Page 200 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

I turned to look over my shoulder just in time to watch Luka hoist himself inside.

It was a hatch at the rear of the squatting toad, so we were in the cargo area.

It had mostly been emptied, as the ship had unloaded its cargo here, but there were stacks of old crates—empty—that would make a good hiding spot for us.

“He’ll come back, don’t worry,” Luka assured me.

“Let’s make ourselves comfortable back here.

” He didn’t even bother to look at the front of the ship, toward the two stairs leading to a corridor and what was likely the engine, bridge, and crew quarters.

I wondered how many people manned a short-range supply vessel such as this.

We didn’t want to move any of the already secured crates about, in case it tipped anyone off, but we wedged one open and climbed inside it.

Luka used a bit of scrap found inside the crate to carefully prop it open so that it couldn’t close on us and cut off our oxygen supply.

“They oxygenate the hold, right? When we’re in space?

” I asked him, staring longingly at the stairs leading to the rest of the ship and the possibility of a shower and a real bed.

The hike had left us covered in ashes once again, and I felt icky from sweat too.

“It will be cold, but it will be safe,” Luka assured me, his face breaking out into a grin that I could see by the light of one of our precious raw sunstones. “I’ll keep you warm,” he added, and he waggled his eyebrows. I even saw his pointed ears twitch through his long black hair.

Making a nest with the blankets, we risked leaving out a sunstone a little longer while we shared some of our food.

I didn’t complain about the tough, chewy texture of the bars, even if I was getting really sick of eating the same thing for months on end.

Pato returned while we were eating, but he turned up his little nose at the proffered piece of ration bar, so we had to assume he had found food somewhere else.

I just hoped he hadn’t made such a mess of things that the crew would notice it as soon as they came back.

We tucked the sunstone away, much to Pato’s chagrin, but the little monkey curled up on the blanket we’d tucked them under and went to sleep.

Luka and I did the same, wrapping ourselves in our second blanket and in each other’s arms. We’d best try to get some rest after that long and difficult hike.

It wasn’t until a vibration rattled through our hiding place that I shot awake, only to be reassured by Luka’s steady, calming presence.

“The ship is taking off. Hold on tight, we’ll be losing gravity for a moment,” he warned me.

What followed was a hectic—and, on my side, rather panicked—moment as I fought to find a good place to anchor myself when everything went weightless.

It could have been a fun experience, but in the dark, with nothing to orient myself, it was pretty horrifying.

When strands of Luka’s long hair swept against my cheek, I almost screamed.

“Sssh, it’s okay, Noa. I got you,” Luka murmured in my ear, his arm curling around my waist and anchoring me to his solid body.

We crashed into the bottom of the crate, our blankets tangled around us, and Pato angrily squeaking from beneath some flap of fabric.

Luka let go of me in favor of digging out his animal companion while I scrambled to locate all our sunstones and stuff them in our bag.

We’d settled down, huddled together in the dark under the steady hum of the ship’s engine, avidly listening for any sound of someone approaching.

I wasn’t sure when exactly Luka thought we’d be alright showing ourselves to the crew, but I was fairly certain now wasn’t it.

We’d only just broken atmosphere; to be out of range of the planet and his mother’s influence, we needed to at least be out of the system.

Not that I was onboard in the first place with showing ourselves to the Aderian crew, nothing was stopping them from ratting us out for a reward.

Nothing except for Luka’s assurance that most Aderians were empaths.

We heard nothing, not for a good long while.

I’d just started to relax, thinking we were safe after all, when Luka stiffened.

“It’s safe to come out, you three. We’re out of Jihari’s solar system,” a warm male voice announced cheerfully.

Light flashed on, filtering through the slightly cracked opening of the crate we were hiding in.

I wanted to come out swinging—that was my instinct—not to let myself get caught again.

But Luka was in front of me, pushing aside the lid of the crate just as the newcomer pulled from the other side.

He was smiling widely, which shocked me.

