Page 350 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Jakar

She had said it. She loved me. No matter what was about to happen next, I could die happy knowing that.

My fierce warrior mate was perched on the balls of her feet in front of me, her fists tight at her sides while we waited to see who had arrived.

Reaching out, I took her nearest fist in one hand and gently refolded the fingers so her thumb was on the outside, protecting the digit from breaking should she have to fight.

Her head tilted to shoot me a quick look, but I saw her refold her other fist without prompting; catching on immediately.

I wasn’t nearly as capable of assuming a fighting stance, so I settled for draping myself against the nearest wall.

With my feet tucked underneath me, I hoped I could launch at my opponent when needed.

I’d distract whoever it was to give Meena a chance to turn the tables; I knew she could do it.

There was no sound of footsteps, just—suddenly—a shadow standing in front of our cell, blocking out the meager light coming in from the open door.

Then something shifted, and I saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes, very similar to my own; a fanged grin; and a hint of white at the top of the head.

“Fierce? What the fuck are you doing here?” I demanded, shocked at the sudden appearance of my brother and one of my closest friends.

The male grinned but didn’t reply, reaching for the door to jam a knife crudely between the edge and the electronic lock.

“I figured you could use the backup,” he said calmly as the door popped open.

“But you could use a bit of time alone, too, so I followed at a distance.” He jerked his chin in Meena’s direction, letting me know that he’d stayed away to give me time with her.

She scowled, crossing her arms over her chest, shooting a look from me to my brother with that angry little frown on her face.

Oh boy, it seemed she didn’t appreciate Fierce’s scheming, even if I could have kissed him right now for his timely rescue.

“Well, thanks, let’s get out of here, shall we?

” I tried for a cheerful grin myself to match the one on my brother’s face; I was afraid it mostly came across as tired, because both of them gave me a worried look.

Meena, slight as she was, tucked herself beneath my lower arm, trying to help me lift my weight as we shuffled out of the cell.

Fierce didn’t offer any assistance. He had already returned to the doorway, moving silently and blending against the wall, almost invisible to my eyes.

“Huh,” Meena said when she noticed it. “So I hadn’t been imagining eyes on me. Handy trick, I guess, bit creepy…”

I saw the flash of Fierce’s fangs and the bone ridge on his skull, shaped in what Hina called his “mohawk.” Supposedly, his jaw muscles were so powerful that he needed that extra ridge for better muscle attachment; otherwise, they’d tear from the force.

All I knew was: don’t get your fingers near his mouth, or you’d lose them.

“This way. I’ve been in contact with the Vagabond.

They say they can’t board this ship until it’s out of Kertinal space, so we need to lie low.

” Fierce scowled as he led us away from the cell block in the bowels of the ship.

It was obvious he didn’t understand why our friends couldn’t just rescue us, but I knew—because I’d heard that jackass mention a diplomat.

I scowled back at my brother—for different reasons, but pissed off all the same.

If Fierce had known our location well enough to smuggle himself aboard this ship, he had probably tried to call the authorities down on them there and been rebuffed.

Fucking politics. Whoever this ship belonged to, they had diplomatic status, and the Kertinal Military wasn’t going to do jack shit to help us out here.

The fact that they’d warned the Vagabond not to board this ship until it was out of Kertinal space…

that meant they’d even try to stop our friends from helping us if they did.

Angry at the situation, I felt the rush of blood through my body, energy returning to my numb limbs.

Yeah, that helped get me back in the game.

Get me angry, and I was all ready to go.

My mind flashed to the Kertinal, Dar’kol, and that stuck-up rich guy, Firxyrran.

They wanted to hurt my mate? Not on my watch.

We were getting out of here—with Fierce to help us—with our successful breakout to start with… The tables had definitely turned. I’d take my vengeance on that sicko first, and then I’d take my time with the Kertinal murderer, letting him know that I could beat him even when I was injured like this.

Fierce knew where he was headed, jogging with purpose down one hallway after another, his sharp ears probably hearing things I couldn’t even imagine right now.

Shifting my arm from around Meena, I folded one around her small fingers to keep contact, increasing our pace to keep up with my brother’s long strides now that I was feeling a little more energetic again.

Of course, that was the moment when our sudden good luck turned.

Fierce turned a corner and then staggered back from a hard blow to the jaw he hadn’t seen coming and, evidently, hadn’t heard either.

“I knew I had a stowaway!” Dar’kol said triumphantly, following Fierce with a gun leveled at my friend’s chest. The big Kertinal looked furious—and decked out in weapons this time.

He hadn’t seen Meena and me yet, his focus on Fierce, but that wouldn’t last more than a second.

Leaping without thinking, I tackled the male into the nearest wall.

I curled one hand around the wrist holding the weapon and slammed it into the metal panel as hard as I could, so he dropped it.

Snarling in his face, I made sure he knew it was me, and then I headbutted him in the nose, the sound of crunching bone and cartilage echoing in the hallway.

Dropping like a ton of bricks, the male didn’t move again, lying in an ungainly heap at my feet.

Meena gasped, rushing around my side to drop to her knees next to the asshole, almost as if she were concerned for him.

“Bastard had my knife!” she said indignantly, and she started yanking the knife and sheath free from his hip—the one I’d crafted for her.

My chest filled with warmth that she liked the gift so much.

I knew it had been a good choice; I’d seen her shuffle around with a knife in her coat pocket far too often.

“Okay, that’s not good,” Fierce said behind me, a bruise blooming in deep purple along his jaw.

I didn’t think he was talking about that, and, following his line of sight, he was eyeing the cluster of green-clad males standing at the end of the corridor, gaping at us.

