Page 311 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Since I’d just fed her minutes before I was strapped into this set of armor, there was nothing to do but say goodbye to her and hand the Captain her bag of things.

“You’re sure Brace agreed to watch her? That he’s okay with it?

” I asked. Now that the moment was here, I was filled with worries and doubts.

Eoin was staring at me, an expression on his face that I couldn’t decipher. Maybe he saw my doubts, but, to my surprise, he didn’t take advantage of them to convince me to stay behind. He stepped a little closer and pressed a hand to the small of my back, silently offering comfort.

“Brace will watch the child,” the Captain responded, turning around and sliding his long, agile body from the room without a backward glance.

Novalee was never too bothered when she left my sight, certain that I always returned.

This time was no different. I could hear her cheerful baby giggle in response to some kind of soft murmur from the mercenary Captain.

I hadn’t missed the part where the Captain hadn’t mentioned actual agreement on Brace’s part.

It sounded to me like the secretive male had been volunteered for the job with no say in the matter.

I wasn’t sure if that made me feel good about the arrangement, but it was too late to back out now, was it?

If I did… I could already imagine what would happen between Eoin and me.

He’d think he could continue to behave the way he did.

“Let’s go,” I said firmly, grabbing the bag with the medical kit I would be carrying during this mission.

I hoped fervently we wouldn’t need it, but better safe than sorry.

I shoved all thoughts and worries about Novalee aside, tried to ignore the now-rising nerves in my belly, and led the way to the hangar bay.

The heavy tread of Eoin and Jaxin followed behind me.

I was stared at when I boarded the small shuttle, but I ignored it and parked my butt in a jumpseat, fighting the heat in my face.

There were at least a dozen big males strapped into the seats already, each kitted out in a black suit of armor like the one Eoin and Jaxin had adjusted to fit me.

Eoin was the only one not wearing a suit like that.

He was in a long-sleeved shirt that fit him snugly and a pair of leather pants, without a single weapon or piece of armor on him.

Then Sin walked onto the shuttle, and I realized how different this guy was from the rest of the mercs.

Some of them were even scared of him, leaning away as he passed by in his shimmering silver armor, the giant silver hound at his heels baring its teeth threateningly.

They weren’t nearly as worried about the Captain when he slid his long body into the shuttle behind the Son of Ragnar.

I didn’t worry about that strange dynamic for long.

As soon as the shuttle hatch closed, my stomach started to revolt.

My ears felt like two glowing coals pressed against the sides of my skull.

I was seriously regretting my choice right now.

What was I thinking? Going on a dangerous mission like this and leaving my child in the care of an alien I hadn’t even seen?

When Eoin’s hand landed on my shoulder, I flinched in surprise, not expecting the sudden touch.

Now that we were underway, I figured he’d get even more grumpy and overprotective, but when I looked over, he was calm, understanding, even.

“Look at the viewscreen. We’ll get a look at the planet in a moment.

Distract yourself. Find something that makes you feel calm. What do you do before you perform?”

I unclenched my fists from the tops of my thighs and wiped my sweaty palms over the oddly smooth fabric.

He was right—what could I do to settle myself before the action started?

I needed to get my head straight so I didn’t make any mistakes out there.

I wasn’t going to fight, I knew that wasn’t my strength, but I needed to move smartly if I wanted to get to the humans we were about to rescue so I could help them.

Doing some breathing exercises was a little awkward when the dozen men in the shuttle were all excited to be here, even eager.

I saw the occasional confused, or even pitying, look aimed my way; they were wondering why I was even there.

They were probably thinking that the client was crazy for wanting to come along.

They didn’t understand why I had to go. They were all big and strong; they didn’t understand what it was like to wake up in a world you didn’t know, a prisoner, and completely helpless.

Settling my eyes on the viewscreen at the front of the shuttle, I watched as the shape of a planet steadily grew larger. The two Asrai were at the helm, navigating and piloting the vessel in complete silence—a silence that was very much at odds with Aramon’s usual demeanor.

I made myself go over the plan in my head while I watched.

First, we had to figure out which of the many mining camps on the planet held the humans.

There was a small station orbiting the planet that monitored communications, traffic, and resources.

That’s what we were hitting first, take that out, and we’d delay any requests for aid.

It was also the most likely place for us to find out which post had received the ship with the humans onboard.

There was one mercenary on the shuttle, sitting close to the hatch and nearly directly across from me—who was going to gather the intel we needed.

He’d been introduced to me at one point, but I’d been too startled by his appearance to remember his name.

