And Korum was still lying there, like he couldn’t move. Even his eyes were closed, preventing him from seeing his opponent.
“No!
”
Mia heard her own scream echoing through the Arena. Delia grabbed her arm, keeping her from jumping from her seat as Loris attacked Korum’s prone body.
She could see the glee on the other K’s face as he struck again and again, could smell the metallic odor of blood that turned their painted bodies a brighter red.
It was Korum’s blood.
“No!” Another agonized scream tore from her throat. Now there was a sickening sound of fist connecting with flesh, over and over again. “No, stop!” Mia wrenched her arm out of Delia’s hold and jumped to her feet.
“Mia, don’t! You can’t interfere –” The Greek girl tried to grab her again, but Mia shook her off like a fly, desperate to get into the arena.
She managed to take two steps before a steely arm went around her waist, pressing her against a hard male body. Mia clawed at that imprisoning arm, heedless of all but the slaughter happening in front of her eyes. “Stop the fight! It’s a setup! Can’t you see? He can’t fight! It’s a setup!” The arm only tightened further. “Let me go! Let me fucking go!”
Mia was vaguely aware that she was screaming like a banshee, yelling out anything that came to mind, but it didn’t matter. Arus was holding her now, and she was furiously fighting him, trying to twist out of his grasp. It was impossible to win against a Krinar, but it didn’t matter.
Mia was past any semblance of rationality.
* * *
Korum could feel the blows from Loris’s fist, his body shuddering in agony as the Protector’s claw-like fingers gouged out chunks of his flesh.
Emboldened by Korum’s apparent weakness, his enemy was taking his time torturing him before inflicting the killing blow. The pain was shocking, nauseating, but Korum fought the darkness that threatened to pull him under, knowing that all would then be lost. He was vaguely aware that his kidneys and spleen were damaged, that his ribs were crushed and his left collarbone broken, but it didn’t matter because he could feel the effect of the stun shot starting to wear off.
In the background, he could hear Mia screaming and crying, the pain in her voice ripping at his heart. With each second that passed, the debilitating weakness that rendered him so helpless was dissipating, his body beginning to function with a semblance of normality.
He needed to survive a little longer. Just a little more, and he might stand a chance, instead of lying there like a piece of meat.
For now, though, he was still far too weak. To fight back at this point would be deadly. Loris was playing with him, putting on a show, trying to regain his standing through this display of his fighting prowess – but at any sign of renewed resistance from Korum, he would go straight for Korum’s throat.
So Korum let the blows rain down on him, not even groaning when Loris kicked him over and over again. He ignored the pain of bones breaking and tendons ripping apart, concentrating only on remaining conscious.
And when Loris finally reached for his throat, Korum gathered every bit of strength in his damaged and torn body . . . and let his rage boil over.
His left arm – the only limb that remained semi-functional – hooked around Loris’s throat with a deadly grip, pulling the Protector close. And before his opponent could react, Korum’s teeth were sinking deep into his flesh, biting through his spinal column and severing the connection to the brain.
Blood spurted everywhere: in Korum’s eyes, his hair, his mouth . . . He was covered with blood, the taste and smell of it consuming him, adding to the black fury surging through his veins. He was no longer thinking or reasoning; he was bloodlust incarnate, craving more and more. His teeth sank into Loris’s throat again, ripping at it, tearing it apart, until there was nothing left.
Chapter 16
Saret watched in shock and furious disbelief as Loris’s severed head rolled down the field. The Councilor’s dark eyes were open and unseeing, his mouth slack and covered with blood.
All around him, the crowd was going wild. People were on their floats, in the aisles, screaming and stomping their feet. Korum’s name was being chanted over and over again, making Saret feel sick to his stomach.
He had to get out of there. Now, before it was too late. He could analyze his failure later; all that mattered at this point was getting away.
Rising from his seat, he joined the screaming spectators in the aisle. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Mia struggling against Arus, trying to get to her lover. Saret desperately wished he could grab her and take her with him, but she was too well-protected here. He would have to come back for her again.
Pushing through the crowds, Saret slowly made his way toward the exit, doing his best not to draw undue attention to himself. He was almost there when he felt a sudden zapping sensation through his entire body.
Stunned and helpless, he collapsed on the floor, barely cognizant of the guardians surrounding him.
* * *
Korum didn’t know how long he remained in that mindless state of rage. It could’ve been minutes or hours. By the time he came back to his senses, Loris’s head was lying several meters away from his body, his eyes vacant and his neck looking like it had been savaged by a wild animal.
Dead. His opponent was dead.
Korum’s own body was in agony, and he could feel the darkness trying to overtake him again. Only the knowledge that there was still something he needed to do kept him from the sweetness of oblivion.
His greatest enemy was not the one lying on the field; he was the one hiding among the spectators – and Mia was still in danger.
Groaning in pain, Korum managed to get up on his hands and knees, his muscles shaking from the effort. He was dimly aware that the crowd was cheering for him, that Voret was formally announcing him as the winner.
None of that mattered to him now. All he cared about was Mia, and getting to her before Saret did. Korum’s body was healing, but not fast enough, and he cursed himself as his shattered femur refused to hold his weight, his leg collapsing beneath him as he tried to get to his feet.
“We got him. It’s all right; she’s safe.” Strong hands were suddenly holding him up, helping him get to his feet. It was Alir – the leader of the guardians.
Korum’s head spun, and his stomach churned with nausea as his damaged body protested the new vertical position. “Where is he?” he managed to say, his voice hoarse and ragged.
“There.” Alir pointed near the exit with his left hand while providing support for Korum with his right.