They were surprised to see us, so whatever their boss had been up to, he hadn’t warned anyone.

Sadly, they didn’t hesitate to level their rifles our way, despite their shock at our presence.

“Go, hide,” I hissed at Fierce, while I urged Meena to back away.

I could see the wheels turning in my brother’s head, but we stood a better chance if he ran and tried to free us a second time.

His skin shimmered a little, and then he was just…

not there… Only if I looked really hard could I still see the outline of his leather kilt.

Then he darted off, and I instantly lost track of him.

Covering my mate with my body, I made sure they couldn’t hit her should they decide to start shooting.

Backing away wasn’t enough—more of them were coming from the other direction now.

At least Meena and I knew we just had to stall, and I’d gotten in a good hit on that bastard. Too bad he wasn’t dead yet.

We found ourselves being escorted through the ship, which was probably bigger than the Vagabond, considering the many turns we took before we arrived at our destination.

Things had gotten progressively more decked out with fancy decorations and obvious signs of wealth, like carpet and gold trim.

Art lined the walls that were otherwise just functional corridors, and once, we walked past an open doorway with hot steam wafting out. Some kind of spa area.

At least nobody had taken the knife back from Meena, and she’d been smart enough to tuck it into her pants beneath her shirt, out of sight.

With the tip of a rifle poking me in the small of my back, I only dared to drag my feet so much until we reached wherever it was they were taking us.

I hoped the rich asshole wasn’t going to just shoot us with his pistol, but if he had plans like that, I felt confident I could stall him.

Maybe he’d be interested in watching me fight Dar’kol, punish the male for failing him, again. I’d be down for that.

The room they escorted us to was probably a lounge, but the seating was all arranged to face one couch-like thing on a raised platform.

This was, for all intents and purposes, a throne room.

How freaking conceited could a male get?

How was it fair that he was still embraced by his own kind, while a good male like Thorin had been banished?

I wanted to get up there and pummel the guy for that injustice alone, not to mention the sick things he wanted my female for.

When the Vagabond got here, I had some business to take care of.

I didn’t care if that meant outlawing myself on a few planets in the process.

One look at Meena told me it was more than worth it.

She was pale, with a grim look on her face.

She didn’t look scared, exactly; mostly, she looked as angry as I felt, but all of this was taking a toll on her. I didn’t like it.

The bastard who’d caused all of this was draped casually on his ‘throne,’ completely unrepentant for the lives he was trying to destroy.

From the vials and flasks openly visible on the table next to him, I could tell he was a drug user too, and he wasn’t hiding it, not from his guards or from us.

His green eyes were wide open, glinting with greed as they escorted us in, tweaking out of his mind.

I hoped I could use that to our advantage, but it would make him even more unpredictable.

He didn’t get up, just watched us for a while. The guards had moved us to a spot right in front of him, but far enough away that I couldn’t just reach out and grab the guy. Pity, with him as my hostage, they wouldn’t dare to shoot us.

“So, you escaped, almost…” he said eventually, his eyes not even on Meena yet.

He was focusing on the damaged pain collar around my neck, the wires visibly broken since the cover of the electronic little box was gone.

“You’re a tough one, going through all that pain to get free.

” He was contemplating his options, thinking about what that meant for him to own a gladiator like that.

Was I worth the trouble to keep? Would I make him money on the sands?

He had to know, too, that I was once owned by Drameil.

He risked crossing the Crimelord if he kept me.

“That your mate?” he asked, jerking his chin in Meena’s direction.

She was partially behind me, but I was sure she wasn’t hiding; she was blocking the male’s view of the knife she held.

To him, the way we stood obviously meant I was protective of my female—which I was—but I also knew what her strengths were.

Not answering him, I just kept glaring at his face, hating how beautiful and even each of his features was.

How he was dripping with wealth that he so abused, when he could have been doing good with it.

The male frowned at my disobedience, but then the greed was back, his eyes going over my body with what was almost a hint of desire.

I felt dirty from the way he ogled me, appraising my strengths and weaknesses like I was nothing but meat to him—something he could use.

It wasn’t a new feeling; I could handle this.

I could handle this, knowing my brothers weren’t far away, ready to retrieve us from this shithole.

“Sir Firxyrran, we’ve found the other one,” a male voice announced.

I jerked my head around at that moment, worry rushing through me at the sight of Fierce being dragged into the room by his arms. He was out cold, and blood coated his nose and the bottom half of his face.

While unconscious like this, his skin was blue with subtle color variations all over.

He hung completely limp between the two guards, and both males—Asrai, by the looks of them—were struggling to carry him in.

Yeah, Fierce was nearly seven feet tall. He was a heavy fucker.

“Oh no,” Meena whispered, horror on her face at the sight of Fierce, bloody and beaten. They threw him to the ground at our feet, his skull bouncing on the deck. At least the thick, luscious carpet covered it. Cream, though, tough to get the bloodstains out.

“Yeah, you thought you were getting out of here, didn’t you?

” the Elrohirian little lord grinned gleefully.

He was finally moving, gracefully getting up from his soft pillows to stand over us on the edge of the dais.

He looked smug, but I had faith in my brothers.

Fierce said he’d warned them they’d be here, even if Fierce couldn’t help right now.

I shrugged with my upper shoulders, grinning when that made the male narrow his eyes at me in anger.

He didn’t like it when he didn’t get the response he was hoping for.

His hand dropped to his belt beneath the silk robe he was still wearing, touching that little gun of his.

When his eyes swung from me to my mate, I knew I had to offer up something—fast. “I want payback,” I said.

“Let me fight that asshole who caught us.”