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I consider it before shaking my head. ”No. I haven’t seen anything. Haven’t heard her rattling off weird shit in her sleep, either.”

Vae raises a hand to his mouth and starts chewing on a cuticle. I reach over, swatting it away.

“Stop that. You’re not five. You only do that when you’re stressed, so what else is going on besides the fact that I’m an asshole to the Omega?”

He glares at me but drops his hand. “I just don’t think she deserves how hard we’re pushing her. It would be one thing if we just had her locked up, you know⁠—”

Alright, now I’m starting to get irritated. We’re rehashing the same shit. Not to mention, he agreed with me.

“You were completely on board with this,” I remind him.

He stands with a glare, fisting his hands and planting them on his hips.

Alright, I guess this is devolving into a fight after all.

“I was, Dax. From the start.”

“Then—”

“Except for the part where I told you we had to be completely sure she wasn’t innocent before doing anything drastic.”

“Fucking Fates, Vaelenor.” I groan. “What are you trying to say? That you don’t think she helped her father? What’s next, you think she actually has a Mate Bond with Caelan?”

“She was beaten to hell when Gav and Silas found her, Dax. That just doesn’t scream ‘willing participant’ to me. It never did, and I told you that.”

“Yes, her father clearly punished her,” I snap. “Are you questioning Gavran’s integrity now? I could maybe understand if this were coming from Silas alone, but it’s not.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth. I’m not questioning Gav.”

Both our scents have soured. The air smells burnt, and I hate it.

We’re going in circles. This is the same argument we’ve been having since day one. I lay out all the facts, Vae agrees with me, then out of nowhere decides to question shit because of his feelings.

His damn instincts.

“I don’t want to fight about this again,” he says, sounding defeated. “It’s not why I even brought it up. I need to tell you something.”

That gives me pause. Unease begins to swim in my chest.

“What?”

“I went up to the omega’s room earlier this evening.” He glances at me warily, like he expects to be reprimanded.

“You’re an adult, Vae. You don’t need my approval for every decision you make regarding our prisoner.” I emphasize the word deliberately. A reminder.

He shoots me a flat look.“Yes, I’m aware that I don’t need your permission. I just know this song and dance well enough to anticipate you losing your shit.”

I roll my eyes.

“Anyway, I brought her a blanket.”

A blanket. Of course. Suddenly, I strait to see her little Omega freak-out earlier in a new light: the tremors, the panicked breathing, the wide eyes. For a second, I wondered if it had all been an act. Now I’m really starting to believe it was.

“I got up there, and she’d obviously been crying⁠—”

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Our eyes snap to my phone lying face up on the coffee table. A name flashes across the screen that has us exchanging an anticipatory look.