Page 119 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

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I was upright against a few propped-up pillows on my chosen bunk when the door to my quarters suddenly swooshed open—and remained that way.

I stared in surprise, especially when no one stepped inside.

Beyond, I could just see the empty corridor stretch out to either side, beckoning me.

I worried that it was a test. Were they seeing if I’d take the chance and go snooping?

Deciding not to take that risk, I remained in my seat, certain that proving they could trust me was better than going off half-cocked to explore their ship.

There was nothing I could do anyway; I was just a grunt who was good with a gun.

I could run to their hangar bay, steal a shuttle, and then what?

I couldn’t fly it, and I wouldn’t know where to go. So I stayed where I was.

“Why aren’t you leaving?” a voice asked me over the sound system. Startled, I looked up by default, but I recognized the tone.

“Is that you, Akri?” Had the AI now taken control over this much bigger vessel? Was it even capable of controlling a ship this big? That would require far more processing power, wouldn’t it?

“It is Camila. I am now installed inside the Vagabond. It is a Star Class Cruiser, and I like it very much,” the ship talked quickly and eagerly. I wondered why it was sharing this information with me. What was its motivation for letting me out?

“Good for you, Akri. Why did you open my door?” I wasn’t about to trust that gesture, not when I’d seen just how quickly the AI had turned wrathful when I had said the name Drameil.

I wasn’t about to start thinking of it as a benign creature, and controlling a whole Star Class Cruiser?

That was actually a pretty terrifying thought to me.

The voice was soft and remorseful when it spoke next.

“I am sorry, Camila. My captain spoke with me and said I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions and should have let you explain.

You did not know just who Drameil was, so you cannot be faulted for being on a mission of trade with him.

I should be angry with your superiors instead. ”

Letting out a breath, I nodded. “Thanks, that makes me feel better. I really had no idea who he is, you know? I just know what Ziame said now, about the gladiator thing, and the crime…” I still felt horrified at realizing that these people had gone through something so horrible.

Just the thought of Thorin, locked up in a cell, only taken out for training or fighting like others in similar situations, made me sick.

What a sick thing, that it was so prevalent in this quadrant, accepted on over half the advanced planets, or so Abigail had said during her tour of the ship.

“I understand that now. Emotions are still new to me. I need to remember to think rationally,” the ship told me.

Well, that wasn’t terrifying to hear. This AI, which now controlled a ship with at least three decks, capable, from the number of quarters I’d seen, of housing at least a hundred and fifty people—was learning to control its emotions.

Like living inside the head of a teenager… I suppressed a shudder at the thought.

“You should leave your quarters, Camila, and head to the gym,” the ship said.

I had the inane thought to wonder if it was still Akri, or now Vagabond. My confusion over being directed to the gym took precedence. “Why?”

“You seem to have made a connection with the male named Thorin. He needs your help,” was the only answer I got.

But a sudden worry had started in the pit of my stomach.

Thorin needing my help? I seriously doubted that, but at the same time…

we had a connection. I couldn’t deny that I felt it, I’d never been so instantly attracted to a male before.

“He asked for me?” I said, already up on my feet and out the door. I looked left and right but saw no one. I had a faint recollection of where to go and started toward the lower deck.

The ship replied, “No, he is in too much trouble to ask for help. You need to hurry, Camila, someone might get hurt.”

Picking up my pace, I jogged down the corridor, located the nearest ladder shaft, and slid down it.

Landing on my feet, I took off running toward the sounds of what seemed like a fight.

That had to be it. I didn’t know what I could do, unarmed, and shockingly fragile and ineffectual against these hulking aliens.

Skidding into what was indeed the gym, I took in the sight in a single glance: Thorin, bleeding profusely from several gashes all over his body, fought with incredible speed and agility against an even bigger male.

That male could only be described as a damn fox on two legs, with massively bulging muscles covered in a thick red pelt, three swaying tails behind it, and a pointed, fang-filled snout.

The fox male was talking, though, as he dodged and blocked, trying to avoid the onslaught that was Thorin as much as he could.

“Stop it, Thorin, stop!” the male was saying.

