Page 224 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

The human had already unlocked the big empty bunk room the two boys shared and gone in.

She’d left the door open for me, or maybe she just hadn’t taken the time to close it.

Her concern for the kids was heartwarming, and the fact that she’d worked out a system through which they could reach her at night was clever.

Eager for the chance to see my son again today, I followed her inside. I surreptitiously adjusting myself so I was fully decent again. The last thing I wanted was for Jett and Amar to suspect what I was up to with their caretaker.

My eyes had to adjust to the darkness in the room, and I had to fold my wings in tightly against my back to navigate the maze of bunk beds.

In a corner at the back, where the two boys had curled up in a bed together, Aggy was perched on the edge.

I could see the bright blue hair that topped the young boy’s head, tucked beneath her chin.

She was humming a soft melody and swaying the little one back and forth, while Jett clung to one of her hands, holding the young one’s hand with the other.

My brave little boy was shifted into his battle-form, his wings spread out to offer a barrier of protection.

My chest flushed with pride and pain at what these two were going through.

I wished so badly that I could make all of this better.

I understood Aggy’s desire to try and escape now—when you saw the fallout, the nightmares the little one had, the maturity Jett had to show…

Jett spotted me and made an eager motion my way—he wanted to drop what he was doing and leap into my arms. Except, he felt like Amar needed him, so he settled down instead, holding onto that little blue hand.

I crouched next to the bed, trying to make sure that Amar didn’t startle when he noticed me.

The little one wasn’t crying; he was completely quiet as he held on for dear life. That made it all the more poignant.

When I shifted my wings to cocoon all of us in a little safe haven, Jett shivered back into his peace-form.

He threw out an arm to curl it around my neck.

“Dad, you’re here too!” I was, and I vowed I wouldn’t miss a single moment like this again.

I needed to work harder to get hold of those landing codes; Aggy and I didn’t have time to fool around.

The boy fell asleep, curled up against Aggy’s chest, his hands going lax.

I helped lay him back down in the bed, his body limp now that he’d fallen into a deep sleep again.

I gave Jett a final, big hug, murmuring how proud I was of him.

Then we tucked both boys in beneath their blankets and left.

It had felt difficult to leave earlier that evening when we’d first put them to bed; now, it felt nearly impossible.

Standing out in the hallway, Aggy was slow but methodical as she locked the room again.

She turned to me with a soft smile. “It happens sometimes. After seeing Carator today, it was bound to happen.” She shrugged.

“They’ll be okay.” Reaching for my hand, she took it and started leading me back to her room. “Now, where were we?”

Heat scorched my system at the blatant invitation—at her boldness.

I wanted to take her up on that offer, but I reminded myself again that I was here for something much more important.

I had lapsed in my discipline by coming here tonight, thinking only of finding pleasure with sexy Aggy.

This little episode with Amar, with Jett, had driven home the work I had to do.

I couldn’t spend time on frivolous things.

“No, I need to go,” I said to her, gently extracting my hand from her warm grip.

I pointed at the bunk room. “I can’t allow myself to get distracted from the real goal.

” Her face shuttered, her bright expression closing down.

She yanked her hands away from me and pressed them to her chest. Finally, she noticed how her long hair was trapped beneath her sweater and started angrily fussing with it.

“Fine, I won’t distract you then,” she huffed, her dark brown eyes narrowing in a glare.

She flounced away, her door swishing shut behind her.

It was my imagination, of course, as the door always made the exact same sound, but it sounded recriminating to my ears.

I felt like a heel; I hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings.

If anything, I still deeply desired her.

This just wasn’t the time or the place. Though, truth be told, she was impulsive, while I liked to think things through and prepare. We would never work, anyway.

Feeling angry and helpless about the entire situation, I spun away and strode into the courtyard. Taking flight, the cool breeze and the brush of the clouds would have to clear my head, and the rigorous exercise would have to help me sleep tonight. My body was still humming with need.

My frustration made it easy to ignore the twinges between my shoulder blades and the aching, rough feeling along my chest. I’d go to Luka after this mission, and I’d confess all my damn health issues to the Doc. Now was just really not the time.