Page 277 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

“Every Kertinal is drafted into the military when they come of age. I had an aptitude for engineering, so I was first put in the training program for that. I didn’t see combat for the first two years, but I progressed very rapidly, so by the beginning of the third year, I was sent to serve on the Balista, a huge battleship with a magnificent engine and a bit of a conniving captain. ”

It was easy to talk about the side details—the lead-up—to describe Captain Allignon to her.

I even made her laugh with that, and she pointed out that political climbers like that existed on Earth too.

Then I needed to explain to her the space battle that forced us to flee, and the engine upgrade I put into action in our dire need.

“It worked. We escaped,” I said solemnly, my heart heavy when I thought of the price we’d paid.

Killing an amazing pilot. Disabling the navigator…

As always, my Sunshine was far too sensitive to my moods.

She slid from her chair to settle in my lap.

She couldn’t see in the dark, and still she found my horns and held them, making sure I was looking at her when I spoke next. No hiding from my Sunshine.

“What happened, Da’vi? You can tell me, it’s okay,” she murmured, and it was the soft expression on her face, the kindness in the tone of her voice, that made me force the words out.

My voice was raspy when I spoke, the words feeling like gravel in my mouth, but once I started talking again, they tumbled out in rapid succession.

“We escaped, but feedback from the experimental engine upgrade killed the pilot and injured the navigator… I dismantled the upgrade on the spot and destroyed all my notes on it. I swore I’d never build anything like that ever again.

” I froze after I finished speaking, waiting to hear what she thought.

Would she blame me, as I blamed myself for what had happened?

Would she make the connection to what was happening to the Vagabond’s engines right now—what I’d done to reach her in time?

She was quiet for so long that I thought I was going mad from it.

She’d tilted her head down; she was the one hiding now.

I wanted so badly to know what she was thinking; waiting felt agonizing, but I waited all the same.

Then a quiet little sniffle filled that silence, and when I inhaled, there was salt in the air.

The discovery startled me. Was she crying?

Shaken from my paralysis, I cupped her chin with one hand, my tail and other arm hugging her middle.

As her face lifted to mine, I saw how she was biting her bottom lip to muffle her sounds, big, wet tears rolling down her cheeks, and her dark brown eyes—with the intriguing gold flecks—all watery and huge.

“No, Arianna, Sunshine, don’t cry! It’s all right, I’m okay now, everyone else survived.

It was the best outcome; I just keep wishing I’d done better,” I hurried to say.

I didn’t like seeing her sad. I knew she cried last night too, but that was different—that was…

an emotional release. She’d been as struck by the bond between us as I had been.

This was real sadness, and I didn’t like it. My Sunshine should never be sad.

She tilted her head further into my palm, a wet little laugh escaping.

“I’m not crying about that. I’m crying because of what you did for me.

You swore you never would, and then you did anyway, to rescue me.

” She hiccuped when she tried to swallow a sob, clasping a hand over her mouth, eyes wide as if she felt mortified.

I leaned in, pressing my forehead to hers, wrapping myself around her so she knew she wasn’t alone.

“Of course I did. I wasn’t going to let you starve.

” The moment I’d heard her voice—heard her cheerful spirit despite the odds—I’d been hooked.

No one deserved to die a slow death of starvation on a space wreck; rescue had been the only right choice, regardless of whether I fancied her or not. Which I did, very much.

“Thank you,” she said. “My family has always said I wouldn’t amount to much, that I wasn’t worth anyone’s time.

So it means a lot to me to know what you did for me.

” I wanted to growl at what she said, what kind of rotten family said such things?

Especially to Arianna, who hardly seemed worthy of such mean words.

She was so cheerful, so kind, why would they think she was a failure?

She laughed, the sound tinkling through the air.

“Don’t growl, Da’vi. It’s okay. They’re dead now anyway, aren’t they?

” She didn’t sound too sad about that little fact, so I grunted in confirmation.

Definitely dead. She’d been in stasis for several centuries on that wreck; she was lucky her stasis pod had woken her when it started to fail.

“I’m just pissed that they won’t ever know that I did make something of myself…

or that I will at some point.” She tried to turn her head away from my palm again, trying to hide once more, and I rumbled another low growl.

Lifting the tip of my tail from her middle, I placed that sharp tip just beneath her chin.

“Don’t hide, Arianna. Now, listen closely,” I said. Once her eyes were on mine, I leaned in to press a kiss to her mouth. “You do not have to prove yourself to anyone. You are perfect just like this. Fuck them for not seeing that, they are the ones not worthy.”