This place, however, is different. It reminds her of the pipes, but worse.
As they meander further into the massive amphitheater of sex and pain, Rae keeps her head lowered until they reach a small door.
Vash slips a few coins into a nearby slot, and the gate opens automatically.
Inside the compact room is a single stained mattress, an opened can of unidentified liquid, and a half-eaten piece of leftover meat.
Vash ties Rae’s leash to a post and collapses onto the soiled bedding.
“I don’t miss the beds,” Killian says.
Rae is the second to sit on the mattress, her puppy-dog eyes rising to their level. “Please don’t leave me here alone.”
Vash feels his abdomen and rocks forward as agony writhes beneath his gut. His navel is bleeding again. The growing wound stares at him, and he can only think of how happy his brother must feel.
“This place… I can’t believe we are back here,” he says.
Lucas watches Vash with careful uneasiness. “I told you. We have walked into a trap.”
But Vash shook his head, his black hair shifting to one side. “Cassian is not here.”
Lucas places his hand against his shoulder blade and squeezes. “He could be. You don’t have a fucking clue.”
That is a risk they have learned to accept. Like it or not, they are at war.
“We’re outnumbered. Cassian’s men are everywhere,” Lucas adds.
“Well, we still have our badges. That gives us access to secluded, private areas. As far as everyone here is concerned, we are random, top-rank alphas. She’s our omega prize.”
But there is bounty is out for them. Their faces are everywhere. And though they dress in stealth with cloaks from the desert regions of the South, none of that will matter if a prominent official witnesses them roaming the rows of merchants.
Vash stumbles onto the bed. If Vash doesn’t get better, he isn’t sure how the others will fair against Cassian.
They’ll be fucked harder than Rae.
“We’ll find Aden,” Lucas says, sharing a glance with Killian.
“Like hell,” Vash argues and tries to stand.
Killian extends his chubby hand to block him. “Rest.”
Rae watches the alphas, taking in as much information as she can.
“Is that an order?” Vash asks with rare sarcasm.
“It’ll give you more time to prep her,” Killian says.
Aden is easy to find, but he isn’t a team player. They can’t rely on Vash to save the day anymore.
“Fine. But hurry,” Vash mutters.
The two alphas nod and walk into the crowd of alphas outside the room.
Vash turns to face the shivering and silent omega. He waits for her to say something, anything to keep his mind occupied, but she says nothing.
Finally, the twisting pain stirs him enough to break the silence. “Don’t mind Lucas,” he says.
A faint smirk forms on the innocent omega’s mouth, but she bashfully looks away. “You are worried,” she says. “About losing your strength.”
Vash runs his fingernails against each other, tapping the cracked edges until they catch. She may be right, but she is out of line.
“We won’t be here for more than a night,” he says, studying the ceiling.
Her strands of dark hair stroke her face. After some time, she nods. “You won’t prepare me here?”
Vash sits still, despite the ache. “No.”
Rae leans toward him and lays her fingers on the threading of his shirt. When he does not squirm, she lifts the moist fabric.
“Does it hurt?” she asks.
He shrugs. “Pain is only relevant to the situation at hand,” he says. “I hurt because I know I could lose everything I worked so hard to gain.”
It’s a stark admission that he wasn’t used to giving. It makes him feel weak, and he blames the girl for it.
“You won’t lose me,” Rae says.
Yes, she has been obedient, but Vash feels a level of unease with everyone. Sometimes, he wonders if parting with Cassian was worth it. Then, he remembers the goal and feels the urge to keep fighting.
“I know that,” he lies. “All I care about is bringing down Cassian and his army.”
She points at his bag. “Hand me your medical kit. I will clean and wrap you with fresh gauze.”
He hands her the bag and inhales through his engorged nostrils. This is another level of trust he isn’t used to providing. It’s not a violation of the pack’s rules. It just rubs Vash the wrong way.
Vash furrows his brows and leans back against the wall. “They don’t trust me anymore.”
Removing the old bandage, Rae dips a small cotton swab into the bottle of alcohol, allowing the liquid to soak into the fuzz.
“Once you are healthy, they’ll come around,” Rae says, applying the swab to the wound with haste.
Vash hammers his teeth together, thick beads of sweat forming on his forehead. “That is the hope.”
Rae tosses aside the bloody cotton swab, taping down the fresh gauze.
Vash glances at the wound and nods. “I know you have hopes, too,” he says.
“I am in heat,” she says, reaching for his rising shaft.
“We will snuff it out of you before Cassian can.”
Rae curls her head against his chest, providing him with a view.
Vash can tell she wants something from him.
“What is it?” he asks.
“I want autonomy within the pack,” she says. “Once the baby is delivered, of course.”
Vash doesn’t know how to take this, but he is too weak to argue. “Consider it done,” he groans.
Eyes lighting up with childlike excitement, Rae hugs his stiffened neck, hand stroking his dripping shaft. “Thank you,” she whispers.
“You’re our special girl. Remember that the next time you want to act up,” he says.
Vash closes his eyes and allows the obedient kitten to lap up his milky surplus.
She is special. More special than she knows.
Chapter Ten
“Think he’ll make it?” Lucas asks as they walk through the crowded arena.
