by Skyler Andra
Tor sparred with me for another few minutes until I hunched over, holding my sides. Might’ve even prayed for death.
“Again,” Knoxe roared.
I waved my hand in submission.
Knoxe circled me, hands on his hips, head shaking. “In the field, Nomical, there's no rest breaks. It's fight or die. You can't rely on your magic or you'll drain yourself, and then you're fucked.”
Message received. Train. Train hard. Day and night. Build up my fitness and technique. Or die.
Knoxe snatched my staff and backed off a few steps. “Show her how it’s done. Raze, get in here.”
I limped to sit on the bench against the wall.
Raze flurried his smoke around his body before entering the sparring area, accepting the weapon from Knoxe.
Staffs cracked as they smashed against each other in a fury of blows, strikes, and defenses. Heck, those two were machines. They slammed each other with increasing speed and technique. Blow after blow. Grunt after grunt. Neither retreated. They continued pushing each other, until Raze brought Tor down, throwing him over his shoulder and slamming his elbow into his stomach.
“Enough.” Knoxe raised a hand like a general telling his soldiers to ceasefire. His fierce dark brown eyes landed on me. “This is the level of skill and dedication I expect from you, Nomical. We are fight or die. You will fight or die. Do you understand?”
I clutched my aching stomach. Got it loud and clear, pal.
“I won’t have another death on my shoulders.” His voice wavered and his expression softened. Someone he’d cared for had died. And he wasn’t over it. No wonder he was such a ball buster.
The rest of the team lowered their heads as if they’d also lost someone they cared for.
Knoxe turned to leave the room, but the warden burst in, his face red, neck tendons as sharp as blades. “What the hell is going on here? Why are you out of the hole?”
Knoxe straightened, stood at attention and looked past the warden to the wall. “Nomical used her credits to bail us out.”
The warden’s fiery gaze hit me like a spear. “Miss. Nomical. On whose authority did you do this?”
“Section 5.4.2 of the Guardian Code Book,” I croaked, clutching my neck and massaging it. My throat hurt like hell.
Vartros stormed over to me. Saliva flecked his lips. Sweat dotted his forehead. “All of you out.” His clipped words blistered my ears.
Pascal left first. Raze and Tor didn’t even bother to pack up their weapons, stacking them by the door, before exiting. As he went, Raze grabbed his smoking bowl, dusting smoke throughout the corridor. Last but not least, Knoxe shot me a death glare as he walked out.
“Knoxe, you stay.” The warden’s warped lips and his creased nose told me I was about to pay severely. “Wait outside in the hall.”
The leader glared at me but walked to the door and out, Vartros’ yo-yo..
When he was gone, the warden removed a bottle of pills from his jacket pocket. “Miss. Nomical, you’d do well in here not to abuse loopholes. If I catch you doing that again, I’ll lock you up in maximum security, do you hear?”
“Yes, sir.” I bent my head, not looking into his fiery gaze.
Vartros popped the lid, turned the bottle upside down, and dispensed a pill. He tossed the pill into his mouth and swallowed it without water. I caught two words on the bottle before he shoved it back in his pocket. Heart medication. Poor guy was overworked, stressed, and not in good health.
“Are you aware of what kind of shit you’ve started by bailing out your team prematurely?” Each word held the same fire as his piercing gaze.
No. But I had a good idea I was about to find out.
“Your team and the one who they fought yesterday have been warring for months—petty business and a breach of protocol.” He took a handkerchief from his other pocket, wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I threw them into the hole to teach them a lesson: no more fighting, injuries or wrecking my goddamned jail. They’ve cost this facility a fortune in repairs.”
Fuck. This was not my day. Had all the making of the shittiest day of my life.
He dabbed his forehead again. “The other team has lodged a complaint about being treated unfairly and have asked for the same leniency afforded your team.” I almost laughed in his face. Devon didn’t seem like the kind of guy who used those terms. “And I goddamn hate paperwork and bureaucracy.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” I rubbed my bruised neck. Once. Twice. Three times.
