Page 241 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Agatha

Pacing the small cell I’d been thrown in, I listened to the steady drip of water somewhere in the distance and the swish of my stupid black skirts with each turn.

Sunder had tried to protect me. If I’d listened to him when he wanted to hide me, I wouldn’t be in here.

Then I shook myself. No, if he’d taken me away, the guards would have arrived while he was still gone.

They would have known he was part of this, and the boys would have been without his protection.

This place was abysmal, damp, smelly, and cold.

I was shaking from it, so pacing was the best thing I could do to stay warm.

Nobody had said anything as I was locked in this place.

The hinges had ground and squeaked from the rust, the lock making a terrible noise as the Xurtal woman turned a physical key to open it.

I’d been called an impostor, and that was it, but it was enough.

I knew what they meant. They had discovered that my papers and credentials were fake.

The only thing real on those documents was my name, but I wasn’t a registered citizen on any planet in this quadrant, and I had obviously never worked in another gladiator training facility.

I was pretty sure it was Or’tal who had dug up this information, he was the kind of guy to be that thorough.

It was just a surprise that it had taken them this long to discover it.

Maybe the guy I’d paid to forge my papers was worth the money after all; his work had held up for more than three months.

I made a scoffing noise. For the price he’d demanded, those papers should have held up forever.

This was a huge mess, now Sunder was going to be divided in his loyalties.

I hoped he understood what I’d meant to say to him with that final nod: that he should leave me be and focus on the boys.

Just one night until his gladiator brothers arrived.

They weren’t going to kill me during that time, were they?

Sunder needed to focus on saving the kids, not me.

This wasn’t so bad, I could survive a night in this dirty place.

Although, when dinnertime had come and gone, I started to struggle a little.

It was so damp and moldy in here that my lungs were starting to hurt, and my breath was misting in front of my face.

Clenching my fists open and shut and wriggling my toes in my sturdy boots, I tried to keep the blood circulation going. I was tired, but I feared that if I sat down on the concrete slab in the corner, I’d die of exposure by morning. So walking it was, back and forth across the uneven ground.

When light suddenly pierced the gloom from one end of the small, disused cellblock, I paused in front of the bars and peered out.

I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad news.

Maybe it was just some guard coming down to toss me water and dry bread, or whatever passed for prisoner’s food out here.

It could also be something else altogether, so I braced myself for the worst.

The distinct profile of a Rummicaron was silhouetted against the warm light spilling in from an open door.

The shark head, the glitter of many teeth, in the dark, it was nightmare fuel, and I had to fight with myself to stay in front of the bars.

The alien, bipedal shark started walking in my direction with a soft tread, but it was the fact that his form was followed by two distinctly female shapes that tipped me off to who was visiting.

Swallowing to combat my suddenly dry mouth, I wiped sweaty palms on my skirts and squared my shoulders. This wasn’t good, he could still decide to take me to his sleeping quarters. I was powerless here. It all depended now on just how intrigued he was, and how patient he wanted to be.

The male paused in front of my cell, the one all the way at the back of the row, tucked away as if they meant to forget me.

He didn’t say anything at first, just studied me with cold, hard eyes.

I didn’t move, didn’t flinch back, biting the inside of my cheek hard enough that I tasted coppery blood.

“So, you’re here for the boy,” he said, and his voice was as cold as a glacier.

I thought maybe he was feeling some kind of deep disdain, but there were so few real emotional cues that it was hard to tell.

I just shrugged, they already knew that; what point was there in denying it?

I just hoped my association with Amar wasn’t going to land the poor kid in trouble.

“Stick out your arm. Which one is it on?” he demanded.

I knew immediately what he was talking about, but it surprised me that they had that much information.

My hand went to my left wrist, and I pulled up the sleeve with a shiver, exposing the pale blue and silver lines that formed the family mark I shared with Amar, according to his species’ traditions.

He eyed the mark, a sneer curling his mouth, teeth glittering in the lantern light held by one of his female guards.