Killian’s eyes scan the bodies for Cassian’s tags, praying to the gods above that no one familiar shows up.
The truth is Killian doesn’t have anybody else except for the pack. When Vash found him, he was a junior soldier without a family. His village had been torched, and Cassian slaughtered the elders.
Vash promised him revenge. For that reason alone, he felt indebted to Cassian’s brother.
“I’m… optimistic,” he grumbles.
“We can only keep running for so long before they catch us. You saw him. He can barely move,” Lucas says.
Killian turns the corner and shakes his head. “We made an agreement,” he says.
Lucas steps in front of him. “And you’ll keep to that agreement?”
Sucking in a breath, Killian traces his palm over his close-shaven scalp.
“You remember what he told us about the omega. The three of us need each other,” he says.
Lucas seems to agree with this. Before they reach Aden’s bunk, they both pause. “You ready?” Killian asks.
Without answering him, Lucas pushes through a thin curtain of beads. The two meet a thin and wavering omega, unfed and on the last threads of her life.
She sits in a medium-sized cage, blonde hair combed behind her ears. It is clear she has been used to her full abilities and then some.
A twisted smile forms on her face before she greets them.
“A ride is fifty chips, no less. You pay up front, or it’s double and stamped to your thumbprint,” she says.
“Aden,” Killian clarifies his intention.
“Aden is out,” the female says, spreading a leg to the side. “But I can help you.”
Lucas cuffs his palm around his revolver and aims the barrel at the omega. “We will wait for him then.”
The woma
n startles back, nearly gagging on her words. Clamoring against the thin metal bars, she alerts Aden of the alphas presence with a shrill cry.
Killian pulls out his gun and starts for the back of the room. As he pushes through another set of curtains, he sees Aden startle out of bed with a custom rifle.
“Killian,” he gasps, blinking, eyes bloodshot. He drops the gun. “You can’t be here. Your pack has been the talk of the sector.”
Killian caresses the trigger and squeezes until a sharp ringing bursts through their eardrums. One shot to Aden’s kneecap, and he collapses to the floor like a wounded soldier in the mud.
Aden hunches and clings to the exploded thread of muscle and bone. Crying and lashing forward, he screams, “He will find you, you fuck!”
Killian holsters his weapon and pulls out a blade. Taking hold of the alpha’s thick head of hair, he drags him to the corner wall, placing the blade against his forehead.
“You never learned when to shut your mouth, Aden.” Killian breathes down the side of his neck.
“Cassian will track you down,” he moans. “You’ll never make it out of here.”
Killian caresses the trigger once more, aiming down at his foot. Another bullet rolls through the chamber, shattering Aden’s big toe into oblivion.
When his voice gives out from crying, Killian leans forward. “We need a sample fusion kit, and you’re going to give it to us.”
Aden’s eyes sway open in disbelief. Saliva trickles from his lips to the floor. “You fucks blew my leg off for a fusion kit…”
Both Killian and Lucas inch closer to him, digging their weapons into the skin. A trickle of blood traces his porous face. “We need a doctor, too. Know where to find one?”
The alpha shakes his head. “A specialist who doesn’t use identification retrieval? Are you out of your mind?”
There is no question the alphas are out of their minds. They are going against the most powerful slave trader in the region, a warmonger tyrant with thousands of slayings under his belt. They are more than crazy, and they will die for this cause if they have to.
“Give us the damn kit.”
“Okay, okay. Fusion kit is behind me. Check the cabinets,” he says, face turning a shade of purple.
“And the doctor?” Killian asks.
Aden shuts his eyes and sighs. “I can’t help you with that. I only know of one doctor in Dagon, and Cassian has already got to him.”
Killian lowers the gun. “The doctor that died in the pipes? Bullshit.”
A chuckle falls from Aden’s dying throat. “I always knew you’d do me like this.”
“Don’t get sentimental. Our pack’s relationship with you has always been strictly business,” Killian says.
“You found her, didn’t you? The omega…” Aden swallows before smiling, the life fading from his eyes. “You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”
“We did,” Killian admits.
“So. You will have your family after all. How sweet,” Aden says.
“My pack has always been my family. Nobody else,” Killian says.
Lucas swivels the blade back into the sheath on his thigh. Standing up, he seizes the fusion kit from the cabinet. “Getting tired of this guy.”
Killian purses his lips. “You should see a doctor. You’re losing a lot of blood.”
“Wait, please. I helped you. Now, you help me,” Aden says.
“This isn’t a game,” Lucas says. “There are no rules we have to abide by.”
They leave Aden, fusion kit in hand, and hurry back to the compact room where Rae and Vash have been hiding.
Killian opens the door to find the two bodies, intertwined and sleeping. Tossing the black box against Vash’s wounds, Vash wakes with a painful startle.
“Got your kit,” Killian grunts.
Vash analyzes the box’s print. It isn’t a replica—that is for sure. But he has no fucking clue how to use the newer model.
“What about finding a doctor?” he asks.
“Aden only knew of the specialist we saw in the pipes,” Lucas says.
“You mean, the doctor Rae snuffed,” Vash says.
