Rae lowered herself to them and placed her palms against two of the men’s cheeks. She was intent on the deed, but most of all, she was sincere as if she were lacking in something great.
Killian looked at her a long while before nodding. “It’s something I’ve thought about as well,” he said.
Virgil held the melting candle in the air and tapped the holder against a rock. “We don’t have much time,” he warned. “If we don’t get to the end of the tunnel by morning, we might miss our ride.”
“Virgil, you’re a man of faith. We could run a quick ceremony, right?” Rae asked.
Virgil sighed and eyed the small exit of the tunnel. They still had a long ways to go. “We shouldn’t waste our energy,” he said.
Killian stood and reached down into his shoe. He dug until his fingers stopped on an object. Pulling it out, he revealed a small ring. “Obey the queen’s orders, Virg,” he said. “We’re here to serve her, and it’s what she needs of us.”
Virgil took the ring and held it close to the candle. Rae’s sight hovered near the fire and diamonds. The stone reflected vibrantly off of the flickering flame. It was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen.
Rae reached forward to take it, but Virgil pulled it away from her. “Killian! Where did you get this? It’s gorgeous,” she said.
“I found it in the rubble of the city right before Ruby came into the picture. I’ve had it stashed away ever since.”
Rae’s eyes widened as did her smile. She grabbed Virgil and nearly shook him down. “Virgil! Please, do what I ask of you. Marry us. Give us a spoonful of light.”
For a brief moment, Virgil wavered in silence. When he made his choice, he closed his palm. “Okay. But we have fifteen minutes. No more, no less. Do you understand?”
“Oh, thank you!” She swung her arms over Virgil’s shoulders, kissing his cheek. “You won’t regret this,” she said.
“Maybe not. This is my gamble,” he said, offering a weathered smile. There was a certain gleam in his eye, one that made Rae pause. She wished he could have been the one to raise her.
“Okay, the three alphas need to stand over here,” he said. “And you, to the left of them. I’ll stand in the center. Good, good.”
The alphas stood awkwardly clumped together. Their muscles glimmered against the low lighting. Rae laughed at how cute they appeared out of their element. “Wait. I need a wedding dress.”
“There is no time,” Virgil insisted.
But Rae had already decided on the idea. She ran into a dark patch where she would be out of sight. Taking her damaged cloak, she strategically tore more of the frayed cotton until it resembled something unique. As she placed the soaked cloak around her shoulders, she stepped back into the light, slowly wading through the water for effect.
“Here she comes,” Lucas hummed but Killian quickly nudged his solar plexus to get him to shut up.
The alphas’ eyes violated every revealing cut of thread. The dress was a heap of shreds, but plenty of women must have walked down the aisle in worse. It was the thought that counted.
“I’m going to marry the shit out you, sweetheart,” Vash said. The rest of the men grumbled in agreement.
How funny it was to see the men fall to the recognized feminine position of receiving. Marriage was odd in that way. For a brief moment, the men could act as humble servants to her nature.
Virgil cleared his throat and began a quick and very much freestyle version of the ceremony. “Life has… well, life is full of surprises.”
Rae coughed but quickly straightened her back and smiled. Still, from the corner of her mouth, she said, “You can leave the ‘surprise’ stuff out, Virgil.”
Virgil continued. It was clear that time was of the essence, and every small interruption was dragging them behind schedule. Love was the most important thing to her. She wanted to believe it was real, yearned to truly know that it could be understood, as if something pure could be codified through symbols or language, or even a ring stolen during a bloody raid. As flimsy as those things were, and despite the many negative connotations that they conjured for other omegas, she wanted them. It was important to her, and Virgil would have to deal with the time lost in whatever fashion he needed.
“A shared life is something to strive for. A shared life—yes, something that cannot be separated. That is what we hope for. It is the very essence of our being. To have another’s heart in the darkest of nights, to help you shine when you need to most, is the only glory of man,” he said. “Tonight, we gather under the earth, in an underpass to what we hope will bring us home. We are wet, we are in pain, but we gather together in our belief in love. It might be our only hope against a broken world.”
