Page 55 of Unlikely Omega

I dig my heels in, almost falling on my face when he yanks on my arm but I have no choice but to follow.

The two guards look up as we walk by, fragrant tobacco smoke wafting around them, reminding me of the Commander’s scent. “Who goes there? Oh, is it you, Priest?”

“Help!” I yell, then gasp when the priest yanks me against his side and pressed a blade into my side. “Holy shit.”

“That’s right.” The priest huffs as the guards push off the pen fence and approach us. He pastes on a smile. “Greetings. This is a visiting acolyte. I’m taking her to the stream to perform the evening rituals.”

“Is it safe?” one of them says, gesturing at me with his small wooden pipe. “And where did she come from?”

The tip of the blade pinches me through my robe and undergarments. “She’s visiting, like I said.”

The guard sniffs, lowers his pipe. “That sweet scent…”

“I smell it, too,” the other guard says, frowning. “Like honeysuckle.”

“I’d thank you not to delay us,” the priest says. “The hour is growing late.”

“Go, do your rituals,” the guard says.

I draw a breath. “No, wait—”

“Shut it,” the priest hisses and I grit my teeth, wonder if elbowing him hard enough would cause him to drop the blade or if that will prove to be my last bad decision, ever.

The priest hauls me away once more, and as we leave the camp behind us, I decide it’s now or never. I have to go get Finn. Can’t leave him here, and I certainly won’t go with this man who is set on using me. I’m caught between a rock and a hard place, but I won’t stop fighting to get away.

So the moment he takes the blade off me, I kick sideways at his shin and pull the wrist he’s gripping so I can slam into him.

His hold relaxes.

I jump away, start to run back toward the camp—but something slams into me. The priest throws me down, his weight crashing on top of me, smothering me.

Then he wraps his arm around my throat, cutting off my air. I’m choking.

“Is this what you want, huh? Want me to break you? I can do that. Think I’ll just let you go? Think you’ll fuck up my plans?” He pulls me to my knees, then to my feet, his arm still pressed against my windpipe. Black spots swim in my vision. “The horses are ready. Come on.”

Horses? That gets me struggling again, even as my vision narrows, black eating at the edges. My knees feel weak and I fight to lock them, stay upright. I try to twist away but he pulls me along as he starts walking again, and I almost go back down.

And then, out of the corner of my darkening eyes, I catch movement.

A blur, a whirlwind.

A person running right at us, long white hair flying, pale body muscular and streaked with blood, a statue come to life.

“Finn!”

18

ARIADNE

He throws himself at the priest, hands around the man’s neck. I barely manage to stumble to the side as the priest’s arm falls off me before Finn shoves him to the ground and bows over him, white hair in his eyes.

Bending over, I cough and gulp in air as Finn wraps his hands around the other priest’s throat. “Finn! Don’t kill him.”

“Why the fuck not?” Finn growls, lips peeled back, eyes that seem to be glowing with rage. “He deserves it.”

“We need… to question him.” I cough again, my throat raw and aching. “Find out who he works for.”

“Dammit.” Finnen’s arms tense, muscles leaping out as he presses down—then releases the man’s throat and rises, hands clenching into fists. He turns his face toward me as if he can see me. “Are you okay?”

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