“The House of Man’u,” Galen said from behind Madeline. He was sitting quietly, his big body somehow relaxed, but at the same time, filled with tension. Madeline was pretty sure the imperator would leap into action in an instant if required. She wondered what he’d been like in the arena.
The gladiators climbed aboard the nearest boats and she turned her attention back to them. She saw the Man’u had very pale skin that had a rainbow-colored sheen to it, and ridges on their faces. But any prettiness from their skin was balanced out by the hard muscles beneath it and their silver-blue armor.
Now everyone was just waiting for the House of Galen gladiators to arrive.
She leaned back toward Galen. “Where are the couple you invited?”
Galen subtly moved his head. “Up in a private box I organized for them.”
She glanced at the railings of the private boxes higher in the stands. The House of Galen seats were closest to the arena floor.
Then a hush fell over the crowd. People were turning around and looking up toward the top of the stands. Madeline twisted, Rory and Regan doing the same.
A single tall gladiator stood at the top of the arena. Even though his powerful body was covered in sleek, fish-scale armor that left his muscled abdomen bare and he wore a beaten-metal helmet, she knew instantly it was Lore. Something deep inside her just seemed attuned to him.
He raised one arm and whispers raced through the crowd.
He tossed something into the air.
Silver-and-red smoke exploded outward. The crowd screamed in delight, and the smoke twisted and turned. In it, Madeline caught glimpses of things: giant fish, sea serpents, alien sharks. The smoke shifted shape and took on the form of a giant, many-tentacled creature, like a kraken of myth. It launched itself over the arena, and then exploded outward before dissipating.
The crowd went wild.
In the next instant, the House of Galen gladiators strode out of a doorway at the top of the arena. They walked down the stairs with powerful strides, weapons in hand. Raiden and Harper led the way. Raiden’s tattoos gleamed, his red cloak flaring behind him. Harper wore the same fish scale armor over her arms and was also wearing a red cloak that matched Raiden’s. They looked magnificent.
Right behind them were Kace and Saff—the military-trained gladiator standing tall with his staff and the strong, elegant Saff smiling from beside him. Big Thorin and a new recruit that Madeline didn’t recognize were next. And bringing up the rear were Nero and Lore.
They sure made an impact. Madeline couldn’t help but stare, their strength and power radiating off them.
Of course, her gaze went to Lore. He’d rubbed oil over his skin where it showed between the sections of armor, and it gleamed under the arena lights.
As they walked past the House of Galen seats, big Thorin stopped and swept Regan into his arms for a deep kiss. The crowd cheered and whistled.
Rory waggled her fingers at Kace, one hand pressed to her belly. A small smile crossed the gladiator’s face.
“Going to give me a kiss? For luck?”
Lore’s sexy voice drawled in Madeline’s ear, and she glanced up to see him right beside her seat. He looked even better up close. Most of his face was covered by the helmet, but his silver-gray eyes glinted through the eye slits. And his heavily-ridged stomach was right at her eye level. A trickle of traitorous heat curled in her belly. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been attracted to a man. Damn hormones.
“I don’t think you need it,” she told him.
He smiled. “But I’d sure enjoy it.” He reached out and touched the shell of her ear. When he pulled his hand back, he was holding a shiny coin with the symbol of the House of Galen—a helmeted gladiator in profile—engraved on it. He handed it to her.
She took the coin, their fingers brushing. Then with a wink, he was gone.
When the gladiators reached the railing, they climbed up and dived into the water below. Heart hammering, the noise of the crowd in her ears, she watched them slice through the water toward their boats.
She watched as Lore strode across the deck of his boat, his sword in hand. Engines rumbled to life, a loud growl that echoed through the air.
A long, mournful siren rang out across the arena. The fight had begun.
The boats moved much faster than she’d anticipated. She watched Raiden and Harper’s boat cut through the water and slam into the side of a House of Man’u boat. Seconds later, Raiden leaped across the gap between the boats and engaged the gladiators. Swords crashed against swords.
Madeline found her pulse tripping, and she leaned forward.
She watched Lore and Nero racing across the water, chasing a Man’u boat. Then, a hidden Man’u gladiator appeared from out of the water, climbing stealthily aboard Lore’s craft. The opponent hefted a giant axe.