The warden scrunched up his handkerchief and stuffed it in his pocket. “You’ve just started a war, Miss. Nomical. Things are going to get ugly now. Watch your back. And for the love of god, never pull a stunt like this again.”
“Yes, sir.” Again I rubbed my neck.
“Now give me that book where you found the rules. I’ll damn well burn it.”
I quickly retrieved the library book from the shelf and gave it to him.
His knuckles whitened from his tight grip on it. “You’ve earned yourself a week in solitary confinement for your actions starting tomorrow.”
I leaned my head against the cold stone as he stormed out.
In the hallway, I watched through the Plexiglas as the warden chastised Knoxe, jabbing fingers at him. Knoxe stood still, his arms tight by his side.
I hunched deeper and lower. Now I had a new set of enemies to worry about aside from my own team. My urgency to get the hell out of here deepened. If I didn’t, this place was going to kill me.
Chapter 9
Astra
“Sir, that’s a mistake.” Knoxe’s voice. Stern and stiff. “She’s not up to our level and can’t keep up.”
Self-righteous, arrogant bastard. I didn’t want to be on his stupid team any more than I wanted to be here. I shot to my feet despite the pain that clawing every muscle in my body. Screw them. All of them. I was leaving the training room now.
“Have you seen what she can do?” The warden eyed Knoxe with one eyebrow cocked and his head tilted. A sign of his growing impatience. “Her powers combined with Pascal’s will make your team undefeatable.”
“Sir, she’s going to get one of us killed.” He paused, and I leaned against the wall to listen. “After Jaz, I just can’t…”
Vartros sighed. “Knoxe, no one understands better than I do that you and your team being sent here was a mistake. Jaz’s death was a mistake. I know you boys didn’t feed the serpents intel.”
“Jaz would never have done that.” Knoxe’s voice rose in hostility. “That’s a lie.”
“Knoxe, please.” The warden’s tone softened. “I want to help you. And your team. But you’re not helping yourself. First the fight with Devon. Now complaining about a team member you haven’t even tried to make use of.” Vartros shook his head. “I can’t help you if you don’t want to be helped.”
So, the warden had a soft spot for Knoxe. Maybe if I could figure out a way to make him feel that way about me, he’d help me win my appeal to the Shadows. And if I had to use Knoxe to do it, then so be it.
“Sir—”
“Knoxe, my decision is final. She’s staying. She’s a member of your team. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.” Knoxe said it through gritted teeth.
“Then you will train her and get her up to speed. And don’t question my judgment a second time. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
The warden’s boots thumped on the floor in time to my heartbeat.
I moved to the doorway to get out of there. Screw Knoxe. I could train with the best of them. I wasn’t staying here any longer than I had to.
Knoxe swung himself around the doorway, bumping into me, and I felt that same flash, a spark same as when we met. When he landed on top of me, his hard body, the heat between us…my breaths rasped out of me. This time, his closeness left me unable to think clearly, and I rubbed my forehead. He leaped backward.
Damn. I needed to get laid. Soon.
Cool it, sister. Knoxe was on the ne
ver look at him twice list. I didn’t date assholes, and I certainly didn’t date criminals. What would my mother think? She’d have a heart attack if she knew I was in jail. And two, her heart would fail altogether if she knew I hooked up with an inmate.
“This way Nomical.” Knoxe left me standing there, alone, panting. Over him. Like a fool.
“I’m sorry about Jaz,” I called out as he crossed the room and grabbed a long stick.
His body went rigid, and he stopped, turned to face me with a bored expression.
“His name was Jason. He’s the one you’re replacing, though nobody could ever take his place.” His words were cold, flat, and matter of fact.
I flinched.
Knoxe stepped closer, hovering, intimidating, or trying his best to. “We called him Jaz. He was one of the key members of our team. He could control veil energy, open portals, send the gantii through it.”
Sounded awesome. But any Shadow recruit could do the same thing with spells. I kept that to myself. No point in rubbing it in.
