As Rae comes to her senses, she notices she is moving. There are others, soldiers whose masculine hands carry her limp body, speeding her through a darkened hallway.
“Hurry. We have little time,” Severin urges.
They speed through a room, the smell of sediment and chlorine pungent in the air surrounding them. They are somewhere underground, but it is incomprehensible. Rae has never been this far away from home before.
“Where are we?” she asks.
“All in due time,” Severin mutters.
Soon, they are in a large enclosure, facing a seven-pronged metal chamber with two large pipes running into the backside, and plastic tubes, and other detailed contraptions her mind cannot understand.
Addressing unfamiliar faces, horrible faces, faces with eyes that glow in the dark, and teeth that click in rapid succession, Severin mutters, “Place her inside the center of the machine.”
Months upon months stack inside her mind, rolling into nothingness, the present she cannot twist away from. Is this really how things ended up for her?
Now that the reconstruction of the world has come, Severin prepares a big show. The celebration of the century. He will broadcast her coronation to the entire world. She will be his star.
She will be the world’s queen.
His eyes burn. Every time she looks at him, she feels the pain of her children sear through her empty womb. All she wants is for this to end, to find peace again. She dreams of her alphas waiting for her.
They sure as hell aren’t waiting patiently. If she knows them like she thinks she does, they are frothing at the mouth, desperate as her to come together as four again.
Despite the fear Severin forces her to feel, she can’t stop the heat emanating from between her legs. Nor can she stop the soft flow of dewy wetness from dribbling between her pussy lips. She needs her strong and possessive alphas, not this ungrateful, imbecilic puny creature.
Severin lowers his voice, presumably so she will take his next words to heart. “Look around you, dear.”
Reality comes rushing back. She takes in the terrifying sights in the same way she takes the drugs from the needles. There are hundreds of alphas gathered to watch. Their eyes light up, as stirring as candles in a cold, dark room.
“Who are they?” she asks.
“They are your audience,” he says. “You may not realize it yet, but you’ve been asleep for quite some time. So much of the world has been waiting for your reawakening, and now you will show them you are ready.”
She takes a deep breath, but the air seems to sting her lungs. “Ready? For what? What could they possibly want to witness?”
Severin’s lips twitch. A tight chuckle escapes his throat. “They want to see the show, my dear,” he says. “You are ready to lead, are you not?”
Rae’s eyes drop. They have set her in a subterranean machine, body held inside a thick glass casing. A pod. Another capsule to rest in.
“But I cannot lead anyone,” she protests. “I am a prisoner!”
“Dear Rae. Remember what I told you so many times before? It’s not about what you can do. It’s about what you can show. A martyr needs an audience,” he says.
An alpha next to the minister giggles like a maniac. “Open her up, Severin. I want to see how hollow the bitch really is.”
But Severin does not touch her. He will not fall into Cassian’s errors. A product must be handled with care.
Besides, the citizens need a story they can rally around.
Although Rae is the perfect martyr for the new regime, she is well aware that if he kills her, the public might descend into chaos again. For all regimes are built on glass castles. It just takes one stone to break through the barrier.
Severin has a lot of planning to do, and he is counting his cards, stacking them as need be. But the walls can shatter at any moment.
As the soldiers lock her hands and ankles into thick metal cuffs, the machine lowers her down. Her naked body stands for all to see.
The alphas inch toward the glass to get a better look. Soft and subtle, her body has adapted to the effects of childbirth quite well, and it brings out a distinct obsession in the alphas.
One growls. “Thick…”
The herd of slobbering alphas share the same hungry expression. Their eyes roll into tired slits, and they extend their tongues as if she is near enough to taste.
Severin stands above the alphas on a round metal podium. He swings a rifle around his shoulder, and fires twice above his head. “Back, you mutts,” he shouts. “I will not let you bleed her.”
The beasts growl even louder.
He stomps his heel and aims at the crowd to crush their hollering. “She is ours to protect,” he says.
Lies.
The chattering noise of teeth and tongues from around the room echoes. She hates hearing the noise of their unearthly excitement. Obsessive lust is one thing, but some alphas’ expressions are on another level.
She fights to extend her body forward, but it is of no use. She is attached to the machine. Glancing above, she notices two pipes open into the glass sphere.
Severin hits a button and closes the top, latching her inside for good.
“No,” she whispers.
She jerks forward again, to no avail.
Chuckling, Severin steps down and adjusts the front hem of his military uniform. “There, there. It’s all right. You’ve been through worse.”
Her senses are not sharp, but she is starting to understand what he might do to her. He will flood the glass sphere with water, drowning her in front of the entire world.
This is some kind of fucked up baptism.
“Let me go, at once,” she screams, throat raw.
More alphas laugh along with the minister. Some pound their fists against the metal interior of the room, while others hold onto the rafters like wild and deranged animals.
These are the old leaders, the ones who agreed to the peace pack, and they can’t hold back their savagery. Derangement runs through their veins.
“Shut the fuck up and take it, darling,” one yells.