Korum squinted in that direction, the sun blinding him for a moment. When his vision cleared, he saw an unfamiliar Krinar being collared by three guardians. The man’s features were completely different from Saret’s, his eyes larger and his chin more prominent.
“He’s got a very good disguise,” Alir said, understanding Korum’s unspoken question. “Even the outer layer of DNA is different, which is how we didn’t detect his presence before. But the shooter’s coordinates you sent us matched this man’s location perfectly, and an internal DNA sample showed that it is indeed Saret.”
Intense relief mixed with bitter regret, leaving Korum conflicted about this turn of events. He had wanted to be the one to catch Saret, to punish him for what he’d done to Mia. But instead, his former friend was now in the hands of the Krinar law keepers. No matter how badly Korum wanted to kill him, Saret would now live to stand trial.
“Korum!” Mia’s voice reached his ears, jerking him out of his dark thoughts. Looking up, he saw her slight figure running down the field, her dark hair flying behind her. The happiness that filled him at the sight was so acute that he forgot all about Saret and his betrayal, focusing only on the girl he loved.
Then she was next to him, and he could see that she was pale and shaking, her dress torn in one spot. Her beautiful face was wet with tears. One pale arm lifted toward him, her hand trembling as though she wasn’t certain if she could touch him. “You’re alive,” she whispered, and he could hear the disbelieving note in her voice. “Oh my God, Korum, you’re alive . . .”
And Korum realized exactly what she was seeing. He was covered with blood, both his own and that of Loris. He could taste its metallic tang on his tongue, smell it surrounding him, and he knew it was all over his hair, his face, his mouth.
Fuck.
He must look like something out of a nightmare, especially with the rapidly healing parts of his body where Loris had torn out chunks of his flesh.
Remembering her reaction to Saur’s remains on the beach, Korum mentally cursed himself for letting Mia see him like this. He had been hoping to avoid killing Loris partially for this reason – because he didn’t want his little human traumatized by seeing her lover brutally kill someone. This should’ve been an easy fight, one during which Korum could’ve restrained himself, kept from giving in to the primitive instincts of his species. If it hadn’t been for Saret’s interference, Korum could’ve easily subdued his opponent, defeating him but graciously letting him live. And instead, he had been utterly savage, like a cornered animal.
His legs were already feeling better, so Korum shrugged off Alir’s support and carefully reached for Mia, bringing her toward him. He knew there was a chance he might repulse her now, but he needed her. Needed to feel her softness, to inhale her clean, sweet scent.
To his surprise, she wrapped her arms around him, holding him so tightly that it hurt his half-healed ribs. She was shaking, her slender body trembling in his embrace.
“It’s all right, my sweet,” he murmured, some of his tension draining as he realized she was not afraid to touch him. “It’s going to be all right . . .”
“I thought –” With her face buried against his shoulder, Mia’s voice was barely audible. Her hands were icy on the bare skin of his back. “I thought he killed you . . . Oh God, Korum, I thought you were dead –”
“No,” he soothed, reveling in her apparent concern for him. “No, my darling, he didn’t. It’s over now –”
A sob broke out of her throat. “He hurt you. I saw him hurting you, again and again. Korum, he was killing you –”
“It’s okay, I’m all right,” Korum whispered, his heart aching at the horror in her voice. “Everything’s going to be fine. I’m sorry you had to see that. It wasn’t supposed to be like that, believe me . . .”
She drew in a shuddering breath and pulled back to look up at him. Her eyes were reddened, her lashes dark and spiky from tears. “What happened? I saw you fall and then it was like you couldn’t fight anymore. Did Loris cheat somehow? Did he do something to you?”
“It wasn’t Loris,” Korum explained, trying to keep the fury out of his voice. “It was Saret. He was in the audience, just a few seats away from you. He shot me with a stunner – a weapon similar to a stun gun – so I couldn’t move for a bit.”
She gasped. “He tried to kill you? Is that what the commotion over there was about? I wasn’t paying attention –”
“Yes,” Korum said. “I sent the guardians after him as soon as I realized what was happening.”
“You sent the guardians? How?”
“Remember I told you I have an embedded computer?” Korum asked.
Mia nodded, staring at him. She still looked pale, even though the tremors wracking her frame were beginning to subside.
“I was able to use it to contact the guardians.”
She blinked, and he could see that she wasn’t absorbing what he was saying, her mind still consumed by what had just happened.
Alir stepped in front of him, making Korum aware of his presence again. “The victory ceremony is about to start,” the guardian said quietly. “Are you able to participate?”
Korum considered it for a moment, holding Mia against his side, then gave Alir a short nod. “I should be fine.” He was still in pain, but it was a healing kind of pain. His body was repairing itself from the inside, the cells regenerating themselves. In another few minutes, he would be almost back to normal.
Of course, given everything that happened, a regular ceremony with a public claiming of his charl was out of the question. Even though his recovering body was beginning to stir at her nearness, Korum was fully cognizant of his current appearance. He was dirty, sweaty, and covered in blood – not exactly appealing to a human girl. She had also just been through a major shock, and the last thing she needed was to deal with unwanted sexual advances from a man she probably now saw as a savage killer.
Alir inclined his head in a gesture of respect and walked off the field, his tall, broad frame moving with a warrior’s gait. Korum had played defrebs with the man several times in the last couple of years, and he’d lost more than once. The guardians were excellent fighters, their profession requiring them to stay in top shape, and Korum was glad that he’d never had to face one of them in the Arena.
“All you have to do is stay with me right now,” Korum told Mia when Alir was further away. “Under the circumstances, the post-fight ceremony will be brief.”
“Because you’re hurt?” she asked, and he could hear the strain in her voice.