That creature was her prey.
She ignored the gorgo turning around and snarling, and stomped over to Blaine.
“That’s my kill, Earth man.”
Blaine rose, his gaze moving over her. Saff found herself snagged by dark, dark eyes filled with shifting nightmares.
“Only if you kill it first.” His voice was a deep rumble.
He was challenging her? No one challenged Saff Essikani, the best net fighter in the Kor Magna Arena. She’d been proving herself her entire life. She didn’t need some man from the other side of the galaxy questioning her skills and her right to a kill.
Spinning, she ran at the gorgo. She leaped into the air, landed on the beast’s arm and started pulling herself upward.
She heard the Earth man’s ripe curses. Suddenly, he jumped onto the gorgo’s other arm, matching her pace.
Saff sped up, racing him to the top.
The confused gorgo tried to shake them off, and let out a stream of fire from its mouth, the heat searing. She kept climbing.
All of a sudden, the creature gave a violent shake. Drak. Saff lost her grip and went flying. Blaine’s big body bumped into hers and they both landed in the sand.
They were both back on their feet in seconds. Blaine had lost his weapons. She saw the beast was eyeing the nearby group of human women.
Drakking hell. This wasn’t a game anymore. The gorgo had to go down.
“It has a weak spot,” she shouted at Blaine.
“Where?”
“The eyes. You distract it and I’ll attack it.”
She saw him gauging the creature’s eyes. With a nod, his muscles bunched as he readied to run in front of it.
“Human?” Before he even turned, she tossed him her spare sword. He caught it easily. “You might need this.”
He lifted the sword, testing its weight. “Thanks.”
Then, he raced toward the gorgo. She watched him as he ran, his speed and agility impressive for such a big man.
Saff forced her focus back on the creature. As Blaine yelled and danced around in front of the beast, she ran and leaped onto its back.
Seconds later, she crawled up behind its neck.
Down below, she saw Blaine darting in, slashing at the gorgo, and keeping it busy. It was completely ignoring her.
She changed her grip on her sword, leaned forward and jammed the blade into the monster’s eye.
The gorgo reared back. Grimly, she held on and stabbed it again. This time, it jerked hard enough to knock her off.
Saff flew through the air, closing her eyes as she fell. This was going to hurt.
But instead of slamming into the dirt, strong arms caught her.
Her momentum knocked them both over and she landed on top of Blaine’s big body.
Lifting her head, she stared down into dark eyes. She’d thought they were black, but up close, they were a very deep brown.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Thanks for killing it.”
“My pleasure, Blaine Strong of Earth.” A part of her didn’t want to move, but Saff pushed off his body. Standing, she dusted the dirt off her leathers. Around her, she saw her team had taken down all the remaining guards.
She held her hand down to Blaine. He slapped his hand into hers and got to his feet.
“You have the advantage,” he said. “I don’t know your name.”
“Saff. Saff Essikani, gladiator of the House of Galen.”
Blaine stood there, still holding her hand. “I hope I can see you fight again, Saff Essikani.”
She tugged on her hand, but he didn’t release it. “I live to fight, gladiator.”
“I’m not a gladiator.”
She smiled at him. “Not yet, but something tells me you will be.” She tilted her head. “And you’d better let go of my hand, or I’ll hurt you.”
Something bright lit in his eyes, as though he was considering holding on to her longer.
“Blaine!” Suddenly, Harper ran in and slammed into Blaine.
The man wrapped his strong arms around his friend, emotion flooding his face. “Harper.”
Saff stepped back.
But when she lifted her gaze, his dark eyes were watching her.
Chapter Eighteen
Madeline paced her office.
She’d already reorganized her shelves and drawers, and gone through every bit of paperwork. She shoved her hands through her hair. She’d run out of things to arrange and do.
She dropped into her chair. They’d come back to the House of Galen in the early hours of the morning, and, after making sure all of the wounded were being taken care of in Medical, she’d had a hot shower, then climbed into bed with Lore, and then dropped into a deep, dreamless sleep. She’d slept late, and when she’d woken, Lore had been missing.
Filled with energy, she’d worked for the afternoon in her office, but she still had a solid rock of emotion lodged in her belly. She realized that she’d been so focused on Blaine’s rescue, that she’d been using that to block out the pain of missing Jack.