But Killian shakes his head. “Aden claims the doctor survived, that he’s with Cassian now.”
Vash feels an icy current of dread hover in his gut. “Dammit. We can’t stay here.”
“What are we going to do, Vash? Wait for you to bleed to death in some foreign village?” Lucas asks, looking down at the applied gauze, already starting to soak with rosy stains.
As they argue, Rae watches as an emaciated figure of a woman passes by the room. Lifting her head, she observes the sunken omega watching Killian and Lucas.
She’s too close for comfort.
“Alphas, stop arguing,” Rae hisses, raising her hand to point at the hovering omega.
“We will come across someone,” Vash argues.
“I’m sick of putting my ass on the line for one girl,” Lucas says.
As the alphas ignore Rae’s incessant chattering, the mysterious omega takes slow steps forward. Finally, she gazes into Rae’s eyes.
“Shh…” The silent omega places a skeletal finger against her lip. Then, she aims a rifle at Killian’s head.
Rae jumps forward in a state of panic. Her leash catches against the post, but she chokes until her hand eases around the butt of Vash’s revolver.
One shot. Two shots. Three shots. Dead shot and slayed.
The omega falls to the floor as a heap of bones and figure-hugging flesh. Rae turns her head before she can witness the dark-red fluid spread out across the floor.
The men react the way she expects them to, by raising their fists to smash her into submission. So she drops the gun and huddles back against the wall, legs tucked inside her arms.
“Please don’t beat me anymore,” she whispers.
Killian seizes Rae by the shoulders but he’s not going to hit her. He’s looking at her in a brand new light. “You saved our lives,” he says, astonished.
The pack can feel the weight of other slave trader alphas staring in their direction. Rae just killed a woman—one who wasn’t their property. This is a crime no other alpha in the sector will let go.
The entire section of the arena lights up, flashing red. Sirens resounding, the alphas turn in a panic.
Rae pushes the pistol away with her feet. “What have I done?” she asks.
“Keep the pistol,” Vash groans. “We may need you.”
Perhaps Rae has earned their trust.
Turning, the alphas face the crowd of slave traders. Vash holds the insignia up in the air. “My brother is Cassian,” he declares. “I am of his blood. Step back, alpha scum.”
The crowd thickens like the sea, but the four part through with powerful force. “I am of the blood,” Vash screams once more.
It is the blood that makes atonement. Without the lineage, there is no hierarchy.
Rae remembers the doctors telling her this. As she clings to Killian’s back, she closes her eyes and only allows herself to look when the fear of death forces her eyes back open.
They edge their way through the arena, finally reaching the entrance to the station. Rushing forward, Lucas props the door open with his heel before it can lock them inside.
“Keep moving!” he screams.
They scamper through the train station, hopping onto the tracks below. They will travel by foot. “Through the tunnel,” Lucas says. “We can get on a train at the next station.”
“Let’s hope one doesn’t come while we’re on these tracks,” Killian mutters.
Opening her eyes again, Rae swallows and forces a smile. She is no longer an innocent flower, waiting for each petal to be plucked and thrown onto the earth’s floor.
She saved the alphas. Yes, she can be strong like them.
Now, I can be taken seriously.
Before they reach the edge of the tunnel, Rae jumps from Killian’s shoulders, hand still rooted around the pistol. The alphas look at the weapon, b
ut they let her keep it. Even though she could have, she hasn’t and won’t turn on them.
“You know how to reload that thing?” Killian asks.
Rae’s lustrous eyes roll down to gaze at the mechanisms within the revolver. She has seen the alphas using their weapons. But she has to admit she isn’t smart enough to know precisely how it all works.
“Teach me,” she says.
“Why?” Killian asks. “So you can turn on us and run?”
“I will protect you like I did back in the barracks,” she sneers.
It is the first time she has talked back to one of the alphas, but she feels it warranted. Now that she has a weapon, she can stand on her own two feet.
Vash holds out the insignia tablet and allows it to glow. “We are of the blood,” he says. “Soon, she will be, too. For now, we must accept her strengths and use them to our advantage. Cassian knows how we view situations. He has studied us with great care. With her, our movements will appear unpredictable.”
Reluctantly, Killian glances at the omega. Her brown hair hangs in thick waves across the front of her stunning face. Noticing her sudden strength, he is taken aback, even a little annoyed.
He has never seen an omega like her before.
“I’m special,” she says, stepping forward with new confidence.
“Yes. You are,” Killian says, tossing her a holster to wear. “But I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle the truth.”
Killian turns, walking. The worst part about this is how much he likes her. They have beaten her, broken her body and mind into submission. Shattering her into a million pieces, they promised to be the glue that held her together.
Turns out, she was the glue the entire time. They are the broken ones. They still need to be fixed.
Vash reaches into his pocket, pulling out the second pill the doctor gave him. He clenches his throat as it travels through his burning esophagus.
“We will go to Rae’s village, Varikar, to find a specialist,” he says.
Rae feels hope blossom inside her ribs. Such joy that she runs toward Vash and kisses him, bowing in obedient worship. “Thank you.”
“Thank us later,” Vash says. “Tomorrow, we will be difficult.”
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