressed-looking Cale.
She's killed Rile.
Molten gold poured through Alex, filling her with power, sharpening her eyesight three-fold, and sending her reflexes tingling with heightened response time.
Target acquired, the robotic voice in her brain said.
With a cry, she hurled herself straight into Mina. She let her flying ability envelope them both, sweeping Mina off her feet. Alex cut power and they landed, Mina on her back, Alex on top.
Alex swiped her knife across Mina's belly to distract her, and then cut Mina's right wrist tendons. When Mina tried to slam Alex with her good arm, Alex buried the knife in her left shoulder and pulled down. The other arm went limp.
You're not a killing machine. This was that different voice, the voice that accompanied her training memories.
Alex looked into the stands to see Cale waving at her and motioning to Rile, clearly trying to tell her to take Rile with her, that he wasn't dead.
"Surrender, Mina," Alex called out.
"It is your right to kill the secondary."
The crowd went silent at the Kuni's voice.
"I will if it's necessary."
"No, you may choose."
Alex whipped the knife across the reptile's chest, creating a random pattern of cuts to match Rile's. "Next time, treat your mate more kindly or I'll challenge you again to kill you slowly."
Alex stood up and watched as Mina was carried off.
"I challenge the mammal!" Cla screamed.
Alex froze.
I can't beat Cla when I'm fresh, much less battered after this fight. Can I muster the kill programming again?
No robotic voice answered her unspoken question.
Fire truck that stupid, unreliable reflex.
The Gilas hissed-growled as a group again and stood up.
The Kuni looked at the Gilas and then said, "Silence, Cla. Already you have lost us one of our new mates by your actions. You have no claim, for she did not threaten you. I find it tiring to remind you of your position, both as a soldier and as a secondary mate."
To Alex's relief, the guards brought down Rile. When they threw him at her feet, she almost lunged at them, but remembered herself at the last minute.
"Let's get out of here." She looped his arm around her neck.
"Witch had three guards hold me or she couldn't have done this to me," Rile muttered as he limped along with her.
"I figured as much." Alex regretted sparing Mina. "Ready to fly?"
*****
A/N
So continues Alex's "Girl Power" time!
What do you think so far?
Dedicated to dawildestreadereva1
@spymasterlexjackson
Thanks for the reads and votes