Page 35 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

“That is a good plan. I will try to time the uprising for that moment.” The first day, I’d spent about an hour in the medical bay; today had been double that, because now Tori was there.

That gave him a fairly large window—at least, unless the doctor changed the schedule and brought us to his medical room in the afternoon instead.

When the lights went out, we huddled next to each other on the cot, and my body twinged with memories from that morning.

I shoved them aside; we had far more important things to worry about right now.

Ziame pulled the scalpel out of its hiding place.

“It’s time,” he whispered, and he wrapped my fingers around the blade, bringing it up to his throat. “You can do this, Abigail.”

I couldn’t see anything now, but I knew it needed to be done, so I climbed to my knees.

Before I could change my mind, I leaned up and tugged on one of his big horns to bring his head closer.

Then I nuzzled his cheek and pressed a kiss to the side of his fanged mouth.

“For luck,” I said, and I could feel the corner of that mouth turn up in a smile.

Then he leaned in and nuzzled the side of my face, rubbing a little more firmly against my temple. “For luck,” he whispered back.

We settled into position, and I tried not to hesitate as I let Ziame help me slide the knife into the seam on the control box of his collar. As soon as it was in between the casing and the lid, I could sense how Ziame stiffened; his hand around mine twitched. Shit! He was already getting shocked!

I forced myself to focus as I pressed the blade a little deeper, leaning my other hand on his shoulder for leverage. The lid popped off with a clack and fell onto the bed between our knees.

I didn’t wait, just swished the small blade through the inside of the casing, twisting it around for good measure until I felt Ziame lose his tension. “Well done!” he whispered huskily, but I could hear a faint tremble in his tone. That had hurt—a lot—and he hadn’t made a sound.

Taking the blade from my suddenly nerveless fingers, he placed it on the floor at our side and then tucked me into his arms, stroking my back.

His tail curled around to twirl around one ankle, anchoring me to him in every way possible.

“It’s over. You did great, little female,” he said, and I soaked in his reassurance.

“I’m so glad that worked!” I murmured. “I don’t know what I’d have done if I had to try that a second time.

I’m so sorry that hurt you,” I told him with heartfelt sincerity.

I hated these collars; I was terrified of the one around my own neck.

I couldn’t believe how strong he was to bear the pain that thing inflicted so calmly.

Ziame just rocked me for a while, and at some point, I realized that it was comforting to him too, to hold me close. He was rubbing his head on top of mine, in my curls, a contented sigh leaving his lungs. “I’d gladly go through that again and again if it meant freedom, little one.”

Of course, this was about freedom, and he’d been a slave far longer than I had. Three days didn’t compare to three years at all. Knowing that, I clutched him a little tighter for a long moment, returning his back-stroking with some petting of my own.

Then the silence was suddenly pierced by a voice, high and sweet, it soared in song. I didn’t know what song Tori was singing, but the lyrics were poignant, singing of freedom, hopes, and dreams. She hadn’t been kidding when she said she was a singer, the girl had talent.

When the song was finished, there was a hushed sound to the cellblock, and then the sound of stomping feet.

I realized that Ziame, too, was stomping a foot on the metal flooring, alien applause, it seemed.

I half expected Tori to pick up another song, but when the alien applause died down, I heard her soft sobbing, and I just knew she was crying for all she’d lost.

Eventually, Ziame told me to lie down on the cot.

He still needed to do some work on the collar to make sure it looked like it still functioned.

For warmth, he sat with his back against the edge, his tail curled around my body.

I listened to the quiet sounds of his tinkering.

Occasionally, we whispered about our lives pre-kidnapping.

I learned that the Lacerten, his species, were highly advanced but very peace-loving, and they had hidden their planet from the rest of the universe.

Sometimes, males like him went out to explore the universe, but generally, nobody left home.

He’d been taken on his exploration mission, and they’d never discovered his cloaked and hidden ship; instead, they had assumed he was a barbaric creature incapable of speech.

He told me with a laugh that it was probably because they’d caught him while he’d been sunbathing naked.

He claimed it was because he’d taken a swim in a pretty lake he’d found on the planet he’d been researching.

There was an amused twinkle in his green eyes that I could see even in the dark.

If they’d seen him wearing clothes, they’d probably have known he was sentient, but as he’d been naked…

I kinda could see why they had assumed that he was not.

In return, I told him about my boring life as a bank teller on Earth and how my parents had had me late in life, and they’d both already died of old age.

I had no close family left to yearn to return to, not like poor Tori.

I surmised I was probably taken right after work from the parking lot, mostly because of the rubber bands and the way I was dressed.

At some point, I fell asleep because I woke curled up on Ziame’s chest again, his big hands covering my back and his tail curled around a leg.

Sighing, I snuggled a little closer, tucking my cold nose into his throat and chuckling when that caused him to shiver.

“Oops! Morning, Ziame,” I said with a grin, and he made an adorably grumbling noise while pressing me closer.

I was disappointed that we didn’t have time to cuddle more, to repeat what we’d shared yesterday, but it was just as well. The idea of being interrupted by the Krektar was extremely off-putting. If our escape was successful, we’d have all the time and privacy in the world. Much better.

Soon, we were up, straightening my clothing and surreptitiously checking Ziame’s work on the collar in a little more light.

I couldn’t really tell the difference from before, maybe there were a few scratches on the casing, but nothing very noticeable.

The three little lights that always blinked red were still glowing, so he’d somehow gotten it to work.

A look at Sunder, who stood at the front of his own cell, showed me that it looked identical to his collar.