As the light from the candle hit Virgil’s hand, he slowly unveiled the ring. They each stared, and they must have felt what Rae felt. Symbols were all they had. And their love was the only thing that kept them together after years apart.
The men each took a side of the ring, but Killian held the center and slid it over her finger, a bit too preemptively. The marriage was nearly complete.
“Do you alphas take Rae as your wife, for better or for worse, for sickness and in health? In other words, are you willing to stand by her even if it means losing everything you worked toward?” Virgil asked.
The men answered in unison. “I am, and I do.”
Virgil turned to Rae. Tears fell from her eyes. “And you? Will you stand by your men throughout the chaos?”
The captive queen wiped her eyes and let out a relieved cry of joy. “I will. And I do.”
Virgil raised his hands in the air. “She loves that you want to be close to her. She will remember every memory you’ve made together. You have been a part of her since the beginning, but if you are ever separated, trust that you will find each other again.”
The alphas knelt before their queen. Soon, each rose and stayed close, teasing up her body with fresh kisses. “I’ll never lose you,” Rae said. “We’ll get our children back. We’ll be a family again.”
Rae found herself lost in their touch, their smell, and their passionate caresses. She felt safe and connected as a child might within the womb. Once again, she let herself succumb to their tongues, but she wasn’t a girl anymore. She was a woman, an omega, and she had an obligation to grow and nurture.
As they fell into their love, Virgil walked closer to the exit, where the small pool of water bubbled. He shook with a sudden anger they hadn’t yet witnessed. Throwing the candle at the wall, he seemed to smile before the darkness overtook the light.
“We must go,” he said. “We have to swim under. It will be quick, but we have to make sure we don’t lose each other underneath. It will be dangerous.”
Without her sight, Rae was hit with another unknown. Regarding him as a gentle man, she immediately questioned Virgil’s intentions when she saw the sliver of anger cut through. “I thought you were a man of faith…”
Virgil stepped forward, but still he was shrouded by cold darkness. His frail body morphed inside her imagination, turning into something monster-like and dreadful. Rae could smell him, for he was so close, and she felt terrified of him now. He said, “My god is a righteous monster, the one that hangs from the rafters of the deteriorating mind, casting foul hallucinations in the most innocent of creatures. My god is a wretched, vile, and depraved being, and he answers to nothing but my withering tone. Do not tell me what he presumes of me. I am what shapes his mind. You will meet him soon enough…”
Rae swallowed and nodded, but the action didn’t come as freely as she might have expected hours before. She felt obligated to follow the old preacher, and her mind wandered to their safety. If she knew anything of this inescapable hell, it was that more frantic moments awaited her.
Still, she marched forward for the sake of her children. It was all a woman could do.
Chapter Eleven
Rebellion made a woman as unpresentable as a molting fowl. Rae had been trained to think in those term
s, anyway. She used to be at the bottom. Strangely, killing her captor put her at the top. Nevertheless, she was still at the bottom. The fact unsettled her to no end.
She had dreams of being a queen. Of course, nearly every woman did because they grew up knowing they would own nothing. She wished for romantic canoe rides in beautiful cascading rivers and lakes, long days of sex and eating of sugary pastries, as she addressed the public while her alphas lapped at her clit.
Of course, none of that would happen. Rae’s alphas were raised in the same brutal war and slave culture as the rest of mankind. The only thing they could hope for was to escape. She couldn’t be like the blackbird. She had to stay out of sight forever.
“This is where we must stick together,” Virgil said.
But it seemed impossible. Without the hope of light, she didn’t know how to see the path. Only the adept could keep the way sorted in the absence of grace, and she started to feel trapped in her body again, in the same way she used to under Cassian’s hand.
She turned to Killian and held out her palm. It was still too dark to see, but he took it and squeezed. “It’s okay, Precious. We will find the way to our freedom soon.”