Reaching into the front pocket of his uniform, Severin lurches forward and pulls out a thin card. Without glancing at the artistic design, he slides it inside an opening in the machine, near her feet where a small puddle of water stirs.
She can see the design. The six of swords. Inverted.
“A wonderful card. If you examine the artwork closely, a woman and her child search for new land.”
He paces the room as a king might wander his courtyard. “You’re sick. You’re all sick,” Rae grumbles.
“This card represents change and safe harbor. How fitting it is to your situation,” he continues.
“Don’t do this,” she pleads. “You don’t need to hurt me.”
“Ritual,” he says, “is important to our New Republic.”
Rae hangs her head, defeated.
Severin wrings his hands. “Unfortunately, the card is inverted. It appears your travels have led you to utter ruin and disaster. Loss is etched into your name.”
Suddenly, the lights above her cut through the darkness of her new prison, blinding and hot. Taking in what sights of horror she can process, she blinks to focus her eyes, but as the flood of images turn clearer, she realizes there is no escape.
Her twin, Ruby, lied to her. She stole her children, imprisoned her alphas, and killed her dreams of starting a family. Now, these evil bastards will ruin her for a lifetime.
“Indulge in the fantastic sight of her tears, everyone. We all love a sympathetic victim,” he says.
“I want to talk to her,” Rae murmurs, voice growing with strain and vocal fry. “I want to talk to that cunt sister of mine.”
“Quiet, now.” Severin holds up a finger. “We don’t want to ruin the broadcast. The citizens of the free world must know that you’re safe. We saved you from Cassian’s clutches. We rid the planet of evil.”
Rae closes her mouth, obeying as she must.
She thinks of Cassian and all the harm he did to her. He was her maker. She killed him, but it wasn’t enough.
It is never enough.
Severin’s eyes dart toward the cameras that surround the subterranean platform. “The future will be fabricated,” he whispers. “No one will know the truth.”
Voice tight, facing the heavens, she utters, “No one listens. Nobody changes. We are all monsters.”
She shifts her eyes back to her new captor, growling as an alpha might.
Chuckling, Severin walks toward her, stuffing the remaining cards back into his pocket. He hastens forward, sure to extend the look of pleasure across his lips. He does not blink against the sudden light, but he is a unique breed of punisher.
There isn’t anyone left who had fought in the wars against the Kali soldiers of the New Republic. They were all taken and quietly executed. She can’t even be sure her alphas are alive.
Yes, it’s the same piece-of-shit world as before. Only, now she has to start from scratch. She isn’t sure her fragile mind can handle it.
“You’re pathetic,” Rae says, spitting against the glass. “A pathetic little man who can’t have children of his own. A beta, a—”
Severin places his hand across the glass, interrupting her insults. “An omega as precious as you will be wise to shut her lips. One might decide to split them open,” he warns.
Severin is old. Much too old for her.
He circles the sphere, reaching underneath to make sure the pipes are sturdy. Quietly, he nods in approval.
Then he hits another button, and the plastic tubes start to swirl around her like thick snakes.
Rae jerks her arms back, but every movement serves against her needs. Thick cables of military grade fasten her to the glass like a Chinese finger trap. Eventually, she grows tired.
She breathes through her nose, biting the inside of her cheek. She fights to survive.
This is a repulsive display of power, a religious experience designed and marketed to the citizens of the New Republic. But how far are they willing to take their acts of repugnance? And does Severin understand the full scope of his actions?
How much is there that has yet to be uncovered? Rae will find out. She will expose them for who they are.
Severin turns a rusted knob attached to a thick pipe in the center of the room. The alphas nearby widen their eyes, lowering their jaws in collective union.
A rumble shakes the floor.
“I may be a monster,” Severin says. “But I’m an honest monster, precious.”
Her throat closes.
Severin smiles, mocking her twisted body.
She can’t help but stare into his eyes with fire. “I will kill Ruby,” she says. “You must know that.”
Severin’s jaw twists. “You’ll never get the chance.”
Despite the sisters connection by blood, they were always on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Ruby grew up as a soldier, given everything except the ability to have children. In that way, Ruby was like most of the omegas in the region, barren. However, she had gained power by using her sister as a compass.
She used Rae to find the exact areas to infiltrate, the correct people to kill. It didn’t sit right with Rae, but Rae did not fault her as much as she should have. After all, Severin was the one who’d taught her how to behave.
Rae was a mother. Without a working uterus, Ruby offered the New Republic one thing. Her skills to lead.
That is why Ruby allows Severin to torment her sister. She wants respect more than anyone in the world. Severin is a skilled controller of ideas and images. With his ability to weave an intricate story, they are an unstoppable force.
And what better way to force emotions onto the public than by broadcasting her suffering to the world?
Digging her heels against the circular glass, she feels the water rush out below, freezing to the touch, filling the sphere with great speed.
Her jaw extends open to suck in air, but her lungs seem to shrink away from the cold. Every ounce of oxygen she takes in catches against her throat.
“No! Turn it off, turn it off, turn it—”
She slips and twists further into the cables, which she now notices grip even better when wet. They coil around her body, spreading like ivy.
