Sylas

SYLAS

M y eregri is here. Alex is here. She is here. In my arms.

I can stay standing for her, to hold her, to be with her, to never let her go like she asks.

"Moons may fall and planets may wane, but you are mine forever, little feather," I murmur into her fragrant hair.

I don't want to let her go, but she pulls back from me and eyes the squirming, foul Oykig.

"It'll grow back," I say. "And he'll learn not to pick on creatures smaller than him in the future."

I attempt to give my mate's assailant a kick but lose my balance and slam into the wall with a thump, Alex still in my arms. I'm not sure what's funny, but I'm laughing.

Alex is very close to my face. "Are you okay?"

"I have you here. I'm okay, I'm very okay, I'm brilliant," I say, the words coming out in a rush, leaving me breathless.

She pinches at my eye. I want to get away, but she is my eregri , and even if I don't like my eye being pinched, she can do what she likes to me. Just as long as my Alex is always here, always with me.

I snatch a kiss from her sweet lips and my cocks harden further.

"!" she says, but she is laughing too.

I spin her around and immediately regret it.

"Going to have to"—I heave out a breath—"sit."

So, I sit, and I pull her onto my lap. She squeaks with alarm.

"We can't sit." She squirms, and my cocks are very much aware of her movement. "We have to get out of here. I found the resistance. They were the ones who set the explosion in the dome. They're going to help us both escape."

I'm still laughing, even though I'm not sure what's funny.

"Can't leave, have to get to Medius." I force the words through the air.

"What's wrong?" Alex has my face cupped in her hands and she looks worried…and scared.

"I was supposed to fight shadow soldiers, but there was a pulsar and now"—I open and close my hand like the stars which pop in and out of my vision—"I'm better than them."

"Did Medius give you something?" she demands, but I'm staring into her beautiful eyes, so clear, so pretty. Her scent is perfection, she is perfection. "! Concentrate. Did Medius do something to you?"

"Paraxio," a male voice rumbles to my left.

The boots and legs are familiar enough as I raise my head to see Rych, flanked by Maxym, Blayn, and Klynn. I clutch Alex to my chest.

"Mine," I snarl.

"Are we really doing this, again?" Maxym sighs. "Get up."

He kicks my boot. Alex wriggles from my grip and is on her feet but backing away from the others. The need to protect her wars with my body's struggle to remain upright and eventually protection wins out, and with a roll, I'm on my feet, snarling a storm at the other Gryn.

"Hey." Alex waves at them. "I'm Alex. Hi, Maxym."

What the vrex is going on?

"What is going on, my friend, is you've been given one vrexing big dose of Paraxio." Rych shoves me up against the wall. "And it seems to suit you."

"Get off me." I bat his hand away, but all he does is laugh.

"This is Blayn, Klynn, and Rych." Maxym introduces the others while I can't decide if I want to tear them limb from limb or wrap my arms around each one and offer them my undying loyalty.

Or go to sleep. Sleep would be nice too. As would mating.

And I'm very hungry too.

"Is there any cure?" Alex is by my side as the others give us space.

"Cure?" Rych barks. "He's having the time of his life, little female. Paraxio is a pleasure drug, although it looks like he was given it in a quantity someone thought would be disabling."

Alex wraps her arms around my waist and smiles up at me. I want to kiss her face off, but in a sneaky move, she tips it to one side and instead I'm kissing her neck, which is also very nice.

"How long will it take to wear off?" She giggles, running her hand down my face and pushing me upright again.

Rych leans into me, and while I want to do a growl this time, as his face looms closer to mine, I laugh instead.

"Who can tell? This is the Victor. He's not like anyone else." Rych takes his life into his hands by tapping me on the side of my head. "It could take a nova-minute, it could take nova-days."

"Vrex off, Rych." I shoot out an arm and get him by the throat up against the wall.

It seems like it's gone very quiet. Rych doesn't move, he doesn't even blink, his mouth hitched in one of his insolent smiles.

With a huff, I let him go, my arm tired and my brain firing into life.

"Medius," I growl.

"What about him?" Alex asks. "He doesn't matter. We need to get out of here. The resistance have an escape route for us."

Some of the mirth drains from me. I look down at my little mate, then at my fellow gladiators.

"Vrex it, you're not even thinking of staying, are you?" Maxym growls.

"We should all get out, all of us," I respond, clarity suddenly filling my mind. "We don't belong here. Gryn should be free."

"Speak for yourself, commander ," Klynn says, staring down his blade, one eye squinting at the sharpness. "Some of us don't have any other options and some of us might just like it here."

Alex presses herself into my side.

"Sweet mate," I say, running my hand down her silky hair. "Medius has answers to the gaps in my memory, and he will give them up before I leave this place."

She lifts her gorgeous face, and I'm instantly lost in her beauty. If she asked me to cut off a wing in this moment, I would.

Instead, two hands burrow into my feathers, and drug or no drug, I'm gone to a place I adore. One with only her and me. One where time stands still except when we mate and I am sheathed in her.

"You need answers and I understand why. The resistance is waiting, but they can wait a bit longer. How about we go get what you need?" she says softly.

" is the one taking orders now." Rych chuckles.

" has a mate," Blayn says.

He's been unable to take his eyes off Alex, but I don't feel a sudden rush of violence towards him. The big tattooed Gryn is trembling, his arms limp.

"I have a mate, Blayn" I tell him gently, "and I'm leaving with her. You can come too if you like."

I check on my Alex, and she nods.

"Can't," Blayn says, shaking his head from side to side as if he's trying to rid himself of a parasite. He takes several steps and I think he's about to run.

"Not yet, gladiator," Maxym says in a deep rumble. "But maybe one nova-day."

For a brief second, Blayn's face brightens, as if he can see past the next fight or the next meal. Then it is gone again.

"Fight," he says simply.

"Yes, fight," Rych echoes. "Whatever you need, , you have it." He gives me a low, sweeping bow, his wing tips lifting high in the air.