“Feralan, I hoped it would be you on this supply run!” Luka said, agilely leaping out of the chest and hugging the older Aderian male.

Now that there was light on in the cargo bay, I could see that the inside was kept meticulously clean and that everything was properly stowed in its place.

The Aderian newcomer was an older male, his long hair nearly white around his slightly dulled and wrinkled anthracite skin.

His completely black eyes shimmered with bright intelligence and a good dose of warmth as he happily slapped Luka on the back, returning the hug.

“Lukalyn, what are you doing in my hold, my boy? And who’s the lovely lady with you?

” he added, not commenting at all on his now ash-covered gray uniform after that bear hug.

He smiled widely and gave me a wave, but he didn’t approach me.

I had the sudden suspicion that he knew I’d wanted to clobber him over the head and that I was still wary of his presence.

Weirdly enough, that realization was exactly what calmed my nerves.

Luka was right, this Aderian male was an empath, just like Luka.

Maybe not every one of his species was bad; maybe those I’d met so far were the outliers.

I settled even more when Pato climbed onto the edge of the crate and then chirped until the male, Feralan, started to pet him with a big, calloused finger over his little head.

He couldn’t be all bad if even the monkey liked him, Pato had been a fantastic judge of character, knowing just when to hide or not, down at the resort.

“Feralan, this is Noa,” Luka introduced. “Noa, this is an old friend, Feralan. He used to pilot my father’s private vessel when I was a boy.” At the explanation, I saw how the older, grizzled male pressed a hand to his chest, his large black eyes shimmering with emotion.

“Aye, a damn shame—that blasted accident. Now tell me why you’re hiding in my hold and what I can do to help,” the male said solemnly.

Soon, I found myself escorted by Luka and the Aderian captain into the warmer crew area of the ship while the two males talked rapidly with each other.

I heard Luka outlining his captivity, forced to treat gladiators as their doctor for a crimelord named Drameil.

Then Luka revealed that his mother had made a deal with said crimelord because she figured he’d run back home and do her bidding as soon as he was freed.

“Only I didn’t,” Luka said, his voice filled with satisfaction while his dark eyes glimmered at me.

Something like a flush crawled up my cheeks when I recognized the heat in that look.

Knowing that the Captain could tell what we were feeling made the rush of arousal bursting through my veins a rather embarrassing reaction.

“I was captured by my cousins and brought to the resort, which is where I met Noa,” Luka said, his arm curling around my shoulders and tugging me snugly into his body so the Captain more than understood the claim he was making.

No, wait, that wasn’t for the Captain’s benefit.

We’d just entered what was clearly the rec room of the small cargo ship, and three pairs of eyes avidly focused on our arrival.

My skin crawled at the sight of all those eerie black gazes, and in response, Luka held me tighter.

Pato crawled from his shoulder onto mine and rubbed his little head comfortingly against my chin.

Heck, I saw how the Captain stepped away from us, his entire posture meant to convey that he wasn’t a threat.

Meanwhile, two of the three males immediately plunked their asses down into their seats and made themselves small.

The third raised his hands in the air, his eyes huge and shocked, his body that of a lanky youth.

Oh yeah, all of them had instantly known how frightened I’d been at seeing them. I forced myself to relax my tense muscles and offered a tentative smile. It wasn’t their fault that I’d been through some rough times; I should try to keep an open mind.

In a voice filled with anger—which you didn’t need to be an empath to notice—Luka started explaining my response.

“Miralyn Nerizana, my mother, is using slave labor to run her resort.” All eyes swiveled back to me, and not a single face showed anything but absolute horror at the news.

I deflated on the spot, relieved by this tangible proof of Luka’s assertions.

A short time later, the youngest of the crew, the lanky youth, had cleared out his bunk for us.

Luka and I finally got to have a shower to wash the ashes from our skin, and then we crashed together in an exhausted heap on the small, single bunk in the tiny room, sleeping until we’d cleared the Jihari sun’s interference and could finally use the ship’s comm system to make contact with Luka’s friends.