Page 4 of Stone Awakened

The female was getting under my skin, a feat, since it was rock-hard. I didn’t like how I’d responded to her presence the moment I’d laid eyes on her. She was here, willingly, to train slave kids to be gladiators. She was a vile creature, so I shouldn’t be feeling this attraction to her. But there were little tidbits of information that I’d gleaned while watching her with the boys the past few days that seemed to indicate otherwise.

Crumbs of food she’d wiped off Jett’s face, proving that she’d given him food when he wasn’t allowed to eat until after the first round of exercises. The fact that she always stood protectively in front of them if she felt there was a threat. She never raised her voice, she never spoke down to them, she never raised a hand. As far as trainers at facilities such as this went, she was the nicest, kindest one I’d ever seen. All she did was that stone-cold glare, and it was leveled my way most of the time.

Then there was the fact that Jett actually seemed to like her, but I knew how that went, I had liked some of my trainers too. That didn’t mean they were good people. Kids had to cling to someone, something, in a bad situation like this. That was all it was, no need to feel jealous that Jett had bonded with someone else while I was gone.

The black wooden door of the head guard came into sight, but I froze in place, really thinking this through. The Roka smoke was bad for the kids, and it affected Aggy, but it incapacitated the guard. This could actually be a good thing.

Quickly, I calculated the time it would still take for the Vagabond to get here. Was it worth the risk? I could mitigate some of the smoke with my wings, blowing it out of the courtyard the moment Uron passed out. Yes, it was definitely to our advantage. Letting my emotions rule me was always a bad idea, it had made me stalk off in anger without contemplating what it meant. Emotions had made me want to kiss Miss Munster, I still felt desire coil through my body at the thought of her being receptive to me.

Spinning around, I made my way back to the practice courtyard. I forced my thoughts away from the tempting memory of Aggy’s rounded breasts pressing against the fabric of her dress. Just a little step closer and I would have felt those pressed against my chest. The thought struck me that in my peace-form, I would have been better able to experience that sensation, but I knew it was impossible.

On cue, the skin on my back prickled. A stripe down between my shoulder blades, across my spine, left behind an itch I knew I shouldn’t scratch. I would deal with this issue once I had Jett, and Amar, safely aboard the Vagabond. I’d go see the Doc, and he’d help me alleviate the damn symptoms, not that it would help much.

Stepping into the courtyard, I glared at Uron where he sprawled on the bench, senseless to the world. I loathed people like that, but I’d tolerate his presence if it meant we could escape more easily. When I turned to look at Aggy and the kids I realized that she was hurriedly trying to get the boys to their feet and back to their routines. It was easy to pick up the clues, the scattered stones that I’d played many a game with to entertain Jett, and the beaming smiles on the boys’ faces. She hadn’t been training them, they’d been playing games.

My curiosity was now fully peaked, I tilted my head to appraise the female as she tried to cover up their activities. It likely would have worked with any other guard, they wouldn’t have cared, and they wouldn’t expect anything. I was trained to observe and my twenty years as a gladiator had only honed that skill.

Miss Munster was not at all what she was pretending to be. I wasn’t sure if that meant she was going to be a hindrance or a help, but it certainly eased my guilt over finding her attractive. The impulsive thought struck me that I should visit her tonight, maybe she’d be receptive to my attentions even without the Roka smoke. I shoved the thought aside, no, there was no time for that, not when Jett was still wearing a damn pain-collar.

“Carry on,” I said, waving my hand at them. Then I turned my attention to the spilled Roka bottle, picking it up between a thumb and pointer finger with some disgust. I hurried to dispose of it in a sensible manner and then returned to the boys to settle into a low-key, training routine that was both fun and educational.

Less worried that the female would rat me out on being nice to the boys, I went easy on them as long as Uron was out. Turning the session more into play than training, always carefully watching to make sure that neither boy overdid it. I wasn’t going to cause harm to their still-growing bodies, a little harder to gauge when I was a little uncertain as to what exactly blue little Amar was. I had a feeling he was the same species as some of the blue alien females rescued on Aderia when I helped to liberate Luka and his mate, but that was the extent of my knowledge.

Uron didn’t rouse from his stupor until late in the afternoon, which was when I backed off after a squeeze to Jett’s shoulder. I left Aggy to fill the rest of the boys’ afternoon, taking note of every glance of confusion she sent my way. Yeah, that’s how I felt about her too. I wished I could talk with Akri, the Vagabond’s advanced AI. Working with the AI I might have been able to ferret out who she really was.

I watched Aggy herd the boys out of the courtyard at the end of the day with a pang, wishing I could go after them. I had missed Jett so badly, worrying each night for his survival. He’d been at my side for the past five years, sleeping on my cot with me, filling my cell with laughter. Tori and her baby girl had filled some of that terrible void when I took them under my wing on the Vagabond, but always, always, my heart had been with my little boy.

