by Skyler Grant
Quinn could only reflect again how weird the Unshackled were. Really, really, weird.
"This is your turn. I don't know the situation," Jinx said, glancing at Quinn.
"We come from a universe where the Emperor is dead and there have been no millennia of war, the sides having largely been separated. In fact, we're hoping we can stop one from happening," Quinn said.
"Your words match what the others captured said when interrogated. I wonder what I'd have been in your reality, if my hands weren't so stained with blood," Mahara said.
"Find out. We can get back there, we can take this whole station there. We're willing to, with your help. We get the station and all aboard, and you, and those who choose to go with you. Once we cross over, you can depart on your ship," Quinn said.
"Our universe has enough crazy," Kara said.
"Why would I agree to this?" Mahara asked.
"Because you're losing. Because no matter how strong you get, you aren't a match for the full might of the Imperium with the Emperor in charge, and while he lives he'll never tolerate your existence," Quinn said.
"Where one dies another rises," Mahara said, and her gaze shifted to Jinx. "Don't you see it yet in her? The conviction? The pride? Tell me, Jinx, did it hurt you to kill Ilinar?"
"It did," Jinx said.
"And did the last man you murdered trouble you much at all?" Mahara asked.
The question lingered in the air until Jinx shook her head.
Quinn said, "I am her husband, she carries the child of a Chaosian. Kalisa is the Mistress teaching Jinx to use her abilities, and is her wife. Jinx may be the avatar of Order, but she is not the Emperor."
Mahara gestured and there was a shimmer near Kalisa, who fell from the wall to the floor as the spikes which had held her suddenly vanished. Without waiting for Kalisa to recover, Mahara asked her, "Do you believe this?"
"There is more than one way to order a system. I think Jinx, and the rest of my family, stand a chance of making something new," Kalisa said.
"Then we try it. I make no promises we won't be enemies in the future," Mahara said.
18
It didn't happen at once. Mahara insisted on waiting for her fighters to return and that took hours. It was enough to get Kalisa healed and to top off everyone from the crystallized mana stores aboard the station.
They offered Rena the chance to leave the station, but she decided to go with them. However loyal she was to the Emperor, with her assignment of watching Mahara being completed she had little possibility of survival. Loyalty only went so far, especially when there was no purpose to dying.
Almost a quarter of the clan had decided to stay behind and not join Mahara.
Quinn, Rena, Kalisa and Jinx all linked up and channeled their powers together to the runic sphere. A station was larger than anything Jinx had ever transported, much less adding in the new complication of shifting between realities.
Still, the sensation was much the same as when they were brought here. A rainbow shift of light and the strangest might-have-been ever, one that was flashbacks of their own lives. Quinn had to wonder if that was what the might-bes were all along. Perhaps jumping from one spot to another in an instant of time meant flashing through these other realities to get there. Some part of the mind knew, and recognized what was happening.
"Are we back?" Dela asked.
"You tell me," Quinn asked.
Dela tilted her head. "I've got a line with Tamara through my link. They'll bring the Centauri Bliss to meet us, it will take a while."
"I'll contact my own people. They'll be more familiar with clan technology for operating this station," Kalisa said.
They'd decided not to waste any time and jumped this station directly into the orbit of one of the mana well worlds they needed to protect.
"We'll have to do ferry runs for the other two stations, but that should be coverage for all three worlds," Quinn said.
"Minimal coverage," Dela said and tilted her head again. "Mahara's ship has disengaged from dock and is pulling off. If we're going to do any last-minute betraying and murdering, this would be our time."
"We're not. She's important, I don't know how yet, but she's important," Jinx said.
"You realize that could just be because she's a murderous psychopath with enormous power and whatever voice you’re hearing seems to want us to go to war sometimes," Quinn said.
"It doesn't, not exactly. It simply isn't afraid of us going to war. It wants to end this conflict between Order and Chaos one way or another, and the most direct way is by fighting it out until there is a victor," Jinx said.
"I've never felt or heard anything like what you described. Chaos doesn't care," Kalisa said.
"I've felt it, but only from my link to Jinx. I wonder if Mahara felt it? If that is what drives her to fight so relentlessly," Quinn said.
"And now we have two Maharas," Kalisa said.
"How similar are they?"
Kalisa was silent a moment. "They share how determined they are, and how unwilling they are to let things stand in their way. Ours is a better woman, but only because she realized how terrible she could be."
"I didn't like coming face to face with some of the worst parts of myself. Mine tried to have a threesome with me. After the standoff," Jinx said. “Even though I think she was still really angry.”
"You should have done it. For all that she has a repulsive personality, she wasn't terrible in bed," Rena said.
"I never before realized how incredibly awkward it is when a complete stranger just confessed to screwing your evil twin. I wonder if this is what real twins feel like all the time?" Jinx asked.
"I mean, it isn't actually you. I really wanted to kill your evil twin and if I had, I wouldn't be killing you," Dela said.
"She's still out there too, you know. You might get your chance," Quinn said.
"You had yours. I'm still not sure why you didn't take it," Rena said.
"Why didn't you?" Dela asked.