As they stopped, there was a solemn feeling in the air. Virgil had calmed down, apologized, and awkwardly bowed in the friendliest way he could act. However, it was clear to her that it was that very thing, an act. They had spent over a full day in the caverns, and all of them had reached their limit. Perhaps, she thought, she was too stuck in her head. Maybe, Virgil would be as she thought he was, a friend and long-lasting companion.
The other alphas soon followed, creating a link together. Slowly, the sound of rushing water picked up in intensity. They lowered their bodies into the pool and, without another word of fear or expression of doubt, they disappeared into the warm sea.
For a long moment, Rae just floated. She never once let go of their hands, but the weightlessness of swimming caught her off guard. She opened her eyes and saw strange movements. Tentacles, spiky gills, and black teeth swirled around her. Was it her imagination? Possibly. But the images continued to manifest. Worst of all, she couldn’t swim.
“Help!”
Rae screamed and thrashed about, but the words came out in thick bubbles. The feeling reminded her of when she used to dream of running from Cassian. Sometimes, her feet felt as if stuck in quicksand. Yes, it was exactly like that. Only, she had the alphas to keep her on the path.
She closed her eyes and held her breath as one of the alphas brought her forward. Quicker than she expected, she was pulled up and out of the water. She nearly choked, but as soon as they climbed out, they were in a cement hallway, still underground but heavily lit with electrical lighting.
Virgil collapsed to his knees, wheezing as his chest pumped the air in his lungs. “This is it! We have made it!”
Vash rolled onto his back and started to laugh. The giggles carried outward until they were all rolling with hilarity. “Virgil, you scared me back there,” Rae said. “I thought you might turn on us.”
Virgil settled and squeezed the water from his hair. Exhaling, he shook his head, but before he could respond, Lucas took Rae by the shoulder and forcefully turned her. “Killian. Where the hell is Killian?”
Rae felt weakened as she registered his words. Turning frantically, she stared at Vash and then back at the water before letting out a shrill grumble that quickly turned into something worse and screeching.
She screamed his name and dashed for the water again. Not one part of her cared if she could swim or not. Within seconds, she was underneath, floating down into the black abyss. This time, she held her eyes open, despite being unable to see. And though she knew he couldn’t hear her cries, she let them out regardless. No fear registered in her heart.
“Killian! Don’t you dare leave me! Killian…”
She felt the hands latch around her neck, pulling her back toward the light from above, back to the deep-rooted hope that they would find their children at the end of the tunnel. Yet, as she reached the surface again, she knew Killian was gone.
The loss felt irrevocable. It hit her in the center of her stomach and spread like a virus, emotionless and far-reaching. Rae could barely take a breath, let alone open her eyes without spilling endless tears. She had already lost her children. Even Vash seemed stuck on the hurt of years ago. Was she destined to lose everyone, one by one?
“I don’t understand. He was right there, holding my hand,” she wept. “Right there…”
There was no time for words. Not yet, at least. Finding their alpha-pack brother was paramount. Both Vash and Lucas dove in after her while Virgil hung over the pool, watching intently as their bodies disappeared. “They will find him,” he said. “They must find him.”
Again, Virgil’s voice shook with intensity as if the entirety of his life depended on Killian’s appearance from that bitter lake. He grabbed the chain around his neck and closed his eyes, murmuring a tired prayer, anything to make things right. However, the alphas soon surfaced with nothing more than the wet on their backs.
Killian was gone. What that meant hadn’t even begun to register.
Vash took a few steps before crumpling beside Rae on the concrete platform. He held back his emotions for her as an alpha was taught to do, but she was sure he hurt as much as her. Lucas stood silent, but she could see the ricochets of gloom as his body quaked with sudden bursts of deep emotion.
“I’m sorry,” Vash said.
She’d forgotten what it felt like to be broken. It was less about the emotional strain than it was the physical. The reality set in, and it actually hurt her. She felt it deep within her shoulders, her solar plexus, and, of course, her shattered heart. She would have given the pumping organ of life and love to have everyone together again.
