Entered in the Alien Bride Lottery by Margo Collins (easy readers txt) 📕

body straining to make its way to Cav, to stop this monstrous gladiatorial display. But Cav simply wiped his other hand across the wound and shook blood off onto the floor, splattering it in front of Tiziani. Then he gave the yellow alien a feral smile and flipped the sword into his other hand.

Tiziani’s second point came when he feinted right and then spun around to slide the sword across Cav’s muscular thigh, slicing away part of Cav’s uniform even as he cut deep into the blue alien’s skin.

I ripped my hands away from Plofnid and Drindl to clasp them over my mouth. My stomach clenched and I didn’t make a sound.

Had Tiziani cut across an artery?

Is Cav going to die out there?

I released a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding when Cav limped away, stopping to pick up the shred of fabric on the ground, using it bind his wound. When he was done, he tested his leg, turned to the audience, blew me a kiss, and twirled around on the injured leg, as if to show that he could.

But I was really worried now. I could not stand here and watch him die. Because no matter what he told me, it was becoming clear that was a very real possibility.

Frantically, I gestured toward Vos, then, when he didn’t see me, I jumped up and down, waving my arms over my head to get his attention.

The Games Administrator strolled over to me while the warriors waited. “Yes?”

I glanced up the giant screen, but Vos had turned off the mics.

“Stop this,” I begged. “I will marry Cav. You’ll get the wedding you want if you just stop this.”

Vos shook his head. “Absolutely not. You signed a binding contract.” He glanced at the warriors, then gave me a vicious smile. “Anyway, it looks like you are going to have to marry your warrior when he loses, no matter what.”

My jaw clenched, and it was all I could do to keep from punching Vos in his smug green face.

From his spot on the mat, now splattered with blood, Cav mouth something to me, but without my translator, I couldn’t tell what was.

I really need to learn some Khanavai.

Strolling back to the center of the mat, Vos signaled the fight to begin again.

And for the first time, I saw my Khanavai warrior in action—fighting for real, without holding back at all. Tiziani had injured Cav’s left leg and arm, hoping to knock his opponent off-balance.

But I saw the moment that something—adrenaline? Battle rage? Or maybe just sheer determination—took over Cav’s entire body.

He wasn’t performing for the audience anymore. He wasn’t even performing for me.

My blue warrior moved through space like a lethal dancer, his sword slashing through the air in front of him as if slicing away the very molecules to give him more room to become the killing machine he had trained to be.

His first strike hit the wrist of the hand that Tiziani used to hold a sword. It jarred the sword out of Tiziani’s grasp, and for an instant, I feared Cav had cut off the hand, too.

But instead, the strike simply left one tiny scratch behind, as I saw when a camera from somewhere zoomed in, showing the blood welling from the cut.

It was enough to count as a point.

But Cav wasn’t done. With a spin, he kicked Tiziani out of the way and scooped up the other alien’s sword. Coming up, he used Tiziani’s own sword to slice across his banana-yellow leg in precisely the same spot the Tiziani had cut Cav.

Vos began whistling and motioning for the fighters to separate, but Cav wasn’t done. As Tiziani bent half over to clutch his leg where blood poured from the wound, Cav leaped in, catlike and predatory, and brought the crossed swords down against the back of Tiziani’s neck, ready to pull them apart and slice the other alien’s head completely off.

Like cutting a banana. The thought echoed through my mind, and a nervous giggle escaped me. I clapped my hands over my mouth again, my stomach clenching as I waited to see if Cav would finish the move.

Everyone in the stadium held a collective breath as the scene below us froze into a tableau, echoing with potential death.

Cav held Tiziani there, bent over, for one beat. Then another. And a third.

Then, with only the barest motion, he lowered the swords enough to nip the nape of Tiziani’s neck in two separate spots.

No one else moved.

Vos blew his whistle, breaking the spell that held us all in its grasp. All around me, the stadium erupted in noise.

Without even thinking about what I was doing, I climbed over the railing and jumped to the stadium floor, rushing across it to throw myself into Cav’s arms.

Chapter Twenty

Cav

I caught Natalie as she jumped into my embrace, swinging her around once before she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me fiercely.

The stadium and all the people around us faded, the world contracting until it held only the two of us, my senses aware of nothing but the feel of her mouth against mine, the touch of her body as she pressed herself against me.

I could have stayed like that forever.

Eventually, though, Natalie pulled away from me. “Never again.” Tears brimmed in her eyes. “You cannot put yourself in that kind of danger ever again.”

“I was never in any real danger,” I assured her.

“Bullshit.”

It took a minute for my translator to work that one out, and I began laughing when it did. “I assume that’s an expression of disbelief and not a request? Or is it more of that strange food relationship you have with cattle on your planet?”

She hit me lightly in the chest and I lowered her to standing. “I’m serious,” she said. “I cannot bear the idea of you getting hurt.”

All around us, people were talking, but I ignored them and brushed a curl of Natalie’s hair back, tucking it behind her ear. “Oh, my tiny