Simone shook her head. “It isn’t booby-trapped. I would’ve sensed his deceit when he gave it to you. But you can double-check it anyway.”
Kova glanced at Janwar before taking the device to a nearby station from which he retrieved a few tools.
Elchan abruptly appeared beside Simone.
She grinned. “That is so cool. Perhaps you should fight the Dotharian next time.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t always work as it should when I’m under stress.”
“I know how that is,” she empathized with a smile. It had taken her far longer than anticipated to seize control of the Dotharian’s emotions. She’d had to ride the damn thing like a bucking bull so she could avoid its fists long enough to concentrate. That big beast had even bigger emotions, all of which had driven it to try to kill her. Simone had never had to dampen mindless fury and bloodlust on such a large scale before. Nor had she ever infused such an enormous creature with undiluted fear.
Kova spoke. “It’s clear. No trackers, explosives, or recording devices.”
Nodding, Janwar waited for the scarred male to join them, then crossed his arms over his chest and studied Simone expectantly.
The others followed his example.
“What?” she asked, some imp driving her to tease them. “Do I have something on my face?”
“Actually, yes,” Kova said softly, surprising her, and touched a finger to his cheek. “You have some blood right here.”
Since she hadn’t let the Dotharian score any hits, she assumed the blood was the beast’s. “Ew. Gross.” Raising an arm, she scrubbed at her face with a sleeve.
Janwar sighed and rolled his eyes. “Simone.”
“Yes?”
“Tell us how you did it.”
Krigara nodded. “How did you defeat the Dotharian?”
Elchan grinned. “It sure as bura wasn’t with a fart.”
She laughed. “Okay, but first… please, tell me one of you recorded the battle.”
“I recorded it,” T said, his voice coming from a speaker in the ceiling.
She glanced up. “You did? How? You weren’t even there.”
“I tapped into the arena’s surveillance feed.”
Simone grinned. “Brilliant! Can I see it?”
Janwar sighed. “Simone.”
“Oh. Right. You asked how I defeated it.” She shrugged. “I’m an empath.”
His brows furrowed. “You can sense others’ emotions?”
“Yes.”
Krigara shook his head. “How did that help you? I thought the creature’s emotions were obvious.”
Again, she laughed. “I’m an older empath. Younger empaths on Earth can only feel the emotions of others and often have to touch them to do so. Older empaths like me can feel the emotions of others from a distance. But we can go a step further, seize control of those emotions, and manipulate them to our advantage, which is what I did today. I dampened the Dotharian’s fury and bloodlust and filled it with fear.”
The men shared a glance.
“What?” she asked. “You don’t believe me?”
Krigara spoke slowly. “We’ve never encountered an empath who could do such.”
Soval nodded. “They can only read emotions, not alter them.”
Simone performed a quick scan of their emotions. Krigara, Soval, Elchan, and Srok’a were skeptical. Kova seemed intrigued. And Janwar believed her, exuding no doubt whatsoever.
She rewarded him with a smile. “Shall I show them?”
His lips twitched. “Please do.”
Concentrating, she filled the four skeptics with the same fear she had infused the beast with and didn’t have to wait nearly as long for a reaction.
Eyes widening, they sucked in sharp breaths. Their hearts began to pound franticly in their chests. Their hands began to shake.
“What the drek?” Krigara blurted.
Janwar grinned.
Kova’s lips twitched as he watched the others stumble backward, looking as if they wanted to bolt.
Simone shut off the fear and fed the men humor. Within seconds, the four were stumbling around, laughing so hard their eyes watered.
“Drek, that’s a powerful gift,” Janwar breathed, grinning over the men’s antics as guffaws doubled them over.
But Simone’s gaze was drawn to Kova, who—instead of being amused at his friends’ antics—exuded envy.
She studied the scars that adorned his face and muscular body, considered his perpetually somber countenance and quiet reserve, and didn’t have to ask to know he’d had a hard life.
Had Kova never experienced joy like this? Was that why he envied them?
“All right. That’s enough,” Janwar declared.
Simone reined in her gift.
The four men sighed and wiped their eyes.
Janwar shook his head. “Is that why Pulcra shifted so quickly from wanting to strangle you to trying to arrange another match?”
“Yes. Full disclosure, I did consider feeding him to the Dotharian.” She’d been furious when the bastard had looked as if he intended to renege on his deal and order his guards to kill Janwar. “That would’ve been a nice bit of poetic justice. But I thought he may be of use to you in the future, so I coaxed him into a more amenable mood instead.”
Janwar grunted. “If we didn’t need the information, I might’ve preferred the first.” Then he turned to Kova. “Think you can keep him from broadcasting the fight off-planet?”
Kova nodded. “His systems are outdated, so T and I were able to hack them remotely. If we can corrupt the recordings he made, he shouldn’t be able to share them with anyone.”
“Do it.”
Simone watched Kova leave, then looked up at Janwar. “Why is that necessary?”
“To the best of our knowledge, no one knows you’re an Earthling. But if that information should unexpectedly come to light, along with footage of the fight, your missing friends may find themselves facing men who believe them as dangerous as you or who may want them to fight in arenas of their own.”
“Merde. I didn’t think of that.” Only four of her fellow Earthlings—the other Immortal Guardians—would survive a contest like the one she’d just fought. The others would fall even against an opponent like Soval. “Can Kova and T keep that from happening?”
“Yes,” Janwar stated with absolute confidence. “Pulcra won’t be sharing it.”
“Good.” She bit her lip. “Could I have a copy though? I want to show my friends when we’re reunited.”
He grinned. “I’ll have T make you a copy.”
“Already done,” T told them.
Simone smiled. “Thank you. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to shower.” She drew in a deep breath and grimaced. “That Dotharian’s stench is all over me.”
Janwar nodded. “Meet us in the mess hall afterward.”
A few minutes later, Simone stood naked in the shower, loving the warm water that pounded her shoulders. “These boys sure know how to live,” she murmured.
Janwar’s ship was so cleverly designed that his water supply could last an extraordinarily long time, mainly due to the tropical forest that took up half the ship, which meant she could take a nice, long shower without worrying someone else would have to do without.