Quinn thought for a moment before answering. "Because more than ever I'm aware that I'm not married to one woman. Tamara isn't just Tamara, but also Tourmaline, and with my powers increasingly none of you are just you. You're the infinite number of women you might have been or you might become."
"And what about me?" Sand asked.
"Is that you asking, or Kat?"
Sand didn't answer the question, she just stared at him.
"The way I see it, you reset the clock for Kat. If she wants a different life and doesn't want to be part of this one, I understand. I love her though and still want her to be my wife, as part of this family, if they agree," Quinn said.
"I'm good with that, but we are not married to evil Jinx and I don't care what your powers say," Dela said.
Sand was continuing to stare.
"And yes, Sand. That means you too. You're something of a package deal," Quinn said.
"Well, that's romantic," Dela said.
Sand said, "I care nothing about romance, for all that Kat likes it. Formal acceptance in the family is something I desire though. Kat is less certain, so the real question is—would you take the one even without the other?"
That was not something Quinn had considered. It was also one he didn't have to answer.
Dela said, "We would. Quinn is going to be weird about it, I know, but he'll work it out. I've less doubts. We need you."
"Not even going to ask Tamara first?" Quinn asked.
"We already discussed it. We knew this would come up at some point, she could have made Kat without sticking herself inside and still blackmailed you to get her off that world," Dela said.
Sand gave a tiny smile. "How unexpectedly forward thinking of you. An alliance of marriage it is then. Our enemies will tremble."
"And you said you cared nothing for romance," Kalisa said.
19
Without being able to use the runic sphere the Centauri Bliss had to take the slow way to reach the station. With the need to stop for re
fueling that gave them over two days—time to kill without much for them to do.
They claimed a lounge happily free of any torture equipment to have a movie night. The floor had been piled high with pillows and Quinn was sprawled out on his back atop a mound of them with Kalisa and Jinx tucked in on either side. Kara and Sand shared a loveseat, while Dela lay on her stomach.
The holovid was a love story, a man and a woman of competing clans, and both mighty warriors who had been in the midst of trying to kill each other when the Imperium invaded.
"Does all your entertainment involve trying to kill each other?" Quinn asked.
"What? It’s romantic. They show each other their strength and now they're separated by war," Kalisa said, snuggling against him. "I haven't seen this. I didn't even think, when we took this place, we'd have a thousand years worth of different movies to watch."
Jinx curled in on Quinn's other side. It felt weird to be between them like this. Kalisa so filled with Chaos magic, and Jinx Order magic, their competing energies crackling against his body.
"I bet there’s money to be made. Just like when we sold Core movies to the Rim," Dela said.
"I'll look into it. I'm the one with clan connections and they're more geared for our culture than yours," Kalisa said.
"With a war coming people in the Core are going to be curious too. I can see what I can get through my old contacts," Dela said.
Kalisa slid a hand down Quinn's chest, drifting towards his pants and he shifted uncomfortably. He said, "Maybe not the best time for that."
"Did our trip to another universe make you shy all of a sudden? I know you got a little overexposed, but really, didn't we all?" Kalisa asked.
Jinx said, "You know it’s not that. It’s her. If she’s going to be part of the family, you have to get Sand used to this sort of thing." She leaned in to capture his lips in a kiss for a long moment.
She was right, of course. It wasn't that Quinn had suddenly gotten shy or that he had a problem with groups. He'd come to like the group—he'd found he had more than a bit of exhibitionist and the voyeur in him, and liked watching and being watched.
It was different when the watcher was Kat, or at least had her face with the real thing in there somewhere.
Kalisa finished unbuckling his pants, slipping through and pulling out his cock. Quinn was turned on—of course, he was always turned on in the presence of his wives. At times a useful and always frustrating side-effect of Kara's Yek physiology.
"So between evil me, Rena, and Mahara, who were you more into?" Jinx asked as she slid her hand to cup Quinn's balls, her touch warm.
"Is that some weird sort of trick question?" Quinn asked.
"Quinn, you're pretty much always turned on. I mean, I know it isn't exactly your choice, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening. I know you're not looking to screw around outside the family, but that doesn't mean you aren't thinking about it. I just want you to be honest with me. With all of us. Did you want to fuck evil me?" Jinx asked, her hands playing.
It was such an uncomfortable question in a lot of ways. Selina had tortured Dela brutally and again he just couldn't escape it. Still, Kat was watching, Kat was listening.
"It’s okay if you did," Dela said, glancing backwards. "I mean, we're totally not marrying Selina, but I was aware. I mean, I was kind of out of it in pain, but I was right there while you two made out."
"I almost came a time or two then. Things got ... really intense. Yeah, I'm not very proud of it, but I wanted to fuck her," Quinn admitted quietly.
Kalisa began to stroke him a bit faster. The sparks flying between Jinx and Kalisa were all centered on his length now. It was electrifying and incredibly stimulating.
"Good, what about Rena?" Jinx asked.
Quinn thought back to her. Those features so similar to the woman he'd once dated. Quinn had rather liked spy Rena, and he'd rather liked criminal Rena.
"I really don't see the point of all this," Quinn said.
"Because I'm worried if you aren't going forward, you're going to slide backward. Because as things get more dangerous, it’s more important to be open. So, what about Rena?" Jinx asked.