Knoxe’s icy and uninviting tone held steady. “He was also my best mate. We were like brothers. All of us.”
Great, I couldn’t compete with that. But I could hold my own. I might not have been a seasoned warrior, but I was committed, dedicated, and I studied and trained hard. I’d show them I was worthy. Knoxe didn’t have to like me. But I’d have his back if he had mine.
Over the years, I’d come up against plenty of bullies because they didn’t understand why my brain didn’t work the same as theirs. They’d pick on me when I melted down or got excited over things that didn’t bother them.
When my mom took me to see Doctor Vickers, she’d made the Asperger’s diagnosis, and we finally had an explanation as to what was wrong with me. The doctor gave my mom methods to control it and minimize any disruptions to my muddled circuitry in my brain. While my mom implemented a strict routine to prevent meltdowns, there was a limit to what she could control. She couldn’t stop the taunts, the whispers, and the pranks at school. Pokes and prods aim at me to set me off and get a reaction out of me.
Look at that freak show.
My chest tightened and I held back a whimper.
I’d tortured myself all my childhood for being different, only wanting to be the same as them. But I was never going to be the same. Whenever I cried at night, my mom always used to hold me, brush my hair out of my fair, wipe the tears from my eyes, tell me I was special. It had taken me eighteen years to come to terms with that, and four years to be comfortable with it.
My mom had been right all along. I was special. And the bullies would never take that from me. Neither would Knoxe.
I stepped closer, even though he towered over me. He didn’t know me. Didn’t know what I was capable of. I couldn’t replace Jaz. Nor did I want to. I was me. But clearly, he held it against me. And I’d prove him wrong.
“I’m sorry you lost, Jaz.” I kept my voice firm and strong. “But my gifts saved your ass the other day with Devon. And that was just the tiny little tip of what I can do, so…you should probably be thanking me instead of trying to get rid of me, especially after I recued your asses from The Hole. I can fit in on your team. And you have an opening, right?”
“You don’t know the first thing about how special Jaz was to us,” Knoxe snarled. “Or how he was taken from us.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like that. That fast. And he was trained. Rockstar trained.” He shook his head and scowled as he gave me a once over. “You’re like a baby. Still in diapers. And I don’t have the time to clean up your shit.”
He clapped his hands about an inch from my nose, and I flinched. Damn him. Trying to intimidate me. I rewarded him with a slap to the face. “I’m no baby and I don’t need anyone to hold my hand.”
He scowled, holding out his hands, and his fingers curled into claws, twisting as if wringing water from a wet shirt. “You don’t understand what we’re up against. Varlax, a rogue vampire faction hungry for fresh energy, and they’re looking at Australia like it’s a banquet. When we went after the leader, Styx, it took everything we had, and we got most of ‘em. But he was too slippery and too powerful. We thought he had him cornered, but he broke loose again, and as a parting gift to us, he snapped Jaz’s neck.”
I touched my throat, aware of its vulnerability and fragility. I struggled to swallow against a lump.
He leaned closer, and I smelled mint on his breath, and his warm and spicy aftershave, neither of which made it easy to concentrate on his words. Even more difficult when he was this fierce and intense. “So, don’t stand there and think you can handle anything. You can’t.”
Something snapped inside of me. “I get it! I’m not fucking welcome here. Let’s get this induction over with so I don’t have to put up with your royal assholeness any longer than necessary.”
Fuck Knoxe. He needed to get his ego in check. I wasn’t to blame for Jaz’s death, and I couldn’t help that been relegated as Jaz’s replacement. His friend died. Sad, yes, but life went on in the Guild of Guardians. The Earth had to be protected. And if I had any hope of ever getting back to my home, I had to do the job I was assigned. Knoxe or not. He could mourn his friend in private, the way I handled leaving the Shadows behind.
He turned swiftly and retreated from the room.
I took long strides and a couple jumps to catch up. For such a big guy, he could really move fast. He led me through corridor after corridor, out of the training services area, past the showering facility, the empty mess halls, the library and study area, finally to a reception area which I assumed must be at the front of the prison.