“Such a pity,” he said, his suit-clad shoulder lifting in a one-shouldered shrug.

“Oh, well.” He turned around, already losing interest and starting to walk away.

“You can think about your fate for a night or two. I’m sure you’ll be very amenable to my solutions after that. ”

The ominous words were still echoing in the dark when they pulled the door to this prison shut behind them.

Any thought of food was now long gone; I just felt sick to my stomach at the thought of what he was about to propose.

I couldn’t fathom the evil that existed in this universe, I just couldn’t.

Picking up my pacing, I started walking the short length of my cell again for warmth.

My toes felt numb, so I wiggled them vigorously.

To survive this darn cold, I’d just have to keep on walking, even if it hurt my feet.

Sitting down was sure to be my downfall, and I resolved to still be here by morning.

I was pretty sure the Rummicaron Crimelord didn’t realize just how deadly this damp, invasive cold was to humans.

He intended for me to still be here by tomorrow, after all.

*

Sunder

The courtyard was filled with a devastating kind of silence after the guards took Aggy.

Then Amar started crying in big, heart-wrenching sobs, and I sprang into action, taking the boy in my arms and comforting him.

Jett piled into the hug, back in his peace-form now, his lower lip trembling as he tried hard to fight back his own tears.

“It’s going to be okay. I will rescue our Aggy,” I said fervently, swearing it as much to them as to myself.

I would settle for nothing less than reuniting our budding little family.

This mission wouldn’t be a success without the most vital component, the heart of us.

I didn’t care that I’d gotten in deep with the human female in such a short time; she had that kind of effect on all of us, it seemed.

When I looked up from holding the boys, I saw that Uron was standing with his back to me, facing the door, his hands balled into tight fists. Yeah, somehow Aggy had even gotten to him. Or maybe it was the sadness the boys were feeling that was making the sensitive kid feel upset.

I gave a short, hard whistle, and he spun around to look at me with eyes that were a little watery.

“Shit, I could use a hit of Roka right about now,” he muttered.

When I narrowed my look into a glare, he added, rather shamefaced, “I won’t, of course!

But it sure would make me feel better.” Spoken like a real addict.

I hoped there was a future for him beyond this place, but if he couldn’t stay off the Roka… it was going to be a downhill road.

“So why were they calling her an impostor?” he asked, eyeing the two boys I was holding. Amar had stopped crying, but he was clutching me tightly and hanging on to Jett as well. “Was she here to steal them?” he said, suspicion furrowing his high, thick-skinned brow.

“Yes and no,” I said. “She’s Amar’s family, and she was here to rescue him.” The male’s eyes darted to Amar, and I could see his confusion, as if that made no sense. Since Amar was pale blue with turquoise hair, he looked nothing like Aggy.

I gave a wry laugh, rising to my feet as I settled a boy on each hip, my wings cupping around their backs for extra warmth and protection.

“She is a friend of Amar’s mother. She told me that their species values family ties very much, and she was adopted into Amar’s family.

Thus, they are now family, especially since…

well…” I looked at the small boy, not wanting to say out loud that his parents were dead and gone, but it seemed Uron caught my meaning.

Amar was a clever boy, for he shuddered forlornly and tucked his face into my neck.

“Mommy and Daddy are gone, but Aggy is coming back?” The tiny voice just about broke my heart, but I rushed to promise him that she would.

I would move mountains to make it so, and since I suspected I knew where they’d taken her, I’d make damn sure my brothers and I located her come morning.

“I see,” Uron said a little hoarsely. “What do we do? How can we get her out?” The show of support was, while not entirely surprising, valued all the same. I gave him a nod, indicating respect for that solidarity, then started walking across the courtyard.

“We wait for the morning. I’ll think of something by then,” I said. While I was glad the male was choosing to side with us, I wasn’t going to trust him with our plans. I would not mention the impending arrival of the Vagabond.