The information merchant cleared his throat. “I may give you a few discounts on the next messages.”
She reached out and patted his arm. “And whatever you want to know about Earth, I’ll tell you.”
Zhim’s eyes widened and he nodded. “I’m working on seeing how much data we can pass through the wormhole, and maybe including images as well. For now, it’s just audio.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I am good, though, so we’ll see.”
After they’d said their farewells, Lore led Madeline out onto the balcony. They leaned against the railing, staring out at the view of the setting suns. A warm wind ruffled her hair and Lore studied the look of contentment on her face.
“Happy?”
“So happy.” She turned to him. “Lore, I’m not sure what I did to deserve you—”
“Just being you is enough. That’s all you have to do. I have something else for you.” He reached out, brushing the shell of her ear. He held out his hand.
It was a ring. It was made of a shiny, silver metal with a large, sparkling, blue stone in the center.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
“Rory tells me it’s called an engagement ring.”
Madeline froze and her gaze flicked up to him.
“Breathe, dushla.”
“You want to get married? Do you even get married here?”
“Joining, a show of commitment to the one you love. Yes, people do it here, and I want to, with you.” He pulled out her left hand and slid the ring onto her finger. “I want to share my passion and fire with you. I want to love and protect you to my last breath.”
“I want to love and protect you, too,” she answered, smiling.
He smiled back at the woman from the other side of the galaxy who had captured his heart. “No illusions, no charm, just me and everything I have to offer you. If you’ll take it.”
Happy tears shimmered in her eyes. “Then it looks like we have a deal.”
---
I hope you enjoyed Lore and Madeline’s story!
Galactic Gladiators continues with CHAMPION, starring human space marine Blaine Strong and tough, female gladiator Saff, and will be out late March 2017. Read on for a sneak peek of Champion.
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Sneak Peek: Champion
(Please note: unedited sneak peek of Champion. Final version may change a little.)
With a wild shout, he brought his sword down, slashing through the training dummy.
The emotions inside Blaine Strong were boiling and molten. He spun and saw another training dummy pop-up through an opening in the sand of the training arena. He slashed it across the belly before spinning again, sword raised above his head.
Two more dummies appeared and using all his strength, Blaine thrust his sword through the dummy’s stomach and chopped the arm off the second.
As the final dummy appeared, he leaped into the air and decapitated it with one wild slash. He landed, skidding through the sand, then attacked the damaged dummy again with violent hits and thrusts of his sword, completely destroying it.
No more dummies sprung out of the ground. He stood there, chest heaving. The anger inside him was like a beast—wild and hungry, and out of control.
In that moment, even though sunshine from the two large suns in the sky warmed his skin and a brisk breeze ruffled his too-long dark hair, he was back in the bowels of the underground fight ring that had been his life for several months.
Images peppered his head like a movie on fast forward. All of them were the faces of the people he’d killed.
Blaine sucked in a deep breath, bringing himself back to reality. Even though he was free, the ghosts didn’t seem to stop haunting him.
He looked around and reminded himself that he was standing in the House of Galen training arena. He stared at the new gladiator recruits training on the sand not far away, and then over the training arena to the walls of the main Kor Magna Arena adjacent. It was made of a warm, cream stone and was a mecca for spectators coming to watch the alien gladiators fight. But unlike the hell of the underground fight rings, no one battled to the death.
He flicked his gaze to the right and saw the tips of the spires of the glitzy buildings in the District. It made him think of a long-ago trip to Las Vegas when he’d been younger. The desert planet of Carthago and the city of Kor Magna offered all kinds of spectacles and entertainment.
Blaine shook his head. He was a long way from Earth and his life before. His previous job had been as a space marine turned security specialist for the Fortuna Space Station orbiting Jupiter. But that was all long gone.