I waved weakly at him.
Hassa bumped me with her body. “This is my mate Lor’az. He and his twin own the Pit.”
Did it count as twins if one was pink and one was purple? Lor’az had the same stark white curls as his brother but he’d pulled his back in elaborate braids. His swirls were such a dark purple they were nearly black. He was dressed similarly to his brother but his skirt was nearly to his knees and loose, swirlingaround his thick legs like a diaphanous froth. The boots he wore were orange. His makeup matched his boots with a wide thick line of orange over his eyes.
“Lor’az, meet Callisto Ramirez. We’ve brought her to cheer up. She’s having mate frustrations.”
The lavender giant’s eyes sparkled when he grinned. “Ah. We know all about that, don’t we, my love? Come, come. We will get your blood hot and your woes dead.”
A chorus of moans echoed from behind him as if to punctuate his statement.
Oh, god. They had better not have brought me to a sex club.
Hassa and Rixa jostled me forward with their mates leading the way further into the orange haze.
The roar of a crowd rose and fell in waves, with broken moans and groans in between. My heart hammered a wild beat in my chest and my mouth lost all its moisture the further we walked down the darkened hall. Fog swirled around my legs and flashes of orange light had spots forming in front of my eyes. There was a rumble vibrating the walls around us and I prayed to every god I knew that I wasn’t walking into a massive orgy.
Light broke over us as Lor’ac pushed a door open and we stepped out into tiered stands. In the center—to my infinite relief—wasn’t a massive orgy.
It was a gladiator pit.
Recessed and surrounded on all sides by tall metal walls, with bright orange sand covered in splashes of blue, green, and red that I assumed was blood.
The room itself wasn’t all that big, probably close to the space provided for a college basketball game. Metal benches were packed with aliens all screaming in frenzied glee at the fight.
In the center of the arena, a thin alien with tall horns helped his fallen opponent up off the ground. They slapped each other's shoulders before the announcer recognized the thin hornedalien as the clear winner. The crowd roared as he held his fist in the air. The loser smiled, waved a final goodbye and exited the area through a rising door off to the side of the Pit.
“What in the actual fuck?” I asked, still following behind the twins.
They laughed but didn’t answer me.
Their mates led us to plush seats down at the very bottom row. Two of the seats were more like raised dog beds big enough for four people… specially made for the four legged females who’d dragged me here. Hassa and Rixa jumped up onto the beds, settling in like two sphinxes overlooking their minions. Their mates sat on either side of them, throwing arms over fluffy manned necks and… cuddled.
It was the most bizarre moment of my life. I kept waiting for Rixa and Hassa to bite the males' faces off but they just nuzzled in close, looking as content as kittens.
Lor’ac patted the seat next to him. “Well, don’t just stand there. Come sit and enjoy the show. Our champion is fighting next.”
“You’ll love it,” Hassa said. Rixa snickered. I narrowed my eyes at both of them while I took my seat.
“Just what are you two up to? I’m starting to feel set up here.”
“Wait and see.”
“You’ll thank us later.”
For some reason I didn’t believe them.
A short, round little alien with orange spikes on his otherwise bald head waddled out into the middle of the sand and tapped his link.
“Welcome! Welcome!”he shouted, holding his stubby arms up.“We have a special treat tonight! It’s Champions Choice!”
The crowd cheered, stomping their feet on the metal floors.
“Who will our champion pick? Which one of you luckyglaswill get to test your mettle against the undefeated… Sooooreeeel?!”
The pudgy announcer jerked to the side, his short arms sweeping towards the entrance to the arena as a familiar spider lady ducked under the overhang and strutted her many legged ass to the center, her arms held up for the adoring clamoring of her fans.
“Okay. I am so lost. What about watching Rathal’s wannabe girlfriend beat people to a pulp is supposed to make me feel better?”