She stood and wiped her tears, unable to stop her hands from shaking. Still, she couldn’t allow herself to dwell on the darkness of her thoughts. If she did, she might break down and never leave the cave area. Instead, she turned and marched forward. “I will kill Severin, Ruby, and the rest of their pathetic guards. I will drain their blood and lather it on my body. I will fucking rape their corpses. Whatever it takes to make things right, I will do it.”
She marched through the long hall, noticing the well-lit door at the end. While silently weeping for Killian, she curled her hands into a fist and screamed. “We will have a funeral for him, and it will be the biggest funeral the world has ever seen!”
By saying those words, she almost felt like she might be able to get him back. Lost in the heat of the moment, she wanted what Virgil had, that everlasting faith to keep one moving. Though she tried to place one foot in front of the other, it was so fucking hard. Was it because she was a woman? No. The alphas were still seated and lost in their own grief. It was because she kept her heart open. She wondered if that was wrong of her, but Killian’s face shined throughout her mind.
“Alphas, follow me,” she commanded.
When she did not hear their footsteps, she slammed her heel against the concrete and screamed with fury. “Goddammit, follow me!” More tears shrouded her raspberry lips, falling to the floor as her nerves forced her to move. The hardest thing she had to persevere through was the absence of those she loved most. However, if that was something life would persistently make her face, she would learn to move with more grace.
“For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry,” Virgil whispered.
“Follow me now, or break from me completely,” she muttered, ignoring Virgil’s shallow attempts at realigning the world through prayer. Truthfully, she didn’t give two fucks about prayers. She only cared about the light at the other end of the tunnel.
Vash broke their silence. It was clear he was in pain, but the struggle of life was complex, and he looked ready to combat it. “He isn’t dead,” he said, standing as if still a soldier in Cassian’s small army of bandits.
Rae’s eyes widened, but she quickly real
ized he was speaking out of hope, not reality. “Why do you talk like a child?” she asked.
Vash ran toward her, nearly lunging when he had the chance. His hands had turned into claws, nails drawing blood against his own palm. He carried daggers in his eyes, fierce enough to kill everyone in sight. He pinned her against the wall, forcing his chin against her cheek. Slowly, he let the words drop.
“Do not tell me how to behave,” he said with scorn. “When I found you, you were hooked up to tubes. You have been locked away most of your life. My pack has lost everything for your freedom. Some respect might be in order.”
“Vash.” Lucas scowled and pulled back against his shoulder, but the pack leader hit him over the head and watched as he fell to the concrete, lightly bleeding from his skull.
“My brother, my mother, and my whole world has died before my eyes,” Vash said, tears now visibly resting against the sides of his eyes. He gritted his teeth and let out an exhausted cry of pain before letting himself go with sudden weakness.
His body succumbed to the weight of his thoughts, shoulders hunched in defeat. The anger was short lived and pathetic. Even he had to know that, for it was revealed in the tone of the next words he spoke. “The worst revelation of all is knowing that everything, all of what we have lost, is my doing, the fault of my blood. The sins of my fathers. You are right. I am a petulant child. I wasn’t taught to be anything else.”
Rae wasn’t afraid of his outburst. Part of her wished he had continued with the tirade, smashing her to bits, waking her from this tireless nightmare. If only it was a dream…
“Are you done?” she asked.
Vash nodded and exhaled. Yes, he was done with his juvenile displays of foolish passion. It didn’t make him a better leader, but it did give Rae the option to lead them instead. She took the opportunity and knelt next to him, massaging her fingers into his hair.
“Good,” she said, sternly. “Then, shut the fuck up and act like men.”
She was no longer the little, innocent dove they’d found in Cassian’s laboratory. She had changed into something far more complex and interesting than her former self. Though she hadn’t held her children close to her body since the traumatic birthing, she was a mother. She was ready to accept that responsibility.
Born Claimed: A Dark Omegaverse Romance (Broken Angel Book 2) Page 12