Thick Plexiglas protected paintings of the walls of Guardians fighting various gantii; werewolves, vampires, dragons, even some of the more obscure creatures. A long bench seat with four chairs stretched along the far wall and a giant leather mail satchel sat on the counter. One of the fluoro lights above flickered, and I covered my eyes because they along with the rest of this day gave me a headache.
Knoxe approached the stained counter. Just beyond, Gloria used one finger at a time to type on her computer keyboard. “Hey, Gloria. Can I get an induction pack and the forms?”
Gloria pushed her red, pointy, 1950’s style glasses down her nose to glance at him. She smiled, leered, actually. “Of course, sugar.” The only thing missing was a bat of her eyelashes and a sway to her ample hips as she stood and walked to the steel filing cabinet behind her desk.
Knoxe tapped his fingers, as if he had someplace better to be.
Gloria removed a manila folder and plucked a plastic pocket with stapled pages inside of it. She slid the packet underneath the glass counter.
“There you go.” She glanced at me with her wide, dull blue eyes, before grinning at him. “Hi there, sweetie. Nice to see you again.”
“See ya, Gloria.” Knoxe turned, stormed off.
“Hi Gloria.” I gave her an awkward wave before jogging to catch Knoxe. I stayed a few steps behind because I didn’t want to walk with him. In a few minutes, we passed some offices, and he entered the last, a floor to ceiling box of metal.
Inside, he tossed the pack on his steel desk. He spoke as if he didn’t care one way or the other what happened beyond this second. But he made a pretty picture standing beside the bookshelf. “Fill these out.”
Being trapped in this room with him was as fun as a bikini wax when I was on my period.
I flicked through the folder, skimming the welcome pack, the prison’s rules, training and study schedule, insurance forms, facilities list, and a map. Things I should have gotten weeks ago but Knoxe had never bothered to give me.
I gulped when I got to the waivers. “Death insurance?”
He sat on the edge of a bench and folded his arms, hanging his head. Apparently he felt much the same in dealing with me as I felt about him. “This isn’t the Shadows. We don’t chase stray gantii. We’re the Tollen. The seekers of criminals worse than or at least as bad as ourselves. We actively seek out the worst the gantii ha
s to offer, and we’re expendable because there are always more criminals to take our places. Always people like you with your ‘gifts’”—I could’ve lived without the air quotes—“doing stupid shit that lands them here.”
“Well aren’t you just the big criminal pot calling the kettle stupid.”
He half-chuckled. “You won’t last the week. I’d bet on it.”
Little did he know… “You’ll lose.”
“Just fill out the paperwork.”
My gut knotted at the idea that the Guardians didn’t give a shit whether I lived or died.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. “You don’t get a choice, Astra.” He didn’t look at me, and it was a good thing, too, because hearing my name on his lips when all he’d called me so far was her or Nomical, did something to my guts. Made them warmer. Lower. But then he went on and my wayward hormones dried up and went home. “You’re a Tollen, a criminal. We don’t have any rights. The death benefit is small compensation.”
I snorted at the irony. We weren’t even allowed to tell our family that we were members of the Guild, that we were sentenced to punishments, yet the Guardians were generous enough to compensate our family if we died in action.
Expendable me filled out her paperwork, read the forms, front and back, signed my life away to a prison, but all the while, I plotted my appeal, what I would say if I ever got in front of a tribunal or even just the warden. And I would, because no way in hell was I going to stand in formation with this asshat for the next twenty-five years or less with good behavior and righteous captures.
Then I dove into the maps, memorizing key landmarks that would tell me where I was. Sleeping quarters at the back, bathing facilities next door, then the training area, mess hall, laundry room, recreation center. Some I already knew from exploring.
The schedule was rigorous. Left no time for a life outside of training and study. Breakfast from 6-7AM, training at 8:00AM, lunch at midday, training until dinner at 6-7PM, then lights out at 10PM.