Page 297 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Eoin

I woke up with a jolt, my senses on high alert, my eyes searching the tiny room for any sign of danger.

Something had woken me, and it wasn’t the searing pain in my belly or the millions of bruises that covered the rest of me.

Then I heard a soft giggle, that was Novalee. I’d know that precious sound anywhere.

With a groan, I pulled myself up to a sitting position.

Somehow, my body was wedged between the bed in this room and the bathroom door; I couldn’t remember doing that myself.

“Tori?” I asked, but the room was tiny, and unless she was hiding in the lav, she wasn’t there.

Novalee was, though, she was lying in the middle of the bed, kicking her feet into the air and trying her best to shove them in her mouth.

My body felt much too sluggish and heavy to do much beyond sitting up, but with each passing moment and no sign of Tori, I was getting more panicked.

Where was she? This place was tiny; she would have heard me if she were here.

The bathroom door was open, and when I managed to wave my hand through the doorway, the lights inside flared on, and I could tell the outdated bathing stall was empty.

With a groan, my hand clutching at my still-wounded belly, I managed to get to my feet. A bandage was taped over the injury, soaked with blood, and blood had dripped down my sides to stain the floor where I’d lain. Shit, that was bad. Had Tori left to try to find medical aid?

My com pinged just as I was trying to formulate some kind of plan of action.

The caller ID indicated that it was the Vagabond, so I answered.

“Eoin, how are you guys?” Sunder’s deep, gravelly voice said, his craggy face staring out at me from the small screen.

My belly twisted, not from pain, but from worry.

I was in a bad place, and Tori was missing.

I couldn’t tell Sunder that; he’d have my head if anything had happened to her.

“Fine, we’re hiding out. Where should we go to meet up?

” I asked, hoping that he couldn’t tell I was lying.

Sunder narrowed his eyes at me; that stare felt like it was going straight through me.

It was the kind of look I knew all too well from my adoptive father, Yashan.

I’d get that look every time he thought I’d been up to no good.

Sunder didn’t say what he was thinking—for which I was grateful; his news was worse, though.

All I could do, however, was nod and tell him we’d figure it out.

When he hung up, I felt like I was drowning.

I couldn’t protect Tori when she wasn’t here; I couldn’t protect her when I was this injured.

I’d have to resort to trying to cannibalize what metals and electronics I could find in this room and suffer the consequences.

At least she’d left Novalee behind with me, which meant that she fully intended to come back.

From the smell, the baby needed a diaper change, at least she wasn’t upset about it yet.

Getting my feet to move was hard, and the entire room spun around me for long seconds when I managed to get myself into the bathroom.

First, I’d wash the blood from my skin. Then I’d figure out how to get Novalee clean.

After that… I’d have to go out to find Tori.

I stripped the torn shirt from my body first, panting by the time I’d gotten it tossed in the trash.

Then I changed my mind, fished it out, and used the outdated-looking cleanser to clean it instead.

Stripping out of my pants was a little easier; I could kick those off with my uninjured legs while I leaned on the sink for balance.

By the time I’d run through a quick wash in the small sonic shower, I was swaying again, utterly exhausted and faint in the head.

Gritting my teeth, I used scraps from my now-cleaned shirt to tightly tie around my belly, the ripping sound of the cloth distracting Novalee from her first attempt at complaining about her dirty diaper.

Done with myself and back in my pants—though still shirtless—I gave her all the attention I could muster, cleaning her with paper towels I carefully dampened so they wouldn’t be too rough.

She didn’t like that process, but she loved it when I improvised a diaper from one of the pillowcases.

Her little onesie wouldn’t properly close now, but that couldn’t be helped.

I’d just sunk down on the bed, the precious weight of Tori’s little girl in my lap, when the door to the tiny room swished open.

My first instinct was to get into a defensive position, but my body was so heavy I could barely move.

Washing up had taken all my strength already.

I was as weak as a baby; I couldn’t even protect myself.

“Eoin! You’re awake!” Tori exclaimed as she stepped inside.

