Page 14 of Down to One
“You need it to sop up some of the drugs in your system. I’ll survive on what I’ve got.”
“How’d you know I was drugged?” I ask, my voice laced with suspicion.
Is this all part ofThe Game? Is she a plant? It makes sense. Why would anyone who looks like her be entered into this contest? It’s obvious she has no chance of winning.
“Glassy eyes, unsteady on your feet, slowed reflexes, and perhaps the clear plas-film on your back that does nothing to hide the stripes of a lash. Looks like someone beat the shit out of you right before you barged into the holding area.”
“I’m clearheaded now and my species heals fast. I’ll be fine in the morning. If you don’t kill me while I sleep.”
“I need your help to reach the flag. I assume you feel the same way about me. Once we’re there, anything goes.”
She’s honest, I’ll give her that.
I turn away from her, although I’m too edgy to drift to sleep.
“So, what happened to your back?” she asks.
I’m silent for a long time as I wonder how much to tell her. I don’t want my entire life story to tumble out and be broadcast across the galaxy, so I simply say, “Punishment.”
“I must have ESP. I figured that out already,” her tone is sarcastic.
I’ve never had a friend. Aludusisn’t built for that. You might have to kill your friend tomorrow. With Slayer, the odds of me having to kill her are even higher. Somehow, though, I want to talk.
“My master and mistress had a fight and took it out on me.” Perhaps this will earn me sympathy points with the viewers.
Her fingers skate along the plas-film so softly I barely feel her touch.
“When?” she asks.
“Right before I was hovered toThe Game.”
“Brutal. Have you been a slave for long?”
“Aye.”
Her fingers have migrated to my arm. It’s safer territory—unharmed.
“Do you think your parents are watching?”
“No. My name’s been changed a handful of times. I’m over a decade older than when I was kidnapped, and I’m not the carefree male they knew before I was abducted. They may be watching, but they won’t know I’m their son. What could they do if they did know? Rekindle their love for me and then have their son wrenched away from them a second time? It’s better this way.”
I feel a sharp pang in my guts at the thought that I’d be the type of person they’d bet against. For all I know, if they’re watching, they’ve donated credits to Slayer.
Her fingers roam up and down my arm, sliding along my skin, riveting my attention.
“Maybe it’s better that I don’t have to worry about anyone watching,” she says. “I have no one. Call me Blaze.” It’s a warm invitation.
I can only assume we’re being watched. At best, the drones are sending vid feeds back to the network. At worst, the network is beaming it out live on pay-per-view.
I roll toward her and throw my arm around her, then scoot closer so my lips almost touch her ear.
“Xzavic,” I whisper.
Her eyes must have adjusted to the darkness because her gaze flicks up and down and across my face.
I’m surprised when her palm strokes my cheek. No one has ever touched me this softly. Well, maybe my parents, but that was a long time ago—another life.
“Xzavic fits you better than Titan. You saved my life,” she whispers. “I would have been dead the first minute I left the building.”