“You are out of control; pull yourself together!” A vicious snarl erupted that I wasn’t sure came from Thorin or the fox as the latter barely avoided a jaw-breaking blow, ducking back and nearly stumbling off the mat they were sparring on.

“Enough!” the fox roared, but Thorin didn’t respond; he just kept fighting.

His eyes were so narrowly focused that his opponent was likely the only thing he saw.

“Thorin!” I yelled, because it was clear that the fox guy was trying hard to protect himself without injuring Thorin, and he was only barely keeping up despite his greater mass.

“Stop!” I added, more frantic. And, like an idiot, I was about to run right into the middle of the damn fight when someone grabbed me from behind.

I didn’t scream, just reacted on instinct, tucking in my body and stomping down with my leg, twisting expertly to free myself from their grasp.

They didn’t fight hard to hold me, and in moments, I hit the mats, only to be met by Thorin’s wide-open arms as he grabbed me with an extremely feral growl and tucked my entire body behind his wide back.

Dazed by what had just happened, I tried to understand what was going on.

Everyone had finally stopped moving, and Thorin was no longer fighting—he was pinning me behind his body and backing me slowly into a corner.

The fox-like guy was nowhere to be seen, but I noticed what looked like a human male sprawled on his back on the mats, one arm tossed over his face, his chest heaving up and down, shiny with sweat and mottled with bruises.

Ziame was standing right across from us, hands out at his sides in what was a universal sign of “I come unarmed.” Honestly, did that even work when half your body was a weapon?

I guessed that he was the one who had grabbed me—likely in an effort to prevent me from being flattened like a pancake when I had attempted to get between those two fighting giants.

Only… my brief struggle with Ziame had snapped Thorin out of his fight with the fox. He’d fixated on me now.

I met Ziame’s eyes across the room, which was filled with the sound of harsh, panting breaths coming from both Thorin and the man on the floor, while Thorin also made a deep, rumbling sound in the center of his chest. I didn’t know what the huge, crocodilian male was thinking, but I did know that we weren’t out of the woods yet.

The elfin male was bare-chested, so I could see the sweat dripping down his spine and the rows upon rows of claw marks that had dug furrows into his skin.

They weren’t deep, because the fox-like male had been trying not to injure him, but they looked painful anyway.

They also meant that I struggled to find an unmarked stretch of skin on his back to touch.

In the end, I reached up to place my palms on his shoulders, pressing my fingers into his tensed trapezoids.

“Thorin, come back to me,” I told him, crooning.

When the pointed tips of his ears twitched briefly, the way a frightened animal’s might, I kept going.

I didn’t know it was working until Thorin’s entire body suddenly jerked violently, as if he’d wrenched himself back inside.

Falling silent, I watched as the human man on the floor pulled his arm off his face and glared Thorin’s way with glimmering, distinctly not human golden eyes.

“We are so even now,” he said, and, with a wince, crawled to his feet.

“I need to see the Doc. If Chloe finds out… she’s going to be so angry,” he was muttering while limping off.

I was struggling to accept the fact that the guy, who looked so human now, was actually the fox-like creature I’d seen fighting with Thorin earlier.

Thorin winced, his shoulders dropping, but he didn’t say anything to the departing man.

He didn’t shrug my hands off either, so I kept them on his warm flesh, gently rubbing the tense muscles.

“Under control now?” Ziame asked, his arms crossed over his massive chest, while his long tail swished back and forth behind him in irritation.

When Thorin nodded, Ziame’s eyes shifted again to meet mine.

“You alright there, Camila?” I wasn’t sure what I was doing here exactly, or why Thorin had been fighting the way he had, or responded to Ziame’s supposed threat to me in such a manner.

I did know, with complete certainty, that he wouldn’t harm me.

So I nodded. “I think you should leave.”

Ziame kept his eyes on me for a moment longer, gave Thorin a hard look, and bared sharp teeth.

In what was a very harsh growl, he said, “You need to figure this out, fast. You can’t lose control like that again.

I know what happened with Kitan last time, but he let himself get knocked out then to prevent you from getting injured.

You did no such thing for him in return.

You lost it.” With a final angry snort, the huge green-scaled male stalked out of the gym, leaving me alone with Thorin.