I beam at him. "Now—"
The lights go out. The low, constant hum of power in the background whines and goes silent. Everything is creepily quiet and dark, and I stare at Victor. His eyes shine in the darkness, like a cat's.
I swallow hard, getting to my feet. "Is there a storm?"
The door to Victor's cell clicks, the electronic mechanism unlatching. The sound is overloud in the shadowy darkness.
Victor rises to his feet, turning toward the door. The very unlocked door that is no longer powered by the security grid in Lord va'Rin's estate.
Oh no, this is a bad idea. If he escapes, they'll kill him for sure.
I immediately fling myself against him. "Don't you even think about it."
He puts his hands on my arms, holding me against him. "Think about what?"
Double oh-no. He's using that low, sly purr that tells me he knows exactly what I'm asking and is fishing for my reaction. "Don't even think about escaping," I tell him. "We both know you're thinking it."
"Am I?" I could swear his thumb moves against my sleeve, the claw dragging over the material.
I stare up at him, his face cast in shadows except for those bright, glowing eyes. "You've wanted freedom since day one," I point out. "Don't play dumb. And think about it, Victor." I reach up and squeeze his lower arm, cutting my finger on one of the spikes. "Let's say this is a freak storm that knocked the power out. What then? Where do you go? You have no money, no shoes, no identification. Everyone's terrified of your appearance because you look like the rotten guy. They'll hunt you like a dog for the rest of your days, and that's the best-case scenario. Worst-case scenario, this is a trap and someone's hoping you rush through that door so they have a good excuse to shoot you."
Victor gazes down at me and then slowly nods. "You make an excellent point."
To my surprise, he doesn't let me go. Instead, he continues to grip my arms and steers me toward the corner of his room, where it's darkest, the light from the hall not penetrating the farthest corner. My heart hammers, and I should be afraid, but what I'm feeling isn't…fear? It's curiosity. He parks me against the wall, my back to the cool metal, and then immediately looms over me, bracing his big hands on the wall just above my shoulders.
And he gazes down at me.
I prickle with awareness. I can't see a thing because his big body is blocking out the light. All I can make out are his glowing eyes that are focused totally on me. Licking my lips, I gaze up at him and try to remain calm. "What's this all about?"
"Like you said. It could be a trap." His voice is velvety and smooth in the darkness, and oddly comforting. "So I'm protecting you."
"Me?" I sputter with amusement. "No one would set a trap for me."
"Wouldn't they?" He leans in, and I should be terrified to be stuck in the dark with a big, looming alien, but I'm mostly just relieved that he's not going to make a break for it. "Humans are prizes, remember? I might not know a lot of things, but I know that."
Mm, well, he's not completely wrong there. Even so, on a planet full of human captives, I'm not the most enticing pick, so I'm sure no one would go to such lengths to steal me, especially not out from under Lord va'Rin's nose. I reach up and pat his forearm and then duck under him to look out at the hall. It occurs to me that the guards didn't come in to protect me the moment the power was off. I don't know if that's kinda sad or if I should have expected it.
Unless Victor is right and I'm in danger. Just the thought makes me humph. Humans are prizes, indeed. "More like a booby prize. Trust me, no one really wants a human for a pet. We're messy and stubborn, we don't respond well to training, and we make messes all over the floors. We have very particular diets, too. The last thing you want is a gassy human pet at the foot of your bed."
"Is that where your master kept you?" Victor asks. "At the foot of his bed?"
"I don't recall giving you permission to ask about that," I say lightly, and pretend to gaze up at the ceiling. Not that I can see it, since, darkness. "I wonder how long the power will be out for?"
"No questions about the past," he muses. "I understand. I expect if I had an unpleasant one, I wouldn't wish to talk about it, either. The memories I do have are grisly, but they're filled with pleasure, at least. Even the ones full of pain are still edged with pleasure. I think Crulden liked being physically hurt."
I wrinkle my nose at the thought. "And you have those memories?"
"Some of them, but they're hazy." Victor grunts, his big body still protecting mine from nothing at all. "I have memories of some fights, too. All of them wins. Either I never lost or I chose not to remember those."
"That wasn't you," I point out again. "You're a clone, remember, Victor. That's why we're giving you a new name. And probably a bath." Now that I'm caged under his arms, his scent is everywhere. It should be unpleasant, but I actually don't mind it. He smells sweaty, of course, but that's to be expected. It's not a bad sweaty, though. Just…sweaty.
I peek under his arm at the hall again, but I don't see anything out there. It's just darkness. If the two guardsmen that are supposed to be protecting me are out there, they're not exactly rushing to save me. I'm pretty sure they're not even trying. So much for upgrading their weapons. I wonder if Victor's collar is offline, too.
"Even if it wasn't me, it's good to remember those bouts."
"Is it? Why?"
I could swear he grins in the darkness, even though I can only make out the outline of his face. It's the way his tusks move, I suppose. I should be horrified, but I'm intrigued. I'm not as disgusted by his face as I once was. It's different—plenty different—but at the end of the day, he's just another alien and I probably look strange to him, too.
"Because it reminds me how good it feels to win," he rasps. When I stiffen with alarm, he continues, as if he can smell my fear. "Not the violence itself. Just…the knowledge that I've won. That I've been the best. And that I've got a prize—however small—waiting for me."
"And that motivates you?" I ask politely, because I'm sure some of those prizes in the past were people like me. "A prize at the end of the fight? Is that why you're staying here instead of running?"
"I'm staying here because I'm protecting you." Victor's voice is that husky growl again, and it makes my stomach flip. Not out of fear…out of something unnameable. "But since you mention motivation…remember when you first arrived? And you asked me what I wanted for incentive to work with you?"
I remember that conversation very well. For some reason, though, my body is heating up the longer he keeps whispering to me. Maybe he's giving off a lot of body heat. I wonder if it'd be obvious of me if I started fanning my face. "Did you decide what you want as your prize?"
"I did." Victor leans down. "You can steal my breath like you do your boyfriend."
Steal his breath…? "You mean kissing?"
"Is that what it's called? When he shoves his tongue in your mouth and licks you? When he puts his lips over yours?"