Instead of hair, his head was crowned with a mohawk of silky-looking feathers.

He had a big pack tucked between his legs at his feet, and several drones were humming softly as they hovered around his head.

His leg bounced up and down in agitation or excitement, and his focus was completely on the datapad he was holding in his gloved hands.

For a data expert, he absolutely looked the part, I could see cables dangling from one pocket on his chest and tools tucked into neat loops on his belt.

A cloak shrouded his shoulders, giving him an even more hunched appearance, unlike the rest of his colleagues, who all sat with ramrod-straight backs.

Curiosity meant I wanted to go out onto that little orbiting station along with the rest of them to see what they’d do.

I was smart enough not to take that risk; I’d stay on the shuttle when they took out the crew manning the station.

I was on the ship—I’d gotten my way—and now I needed to prove to Eoin and myself that I wasn’t an idiot.

I wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize my safety unless absolutely necessary.

My eyes went wide in shock when we got close enough to the planet to get a good look at it.

Mostly covered by land, it had only a few shimmering lakes dotting the surface.

Maybe green foliage was once abundant, but it didn’t look that way now.

What was even more shocking were the large poles that seemed to have been driven into the planet, as if a giant had tossed spears haphazardly at the globe, piercing it from every which way.

“Those are survey pikes,” Eoin said quietly.

“They’re launched from orbit by giant surveying vessels to help locate the best spots for mining.

These have been turned off, obsolete now that the posts themselves have been established.

” I couldn’t fathom the size of the ship that had launched these pikes.

To see them so clearly from orbit, they had to be miles long. It was mind-boggling.

“Get ready, crew,” the captain hissed. “Approaching station in three, two, one…” There was a thudding noise, the shuttle jolting.

My body was slammed into the straps of the jumpseat, and I was grateful I’d taken the moment to strap myself in.

Before the shuttle had even fully settled, males were leaping to their feet around me, clustering around the hatch in what looked like total chaos.

Then they seemed to resolve themselves into a neat formation, ready to disembark the moment the hatch opened.

Eoin was still next to me, on his feet but hovering nearby as if he were uncertain about what to say or do.

“Go. I’ll stay here; this isn’t my part of the mission.

” I gestured at the door, aware that he was as eager to go as the other mercs, I could see it on his face.

He was torn between wanting to stay with me to protect me and going with the mercenaries for some action.

“I’ll be safe. Go!” I said more firmly when he still hovered after the hatch had opened and the first mercs were already rushing from the ship.

He gave me a nod, his hand coming down to lift my chin for him, and despite the fact that I was still a little upset with him, I let him kiss me. He was jogging after the disembarking party, straight into the sound of laser gunfire.

Uneasy with the noise of the fight contrasting with the empty silence of the shuttle, I tilted my head to look at the mercs who had stayed behind.

The Asrai twins were at the front of the shuttle, but they’d turned around in their swivel seats to stare at me.

I was a little intimidated by the two pairs of red eyes glowing from their deathmasks in my direction.

My ears felt hot, and my skin was flushing.

“What?” I demanded. When the old me would have curled in on herself and bitten her tongue, I was proud of that progress.

Aramon shrugged. “I saw you shoot with that gun, you’re a decent shot. Why aren’t you out there fighting?” He scratched his chin with a sharp black talon, head tilted at an angle as he studied me without shame. His brother, Solear, made a tsking noise, shaking his head, but he didn’t comment.

“Because I don’t want to?” I said, eyeing the open hatch through which Eoin had left.

I could no longer hear the sound of fighting, and since I hadn’t seen the orbiting station when we approached it, I had no clue how big it was.

They’d said small, but how small were we talking?

I’d expected no more than a few rooms, something like the International Space Station. Clearly, it was much bigger than that.

“If you don’t want to, then why did you fight your mate so much about coming along?

You would be safer aboard Our Lady Vara,” Aramon said, full of confusion.

He didn’t understand any of it; it had never crossed the minds of any of these mercs what kind of mental state the humans we were rescuing would be in when we got there.

I had also never corrected them on their assumption that I was Eoin’s mate, which I knew was giving Eoin all kinds of ideas. Too late to start now.

When I opened my mouth to explain why I was there, I realized that my blush had faded and my nerves had steadied.

I was getting more used to this, I was doing it, growing, improving myself.

Now I just had to make sure that Eoin and I returned to Novalee in one piece, with the two rescued humans.

I was starting to believe that I really could do all this.