Severin stands back, hands shaking. His eyes burn with pious fire.
“You will do what is good for the New Republic,” he commands.
“Please, I can’t take any more, I—”
Whistling, he turns the valve to the other side. The edge of liquid hangs just above her navel. “Why do you insist on fighting our movement?”
Eyes pried open with fright, she scours the room’s inhabitants. Each man threads through a pile of cash; some throw coins near the glass. Sultans, kings, generals—they traveled across the world to see the new spectacle, and they will pay a pretty penny to be the ones to spin the valve next.
“I just want to see my babies,” Rae says through chattering teeth.
As the amber liquid hangs against her body, she attempts to breathe, slow and methodical. If she focuses hard enough, there is a chance of powering through the cold.
Severin scoffs before focusing on her pale skin. “Under the beautiful and vast New Republic, there is so much more to live for than children.”
Comfort and entertainment. A set of customs and beliefs that belonged to everyone. Those are the needs of the people. Where Cassian failed, Severin thrived.
Glancing down, Rae sees the complex set of scars that grace her stomach. She survived when she thought she would die.
But she failed them. And the gut wrenching pain tears at her every waking second, leaving her feeling erased.
“A mother goes through hell to bear her children. A mother is—”
Severin interrupts her. “Weaker than the father. Is that what you wish to prove? That, to reach completion, man must fill you to the brim with viscous seed, flesh, and knotting cock. How pathetic…”
“I will be complete when my alphas fuck me over your dead body,” she mutters.
Severin stands with a triumphant smile. Turning, he throws his fist into the air. She is only proving his point. “Citizens of the New Republic, we must cleanse our desires. We must beg for forgiveness,” he states into the cameras.
The ruthless man can’t be stopped now. He’s on a roll.
Standing before his audience, he appears more proud than ever.
“The closer we move toward hate, the more we end up hurting each other,” Rae says. “Love is the only answer.”
Severin turns the valve once more. This time, he takes a step back to enjoy the show. “Enough talking. The alphas came for the show.”
The thick liquid rises, freezing her skin, the cutting pain like shaved daggers. In this moment of hurt, Rae relies on instinct. Her limbs bend back, and her fingers bend into a paralyzed fury. Her jaw latches forward, biting the warmer air for dear life, hanging on to the last inches of freedom.
The more she moves, the more she sinks.
She prepares for the obvious death the men yearn to see and experience. There are only inches separating her lips from the fluid, but Severin turns the valve with haste when only a thin opening remains. He keeps the level stationary to see just how long her body will hang onto the soft threads of life.
Rae whimpers, “Just… kill… me…”
As soon as she allows the pathetic demand from her mouth, she understands that she means absolutely nothing to any of them.
They are devils. And devils feed on punishment.
“Death is but a door,” he says, hanging his head in solemnity.
The water rises over her lips, nostrils, and eyes. She tries to swim forward, to crash her forehead into the glass, but it is far too strong. No matter how many attempts she makes, it will not break.
Her mouth opens, dispelling her last bubbles of oxygen. With haste, her eyes search for a point of safety.
The cameras blink at her the same way th
e alphas do.
When no one comes to her aid, her lungs collapse. The pressure inside builds until the sweet relief of drowning fills her air pathways.
She is losing oxygen fast. They are letting her drown, staring and laughing at her plight.
Is this what death is supposed to feel like?
As she floats within that cold, blue water, she feels like a fetus. Strangely, the pain shifts into pure bliss.
The tremors stop. She is floating, pure.
As the red-and-black splotches dance in her vision, she wonders what they will do with her body. Amidst their laughter, Rae lets herself go. She isn’t scared anymore, only accepting.
She opens her mouth and lets out a series of thick carbon dioxide bubbles until there is nothing to do but take it all in again.
Severin hammers the butt of his fist into a metal controller attached to the wall. Red lights flash all around them, illuminating the alpha’s faces, one by one.
Metal claws come down from the rafters in the ceiling, clamping against the top of the spherical glass tub. They opened the latched, grabbing her body, and pulling her above the waterline.
Her nerve endings are shot—she can’t feel a thing. But she keeps her eyes open and stares into the eyes of her captor.
The alphas below stand and clap as she coughs violently.
“And now, for her rebirth,” Severin announces, leaning back against the wall of the rusted auditorium.
The water drains, and she sucks in the closest breath of air she can find, coughing and vomiting the strange liquid. She keeps her eyes open only to see Severin’s black spheres peering into her soul.
Who will hold out the longest?
Her life has fallen apart like shards of glass, but she has been reawakened. Reimagined by devilish alphas. Pain only rekindles that brazen energy that is her spirit.
She’ll never forget the ones that saved her.
Her children, Vash, Lucas, and Killian… Her entire family is everything to her. She will never forget their importance.
“Love will remain untainted,” she assures herself.
Severin squints. “No, darling. There is so much you have yet to learn.”
The machine’s binding unlocks, and Rae falls to the floor, clawing at her ribs. Tears fall from her eyes. “Why have you kept me alive?”
Broken Angel: The Complete Collection: A Dark Omegaverse Romance Page 20