I spun around and placed my hands on my head, got to my knees, and crossed my ankles.
The guards burst into the room.
They carried Ivy out, checked her for injuries, and took her to the Prize Pool. She peered back at me and struggled against the guards but she was too weak to put up much resistance.
They were gentle with her.
They were a lot less gentle with me.
They pumped me full of electricity from their rifles. My body turned rigid and my head banged against the floor. My nose broke and my knees crunched.
It didn’t matter. None of it mattered.
I would heal.
But would Ivy?
Ivy
The events of the day were shocking but no less shocking than what happened to the other Prizes over the years. This was my new reality and I needed to accept it for what it was.
I took the time to recuperate not because I needed it but because it took me out of the Pool for a while. I didn’t want to see any of the fighters, no one but Kren.
He saved me.
He didn’t have to. He could have thought of me as a piece of meat like the others. I was sure no one else would have come to my rescue the way he had. Especially when it came to the pain and punishment he would receive.
They made their prisoners fight every day. If that was considered their everyday life, what did they do when they wanted to punish them?
“Ivy?” Harper said. “Are you awake?”
“Yeah. What is it?”
“Lily’s calling the Prize Pool.”
“She said I don’t have to join them today.”
“I know. But you’re going to want to be a part of this one.”
I rolled over and looked at Harper. She had a big grin on her face and a high-pitched squeal escaped her lips.
It could only mean one thing.
I hopped from my bed and joined the others on the dais.
The guards were leading a figure behind them. He walked a little slower than usual but I would have recognized his gait anywhere.
I couldn’t stand still. The other girls no longer paid attention to the victor in an effort to woo him.
“Go to him,” Lily said.
I looked at her. I was shocked. She never showed much heart before. Had I heard her right?
I didn’t care.
I squealed and leaped off the dais and ran toward him.
The guards stiffened but for once, stood back and let me break protocol.
I swung my arms around him.
He hissed through his teeth and I pulled back. He had a pained smile on his face. He held out an arm. The wrist flopped from one side to another and made me feel sick.
I wrapped my arms around him and breathed him in.
The girls at the back of the room sighed as they watched us. And who wouldn’t? If this were a scene in a movie, I would be crying like a baby.
We walked slowly into the hallway hand in hand. As partners ready to overthrow the world.
Kren
I washed her in the shower one inch at a time and kissed her body from head to toe as I dried her off.
We didn’t speak much. We didn’t need to.
Every few seconds, I looked at her, and she looked at me and we shared a smile.
The worst of the effects of being confronted by Dreth had worn off. She was her usual smiley self. An experience like that could do untold damage to someone’s psyche. I was pleased she wasn’t too adversely affected by it.
I dressed her in some of my old clothes the way she liked and led her to the bed. I got the occasional twinge from when I’d been struck by the guards’ shock rifles. My wrist was almost as good as new already. Most of all, I felt a hundred times better just having her with me.
“What happened to you after they took me away?” Ivy said.
“They brought me back to my room. Someone must have explained the situation. They kept a couple of guards outside the door and after I recovered from my shock therapy, I came out and asked to see you.”
“The shocks looked really painful. Are you okay?”
“Better than ever,” I said, nuzzling her neck. “How are you?”
“Good. Dreth didn’t do anything. He almost did but he didn’t… do anything bad.”
She shivered at the idea of having something like his robot half-cock inside her. It didn’t exactly fill me with fond memories either.
Anger rose in my chest like a wave. I thought about what I would do to him the next time I met him in the pit.
Ivy laid a hand on my arm.
“I’m really glad you came to rescue me.”
“Of course I did. What did you think I was going to do?”
“That’s what most of the fighters would have done.”
“I’m not most fighters.”
I leaned forward and pressed my forehead against hers.
“Are you hungry?”
“I ate earlier.”
I lifted the blanket and drew it over her.
“Get some sleep. You’ll feel better after some real rest.”
“You know, it’s going to happen again one day. I’m a Prize. What are you going to do? Fight everybody?”
“If I have to. They’ll see what I did to Dreth. No one will be in a hurry to repeat what he did in a hurry. And I’ll stop taking it easy on them in the pit.”
Ivy chuckled and it was music to my ears.
“I’ve seen you fight. That was you taking it easy on them?”
“It is compared to what I could do. The most important thing is you’re safe. And you’re safe with me.”
“But… I’m not going to be safe forever.”
“What do you mean?”
She sat up and hugged her knees.
“You’re not always going to be the champion. Eventually, someone is going to take over and you won’t be able to stop them.”
“I can keep going for a while yet.”
I searched her eyes. She wasn’t talking about the fighting pit.
“You don’t want to be a Prize anymore,” I said.
“I never wanted
