Something in her tone told me we would be revisiting this.
The rest of our appointment passed in a blur. At the end, my handlers asked the same questions they always asked about Marco and his omegas. I didn’t answer. I never did. Those questions felt different than the doctor's.Dangerous.I could feel my handler's impatience sharpening, but trust didn't come on command, as much as I wished it would.
“Lena, were you ever kept in the same house as other omegas?” Silas asked.
I stayed silent.
“Does Marco keep them together, or separate them?” he pressed.
Nothing.
“What about the basement? Were any of them taken downthere with you as punishment?”
I didn’t react.
“And his men,” Silas continued, sliding a book across the table. It was filled with photos and mugshots. Luca. Jacob. So many others I recognized. All cruel men.
“Which of them had access to you?”
My jaw locked, my lips pressing into a hard line.
“Do you recognize any of them?” Silas asked, his voice tightening.
I turned away from the book, as the sight of those men turned my stomach with a sickening feeling.
“Okay,” Dr. Hampton said calmly. “That’s enough for today.”
Silas slammed his hands down on the table.
The sharp crack sent me curling inward before I could stop myself, shoulders hunching, breath catching as my body braced for impact that never came.
“Five years,” Silas snapped, pacing a step away before dragging a hand through his hair in his typical frustrated fashion. “Five years with Marco, and we’re still getting nowhere.” He laughed shallow and short, more disbelief than humor. “Do you know how rare intel like that is?”
“Special Officer Mercer,” the doctor said in warning.
Silas’ mouth curved without humor. “You promised progress.” His eyes flicked toward me. “She’s just as silent as the day we dragged her in. Not one shred of usable intel.” He looked back at the doctor. “And we’re no closer to recovering the omegas.”
A beat.
“Mymethods never take this long. One way or another, people give up information.” His gaze turned cold. “So I’d really love for you to point out where exactly this ‘progress’ is supposed to be.”
Dr. Hampton didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t flinch. In fact, she didn't seem remotely intimidated by Silas' outburst. If anything, she was annoyed.
I, on the other hand, was terrified.
“Wearemaking progress,” she said. “Just not the kind you can force.”
Silas scoffed. “That’s convenient.”
“What’sconvenient,” she replied, unbothered by his rudeness, “is that she’s still here. Still engaging. Still responding.”
She met his eyes. “You push too hard now, and you'll lose that.”
Silas’s jaw worked, the muscle jumping. He looked like he wanted to argue, to tear into her just to feel movement again, but he stopped himself.Barely.
“This isn’tjustabout answers,” Dr. Hampton continued. “It’s also about reconditioning. Command wants her functional for service. You know where she'll go if they find her unfit for duty…”
I shivered. Everyone knew about the breeding centers. They were the nightmare Arca used to keep omegas in line.
