Page 19 of Tender Captivity
That’s when Holian realized Tarquin was far more clever than he’d been led to believe. The male barely finished speaking and turned too quickly for Holian to avoid him. Only because Tarquin slowed his speed fractionally was Holian’s chest merely grazed by his quills instead of impaled.
This male wasn’t as frantic, foolish, or slow as Holian had thought.
After the quills barely missed, Tarquin moved up fast, trying to box Holian. He made a show of crashing a shoulder into the stone wall where Holian had been.
Tarquin spoke quickly. “They promised me the little human female when I win. I’ll take good care of her. She’ll be shielded and treated well. I swear this to you. Let me lay you down, Commandant. Let me save us both some pain.”
For a brief moment, Holian was enraged. If this male hadn’t taunted him, he would have been able to remain composed. But Tarquin’s blithe promise to care for his precious Jinna tapped a deep well of rage he hadn’t known was there.
“You have no ancestors waiting for you!” he ground out, handing Tarquin one of the worst insults possible. Moving on instinct, he ducked and jabbed. The blow was successful, and he was able to wedge several of his quills between Tarquin’s and twist. The angle meant he broke half of Tarquin’s quills on his left arm, but all Holian’s remained intact.
Tarquin jumped away, roaring and rattling with rage. Forcing himself to stay calm, Holian noted this was a real battle now. Tarquin had made his offer, but Holian hadn’t accepted. Thiswas no longer about testing each other’s skills or trying to find a compromise. This was a fight to win.
It could turn out to be a fight to the death.
Rolling his shoulders back, he waited for Tarquin to attack so he could plan out his next move. As he rolled his head, his neck plates separated, and he felt a sharp impact. His head snapped up, slamming those neckplates closed. His body jolted as something buried in the skin under the plate dug in.
Then he felt a shock.
It had to be an electro-dart. Someone with a lot of skill had launched the small projectile from a silent weapon and hit him in a vulnerable spot.
A quick glance told him no one had seen, not even Dalt.
He reached up to see if he could dig the dart out, but as expected, Tarquin took advantage and charged. Holian moved to evade, but the dart delivered a shock to his system, causing him to stumble. Tarquin hit him straight on, sending him hurling into the stone wall.
He fell to the ground but quickly scrambled to his feet. Heart racing, he looked around the audience. He had to two opponents to fight now, and for the first time in his life, he wasn’t sure he could win.
*****
“Something’s wrong,” Jinna said as Holian got back to his feet after being thrown into the stone wall.
“What? No, he’s fine. Look, he’s up and moving,” Lakin assured her.
“That’s not what I mean,” Jinna insisted. “He’s not moving the same. Something’s wrong. Look at how stiff he’s holding his neck.”
“Could he be injured?” Lakin asked, biting her lip. “That hit was pretty hard.”
“He went stiff before the other guy got him. I saw it. He jerked and then reached for the back of his neck and then wasn’t moving right.” Jinna glanced over to where Nelaran and his family were standing. They all looked as arrogant as before, but now she got the sense of satisfaction coming from them. As if a plan had fallen into place.
“They’re making this happen!” she hissed, pulling her hand out of Lakin’s so she could point to the family. “I don’t know what they did, but somehow they got to Holian.”
Lakin glanced from the family to Dalt and then turned her gaze to Jinna. “You’re right. My Dalt is upset. I can tell. He’s seeing something up there that isn’t right.”
Jinna looked at Dalt and thought he looked exactly the same as he had before the fighting had even started. But she wasn’t about to doubt Lakin. “What do we do?”
Lakin started scanning the crowd. “Look for someone on their Ident. No one should be looking away from the fight. It would be rude. But someone’s out there using an information square or their Ident to hurt Holian. They must have gotten an electrode or nanos injected in him and are jolting him at key moments so it looks like he’s losing naturally. The last thing that family would want is to be accused of cheating. Their reputation is barely holding on as is. But they also can’t afford to lose this Challenge.”
Impressed with Lakin’s quick thinking, Jinna followed Lakin’s example and started looking around at the crowd.
“There!” Lakin declared and tugged Jinna’s arm. She was pointing at a Talin standing at the far end of the platform. He had his Ident out and was glancing back and forth between the Ident and the fight.
Without another word, both women started weaving their way through the crowd.
“Oh, get back here, both of you!” Renalan cried out when he realized they’d left him. They ignored him and kept moving. Their small size was an asset as they slipped between the spectators. No one noticed them because everyone was too busy watching the fight.
As Lakin pulled her along, Jinna risked a look at the platform in time to see Holian barely miss getting clawed, but he wasn’t able to evade a kick that sent him tumbling. Blood was coming from one of his nose slits and the ear hole on his left side. He was heaving for breath and barely got to his feet in time to meet Tarquin’s next charge.
Fear for Holian made her body flush hot with anger. She was going to resort to biting if she had to. Baring her teeth, she and Lakin raced at the Talin with the Ident Cube.
