Maxym
MAXYM
I was a gladiator. I am now a mated male. I thought there was no difference but there is. I am the keeper of my mate’s heart as well as her body, and her heart means more to me than anything in the entire universe.
I will protect it with everything I have, which means ensuring I live.
Even after all the games I’ve fought in, living was never the aim. Surviving was. With Cleo in my life, it is so much more.
The crystal walls cause sound to echo as we move forward, weapons drawn. Even the slightest sound echoes back and forth, meaning any approach to the vault cannot be stealthy. We reach the final curve, and ahead, I see a reflection of Klynn. He’s staring up at the pulsar cannon.
The cannon are still live , I tell my sweet Cleo down the bond, to avoid any additional sound.
I can disable them , she tells me. I furrow my brow, twisting to look at her.
Her stance is perfection, the weapon in her hand gripped in exactly the right way. My heart swells with love for my little warrior.
No time for that, ! We need to get closer.
Cleo’s thoughts are churning, and I can’t get a grip on what her plan is, but I do as she asks, and as we approach Klynn, he turns with a snarl.
“Stand down, gladiator!” I whisper hoarsely. “Is there anyone else here?”
“There was.” Klynn thrusts his dripping sword at the two bodies. “Cannon got them.”
The state of his blade says otherwise, but who could know.
“What’s the field of fire?” Cleo asks quickly.
“Here.” Klynn grunts. “And there.” He waves his blade at a scorch mark on the crystal.
She looks around the entranceway. This is as close as I’ve ever been. The doorway to the vault is mostly concealed behind the crystal. The only indication it is present are the cannon which protect it. Cleo pulls a small square from her clothing.
“Disruptor?” Klynn grunts with an element of glee.
“Not exactly. This one won’t cause an explosion,” she says.
Both Klynn and I rattle our primaries. He huffs disappointedly.
“It’s designed to disrupt electrical impulses, and it should disable the sensors attached to the cameras,” she says, studying the cannon and moving swiftly to the opposite wall where she presses the disruptor onto the crystal.
“EMP,” Klynn rasps. I stare at him. He shrugs and spins his sword in his hand.
“Stand back,” Cleo says. “I can’t be a hundred percent sure this will work.”
I enclose her with my wing, and the square slowly cycles through black, red, blue, and finally green.
Nothing happens.
Next to me, Klynn heaves a sigh, raises his sword, and then throws it at the door. It impacts with a thud, burying itself in the stone and vibrating to a halt.
“Works,” he says, walking into the kill zone before either of us can stop him.
The cannons don’t fire.
“It worked, eregri .” I gather her in my arms. “It didn’t kill Klynn.”
But Cleo is still looking at the square on the wall.
“, it didn’t do anything, look.” She points at the thing.
It’s continuing to cycle.
“We need to move!”
With two beats of my wings, I’m behind Klynn, slamming him to one side and using his sword to lever the doors open. I shove Cleo inside and grab hold of him, pulling him with me as the cannon swings our way and fires. The blast sends us sliding back into the vault.
“Cleo!” I call her name as the cannons fire again, filling the space with pulsar mist and the scent of ozone.
Klynn spins on his back next to me as I scramble to my feet, my boots slipping on the shiny floor as I attempt to get back to Cleo. It’s only when I gain purchase that I realize the firing has stopped.
Cleo walks towards me out of the dust. She is unharmed.
“What…?”
“I turned them off. There’s a console inside the door.” She jerks her thumb over her shoulder.
I capture her chin between my thumb and forefinger, lifting her face up to mine.
“Don’t ever put yourself in danger for me,” I rasp, the dust making my voice raw.
“Only if you promise the same,” she responds, her eyes bright and defiant.
I know she means it, as do I. My fierce, sweet, perfect mate will never be stopped. Just how I want her to be.
“Shall we finish this dance and get the hell out of here?” Cleo asks.
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Never plan,” Klynn growls as he stands up beside me and shakes the dust from his feathers.
Cleo pushes past me, shaking her head and muttering something about Gryn. I punch Klynn in the side of his head, and he snarls at me before I follow my sweet mate farther into the vault.
The place is carved out of the crystal, rather than being part of some natural cave like the passage which led us here. Laser marks show how the place was created. Cleo has reached the far wall and is studying the tech which is installed there.
She runs her hand over the wall, and lights appear, causing Klynn to flare his wings and me to growl at him.
“What is she doing?” he grumbles. “If there’s no explosions.”
“Not everything has to end with an explosion,” I remind him.
“It should do,” Klynn says with a shake of his feathers. “All good things end with an explosion.”
“We’re here to steal this vrexing thing, not blow it up.”
“Shame.”
“I’m in!” Cleo exclaims. “Over there.” She points to the wall on our right, and a set of info cubes peel out from it.
“Is this it? All the Galactic Council’s secrets?” I gather them up and shove them into the pouch at my waist.
“Each one can contain a trillion terabytes of information, but I guess they can add to it when they need to.”
“Not anymore.” Klynn grins at me.
In one hand, he holds a set of pulsar grenades he has clearly stolen from me.
“We don’t want them to use this place again, do we?” I ask my Cleo.
“No.” She shakes her head. “But then they’ll use somewhere else.”
“Then let them. Potentially, it won’t be an inhabited planet where creatures like the Bogarok can do damage. If they decide to do it at all.”
I consider her answer then give Klynn the nod.
“Looks like things are ending with an explosion today after all.”