The Rings Fighter Read Online Free PDF Page B

glimpse of her.
    When the trolley door opened with a loud click to her left, she jumped. She hadn’t realized how quiet it was or how soundproof the vehicle until sound erupted through the open door, mainly voices yammering in Nargili.
    The sheer volume caused her to flinch back.
    She met the gaze of a tired but happy-looking Trazen. He looked freshly showered, changed, relaxed, but something about him looked borderline flushed too, like he’s just come off the run himself.
    “Hello,” he said, his voice openly friendly.
    Shutting the door behind him in the face of reporters who still shouted his name, he cut off the sound, leaving them in that fishbowl silence. Before she could recover from the onslaught, he sat himself next to her on the bench and wrapped a muscular arm around her, pulling her up against him.
    Jumping a little in shock, Chloe looked up, even more startled when he kissed her briefly on the cheek, caressing her bare side with long fingers. The kiss came across as affection more than anything, and she broke into a surprised smile.
    “Good run?” she said, quirking an eyebrow at him.
    He laughed, a rumbling Nirreth laugh, from deep in his chest.
    “Yes!” he said, sliding his hand up and gripping her shoulder briefly in long fingers. “A very good run!”
    Looking away, he announced a location to the trolley’s navigation mechanism after uttering his access code.
    The sailboat-like car began moving silently down the street.
    Chloe continued to watch his face, thrown by the happiness she saw there.
    She nudged his side with an elbow. “So? Tell me. I take it the Board didn’t decide to knock her out on her first trial run?” she said.
    “Knock her out?” Trazen’s smile widened, growing almost human-like as he looked at her again. “They pushed her into full status... she’s to be picking her permanent team in the next few weeks.”
    The news made Chloe blink.
    She’d never heard of anything like that before on an initial run.
    The Board generally required at least three trial runs prior to the contestant being ranked at full status. Potential candidates weren’t usually considered full competitors until their skill sets had been assessed from those three trials.
    Most had hoped only for blood in this particular match.
    Sex and blood... pure entertainment.
    No one expected a human girl to actually win.
    She wondered why the outcome made Trazen so happy.
    “Does that not mean... ?” She let her words trail when he looked over at her with his gold-flecked eyes. “Just,” she amended, her voice more diplomatic. “No one thinks the run was too easy? The run you designed for her, I mean?”
    Trazen laughed, shaking his head.
    “No, Chloe,” he said. “They do not think the run I designed was ‘too easy.’”
    She smiled, not really getting the joke but watching his face in a kind of amused surprise.
    “You are really happy about this,” she mused. “Why is that, I wonder?”
    “She was magnificent!” he said, his voice holding an overt admiration. He squeezed her shoulder again, grinning down at her face. “Did you not watch the run, Chloe? She was magnificent! Like a predatory cat! I will have to be much more creative from now on... much more creative! They pushed me to make the run aggressive, so I thought someone might have paid to flush her out. But she blew everyone away! Simply magnificent!”
    Chloe laughed in spite of herself, shaking her head.
    “No. I did not watch it,” she admitted. “Was it really so extraordinary?”
    “You did not watch it?” He looked down at her with a frown, although that happiness still shone in his dark eyes. “You will watch it!” he proclaimed, kissing her cheek a second time. “I insist! We will watch the whole thing together tonight... twice, if necessary...”
    Chloe laughed again, shaking her head in wonder.
    “But... she beat you, right?” Chloe said, her voice teasing now. “Didn’t she beat you, O Mighty Ringmaster? I would