“So, what now?” Tanin asked. “I’ve already told the peacekeepers about you. I’m surprised they haven’t come to say hi, in fact.”
Gissrn scoffed. “Please. You think they are a threat to someone such as I? I am one of the wealthiest shinuk kings! I am untouchable! Those fools don’t even know I’m here! They think I don’t know they’re watching me. But I’ve known since the beginning. And you, Tanin, have managed to put me in a spot where I can’t send any more hunters after you. I can’t put out another bounty without the keepers tracking it back to me. And the crew I did manage to hire were scared off. I would call them cowards but, as I said, your crew is truly a thing of violent beauty. So, maybe it’s to be expected. You should be honored that I came to deal with this myself.”
“Touched, really,” Tanin said easily, so deadpan, it was hard to even hear the sarcasm. Gissrn certainly didn’t as he chuckled.
“I’m glad you think so. You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t realize what an honor it is that they’ve caught my eye. I might even have been benevolent enough to let you join your crew as one of my slaves. However,” his smile faded. “I know you’ve been fucking my treasures. And that’s unacceptable. Before you die, I’m going to make sure one of your crew rips your cock off as recompense. In fact, I might have them break your arms and legs and leave you a crippled, useless thing, so you can watch as I clean my treasures of any of your lingering filth. And then you can die slowly with their screams in your ears, knowing that it’s your fault. Doesn’t that sound fair?”
“You know, it’s not a bad idea,” Tanin nodded along.
It was only then that his equanimity finally registered to the king. Gissrn sneered, lip curling up in disgust as he finally realized Tanin was mocking him. It might not have been blatant, but it was still obvious that Tanin wasn’t afraid of him at all.
“I will hear you scream,” Gissrn snarled, putting the remote to his lips. He pressed a button and said, harshly and clearly, “Capture Tanin. Break every bone in his body if you have to but bring him to me alive.”
Only then, finally, did the guys move. Their heads all tilted up. Moving in eerie synchrony. Their faces were blank, their eyes open but empty, as they moved towards Tanin at the same time.
“Stay back,” he told her calmly without looking her way, walking forward. Ribbon trailing down.
Garnet was really going to be sick. Tanin was tall compared to her, yes, but he was still shorter than every male on his ship. Trove was an expert marksman, the twins were a nightmare, and Vytln and Rok were absolute mountains, both bulging with muscles.
Compared to them, Tanin was like a pre-teen boy, just coming into his strength. And they were his crew! He wasn’t actually going to hurt them! This wasn’t a fair fight by any means. How could he possibly fight the guys?!
Even as she had that thought, Rok tried to grab Tanin with all four arms. Only for Tanin to jump straight into the air, dodging them. He came down on Rok’s face, striking him mercilessly with the heel of his boot. Garnet heard a hard crunch, then Tanin launched himself off Rok’s head, sending him slamming face first into the ground. Diving forward, he slammed his shoulder into Trove’s midsection, bringing him down with an alarmingly loud thud of his head on the metal floor.
Garnet stared, open mouthed. It had been so quick, and so brutal. Made even worse by the fact that neither Rok nor Trove made even a single sound of pain. She could hear though, clear as day, the thuds of the blows and the crunch of broken bones. Tanin hadn’t even hesitated.
He still wasn’t hesitating.
With Trove down, he rolled off him and came up, barely dodging a wild kick by Sway. The feathered male didn’t fight with his fists, but with his feet. Kicking hard and fast and putting Tanin on the defensive.
Until Tanin caught his ankle with his ribbon and yanked, upsetting Sway’s balance. He drove his fist right into his gut, knocking all the air out of him with a forced grunt. As Sway started to fall, Tanin grabbed him by the crest and yanked him around, throwing him into the twins who were trying to come up from behind.
He had to move then, dodging Vytln’s fist. The bigger male missed, slamming into the metal ladder steps that went up to the second floor. Denting them badly. Making Vytln’s fist bleed glowing orange blood. But Tanin was already gone, running at Rok who was pushing himself up on all fours – all sixes? Blood was rushing out of his nose, dripping on the floor, and he was stunned enough that he couldn’t regain his balance to get up on his feet.
Too late. Tanin was already there, jumping on his back. He wrapped the ribbon around Rok’s neck and pulled tight. Hard enough to choke him-
-if the collar wasn’t in the way.
But it was, and all Tanin’s strength was on the metal as he grunted, pulling tight. The silk creaked. The metal groaned. Rok tried harder to stand, limbs flailing in an attempt to dislodge Tanin.
Putting his foot on his spine, Tanin pushed down with his whole body weight, still yanking on the ends of his ribbon with enough strength to make his arms shake as his veins bulged. Rok was up now, throwing himself around, accidentally hitting Sorbet aside in the process.
But his wild bucking put Tanin right next to that line that was hanging down from above.
Transferring the ribbon ends to one hand, Tanin grabbed the line with the other. He jerked it up until he could grasp the flat metal end. Rok swung around, upsetting Tanin’s stance. But as he fell, he drove the end of the wire right down onto the ribbon wrapped collar.
It popped. Loud and distinct.
Smoke appeared and Rok suddenly collapsed. The collar pieces fell with him, clattering to the ground. Two broken pieces that were still smoking, the down brown of Rok’s blood on the long needles. A scorch mark was left there on the back of Rok’s neck. But it had popped off. Similar to when Alred had removed it from Garnet and Goldie, but faster. More violent.
Tanin stood, stepping off the now unmoving Rok, the ribbon pulling free as he faced his next opponent.
Up above, Gissrn stood staring in slack jawed shock. Stunned.
Garnet looked from him back down to Rok. The big guy was down, still bleeding, and, most importantly, still breathing. His chest rose and fell evenly as Tanin tangled with Vytln.
The other big guy was swinging his fists wildly. Dangerously. One hit from those, and it would be lights out. Tanin was dancing back, staying just out of his way. Making Vytln chase him. Until he swung too hard and overextended himself.
Balance upset, Tanin whipped the end of his ribbon around his neck and jerked him down, stabbing the end of the wire up. It was the same wire, Garnet realized, that they had used to break the collars off of her and Goldie. Though, clearly, this one was delivering a much harder shock. Vytln’s entire body locked up as the collar started smoking then fell away in pieces, leaving him with a scorch mark on the back of his neck as well.