Now, the female was the one tucking him into bed, and I couldn’t risk visiting them at night. Jett knew, he was so smart that he understood why I couldn’t. But I still ached at being unable to hold him in my arms, to comfort him when he needed it, to soothe his fears.

“I saw you, you know,” Uron said from behind me. I turned, expecting the worst when I spotted the groggy, drugged-out, leer on his face. “Cozying up to the human female, was she hot for you? You ugly bastard? Think I got a chance with her too?” He patted his groin, “She’ll like what I’m packing.”

My hand was around the bastard’s thick neck, slamming him into the nearest wall, “Shut up you sick fuck, she’s mine!” He made a hoarse, huffing noise, as close as a Rummicaron got to outright laughing. His black eyes gleamed, his gray skin clammy and hot beneath my palm, signs that the Roka was still affecting him.

“I see how it is, you don’t share your toys huh?” he mocked. I felt the rush of adrenaline in my system, realized how impulsively I had acted, and instantly worried that I’d overplayed my hand. The male however made another laughing, huffing noise when I released his huge neck and let him go. “Well, just let me know when you’re done with her, didn’t think the stuck-up bitch would spread em’ for anyone.”

I raged internally at the crude words, at the disrespect for the female, but I said nothing. Giving Uron a cold look, I shrugged, “Whatever.” Stalking away I hoped that this posturing about the human was enough to keep her safe and that she wouldn’t mind should she find out. I knew from Camila, the mate of one of my brothers, that Earth females didn’t much appreciate being claimed by a male, they liked their independence.

Then I had to scoff at myself, as if it mattered, this female might be kind to her wards, but she was still here willingly to train young kids to be gladiators. I shouldn’t worry about her safety, or think about her pert breasts, even if they were very pretty breasts. An image of her soulful, dark brown eyes flashed through my mind, even her damn eyes were pretty.

I managed to get through the rest of the evening routine with no more altercations, except one that ensured my position here. Sharing the late meal with dozens of other guards all posturing to gain position, I knew that game well and excelled at it. It wasn’t until after several rounds of gambling games, where I made sure to win and lose in equal measure, that I could finally slip away.

I stepped out of the barracks inside the heavily walled and fortified compound that made up this extravagant home. The last intel had told me this place was still owned by Drameil, but the word here was that another crimelord had snatched it from his hands and shifted the oldest of the trainee gladiators to a new location. It didn’t matter, because I’d managed to assure myself that Jett was still here. Though my heart went out to those other boys, there was nothing I could personally do for them.

Spreading my wings, I took off into the cool night sky, winging my way over the wall and into the forest that surrounded this place. The air was damp with fog, which clung to my skin, and swirled like playful wisps in the currents my wings created with each steady beat. I climbed at first, angling towards the glowing moons high above, it felt good to stretch my body this way, to truly fly. A spaceship simply didn’t have the space for it.

Curling my body, I send myself into a tight corkscrew spiral, rapidly descending to a clearing in the forest. The thrill heated my body and made my heart race. I loved this, but I loved living aboard the Vagabond too, especially when I could have Jett at my side again.

Spreading my wings at the last moment, I braked and landed in a deep crouch on the spongy wet moss. I sank my claws deep into the ground, enjoying the clean, fresh feel of the place. I needed a breather, to clean my senses of the disgusting males that guarded this palace. The horrible practices that went on behind the scenes here.

A few cleansing breaths later, I dug my com device out of the pouch on my belt and engaged the encrypted channel Akri and I had set up. It took a few seconds for the call to connect, but then Kitan’s cheerful voice came through loud and clear. “Sunder, my brother, are you ready to call in the cavalry yet?”

I laughed, happy to hear the young male’s exuberant enthusiasm. “Not yet Kitan, I haven’t got the codes yet to get you landing access.” The Sune male made a scoffing noise, indicating what he thought of landing codes. Though he was an amazing pilot, who probably could, to some degree, outfly a planetary defense system, I wasn’t going to let my brothers risk it.

“Any other news?” Kitan asked, “We’re still on our way to your position and should be closing in within a couple of days.” I contemplated what to say about the human female, should I sate this curiosity I had about her? In the end, I decided that I should have Akri dig up what he could on her, maybe together with Thorin if necessary.

“There’s a human woman here,” I said, and Kitan promptly interrupted what I meant to say next when he made a low growling noise. I understood where that was coming from, most humans in the Zeta Quadrant, the part of space that we were in, were not free people. With a human mate, Chloe, who he was extremely protective of, it made sense that Kitan leaped to this conclusion first.

“She’s a free agent, she works here willingly to train the gladiator younglings,” I hurried to say. “Akri, I need you to dig up what information you can on her, she is called Agatha Munster.” I needed to arm myself with all the knowledge I could get because she was far too tempting to stay away from otherwise. I hadn’t felt this kind of attraction in more than a dozen years, I was pretty sure I was too old to fall in lust like this. Apparently not.