Janwar kept his face impassive. That was different. “If not credits, then—”
Pulcra pointed at Soval. “I want that one to battle the Dotharian in my arena.”
Janwar didn’t even look at Soval to catch his reaction. “Not going to happen. Name another price.”
Pulcra shrugged. “I’m afraid that is the only price I will accept.”
Fury rose. Why did grunarks like this always have to make things complicated? “That price is too high, and you know it. Stop drekking around and tell me what you really want.”
“That is what I really want,” Pulcra insisted, his face turning to stone. “I paid heartily for that Dotharian. Yet fewer and fewer patrons are willing to pay to see the matches.”
“Because the Dotharian always wins!” Dar blurted with disgust.
“Which is why I want that one”—he again jabbed a finger at Soval—“to get in the cage with him. He is one of the biggest beings planetside. He should be strong enough to put up an entertaining fight.”
“No,” Janwar gritted, knowing that even someone of Soval’s size and strength would inevitably fall when pitted against such a monster.
“What’s a Dotharian?” Simone asked suddenly, her face alight with curiosity.
Pulcra smiled at her. “My greatest champion. My patrons love him.”
“It,” Dar snarled, his expression livid. “It. Not him. And it isn’t a champion. It’s a drekking beast.”
Janwar nodded. “A genetic experiment gone wrong.”
“How wrong are we talking?” she asked, face somber. “Like Incredible Hulk wrong? Or something worse.”
“I don’t know what a hulk is or why it’s incredible,” he answered. “But it doesn’t matter because Soval is not fighting the Dotharian.”
Soval opened his mouth.
Janwar shot him a glare. “You aren’t fighting it. I’m not sacrificing you for information.” He shot Pulcra a menacing glare. “I’ll just torture it out of this one.”
Though Pulcra kept a smile plastered on his flat face, moisture formed on his wrinkled brow. “I wouldn’t try it, my friend. My brother will see you dead if you harm me.”
Janwar offered him a cold smile. “Many others have tried and failed.”
“Many others,” Soval added.
A long, tense silence ensued.
“What exactly does this Dotharian look like?” Simone asked as though death threats weren’t flying.
Janwar sighed. “Simone…”
“What?” she asked, all innocence. “I just want to understand what we’re talking about here. Soval is practically as big as the Hulk. I can’t imagine what could possibly conquer him.”
Smiling, Soval puffed out his chest.
Janwar sighed and looked at Dar. “Show her.”
The Akseli drew a datapad from his pocket and tapped several commands on its surface. A three-dimensional, translucent image rose from it and hovered above the table, depicting the Dotharian in all its glory towering over some poor drekker in Pulcra’s arena.
Simone’s brown eyes widened as she leaned closer. “Holy hell. It’s like a rancor got together with King Kong and had a baby.”
Janwar had no idea what a rancor was or why the srul a king on Earth would want to drek it. And he didn’t get a chance to ask.
Her pretty face lighting with a grin, Simone blurted, “I’ll do it! I’ll fight the Dotharian.”
Shock tore through him.
“Srul no!” he and Soval shouted.
Dar’s jaw dropped.
“Why not?” she asked and actually seemed drekking puzzled. “I mean, look at it! When will I ever get another chance to battle one?”
Even Pulcra seemed astonished by her offer.
“I don’t have to look at it,” Janwar countered. “I’ve seen it. And I’ve seen what it can do—what it will do—if you step into the cage with it.”
Her face brightened even more. “We’d be fighting in a cage?”
“Yes.” Without taking his gaze from her, he said, “Pulcra, tell her why you had to build a cage around the arena floor.”
“Because the Dotharian kept eating audience members after he finished off his opponents,” Pulcra said without hesitation or care.
If anything, her smile broadened as she met Janwar’s gaze. “Perfect. Then you and Soval will be safe while you watch me fight.”
Was she insane? “No,” he repeated and couldn’t believe he had to repeat it. “You are not fighting it.”
“Oh please,” she cajoled. Curling both hands around his biceps, she gave his arm several tugs. “Please, please, please. Let me do it.” She sounded like a child begging her parents to buy a toy she wanted.
“I agree with Janwar,” Pulcra said, his countenance reflecting utter bafflement. “You wouldn’t last long enough in the cage for the audience to finish finding their seats. Then they’d all demand their credits back.”
Simone turned her attention to Pulcra. “Are you so sure about that?” Determination replaced excitement as she stared at him long and hard.
Pulcra opened his mouth to speak but closed it after a moment as he stared back.
Janwar looked back and forth between them as the silence stretched. What was happening?
“No,” Pulcra said at length. “Hmm. Perhaps she would put on a good show,” he murmured.
Janwar frowned.
Simone nodded. “I mean, how many females have battled your Dotharian in the past?”
“None.”
“Then the novelty of that would surely bring in a large crowd, don’t you think?”
A sly smile stretched Pulcra’s wide mouth. “Indeed, it would.” Nodding, he rapped a hand on the table. “I rescind my offer. The female must battle the Dotharian.”
Simone pumped a fist in the air. “Yes!”
Janwar stared at her. “No!”
Soval frowned as though he, too, questioned her sanity. “No!”
“Oh, come on,” she coaxed. “I promise I’ll put on a good show.”
When Janwar would’ve again objected, she tugged his arm and drew him down until she could touch her lips to his ear.
“Could Soval defeat a ship full of heavily armed Gathendien warriors with only two swords, a dagger, and no one else’s help?” she whispered.
Her warm breath sent a shiver rippling through him. “No,” he acknowledged reluctantly.
“And yet I did.” Something that still amazed and impressed him.
He turned his head slightly so he could meet her gaze.
“I am capable of far more than you know, Janwar. Trust me in this and agree to his terms. It’s a win-win situation.”
“How the drek is this win-win?” he whispered, familiar with the term, thanks to Lisa.
“You will get the location of the Gathendien outpost, and I will get to fight a giant alien monster.” She grinned. “You see? Win-win.”
He stared at her for a long moment.
Soval leaned forward, his brow puckered with concern. “You aren’t considering it are you?”
Simone just kept smiling up at him without a shred of worry or self-doubt.