Page 5 of Destinies of Diamond
A tiny part of me marveled at the irony and was almost glad for being able to practice this way. Maybe it would make it easier for me to control myself when I saw Jared again. Still, I didn’t feel too optimistic about the end result of this exercise.
We had a third teammate, Ernest Boyle. He belonged to a non-chimera unit, and before Selene’s arrival, we’d more or less worked well together. But like most men of Tartarus Base, Boyle was very disrespectful of women. He’d even called Selene’s mother a whore to her own face when the Terran Sociology class had first started. These days, he and other people like him gave us a wide berth, because they knew we wouldn’t react well to their regular behavior. That didn’t mean we’d cooperate well on a mission, even if it was only for sparring purposes.
Knox ended up in a team with Scott Argyle, which sucked just as much. August and Pollux were a little luckier, in that they were paired up with less hostile individuals, most of them from the specialized star fleet units. The remaining people formed larger teams, which I assumed was meant to compensate for our presence.
Once everyone had their partners, we were shuffled out of the gym and into the scorching heat of the training grounds outside. “I won’t police you in any way. You’re free to use whatever means you see fit to incapacitate your opponents. There’s only one condition. I want to see teamwork. No matter how good of a fighter you are individually, it’s not enough to ensure your safety on the front. And your unit will sometimes need aid too. Rely on your partners. Trust them to have your back.”
“Like that’s about to happen,” Vincent muttered. “Jared trusted everyone here and it got him killed.”
I didn’t bother pointing out that Jared’s death was The Grand Judiciary’s responsibility. His blood was on my father’s hands. Or it would have been, if he hadn’t staged the whole thing as a way to escape the academy unseen. In the end, Vincent’s fixations had nothing to do with me. He wouldn’t listen to me if I did try to change his mind, so I wouldn’t waste my time trying to make him see sense.
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice,” I told him instead. “Orders are orders. If you can’t follow them, you don’t belong at the academy. Feel free to remove yourself. But before you go, do mention your reasoning to Commander Trevor. I’m sure he’ll be ecstatic to learn one of his students is willing to drop his duties just because of a private vendetta.”
“My cousin is dead, you asshole,” Vincent hissed. “You can’t expect me to just forget it.”
“No, I can’t. But that’s your problem, not mine, or anyone else’s. So you either fall in line or you’re a liability and you leave.”
Vincent didn’t say anything after that. Maybe he realized I was right and protesting wouldn’t help him. He and Ernest shared a look, and then nodded. “We’re with you, Your Highness,” Ernest offered. “It’ll be an honor to fight by your side.”
I didn’t really believe him, but whatever. I had bigger problems, such as the fact that Commander Trevor had decided to sic Knox on me. “Let me handle Knox,” I told my teammates. “You’re no match for him.”
If they were offended by my blunt statement, they didn’t show it. I was actually pretty sure Ernest was relieved. Even Vincent looked a little wary. And how could he not be? When we faced Knox and his team, he grinned, and I could’ve sworn I caught a glimpse of sharp fangs. His eyes glinted with a feral, dark light, and his rational side was drifting away more and more.
This class had been a bad idea in every possible way. But it would be fine. I trusted Knox and he trusted me. We’d succeed.
To our right, August and Pollux were lined up with their respective partners. They would be fighting one another. It made sense, but I still wondered what had determined Commander Trevor to choose this approach.
A drone provided us with the countdown for the sparring session. “Three, two, one… Fight!”
Knox lunged forward, throwing all caution to the wind. I met him half-way. This would clearly not be a very strategic fight, since Knox wasn’t in any condition to be logical. My real goal was to control him and keep him from harming himself and others.
To his credit, he wasn’t using his claws, not yet, at least. When our bodies collided, he tried to pin me down, but his fingernails remained human and the blow wasn’t as powerful as it could have been. I felt my ribs protest, but nothing cracked.
I responded with a similar amount of force and punched him in the face. His nose didn’t break, but it was a close call. He was stronger than me, but I was more limber and more agile. Taking advantage of this, I danced out of his reach, avoiding his second attack.
He wasn’t dissuaded, but I didn’t expect him to be. Knox had never been a quitter, and a temporary defeat encouraged him. When it came to the two of us, this sort of thing wasn’t just a battle. It was occasionally foreplay, and I was half-worried we’d end up making out on the training field.
With the corner of my eye, I caught sight of my partners fighting our other opponents. Ernest wasn’t faring very well against Scott, so I took advantage of the space between me and Knox to give Ernest a hand. Since Argyle was distracted, it was a piece of cake to grab him from behind, knock him out and throw him at Knox.
Under different circumstances, Knox would have just ducked and let the body fall. But despite his current problems, he understood that was a bad idea while in class. He caught Argyle and gently placed him down, making sure the other man wasn’t too wounded. He was as fast as always, but not fast enough.
In the process, he was forced to drop his guard and I lunged at him, directing a kick straight at his head. I wasn’t surprised when he caught my foot mid-air. “That was a dirty trick, Your Highness. Then again, you always were dirtier than you seemed.”
“Indeed,” I replied.
Through the contact between us, I manipulated the tachyons coursing through our bodies, my power reaching into him like a claw. He instinctively recoiled, letting go of my leg.
If I’d been anyone else, he would have snapped my bone before moving away, but he didn’t. Unfortunately, this gave Ernest the mistaken impression that my lover was vulnerable and he could mimic my attack.
You’d think someone Ernest’s age would be aware enough of himself to realize his power output couldn’t compare to that of the Cerberus’s tamer. But most of the students at Chimera Academy weren’t all that self-aware, so it stood to reason that when Ernest collided with Knox, Knox crushed him.
It wasn’t a physical thing. Knox could have shattered every bone in Ernest’s body had he so desired, but he knew better. Still, the beast inside him was ravenous today, especially after that earlier exchange with Selene. He used his tachyon manipulation skills to slice straight into Ernest’s core.
It was cruel and brutal. Ernest screamed in pain and terror, and the sound echoed over the training ground, almost obscenely loud. Vincent cursed, but didn’t try to intervene. He must have been able to tell that he’d be no help. At least someone here could follow instructions.
Once again, I jumped to Ernest’s defense. Knox’s aura hurt me too, but Typhon compensated for that. Even if he hadn’t, my skills were polished enough to hold Knox at bay. Knox dropped Ernest and faced me once again.
The excess of tachyons in his bloodstream made him both faster and more violent. He lashed out against me, grabbing my arm and throwing me to the ground like I was nothing more than a puppet.
