Page 103 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

With Kitan and Chloe free from the convent, I’d have to move fast. Striding back into my room, I started getting dressed in one of the suits that would look good on camera.

“Leave,” I told Jalina, who was still sprawled on my bed, naked, and trying to look seductive.

The insatiable female was probably looking for another round.

She knew there was no love between us, that this was just sex, but lately, she’d been trying to convince me that marriage would make a good business alliance between our families.

I shuddered at the thought; I could never do that.

If I ever married, it would be for love.

I didn’t give a damn if that made me a sentimental romantic.

I was the head of the family now; it had been made official several weeks ago. My parents had no way to force me to marry someone, which was exactly why I hoped my plan would work. The moment Jalina had finished pouting and sulked out of my room, I picked up my com and dialed my contact.

She picked up after only a few rings, her voice bright and cheerful.

“This is Samir Rakalon. How can I help you?” She was a journalist, one greedy to find that big break and get in with one of the big stations.

I had other contacts, ones with more clout, but that just meant they could be on the take and would refuse to rock the boat if they didn’t have to.

Samir, she’d break this story because she knew it would make her career if she did.

She listened quietly as I outlined my plan and delivered the news I had.

Nobody on Sune believed our true shifter priests were anything but revered.

They thought Dyantos was the one undisputed ruler of the Suleantran Order.

But the news that he was a captive slave?

That all our most sacred priests were oppressed tools of our main religion, used for the sake of power?

This was going to cause enormous chaos. It could even spark outright civil war…

As I predicted, Samir was only too eager to get here and do the interviews. She might not have the biggest reach, working for a tiny news station, but it also meant nobody was going to stop her from streaming it. This wouldn’t be silenced; I’d make sure of it.

Satisfied I’d done what I could, I fixed the scrap of silk to my belt; a piece of the blue scarf I’d given Lo the day we met.

Now I just needed to get out of here, meet Samir at the gate, and arrange for the stasis pod needed to save Chloe’s life.

Once this news broke, things were going to be chaos; it could very well be the end of the Akentral fortune, but that didn’t matter if I could rescue Lo and save my brother and his mate.

Things would be different this time around.

I’d bring her home openly and give her a room and clothes.

I’d give her anything a little girl needed and make sure she knew I hadn’t broken my promise to her; that I never would.

I remembered only too well what Lo had thought of my room when I’d brought her here.

Sitting on the edge of my bed, Lo swung her feet back and forth while tilting her head left and right to observe my things.

I’d snuck her into the Akentral home via the side door and used the servant hallways to avoid my family.

Under protest, I’d managed to get the kid bathed, and now she was enveloped in my bathrobe, staring curiously at everything.

Something in my chest still felt tight, different.

I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the idea that I had this little life to watch out for now.

She was a true shifter; as soon as anyone noticed, they’d whisk her away, sequester her to the Suleantra Monastery, and train her to be a priest like Kitan.

My heart ached at the thought of subjecting her to something like that.

I remembered what Kitan had looked like each time we’d visited him.

How eager he was to see us, to play with my siblings and me for a short while.

I remembered that I’d asked him if he had any friends there.

More vividly, I remembered Kitan as a teen: angry, closed off.

Once, I’d seen bruises hidden beneath his fancy clothing.

It felt inevitable that Lo would be discovered and suffer the same fate as my brother, but her mother was right.

She’d sent her to me because she knew I’d try to hide Lo, to help her escape all of that.

“Let me get you some food,” I said, trying to ignore the tangle of emotions.

I wasn’t quite sure what a kid her age would prefer, but since she’d been living on the streets, I doubted she was going to be picky.

“Oh, yes, I like food,” Lo said, her green eyes focusing on me with all the faith a kid could muster.

“And I like your room. Do I get to stay here?” She looked small and fragile in that big robe, my blue silk scarf still wrapped around her slender neck.

She hadn’t parted with it once, except when I’d left her to bathe.

I had a feeling I wouldn’t be getting it back at all.

“Yes,” I told her, sinking to my knees on the floor in front of her.

I wasn’t quite sure whether she’d welcome a hug if I offered one, so I stuck out my hand for a shake.

“I promise you, I’ll take care of you.” I could do nothing less if this was what Akra wanted for her daughter. “I’ll keep you safe, kid.”

Lo stared at me with her big green eyes, the freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose and the slopes of her softly rounded cheeks bright against her pale skin.

“I know, Momma said you would, and she’s always right.

” I didn’t feel like I deserved to have such faith placed in me when we’d only just met, but Lo held no such reservations, leaping into my arms to hug me around the neck.

“It’ll be like I’ll finally have a dad!”

Shaking myself out of the memory, I tried to swallow back the lump of emotion in my throat.

I had failed her, not even two months into our acquaintance.

Just long enough to fall head over heels for the tiny girl, to have her nestle deep into my heart like she was my own child.

I was the only one in the world she could count on, and I’d failed. No more. Today, I’d free her.