Page 75 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Now she’d maneuvered herself smartly right into a corner with her back against the wall so no one could sneak up on her.

With her gun, she could keep anyone out of the nav seat.

On impulse, I’d asked Chloe to try, so I was grateful when Sunder at least used his wing to block Diamed’s line of sight.

He was on the wrong side of me to block that sightline entirely to the nav-console, and the longer we hung here in orbit around the planet, the more likely it was they’d send up a military vessel to investigate.

Worse, Diamed tapped her free hand to the com on her wrist and started speaking.

We’d blocked her access to the ship com, which meant she had no long-distance way of communication; she couldn’t have warned Sune authorities in advance.

She hailed them now, though, as she was in range with her personal device.

It took her a while to get through to the right person; at least three or four times, she was patched to someone else.

Eventually, the inevitable happened—she found the right person.

“I’m bringing home a lost priest,” she said with a bright grin in my direction.

“I want a full pardon in return, you got that?” she demanded, and I heard the male voice on the other side confirm.

It wouldn’t take them long at all to get a vessel docked and drag me off it.

I felt the walls closing in around me, panic making it hard to breathe.

I couldn’t go back there; I couldn’t face being grounded for the rest of my miserable life, locked up in a monastery, forced to breed on command, or perform in their ceremonies.

When I escaped the first time, I should have cut off my extra tails; I cursed myself for being too much of a coward to go through with that drastic measure.

I snarled in anger at her and then eyed Chloe, who was just behind Sunder.

She’d used the large Tarkan’s body to inch her way closer, and Sunder had accommodated her by flaring out his other wing, too.

“What’s going on, Kitan?” Ziame asked in a low voice as we watched the Sune female like a hawk.

“She’s repatriating me to Sune, where I’ll be forced into priesthood again.

They won’t let me escape this time,” I hissed under my breath, my attention split between the female I hated most in the world right now and the one I cared for more than anything.

“I’m sorry, Chloe. The others will take care of you, don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.”

Diamed’s com informed her, loud enough for us to hear, that a ship was about to engage docking procedures.

She eyed us all with a triumphant smirk and then pointed her hand at Ziame.

“Ship-wide message, now. Tell everyone to back down and let the Sune Military board. If no one stands in their way, everyone gets to leave safe and sound.”

Except for me, I’d be dragged out of here under the pretext of utmost respect and locked up tighter than Drameil, our former owner, locked up his gold.

Fine, I’d go with them if that meant Chloe and the others could leave free and clear.

Though I felt my priesthood was a form of slavery on its own, the Sune government had strict rules about it and didn’t allow for gladiatorial fights.

They would not try to capture the others.

Ziame shifted his body, growling at the Sune female.

She was intimidated enough to shift into her own hybridform on reflex.

But Abby was right behind the big Lacerten male; he’d never risk his mate by letting a shot get off.

It was bound to go wrong, and none of the others were good enough with a ranged weapon to take out Diamed that way.

From what I’d learned, only Da’vi was a good shot, and his damaged hands made holding a gun impossible right now.

We could see the ship approach on the viewscreen, and briefly, I had the insane thought that the other gladiators could fight them off.

It was a tiny vessel, meant only for ship-to-surface travel.

It likely contained a small unit of soldiers and an officer, and that was it.

They wouldn’t stand a chance against my brothers, but…

not without people getting hurt, Chloe and the other females being at risk.

Fight the Sune army, and we’d really be on the run.

Chloe would have to do some serious navigating then, and she couldn’t; it would kill her.

“Do it,” I told Ziame in resignation. “I will come willingly as long as the others are free to go, and the ship gets fully stocked.” I didn’t know if they’d be willing to grant that kind of wish, but I figured I could at least try to get my brothers something out of this.

They’d lose their pilot and nav, but Ziame and Chloe should be able to get them out of here safely when there was no time pressure.

Diamed smirked in response, but then she shrugged and relayed my message to whoever she’d contacted with her com.

