Page 390 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

The word love struck me like an arrow, searing into my chest with an almost physical sensation.

Love, that’s what she felt for me. That was the word that described how I felt about her; that was right.

I opened my mouth to say it back, to tell her that she meant the same to me, and that what she wanted was the same desire I felt.

Only, a proximity alarm yanked my attention away.

“I think the Vagabond is arriving,” I said as I silenced the alarm and erased any sign of a ship from their scanners.

I couldn’t be sure if someone had been paying attention on the bridge, but if they had, they might think it was a glitch.

I flipped through the feeds available to me until I found those focused on the ship’s airlocks, quickly locating the one where a ship was docking.

It wasn’t big enough to be the Vagabond, but that was definitely Ziame stepping out of that airlock.

Relief shuddered through me, they had arrived.

This would be over soon, and I could finally take Jenny to a place that was truly safe: to the ship that felt more like home to me than any other place I’d been during my travels.

More like home than the Lacerten homeworld where I had been built.

“Oh, that’s good! We should get out of here,” Jenny said, starting to rise to her feet. My Liades on her hand wouldn’t let go, and for once, I didn’t fight that. I kept my arms around her waist and pinned her down in my lap.

“No, not until I tell you that I love you too,” I said to her, “and not until you properly answer my question.” I knew she said she didn’t need any of that, but now I wanted it.

I wanted the Earth custom to bind her to me, so it was real.

I knew this body felt a mating urge, but I had no information on what the Akilad did to cement that bond.

“I love you, Jenny. You’ve taught me what being alive is all about, and I want to keep learning by your side. ”

She smiled, her hand moving to press the fingers with my Liades to her breast; her heart.

“Then I’ll marry you, Akri. Earth-style.

But we can skip the minister, I doubt you’ll find one out here.

” She was probably right about that particular condition, but I’d figure it out. I was good at solving problems.

For the last minute since we’d been talking, a pair of enterprising Krektar had been using a laser cutter to try to breach the bulkhead blocking their path to us.

They were almost through, and it was time for me to consider our options for how to reach my brothers.

They had spread out across the Dart in pairs and were making short work of any resistance they encountered.

With the fighting skills Brake’s body possessed, it was probably time for me to join them.

This was going to be the end of the Crimelord, and I knew it would bring peace to my friends, to Ziame.

I searched the feeds for Drameil, a bad feeling rising in the pit of my stomach when I realized he was on the bridge.

“On the Vagabond,” I said, “We’ll arrange it.

And you can pick out quarters too, I haven’t done that yet.

” It hadn’t seemed important before; the whole ship was my home, not any particular room.

Privacy also wasn’t something I’d fully understood, not until Jenny—and the possessive feelings that came with her.

“Of course you hadn’t…” she laughed, and I was happy that she didn’t seem bothered by some of my weirdness. She always took everything I threw at her in stride. I was fairly certain, for example, that it was strange I hadn’t felt the need to claim my own space.

“Now, I’m going to open the doors and take care of a few of those guards.

After that, we’ll make our way to the others.

” I paused in letting her go and getting up myself when I caught sight of Ziame and Drameil confronting each other on the bridge.

“Oh, shit.” I realized immediately what had happened while I’d been more focused on Jenny.

I hadn’t considered that Drameil would still be a threat when all the gladiators were here.

My body trembled with the enormity of my screw-up. I should have locked him out of everything and erased codes, like that Alpha code of his. Calculating the distance from us to the nearest vessel with appropriate shielding made me collapse back against the wall. No! This wasn’t how it ended…

“What is it, Akri? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” Jenny gently asked me.

She cupped my face with her hands, raising my chin until I couldn’t do anything but look at her.

My mouth was dry. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her this horrible news.

I knew we weren’t going to make it, but most of my friends weren’t either.

They were too far away from safety, and it was my fault.

I should have seen this coming and done something.

Sunder’s voice reached us over the ship-wide intercom system, saving me from having to give Jenny the bad news. “Evacuate now. The ship is headed into the sun with no shields, and it will reach deadly radiation levels in three minutes.”