Page 84 of Anarchy Chained: Alpha Thomas

“A what?” Molly asks.

“See,” Sullivan says. “My superpower, Molly. I’m what they call a mentalist. Just like Uzi here. And Cyan,” he adds, looking over at us. “Right, Cyan? You’re one too?”

She says nothing.

“But the really interesting part,” Sullivan says, looking directly at Lincoln now, “is that we mentalists all have an opposite. Kinda like you and Molly. Alpha and Omega. Only our Omegas are called illusionists. That would be Sadie here. And Iziah, if I’m guessing correctly. We’re linked to them. Kinda like your genetic bond, but mentally.”

“And your friend here,” Uzi says, nodding his head at Sullivan, but looking at Lincoln, “has stolen mine away. I want her back.”

“Purely,” Sullivan says, opening his arms in an innocent gesture, “by accident.”

“Ahh,” Lincoln says. “Gotcha. Sheila,” he says to the air.

The light woman manifests off to his left. “Yes, Lincoln.”

“Can you look into this… procedure? I think our new friend Uzi would like his link back.”

“It’ll take some time for me to pull up the Prodigy records and understand it. But I’m confident I can be ready to help in the morning.”

“No,” Cyan says. Her whole body is stiff with resistance. “No. Absolutely not. We’re not staying the night here. Out of the question. I’m sure if we take Sadie home, away from this stupid Alpha, your link will come back, Uzi. Let’s just go.”

“Doesn’t work that way,” I say, surprised that I’m speaking up. “You all know it doesn’t work that way. Hell, even I know it doesn’t work that way and I’m the most clueless person here. We need to sever it first. Then rebuild it. And the way it was severed in the first place was from Thomas’s mind blast back at the hospital. I’m not saying I want him to blast me. I’m not on board with that at all. But we need to do more than just create distance.”

I look over at Uzi, trying to figure out what he’ll do. But he nods at me. I smile, trying to make him feel at ease.

But all I want is a fucking night alone with Sullivan. And I realize now that this is why we’re here.

Yes, the message scrolling across my vision overlay says. Yes.

He wants to be alone with me and that was never going to be possible back at the other house. But here? In this monster of a mansion… here we can do whatever we want.

“So tomorrow?” the Sheila asks. “Say, nine AM? You should probably not eat,” she says, looking first at Uzi, then at me. “Just in case the procedure requires general anesthesia.”

“I’m not going under,” Uzi says. “Fuck you if you think I trust you to put me under.”

“It probably won’t come to that,” Lincoln says. “Sheila’s just being cautious. Hell, she’s done hundreds of modifications on me and I almost never went under. So unless you’re a pussy”—he looks right at Uzi—“it shouldn’t come to that.”

Uzi glares at him, but then takes his attention to Cyan. “What do ya say?”

Cyan is still stiff with resistance, but she nods her head. Agreeing with him.

No one even bothers asking Iziah. And he offers up no opinion on the matter.

“Great,” Molly says. “And you’re in luck. If you had shown up last month there’d be no guest rooms. But the upstairs was just finished so we have plenty of space now. I’ll show everyone to their rooms.”

I’m the first to follow Molly. When I look over my shoulder Uzi is right behind me. Cyan has to be pulled to her feet by Iziah, but by the time we make it to the grand staircase and begin to climb, we’re all lined up like ducks in a row.

I have to give it to these Alphas. They’re great manipulators. I bet Uzi never thought in a million years he’d be going along with an Alpha plan, let alone spending the night in one of their houses.

We get to the top and begin walking down a long hallway, passing door after door. They are all closed.

“OK,” Molly says, stopping at a door about three quarters of the way down the hall. “Who’s rooming with whom?”

“Cyan and I can take this one,” Iziah says.

“Perfect. Uzi and Sadie, you can follow me.”

Oh great. I have to share a room with Uzi? How am I supposed to orchestrate dirty sex with Sullivan when I’m rooming with Uzi?