Ziame didn’t so easily comply; he made another growling sound and shook his big, horned head.

“We’re not just handing you over, Kitan.

” His green gaze dropped down to the three tails that were anxiously flicking back and forth behind my back. “They want you because of those?”

When I nodded, his eyes went sad. “I see. I thought true-shifter priesthood was an honor and a coveted position. I didn’t realize the truth.

” It was hard to remember sometimes that, though he was the biggest, strongest, and best fighter out of all of us, he was also the most educated.

Dipping down to speak softly in my ear, he said the thing I feared most: “We’ll figure out a way to free you. ”

“No!” I hissed back. “Your priority is Chloe; she needs her implants. Promise me, Ziame!” The male lifted his lips to display impressive fangs, which I knew could cause a venomous, deadly bite.

“Fine. Your female comes first.” He understood.

Of course, Abby was right there behind him, her hands on his tail, which was still curled around her middle.

The dark-skinned female held a worried, sad expression, and when Chloe managed to slide out from behind Sunder’s wing to my side, Abby reached out a hand as if meaning to hug her.

Chloe didn’t respond. She glared fiercely at Diamed, then stepped right underneath my arm and tucked herself into my side.

The full-body contact warmed me from my chilled toes to the tips of my frozen fingers.

More than anything, I needed to keep her safe, to see to her well-being, when soon they’d take me away.

While Ziame, in urgent, hushed tones, explained the situation over comms to our brothers, warning them to stand down and stay out of sight, I focused on the slight female now holding on to me. “You’ll be okay, Chloe,” I tried to assure her.

She frowned angrily. “You are not leaving me behind. I go where you go, Kitan.” The shock that went through me at those words was only outweighed by the sense of wonder that she’d feel so strongly.

Chloe had been aboard this ship for twelve years; it was the only home she knew, and she would leave it to come with me to a planet she knew nothing of?

For a brief moment, I allowed myself to feel joy at the gesture.

Then I felt the fear creep back. Shaking my head at her, I turned to face her.

At this point, it didn’t matter any longer that Diamed was holding a gun.

She wouldn’t shoot me, and we couldn’t win—the Sune ship had docked.

I slid my arms around her middle, shifting to resume my skin-clad form. “No, you can’t. You need to get the surgery. You need to let the doc put you in stasis soon…” No matter how much I wished she’d be with me down there, I knew she couldn’t risk herself that way.

She tilted her face up, her blue eyes luminous in her pale face, her chin jutting out stubbornly.

“I can’t let them take you!” None of them knew what was waiting for me down on the surface of my home planet, but it was clear they all understood it wasn’t any good.

Ziame knew the most; it appeared he had read enough about Sune culture to understand what kind of priest I’d been.

“It’ll be all right. You can come back for me after your surgery is successful.

Don’t worry.” I tried reassuring her, but she kept frowning at me like she knew I was full of shit.

There was no escaping a second time; they’d watch me like a hawk, and I’d only escaped the first time because, as a fifteen-year-old, I had been small enough to slip through the cracks—quite literally.

There was no time to talk more; the bridge doors opened, and a Sune officer stepped inside, flanked by two soldiers.

They were kitted out rather excessively in full body armor and already shifted into their hybridforms—they didn’t trust what they were walking into.

To prevent them from noticing Chloe and how close she was to me, I let go of her and stepped forward.

“I’ll come,” I told the officer, a white-furred specimen with an arrogant tilt to his head.

“Just make sure this ship gets fully stocked and has safe passage to leave.”

The male dipped into a polite bow, though both soldiers with him didn’t move and kept their watchful golden gazes on Sunder and Ziame.

The sight of that bow tied my stomach into knots, knowing it was a gesture of reverence and respect.

How hypocritical to pay me respect one moment while in the next deny me something as basic as freedom.

Raised like that, I’d had my taste of real freedom and the different kind of slavery that being a gladiator entailed.

I knew that I’d rather fight as a gladiator in Drameil’s stable than live on Sune as one of their ‘coveted’ priests.