I felt instantly better; that was one less worry.

If she was here with me, I knew she was safe.

Well, not that I could protect her currently, but with her in my sight, everything in me relaxed.

Mustering a smile and a nod for her was all I could do, I couldn’t even find my voice.

Though Novalee certainly responded to the sound of her mother, her midnight blue eyes flicking to the door, hands swinging that way next, a wide smile spreading across her lovely pink face.

Tori stepped inside, the door closing behind her, and then she came to the bed.

Her attention was all on her baby at first, picking her up and cuddling her, her face all smiles.

Then, with the kid perched on her hip, she squatted to pick up the strap of a bag.

I hadn’t noticed it when she’d come in, too focused on her face.

With a groan, she picked the leather pouch up and tossed it at my feet on the bed.

“Medicine, Metallurgist-style,” she declared.

Not daring to hope that she’d gotten me what I needed just like that, I pressed my bare foot against the leather fabric, my senses flaring to life. Yes, precious metals and good-quality steel. That bag had to weigh a lot, but she’d carried it all the way here. I was impressed and relieved.

Energized by the prospect of replenishing myself, I pushed away from the wall against which I’d been sitting and scooted closer.

Digging my hand into the bag, my fingers brushed over a small piece of gold, larger pieces of steel, silver, some thorium, and copper.

There was even some aluminum. I was absorbing it through my skin as soon as I touched it, soaking up the metals I needed to finish the healing process.

“How?” I asked when my head stopped spinning and my pulse no longer felt so sluggish. She was sitting there, all smiles for her baby, her long hair softly curling over one shoulder. The two of them, like that, looked beautiful and fragile, yet somehow she’d gone and gotten me what I needed.

I’d failed her by collapsing, by not holding it together long enough to help myself, and she’d been forced to leave the safety of this room to help me. I would have been more upset by that if I weren’t also so damn proud of her, too.

“There’s a market area that sells weapons not that far from here.

I found one that sold parts and tried to get you a variety of things.

He mostly had steel, though. I hope that’s alright—steel is actually an alloy, isn’t it?

” she said, jiggling Novalee on her leg, her eyes on the improvised diaper I’d tied around the baby’s behind. “Thanks for looking after her.”

“This is more than alright,” I said, already feeling much stronger.

The pain was fading to a faint memory now that I’d patched up the hole in my belly and smoothed out most of the massive bruising that had covered my back and chest. She’d gone above and beyond, actually; with the amount of raw metals she’d provided, she must have really struggled to carry it all here.

“You don’t need to thank me for caring for Novalee, it’s my pleasure,” I added, uncomfortable with her habit of doing that whenever I or anyone on the Vagabond helped her out.

I’d always been told it takes a village, and wasn’t that what living on the Vagabond was like?

We all pitched in whenever it was needed.

I was happy to care for her child—she was a delight.

How could I not love that little pink face with her starburst freckles?

Tori pulled a face. “You mean you enjoy changing her poopy diapers? You can have the next one too, no problem.” The laugh that followed had my heart singing. Seeing her happy would always make me happy too, even if it was at my expense.

I shrugged, then flowed to my feet to test my range of motion and strength.

“Thank you, I’d be most grateful.” Getting me all this metal had me almost back to full strength.

She’d done a wonderful job. This much material had to have been costly, and Tori didn’t have access to many credits.

She was wearing her com device, but I was uncertain if she even knew how to use it to pay for things.

I wouldn’t have had enough credits to pay for all this, I never needed much, because I always had easy ways to get funds.

“So, how did you get all that?” I asked, hoping I’d kept the worry from my tone. From her narrowed eyes, I must have failed, but then she looked down at the leather bag I’d gestured at and shrugged.

“Turns out they could use some entertainment in the bar. It paid well,” she said.

Immediately, my mind started racing with what kind of ‘entertainment’ she could be talking about.

My brain supplied me with all kinds of horrible suggestions before settling on what could be the only option.

Tori’s facial expression had gone from pleased, to concerned, and then it shifted to angry.