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Rill shrugs, unapologetic. “He wanted to see his brother.”
Finally looking at me, Jason smirks and shakes his head before staring out at the choppy waters and the gray clouds rolling across the sky.
I move to stand in front of him, and he has no choice but to look into my eyes. His mossy green eyes are probably the only thing about him that’s unchanged. I see him in there, but just barely.
“Where have you been?” I ask, not taking my eyes off him.
He deflates a bit before sighing loudly, staring at the water again. “Mercy City.”
I glance back at Rill. “Mercy City?”
“It’s a pigeon city,” Rill answers. “It’s where I got all these.” He motions up and down his scarred body.
“Not long after Rosie and I left Goldenrod, we were captured,” Jason supplies blankly.
I flex my hands as irritation simmers inside me. He says it like they left a party early, and came upon bad luck.
In reality, they fled after Jason, crazed and erratic, tried to force Elizabeth into a mating ceremony—when both of them were already mated to other people. It’s no wonder he was caught immediately.
My eyes flick to Rill, who I’d think would be on the verge of losing it. But oddly, his expression is calm as Jason continues.
“They took us to Mercy City right away. We were only there for a few weeks, but it was horrible … at least the part I was in. Rosie’s experience was better.”
Hetty comes up behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist and leaning into me. Jason’s eyes catch on the movement, and he glares at me quizzically.
“You’re with Hetty?” he asks, dumbfounded. “The maid? And I thought I got the short end of the stick with my mate.”
“They did this to you in Mercy City?” I clip out, tightening my grip on her shoulder so I don’t throw him into the lake.
“Among other things,” he mutters, tracing a long red mark on his arm before his eyes brighten. Again, just for a millisecond, I see my brother in those angry eyes. “But I saw Orion there.”
My jaw almost drops to the ground. “Orion’s there? How is he?”
He shrugs, the brightness evaporating. “He’s gone.”
“Dead?”
“Maybe,” he says impassively. “Who knows at this point? But he’s the reason that Rosie and I were able to escape.”
Before I can question him more, his mate comes back, handing metal cups to me, Rill, and Jason. Nothing for Hetty or Stella. She won’t even look at them. I immediately hand my cup to Hetty, and she smiles up at me gratefully.
“But that’s not important,” Jason continues, his hoarse voice choking up a bit. “There were a lot of alphas there. Omegas, too, even though I never saw them. Rosie was with them, though.” He pauses, nodding at his mate. “Tell ’em”
It’s obvious he doesn’t want to talk, but Rosie’s more than happy to pick up the slack. Her aquamarine eyes sparkle as she looks between me and Rill, smoothing her hair.
“For me, it was scary, but kind of … nice,” she says, her voice a high whisper. “About a dozen omegas lived together there in a big, fancy house. They were all nearly identical—curly reddish-blonde hair, blue eyes. They kind of looked like me. I think that’s why they put me in with them.”
I pull a face, trying to understand what she’s describing.
“I think they were sisters or something,” she offers excitedly, noticing my confusion. “I could never quite figure it out… They were there for the pigeons’ pleasure.” She pauses, raising her eyebrows suggestively. “But I never did anything like that with them.”
Her eyes dart toward Jason’s scowling face, but he remains silent. “It was nice at first. The girls were all sweet, and I liked having nice things. A soft bed. Pretty clothes. But I needed to be with my mates, so one of them helped me get away.
“But before that, I heard a lot of things. The pigeons didn’t think much of us, so they’d say all sorts of things around us. It’s almost like we weren’t real people to them, just … objects.”
She pauses again, moving closer to Jason. He doesn’t try to comfort her, only watches her stoically.
“Go on,” he urges impatiently when she doesn’t say anything.