"Yes. Yes, I wanted to fuck Rena too," Quinn sighed.
Kalisa began to stroke a little faster yet and it started to get hard for Quinn to concentrate.
"Mahara?" Jinx asked.
"Mahara was the most dangerous woman we've ever faced. She could have killed every single one of us with barely a second thought," Quinn said.
"And when you met me I was the most dangerous woman you'd ever met. Sand still might be more dangerous than Mahara and you want her," Jinx said.
"I don't know what you're hoping to hear," Quinn said.
"The truth. Let’s try this, then. What did you think of her chest?" Jinx asked.
"Large, but small nipples. Dark brown and so pointed," Quinn said, thinking back on them. It was a very distracting thought in his current state.
Kalisa's hand sped still more. It was too much. Quinn's hips seized as a climax overcame him. With the competing magical charges it was especially powerful.
"We know who you are, Quinn. The right answer was you were into all of them. We know the truth. Kat knows the truth, and if she didn't she's learning in a hurry," Jinx said.
They shuffled places a few more times during the rest of the film. By the end of it he'd came eight more times. It seemed like it might have been a decent movie, but he really had no idea what happened.
20
The next day found Quinn on a date with Kat. Sand had passed along the request after the movie night and Quinn agreed.
The station was mostly built for defense so it didn't have much in the way of luxuries. Off Mahara's quarters though there was a small garden. It was filled with desert plants, with massive cacti along the walls and a floor of sculpted sand and rocks.
Kat was wearing a sun dress and had her hair loose.
"Where did you find something to wear like that here?" Quinn asked.
Quinn was wearing the clan athletic gear. With them it seemed if you weren't exercising you were fighting, and he hoped the date wouldn't require armor.
"Sand," Kat said with a smile. "It's all the little things that are, well, her I guess."
The garden was just one small circle. Still, they began to walk it. It at least offered the illusion of going somewhere, which was probably the whole point.
"How is that whole thing ... working out?" Quinn asked.
The conversation was awkward. Why wouldn't it be? Since she'd returned from the dead this was their first time alone. Or at least, as alone as they could get given Sand was somewhere in her head.
"We get along. We haven't had to fight for control or anything. In fact, she keeps encouraging me to get out more. I'm sorry, this is weird," Kat said.
"I want to say, how could things between us ever be weird? But ..."
"How did it happen? All of this?" Kat asked.
"Being criminals? Mages? Remarried?"
"We were criminals, but we didn't live like this."
"It started when the Emperor died. Jinx was on the run and Tamara was watching out for her, and I agreed to keep them safe. It seemed, at the time, that the best way to do that was to marry her and get her pregnant," Quinn said.
Kat was quiet for a while. "I knew she was pregnant. How did it wind up with all ... well, all the people there are here now?"
"They kind of gave me an ultimatum. I'd marry all of them. Taki had always had a thing, she talked Melody into it, and Tamara had a long game like she always does. I married them or they left," Quinn said.
"I should have tried that," Kat said weakly, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.
"Ice had said you used to want something similar. I didn't know whether to believe her or not."
"How did you not believe her when we three were so damned good together? I loved her, Quinn, and you made me fucking choose between the two of you," Kat said, suddenly frustrated.
"Do you know what she went into after we were gone? Piracy, she became a pirate queen. Do you know how many innocent people she's murdered?" Quinn asked.
"And yet you married her anyways when I was gone—after she did all that stuff you're pretending to be so damned horrified by. You're getting even hard and getting off thinking of women that tortured your family," Kat said, releasing his hand and shoving him.
Kat was strong, and with her implants very strong. She sent him flying backwards to crash hard on his ass.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean," Kat said, quickly rushing towards him and offering a hand.
Quinn accepted it and rose to his feet. "I know. It's the implants. Taki half-beat Ice to death when she got hers. Guess I'm lucky."
"Sand said she'll step in if it goes that far," Kat said, and she kicked hard at the ground, causing a cloud of dust. "I'm just so damned angry. Do you even have an answer?"
"Ice convinced me that I needed her in the family. Ice convinced Taki too that we needed her. That my heroic tendencies and trying to convince people to do the right thing would get people killed. That it had gotten you killed," Quinn said.
"Did it?" Kat asked, staring at him intently. "I don't have those memories."
"I don't know," Quinn said wearily. "But I thought it possible. If I didn't think it possible, I wouldn't have agreed with Ice. The mission was blown, you should have pulled out, but you didn't."
"You always wanted so damned badly to be something other than what we were. We were good at what we did and we were great with Ice. It broke my heart when we left her, but I loved you. I was scared you were going to leave me because I wasn't any better than she was," Kat said.
"I loved you, so much. Love you so much," Quinn said.
"Did you? Do you? Do you even know who I am? I think it was bad enough when I was alive, but from all I can tell when I died you made me some sort of damned saint."
Quinn realized in principle it was probably true. Ice and Kat had always been close, best friends. If Quinn had seen what Ice was and been driven off, Kat obviously hadn't been. And it seemed there were all kinds of things about her he'd never known. Things he'd never realized.
