Page 58 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Hidden behind some of the tall stacks, I briefly wondered about the wisdom of this plan before giving in to temptation.

I unbuckled the leather kilt I wore and let it drop to the floor in a rush, shaking out my triple tail with some relief.

I was always careful, when in this form, to minimize the chance that someone saw my abnormality, uncomfortable though that was.

The loincloth I wore would stay on my body when I shifted into my skin-form; it was made from a stretchy, flexible material.

The leather skirt would fall off, so I figured I’d dress again afterward, once I’d managed to change my form.

Optimistic? Sure. A male had to be to get through these things.

I couldn’t let myself think about the pain to come when I tried this shift; if I did, I’d surely give up.

Trying to pep myself up, I had a habit of talking to myself sometimes, but it didn’t matter here in the privacy of the cargo bay. No words I spoke were going to make me feel better until I had at least tried to do this.

My ears swiveled at a small sound, and for a brief moment, I worried I wasn’t alone.

I had good hearing and tried to locate the source of the sound, but now I couldn’t hear a thing.

Was I so worried about being caught that I was imagining things?

Was my guilty conscience tricking me? Probably.

There was no one here—I had made sure to pick a moment when everyone would be in the mess hall.

I closed my eyes and focused on the familiar feeling of calling on a different form.

It should be easy—familiar. I’d done these kinds of shifts dozens of times a day, once upon a time.

It was instinct. It was! But not right now.

My body didn’t want to transform when I had more than one broken and still-healing bone.

The groan escaped my mouth, unwanted. Pain tingled across my nerves and spread all over my body as I fought to will my fur to retreat and my body to reshape.

My form remained unchanged until I snapped my eyes open and looked at my unbroken arm.

For a brief, elated moment, I thought I had done it when my face reshaped.

But the pain in my arm was too much—the broken arm wouldn’t change shape.

In defeat, I groaned, my body snapping back into my hybridform with a shiver.

Immediately, my fur stood on end—I hadn’t imagined it.

I wasn’t alone. My eyes focused on the broken stasis pod across from me and sharpened when I caught a slight flash of movement: the glimmer of a pair of pretty blue eyes.

A girl. A human girl. I swiveled my snout, sniffing the air experimentally.

It took effort to sift through the layers of scent that hung in the cargo bay: the metal of the crates, the dirt on the flooring, the dust, and the various foods stored.

But I caught it soon enough—a feminine scent, not the cleanest; there was sweat and dirt, a layer of fear.

Beneath it all, something uniquely human, something uniquely woman, and something uniquely her.

“Who are you?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound gentle. A Sune in hybridform was something to fear; we used this form for feats of strength and war. Many bars across the galaxy specified the form a Sune could use on the premises for exactly that reason.

My battered body didn’t do a lot of things well yet; being upright and walking around was still exhausting, for one.

Crouching or any other feat of agility was currently beyond me.

If I were to lower my body, my broken ribs wouldn’t let me get back up.

So, though I wanted to make myself smaller for this unknown woman—this stowaway—I stayed where I was and tried to simply look unassuming.

There was, of course, no reply, so I tried again: “I know you’re there.

Please, I’m not going to hurt you.” When the following silence lasted and lasted, I scolded myself.

Of course, a little human wasn’t going to come out for me—not when I was in this form.

I cursed my own inability to shift and tried to think of a way to convince her to come out.

Maybe I should get on my com and get Abigail down here.

The strong human female had a soft side to her that would probably convince this one in a moment.

She’d know what to say to put her at ease.

Something in me was reluctant to give up my find to anyone else just yet.

I wanted to know what I was dealing with.

I wanted to get another look at those big, blue, innocent eyes.

So I tried again, “I mean it. I was a slave before, but we freed ourselves and made this a safe place.” Shifting my body, I tried to find a more comfortable position for my battered ribs and leaned up against the unforgiving metal of the crates behind me.

“I bet you’re hungry and thirsty. Come out, and we’ll go to the mess hall.

Tori made something called pancakes this morning. It was really tasty.”

Nothing. I could still catch her scent, and my ears were fully pointed her way.

I’d have heard her if she’d tried to sneak away.

I was starting to doubt my own skills, though—had she managed to get out of the cargo bay undetected?

Holding still, I tried hard to focus on where I’d last seen her, to catch another sound.

There—a whisper of a breath, just the softest of sounds, but she was still there. I couldn’t help but feel relieved.

“I know I look frightening, but I swear I mean you no harm. You are safe, you are free, and you have choices.” I tried to think of things to say that would have helped me if I were in this situation.

Did this woman even know that the pirates were dead and gone?

When had she gotten aboard the ship? On Xio or before that?

“I can help you,” I said again, but I was starting to think this wasn’t going to work.

I was a little rusty when it came to my people skills; I had done nothing but fight and survive for the last five years.

But before that, I’d spent my time running, and putting a person at ease had been my go-to skill.

As a nomad, meeting new people and making them see you as a friend and not a threat had been an invaluable skill. It had often been a meal ticket too.

But this stubborn female was not getting any less scared. I could smell her fear, and if I shifted my body a little toward that dead stasis pod, it spiked. This was not the desired result; I needed to change my tactic.