Page 45 of Unlikely Omega

I think my heart is breaking.

I didn’t even know I felt anything when it came to Finn until now.

“Who the hell is that?” the commander breathes, something like awe in his voice. “What does he think he’s doing? He’s not even armed. Is he some berserk soldier?”

“He’s a priest,” I grind out. “And he’s blind. Leave him alone or you’ll answer to the Temple.”

“Leave him alone? He’s the one attacking us!”

He’s right. Finnen doesn’t seem inclined to stop. He crashes into the circle of riders, unnervingly silent, grabbing one of the soldiers and pulling him after him as he rides by, throwing him off the horse.

Then he turns as the men finally stir, going after him. He spins his horse around, avoiding their spears as if he can see them, batting them aside with his bare hands, turning on the saddle, bowing, leaning back. At some point, he manages to grab one of the spears, wrench it out of the rider’s hands and use it to smack two of the other riders off balance on their horses. Whirling it about, he manages to keep the others at a distance.

“Ariadne!” he calls out, his deep voice clear, and goddess, it brings tears to my eyes, because he really came for me.

“That’s your name, huh?” The commander sounds like he’s grinning. “Holy shit. A priest. I’ll be damned. Those are some priests you have in the Temple. We could use someone like him in the army.”

No way. No. “Finn!” I yell. “Finn, go!”

Still not sure he can hear me, though he fights even harder, like a man possessed by the spirits, fending off attacks by all four men, as the commander holds back, keeping his arm around me.

But he’s still blind and fighting against all odds. Luck doesn’t hold out forever, not for anyone. A spear gets Finn on the back of the head and he slumps forward on his horse, the spear he’d held falling from his hands. He doesn’t move again and his horse stills.

“Finn!” I yell, terrified, more terrified than I’ve ever been in my life as the riders close in for the kill. “No! Leave him alone! Don’t hurt him. Please!”

“Commander?” One of the riders turns toward us. “Your orders?”

“Don’t finish him,” Commander Krath says, hauling me harder against his armored chest. “We take them both back to camp, let the General know about this and arrange for their transportation back to the fort.”

“Let go of me.” I try to elbow him, scratch him, and he only laughs again, a hollow booming at my back that makes me want to scream again. “Let go, you big arrogant oaf!”

“Name is Tajevi Krath,” he mutters. “You can use it if you like.”

“I don’t care what you’re called! Let him go!”

“You…” He stops, draws a shallow breath. “What the fuck is this perfume?”

“Let go!”

“Are you sure you want me to?” He buries his face in my neck, sniffing. “You smell so damn sweet. Like arousal. Like sex. You want me to fuck you, don’t you?”

“No! No, stop it!”

“An omega?” he breathes, the shock in his voice plain to hear. “Who would have thought? How did you blunder into the Temple’s ranks?”

“I’m not an omega,” I whisper, defeated and freaked out, my gaze locked on Finnen’s still form on his horse, not sure how to get out of this. “I’m nobody. Just an acolyte.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Commander Tajevi Krath says, his voice still low, and while I expect him to raise his head and yell for everyone to hear what I am, he says nothing else.

Only turns his horse around and leads his men away, taking me and Finnen along.

Camp.

When the commander had spoken the word, I didn’t know what to imagine. Tents, maybe, some horses tied to wooden posts. Occasionally, during the Temple festivals, small crowds would camp outside the fort, around the small town, since there was no space inside for them to spend the night or spread their wares and cook their food.

But this camp is like a village, complete with a square where fires are burning and food is being cooked, the smell of some sort of stew making my empty stomach growl. There are long tents and round tents, brown tents and multicolored tents.

And a huge fenced area with horses.

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