SPARTACUS
I couldn't help but wonder what it was that had brought Ryder to the Hotel because I think that no person in their right mind would work for a company like Invicta. I knew why I was here--for the money. But why was he here?
It was almost time for the fight tonight and I did what I always did before a fight, or at some other point in the evening: I logged in to watch my brother. He was the reason why I'm working for Invicta. Normally, contact with the outside world is forbidden for workers of the hotel, but this wasn't really contact anyway, so Gremelda allowed it. Also because I'm her star Gladiator at the moment. That's not me being arrogant, it's just the truth. And besides that, my brother couldn't see me, I could only see him. It's not like we talked or communicated in any other way.
"Goodnight, big brother," I said after one of his private nurses had laid him in bed. He'll sleep soon.
I logged out right before a loud knocking came on my door. "Showtime!" Crixus yelled from the hallway. I opened the door and he looked rather unhappy. "I so don't wanna fight with that fucking trident and net, man."
"Oh, It'll be fun. Maybe I'll let you kick my ass in the first round...will that make you smile again?"
In the first round, I could lose. In fact, in that round, I sometimes had to lose to bring in some cash as a lot of people bet on me winning. I, however, refused to lose the final round.
"It's no fun if you let me win," Crixus whined while we walked towards the elevator. I smirked as we stepped in and pressed the button to go down.
In the wagering room, bets were called every time they were placed by the guests, coming in every few seconds. Loud rings went off and echoed through the room as the staff was busy typing in every newly placed bet. It was always a very busy happening. I saw numbers appearing on the screen with as many as six zeros. I mean, I'm talking about millions! Really, people were always fucking crazy when it came to gambling their money but the richest in the world were even crazier.
Spartacus/Crixus 12-1
Spartacus/Gannicus 9-0
Spartacus/Crixus 8-3
Spartacus/Flamma 8-7
Shit, it felt good to be the favorite of the audience.
"What?! Twelve to one, what the hell? People have no fucking faith in me, I tell you!" Crixus cried out, irritated as fuck.
Sometimes I wondered how much money would be made during one evening but I'd never dared to investigate that. I knew Gremelda would never tell me anyway, but I bet it was a shitload of cash.
Us fighters liked to come here before the matches to get a little kick out of it. Gremelda never let us stay long, though.
"Off you go akain, gentleman. Oenomaus is already vaiting," she said with her always hoarse while observing the screen with all the bets very thoroughly.
She was responsible for the Gladiators, their fights, the gambling cash that came flowing in, and the Rewarders. So, it was mostly with her if we had to deal with someone at the hotel. I'd never seen the big boss while I was already here for almost two years. I think I didn't even wanna see the big boss, though. I bet he's no joke...
The other boys and I walked to the back where Oenomaus was waiting for us already. He gave some pep talk like he always did and the first round began.
While watching the other men fight, waiting till it was my turn, my eyes caught someone sitting in the audience. I couldn't believe that he came to watch. During our spent hours together he told me he didn't like violence and it seemed to me that I shouldn't count on seeing him in the arena, yet, here he was. His eyes scanned the arena and when he had finally found mine, I winked at him.
He smiled at me and I just knew he was here for me.
~
I hated I had to lose one of the first rounds, especially now Tesla was watching. I couldn't stand that he might not know I was faking it. I'd never lose a battle against Flamma.
When the final match came it was me against Crixus. Poor guy. I whispered in his ear I'll finish him soon and he told me to fuck off.
I loved Crixus like a brother and a part of me pitied that he had to lose again, especially because Cedi sat in the audience, and even though he said he didn't like her, I knew he did. It made me wonder how I was so blind to never see it before. Or did he fall head over heels for her after their first night together?
In the end, it didn't matter because it was forbidden anyway.
"Begin!" Oenomaus shouted and he let his whip clash against the sand. Wuh-PSSSH!
This was purely for the show though, we've never been whipped even once, but I had to admit he looked kinda cool like this.
Like I already thought, Crixus was an easy opponent. For the sake of the show, I let him punch me a few times and throw the net upon me before I returned the favor and caught him in my net until he had no way to escape anymore. I then stabbed the trident between the ropes, faking it, of course, I wouldn't impale him for real. When we fought with our fists or wooden sticks or blunt weapons like that, we fought for real but during evenings with actual metal weapons, we always had little bags of blood within our clothes and those were the ones I aimed for.
Blood gushed through the air and fell upon the sands while Crixus let out cries and screams in anguish. I pulled the net off of him and punched him a few times on the nose because, hey, this is still a fight.
"Fucking, asshole," he cursed, breathlessly. "What the hell? Fucking arrogant prick--"
I knocked against his face once more. Ok, I might have shown off a little bit there. I just wanted Tesla to see me at my best, at my strongest. I looked at him but I couldn't really read his facial expression. Was he impressed or repelled? I guess we have to find that out tonight when he'll be my Rewarder again.
Because in the end, I won the match with twelve to one.
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