Page 49

And I don’t think I like it when she cries.

“Is it possible your father knows why you can do… the things you can do?” Soren leans forward, bracing his forearms on the table.

Idril shakes her head, then shrugs. “I don’t know what he knows. He just started taking my blood a few months ago. He said it was for research into Omega-related diseases. Then everything happened with Caelan. Next thing I know, I’m here, answering the same questions every day over and over and over again.”

“What questions?” Branwen asks, frowning.

A muscle jumps in Daxen’s jaw. He sighs dramatically and opens his mouth to explain. But before he can get a word out, Branwen throws a hand up to stop him.

“Pass,” Branwen dismisses whatever Dax was about to say with a lazy flick of her wrist and shoots him a patronizing smile. “I’ll get the real story from Idril, thanks.”

To really drive home her point, she turns in her chair and reaches out, gathering Idril’s hands in her own.

When Idril looks up at her, the gratitude in her eyes damn near knocks the breath from my lungs. Jealousy surges through me like an out-of-control fire I never saw coming.

I want her to look at me like that.

“Alright,” Gav interrupts my yearning, which is apparently a thing I fucking do now.

Maybe drinking was a bad idea.

“We clearly aren’t going to get anywhere tonight,” he concedes in a heavy tone. “Let’s get some sleep, and reconvene in the morning.”

His eyes flick to the Omega. “Branwen, I’ll have a member of staff show you to your room. I’d appreciate it if you’d do me the courtesy of staying at HQ for now. I have a lot of questions, and I’d like to start making a game plan. One that involves taking down Varenthrall. I might need your assistance, if you’re willing.”

“I appreciate the hospitality,” she replies. “And like I said earlier, I’m not going anywhere. I was sent to help Idril, so as long as I’m welcome, I’ll be staying put.”

Gav inclines his head before turning to address the rest of us.

“Soren, I’ll take you and the Omega back down to the cells. I’ll send someone down with blankets and pillows for you. Dax, Vae... get some sleep. We’ll meet for breakfast tomorrow at 11 a.m.”

He doesn’t mention anything about Idril getting blankets, and she doesn’t ask, but Sorens frown deepens.

Fuck, why does my chest still ache? Is this heartburn? Have I had heartburn before?

Gav doesn’t wait. He stands, crosses the room and walks out the door, leaving a trail of frustration in his wake.

I stand from my seat, but I move too fast. My foot catches on the chair leg and I nearly trip over my own chair.

“You good?” Dax is watching me as if I might explode.

“Never better.” And just to prove how true that is, I kick the chair… and only miss a little.

We don’t talk on the walk back to our rooms, and Dax disappears into his with barely even a wave. My room is right across the hall from his, and when I turn, my door’s blurring and swirling in front of me. I squint, as it splits into two doors. Then three.

I glare at it as hard as I can until it gives in, snapping back and returning to normal.

I grin in triumph. “Ha! Gotchu, you fucker. Can’t fool me, door!”

Shoving open the heavy oak, I stumble into my room. I want nothing more than to fall face first into bed and sleep until someone physically drags me out of it.

Instead, I stagger toward the bathroom stripping my clothes off as I go and throwing each piece who knows where.

Making a beeline straight for the shower, I twist the knob, turning the temperature as high as it’ll go. I step under the spray before it has a chance to warm up, hoping the ice-cold water will shock me out of this funk I’m in.

I thought the alcohol would work. That it would let me shove all my thoughts about Idril into a box, wrap it up with an entire roll of packing tape, and shove it so far into the back of my mental closet that even my soul forgets it’s there.

That is not what happened.