Gladiator Read Online Free PDF Page B

arrogance he assumed was a son. She didn’t contradict him. But in moments like that, would anyone?
    He shook his head as he showered himself and dressed. He walked over to Alex and kissed her cheek. “Good morning.”
    She smiled up at him and then her countenance grew serious. “We need to get out of here. I don’t know how we can manage it, but we must. Or none of us stand a chance. And I can’t live with your blood or that of our child’s on my hands. Clean up and get dressed. I have a plan.”
    She went to the crude shower and allowed the water to run down her head and over her body. Her nipples turned dark pink and hardened. He cleared his throat and turned away. He was tired from the days and nights of fighting and making love, but just the sight of her naked body made him want her again, and served as a reminder of how steamy those nights with her had been.
    “You can look now. I’m covered.”
    When he turned around she was in her shirt and jeans and looked every bit the young woman who’d been left to fend for herself when they’d dumped her in his cell to die. That was only if you didn’t look in her eyes. If you did look, you’d know there was great strength there and a capacity to heal with her heart and with her touch. She had turned a mob thirsty for a Heretic’s death into a crowd of hopeful spectators. She had already made him a believer. If he managed to get them out alive the world would have its Savior and he would have his family free from a woman evil enough to want her sister dead.
    “What?” Alex asked, blushing.
    He walked over to her and cupped her cheek. Running his thumb over lips he said, “I have to get you out of here.”
    “The queen wouldn’t like that now would she?”
    Both of them looked across from their cell to the one across from them. “Damien…”
    There was the clatter of chains as he tried to step forward. “If you’re looking for a way out of here, I’m with you, but there’s a catch.”
    “You’re not exactly in a position to demand anything, Walker.”
    Alex placed a hand to Tristan’s chest. “Wait,” she said tenderly and walked to the door. “What is it?”
    “My wife. You have to save her, too. You healed her when you could have killed her. Lucilla.”
    “She’s favored by the King. We can’t be sure…”
    She turned around and said, “You trusted me. And even though you were Veronica’s lover, I trusted you.”
    “She’s a Gladiator like us, Tristan. A woman. My wife. Favored by the King or not, you know what you felt when Alexandra was forced to fight.”
    Everything in Tristan revolted at the recollection. Somehow, it reminded him of his failure to protect his wife.
    “Stop, Tristan. Your wife’s death was not your fault. As for you Damien, if I accept your help, I must have your word that you will not ever turn me or Tristan over to the Crown. And in return I will do everything in my power to heal your family.”
    Pain and hope flickered in his eyes. Damien looked to Tristan. “She’s kept in the women’s quarters. She was taken to the Inquisition Quarters this morning. And after hearing Alex suffer the way she did, I don’t think I can bear it if the same thing happens to her. You must believe me when I say it. You have my word.”
    “You both understand that most of the United States is a wasteland. And that even if we make it out of here alive there’s no guarantee we’ll make it to the sanctuary that used to be Kentucky.”
    “But the Prophecy says, ‘ A Healer will come, and the waters will flow again, and grass will grow. And the corruption which was born out greed will fall into the past .’”
    Alexandra’s shoulders sagged as she gazed at Tristan mournfully. “Enough. Help us escape. She’ll heal your family. Is it a deal?”
    Alexandra turned back toward Damien. She wrapped her hands around the bars of the prison door bars and lowered her head. She began to chant and her hands glowed. A wind enveloped the two