AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My jaw works, opening and shutting. The stupid light in my chest flickers more rapidly now, the bulb gaining in brightness.
“On your back, Omega, don’t make me tell you again.”
“You were tortured by Alphas trying to find out where she was hiding?”
“Echo, on your back. Not gonna tell you again. And yes. Was small. They didn’t think I’d ascend to an Alpha, let alone a Berserker. They had no idea what I’d do to them when I did.”
“What did you do to them?”
“Same thing I did to the other Alphas who were gunnin’ for you. And Echo,now.” He reaches across my body, rumbling as he does and, even though I quickly hasten onto my back, it’s too late. His chest is pressed up against me and it feels like he’s trying to use his whole self to blanket my body. He reaches across me and repositions my arm on top of the bag. With him on my right side lining my back and the fire on my left, I’m practically sweating in this cold night.
“Are you…” My throat feels unnaturally dry. “Are you gonna stay here all night?”
“I was invited, remember? Besides, you lost your sleepin’ alone privileges. We’ll see if you earn ‘em back by tomorrow.” It’s a joke, I can tell by the intonation of his pitch, but for once, he doesn’t smile. His eyes are still distant.
My Omega’s desire to comfort her Berserker wins out. I tilt my face away from him, in defiance of that instinct, but I still whisper, “You never know. Maybe the Fates spared her.”
“Don’t,” he exhales against my cheek. “Don’t. You know as well as I do, that’s not how things work in Mirage City.”
I do know. I do… Because everyone knows that the Berserker who has control over the Fates that live in Mirage City is the most monstrous of them.
The Fates are Omegas with extraordinary gifts. No one knows exactly what they can do, or where the limits of their powers end, but what is known is that the Berserker who runsMirage Cityhas figured out how to enslave the Fates to Mirage City forever, and I do mean forever. Because the other thing the Fates figured out how to do is defy death.
Their immortality is gained by consuming the souls, powers, and life forces of unclaimed Omegas — Omegas that their Berserker hunts down so he can live forever alongside them. So far, the Mirage City Berserker and his Fates have lived three hundred years. And if he’s the one who discovered Adam’s sister and took her, there’s not a doubt in my mind that she was killed by his Fates immediately.
“Did you ever…”
“Did I ever go to Mirage City to find out? Course I did. Was the first thing I did after I took the Dark City throne and killed the Berserker sittin’ on it, the one who tortured me in his search for an Omega. He never did get one…
“Mirage City Berserker refused to see me, but I saw the Fates. All four a’ those smug fuckers told me the same thing — that they killed every Omega brought to them and they didn’t even remember her. They didn’t remember killing the most important person to me. I…”
He chokes, struggling, and my heart squeezes. I hear a small strange rattling and, for a moment, I wonder if this is a new sound all his own until I realize that he’s not the one making it.I am.It’s like…I’m trying to purr like he does. Is that…is that even possible?
He releases a breath and I don’t miss the way his hold tightens around me. He nuzzles the side of my neck and I’m grateful he doesn’t comment on the strange sound emanating from my chest. The only thing worse than the fact that I’m making it at all is that it’s so pathetic.
“I’da struck them down there — or died tryin’ — if they hadn’t…” He breathes hot air against my skin and I dig my heels into the ground and fight to ignore the pressure and softness and heat of his lips against the curve of my shoulder.
“What?”
“Nothin’.” He kisses my stitches very lightly before pulling back. “Go to sleep, Echo.”
He gets quiet, but he isn’t sleeping and I’m definitely not sleeping. I can’t stop thinking about what they might have told him to stop him from trying to murder them all — attacking a Fate is effectively a death sentence. Though maybe, if they were there alone, unprotected without their Berserker to order them…
“Was it a prophecy?” I’ve heard stories about the prophecies the Fates give. They can’t see all of the future, but they see enough of it. As kids, the Betas would tell me stories about the Fates, and November would always correct them.They aren’t all-knowing, she’d say, but with how much they do know, I’ve never really understood the difference.
“Sleep.”
“Scouts from Grasslands said there were five.”
“What?”
“Five Fates. You said there were four.”
“Scouts’re wrong. Everyone knows there are four Fates. Saw ‘em myself. Stared each of ‘em in the eye. Made each of ‘em tell me that they killed my sister. And I saw that none of ‘em were lyin’.”
“You can see lies?”
“Can smell ‘em.”