The two males exchanged a look, and when Ziame nodded, I realized that the gargoyle male knew about our tampering with the collar. Okay, that was good, right? If my green guy trusted that scary-looking gargoyle to know our plan, that meant he’d have sufficient backup out there today.

I felt like a nervous wreck when the guards came and escorted the males to the gym.

The next time I saw Ziame, we’d hopefully be free—but what if he didn’t make it?

What if he got killed in this uprising? I hadn’t even thought about that until now, which was stupid.

Of course, the Krektar would shoot to kill if their lives were at stake and the collar didn’t work.

So, regardless of who could see, I grabbed Ziame’s hand and yanked him close, pressing a kiss to the side of his mouth. “For luck!” I whispered, and in return, he nuzzled the side of my face and murmured the words back at me. Then he was gone.

When I started nervously pacing while Tori and I waited for our escort to the medical bay, even Tori seemed to get agitated. “You’re nervous,” the young woman said quietly, a deep flush rising on her sharp cheekbones.

I paused in my pacing to nod her way. “Yes, I want to get to the Doc. It’s cold here,” I said, not wanting to make her nervous as well. For effect, I curled my arms more tightly around my middle, as if trying to hold in my own warmth.

While I was just shy of thirty, poor Tori was barely twenty-two, and she was taking this whole kidnapping thing far harder than I was.

Of course, I hadn’t woken up seven months pregnant, so I didn’t know what my mental state would be like if that had happened to me.

Unlike Tori, I also had a dead-end job; she had a promising start to a career on the stages of Broadway.

It felt like Thonklad was later than normal, but maybe it just appeared that way because I was so anxious for this to be done with.

There wasn’t any way to tell the time, and I wanted to do something, I wanted it to start.

It was hard not really being an active part of this escape; I was just on the sidelines, and I wouldn’t even have a view.

I wouldn’t know how it went until Ziame reached me in the medical bay.

The Krektar gestured at Tori anxiously, urging her to keep her distance from him, but he didn’t try to leave her behind again. As we exited the cellblock, I followed my routine, working on memorizing the code he typed into the panel to open the door, even though I likely wouldn’t need it at all.

The doctor greeted us cheerily and waved at Thonklad as the guard simply settled outside the door. Then we were inside, and Luka was helping Tori sit down on the medical cot, which was just a tad high off the ground for her.

Yesterday, we’d all realized that Tori didn’t have a pain collar on, but for the life of us, we hadn’t figured out how that could help us escape.

Tori was in no shape to traipse through the halls for some sabotage, let alone assist in the fighting.

Never mind that the poor girl was super timid and shy, and barely spoke two words at all around Luka.

As I was too restless to sit, I paced around the area, and Luka picked up on my tension immediately. “It’s happening today?” he asked, and I nodded while swallowing roughly to get some moisture back in my mouth.

“We’re later this morning than yesterday, aren’t we?” I asked, worried that the timing was going to be all wrong. Ziame was going to wait two hours before starting the revolt.

Luka shook his head. “No, a little earlier, actually. I was worried about you two. I felt like you’d be safer here with me.

” I didn’t say anything in return and simply nodded when Luka asked if that was okay.

If we were here earlier, the timing was definitely wrong.

We’d be back in the cells before it started…

and there was nothing I could do to warn Ziame.

The Doc focused on his patient, ignoring me.

Instead, he scanned Tori’s belly again and confirmed what we’d discovered yesterday: the baby was a girl, and she wasn’t human.

Tori had cried when the doctor told her, but then she’d tearfully asked if that meant she’d been raped while she’d been out or if she’d simply not remembered.

I felt sick at the thought of something like that happening while she was unaware, and I could see how this had shaken her.

Luka shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. I think, given the genetic makeup of the child, that its likely conception was done in a petri dish.” Tori nodded as if that made it better, then lapsed into complete, almost catatonic silence for the next interminable hour.

When the door suddenly opened, my heart leaped into my throat. Was that Ziame? But no—it was a Krektar who barged into the room. “What’s taking so damn long?” he demanded of Luka, Thonklad looking anxiously into the room over the shoulder of the newcomer.

“I was just finishing up with the first female Uru,” the doctor said, and he gestured at Tori, who was still perched on the edge of the medical cot. I understood why he said that—he hoped to buy us another hour—but I cringed inwardly, already predicting just what the Krektar was going to say.

“You finished only one of the girls?” Uru said suspiciously and gazed at where I was frozen mid-pace on the left side of the room. This one had more pronounced tusks and shrewd eyes, and I felt like he was seeing straight through the ruse.

“Of course. I’ve been working on trying to find a cure for her illness,” Luka said smoothly and pointed at Tori. “You don’t want to catch what she has and die, do you?”

The two Krektar both cringed, but Uru haughtily ordered Thonklad to escort Tori back to her cell now that the doc was done with her. Then he looked at me again. “And why do you need her?”

The Doc had an explanation for that, too, thankfully. “She’s not pregnant yet. I need to tweak the fertility drugs.” I was grateful right then that my skin precluded me from blushing—at least visibly—because I could feel the heat rise in my face.

Uru snorted and gazed at me with a lewd sneer.

“Is he sticking it in the right hole at least?” I flinched at his crudeness and then managed a timid nod, which made both Krektar laugh.

My skin heated as I remembered that he’d known exactly where to touch me, only he’d been using his tail rather than that massive cock.

Uru settled to lean against a nearby wall, and Thonklad shook off his dismay at having to escort the possibly contagious Tori back to the cells.

I hated this, but I couldn’t do a thing to stop it.

There was nothing I could say that would sway them; I just had to believe that she’d be safe alone in her cell as much as I was safe in the med bay with the doctor.

Even if we now had a guard inside the room.