Unknotted

Truths and Surrender

Rokan

Hurtling through a portal without the protection of a capsule was terrifying to say the least. My world filled with blinding white light. Energy crackled across my skin. Raised the fine hairs across my body. A body that was weightless while my stomach grew heavy with jumbled knots of anxiety.

Reflexively, my arms had wrapped around Topaz when she had slammed into me and threw us into the portal. They only tightened further as the magic hurtled us through the Between. She became my only anchor, and she was raving mad. Her laughter rang in my ears and vibrated between our chests that were pressed tightly together. Though I couldn’t see most of her face, I could tell she was grinning by the crinkles beside her eyes.

The portal spit us out. My back collided with the hard ground, Topaz still tight in my embrace. We bounced and tumbled over each other, until finally rolling to a stop. I was lying on my back, feeling unfamiliar and unfriendly earth below. We weren’t in Keadan anymore. The unease of losing connection with my coavani knot crawled up my back that, with how it throbbed, I was half convinced was broken.

“Are you dead?” Topaz’s body pressed against mine, making it hard to regain my stolen breath.

“No,” I moaned.

“That’s unfortunate.” She sat up and her weight rested on my stomach. All the humor vanished from her eyes.

I craned my neck to see what had taken it. We were in a small portal station, the cattle trailer and truck parked not far away. Two trolls, the truck drivers, milled around it as though waiting for their next orders.

A hulking figure strode forward and peered down his nose at us. Ultra Admon smiled. “Come to finish our fight?”

The tide shifted before either of us could assume our beasts forms. The portal’s light blinked out, taking with it all the bits of rainbow and color. Somehow, the dull black and white scene carried the haunting air of an old horror film.

Topaz leapt to her feet. What she planned to do with her hands cuffed behind her back was beyond me. Admon looked her up and down, his gaze trailing slowly over her. It stoked an anger in my belly.

“You brought me a present, Keadanian.” Admon strode within arm’s reach of Topaz. “How sweet. I will take very good care of—”

Her foot cracked across his face, then snapped back for a second hit. Forward again for a third that knocked Admon off his feet. He fell to hands and knees, shaking his head that had to be a little dazed from the face whipping.

“Run!” she shouted, nudging me with her foot.

I rolled to my feet, back protesting the movement. Once standing, I found it only sore and not broken, at least not enough to keep me from running. We only made it a handful of steps before Namenite soldiers boxed us in on all sides. Back-to-back with Topaz, I slid into a fighting stance and reached for my gun filled with bullets.

Then, half a dozen Namenite rifles were leveled at my face.

I held up my hands in surrender. “Any more brilliant ideas?” I growled over my shoulder.

She glared at my raised hands. “Apparently, we’re surrendering.”

The soldiers roughly grabbed me and threw me to my face. I didn’t fight them as they jerked my hands behind my back and ratcheted cuffs on my wrists. Hands frisked over me. Both of my guns, one carrying darts, the other bullets, were taken. My wallet and a pack of cinnamon gum joined them. Topaz’s keys topped the pile.

Topaz was likewise pushed to the ground and frisked. At least they tried to. None of the pouches or compartments would open for them. The toolbelt seemed welded to her hips and thighs. Tug as the soldiers might, nothing fell loose.

Admon pushed through them, drawing a flip blade from his own belt. He shoved Topaz onto her back, her bound hands pinned beneath her. Both of his cheeks had red marks swelling across his cheekbones. He crouched over her and sawed at her belt. At the slow rate the fibers gave under his cutting, he was more likely to melt his blade from the heat of friction than saw through the belt.

He grabbed the loose fabric of her hood that hung near her shoulder and drew her face to his. “How do I take this off?”

“You don’t. That’s the point.” Her voice didn’t waver, and her brows were set into a determined scowl.

“Tell me,” he snarled.

“But you didn’t ask nicely.”

Admon’s lips twitched up to show his fangs. “I don’t ask, especially not a woman.” His eyes crept across her again. “I only take.”

“Ew. You know who steals? People too lazy, too selfish to work for what they want. Or those with no other options. Which are you? Lazy? Maybe. Selfish? Possibly. Out of options? Definitely. How else would any woman be with you?”

Though the muscle ticked in his jaw, Admon laughed. “You will make a nice addition to my harem. Our children will be feisty.”

“Get off her.” I strained against the hands that kept me pinned to the ground.

Admon smiled. It lacked warmth and carried a dangerous edge. “This your woman, Keadanian?” He trailed the tip of his knife down her face. The lunatic woman didn’t flinch, didn’t have the sense to be afraid. She only glared at Admon with a bored sort of frustration. “Is her face as pretty as her curves?”

“Couldn’t tell you,” I huffed. How, after all our encounters, had I not known what she looked like? If she was in a line up, the only thing I could identify her by was her sass-ladened voice, reddish brown hair, and her golden topaz eyes. And maybe her figure. I had plenty of opportunities to admire that while chasing behind her in that tight armor.

Admon pulled on her mask. It held fast, just as it had when I had tried to remove it after shooting her with the dart. Whatever her armor enhancements, they were determined to protect her identity at all costs. Admon pulled hard enough on the mask to lift her off the ground.

“That doesn’t come off either.” She sounded bored.

He pressed a knife under her eye. “Tell me how to remove it.”

Her eyes narrowed, completely dismissing the knife resting under one of them. “No.”

Admon held her gaze for several long heartbeats. Then waved a hand toward me. “Kill him.”

“What?” I thrashed. Something hard press into the back of my head. A gun most likely. So, this was how I would end. Face down in a foreign territory. I knew this woman would be the death of me.

“Wait!” she shouted. “Wait.”

Admon held up a hand and the gun eased away from the back of my head. “Are you going to comply?”

“Not entirely, but I’ll remove my belt.” By the weight in her words, you would think she was offering to cut off her right arm. But why, if it pained her so, was she willing to give any ground to save me when, clearly, we didn’t exactly like each other? Even saving her own eye hadn’t been enough to convince her to make such an offering.

“Fine.” Admon stored his knife away. “I’ll have fun figuring out how to undress the rest of you later.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed herself into a seated position. It took some twisting and contorting with her bound hands to reach all the buckles, but eventually the belt fell away from her hips.

Admon tossed it onto the pile of my things and turned to me, squatting by my face. “Your beasts form, it’s a winged lion, right? What kind of bird is mixed with your lion?”

I huffed hard through my nose, sending up a small flurry of dust. My jaw clenched tight. For some reason, confirming my beasts form felt dangerous, though I had never hesitated to do so before.

“Come on.” Admon nudged my shoulder. “Tell me. How else am I going to know how much you’re worth?”

Like a leaky faucet, dread dripped into my stomach, drop by drop. How much I was worth?

“If anything, he will fetch a pretty penny in Ruani’s arenas.” A man strode out from the back of the trailer. His dark sclera gave him away as an enchanter. A strong one. With the tide out, that was hardly a concern though. He was thickly built with cords of muscles roped up his arms. By the fine lines at the corner of his eyes and the white shot through his beard and crew cut hair, I guessed he was in his late forties.

A younger enchanter with a boyish face and lean figure followed in his wake. It took a minute, but recognition hit like a ton of bricks. These were the dynamists from the parking lot outside Chubby’s. My heart seized. I glanced at the woman who had a “told you so” look in her eyes.

(Chapter concludes in part 2)