Chloe clutched the back of my shirt, but I didn’t think the Sune soldiers could see that.

They sure weren’t bothering to pay attention to either Abby or Chloe, their guns and focus nearly entirely on what were clearly the true threats in the room.

“No, Kitan… please,” Chloe whispered behind my back, the pain in her voice heart-rending.

I didn’t want to leave her, but I’d rather leave and know she was safe than have her with me where she likely wouldn’t get the medical aid she needed.

I wished I could turn around and take her in my arms, press my lips to hers one last time.

.. but to do so would let the officer know Chloe was a means to leverage over me, and he wouldn’t hesitate to use it.

As if Diamed had a line straight to my innermost thoughts, the female lazily holstered her own gun and pointed at Chloe behind me.

“Officer, I suggest you take the little human too. He’s cooperating now, but that won’t last. As soon as his friends are in the clear, you’re going to have a huge fight on your hands.

If you have his mate, however…” She pointed again at Chloe, and while I probably should have played it cool, I couldn’t stop the angry growl that escaped me.

I would have lunged at Diamed, too, if not for Chloe holding the back of my shirt.

The traitorous female sidled away to duck behind the Sune soldiers, while the officer gave her a tight nod before settling his golden gaze back on me.

“I am Officer Ga’tera. Esteemed Priest Kitan and esteemed mate, we’ll be escorting you back to Suleantra Monastery.

” He stepped to the side and gestured for Chloe and me to head down the corridor.

Lining the sides of the walls were four more kitted-out soldiers in their hybridforms. Diamed was already strutting between them, eyeing them up with avid interest in her gaze.

“Now wait a minute!” Abigail demanded, finally managing to step partially around Ziame’s wide back so she could go head-to-head with Officer Ga’tera.

“We don’t agree with you just taking Kitan, but I recognize that at least he’s Sune.

However, for you to take a human woman just like that? You have no right to do that!”

The Officer’s eyes flashed as he met Abby’s confrontational words with some of his own. “We can; she is his mate, therefore she falls under Sune jurisdiction.”

I would, at that point, have denied Chloe as my mate.

I mean, technically, she wasn’t—we hadn’t made any promises.

But it sure felt like she was, and thus, it felt wrong to say.

My tiny bit of hesitation meant Chloe was quicker when she clearly and loudly spoke out, “I’m coming.

Don’t worry about me, Abigail; my place is at Kitan’s side. ”

She was going to die. With no access to a ship to navigate, she lost the feedback she needed, and the Doc had warned us that, regardless of what happened, she’d last no more than a month out of stasis before the ports would degrade catastrophically.

I spun, heedless of how this made the soldiers twitch and aim their guns my way.

“No, Chloe, no… You can’t!” I grabbed her shoulders and dipped my head as I tried to make her see my fear, my worry for her, in my eyes.

The officer had moved closer, almost right next to me, and with a low growl, told me she was coming—he was not leaving my mate behind.

His sudden nearness had me shifting into hybridform in a flash, aggression stamped into my every move.

I was bigger than any of them, with a more solid mass and the ability to shift like quicksilver.

They knew it; I knew it. When I faced the white-furred Officer Ga’tera, he flinched back a step before his shoulders puffed up and a snarl curled his lips, trying to make up for his instinctive reaction.

“She comes, or all of them come,” he growled.

For the first time since I’d run away from Sune, I could move my tails freely—without worry of discovery—because we were way past that station now.

So I lashed the three plumes wildly behind me, making sure the soldiers took them in and recognized my differences.

Baring my teeth at the officer, I said in my meanest gladiator-trained snarl, “If she is harmed—if even a single hair on her head is touched—I will unleash vengeance on you like nothing you can imagine.” I had the satisfaction of seeing the white male back up another step under my intimidation.

After that, though I wished it were anything but this, I took Chloe under my arm and led her off the bridge. “Thank you, Ziame, Sunder, and thank you, Abby. Let the others know I wish them only the best. Have good lives, all of you.”