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Meanwhile, Echo murmurs, “Adam…Madam…My friend Hannah was the first person to tell me about palindromes.” Forgot about wives and jealousy, she’s back to ramblin’.
“That so?”
“Yeah. I always wanted a palindrome name. I thought about telling people my name was Aurora, and if you took out the U it would be Arora, and that’s a palindrome. I mean, back when I could still change it. Did they do that in your compound? Give every Beta a name on the Greek Alphabet? Most people changed theirs in Grasslands.”
“You lived in Grasslands?”
“And Prayersville.”
“Fuck.” Both Beta compounds are among the best a Beta could get, but neither is good enough for a Beta who’d become an Omega who’d become mine. “Don’t like that.”
My grip tenses around her, but she doesn’t seem to mind. Makes me fuckin’ nervous. Her grip is lax around my neck and she’s busy starin’ up at the trees instead of at my face, even though I’m close enough to kiss ‘er. Though I know that’s not her fear. I’m also close enough to bite ‘er.
“Grasslands was when I was little, I…I don’t really remember it, but November took me to Prayersville when I was thirteen. I lived there ever since.”
“Crossed Paradise Hole when you were thirteen?” The thought fuckin’ floors me.
“You crossed Paradise Hole when you were six.” She shrugs. “And no. I didn’t. Ruby City Berserker of the time picked out a bunch of Grasslands orphans he wanted. They were taking us back to Ruby City on their ships when a group of Betas intercepted them.”
I snarl. “Gonna kill that fucker.” I refuse to imagine what the Berserker of Ruby City had in store for her.
“You can’t. He died when the current Berserker took his place.”
“That’s right,” I say, registerin’ her truth.
“Her name’s N’Dogo. You should know that. She’s famous. One of the only female Berserkers.” Suddenly Echo giggles and the sound is so unexpected it makes me flinch. “Don’t tell me I know more about the Berserkers of Gatamora than you.” Her eyes meet mine and she’s smiling slightly in a way that’s upsetting.
“You dyin’?” I ask instead of answering her.
She laughs again. Fuck.
I start to slow down. “Need to put you on my back, Echo. Gotta run. You’re not gonna make it.”
“Echo. Such a dumb name.” I set her down on her feet and she wavers wildly, reaching for a pack on her back that isn’t there. I’m wearing both of ‘em. She complained at first until I gave her back her dagger, but she didn’t stand her ground long enough for me not to be worried.
“What do you think about Aneena?”
“Echo’s better.”
But she’s not listenin’. Instead, her gaze gets even more distant and her lips murmur a word that makes time come to a complete standstill. “Or Noon. Pretty, no? And it’s a palindrome.”
“You fuckin’ kidding me?” That knife she used to slit my throat with her jealousy? She retracts it and guts me in two quick moves. “The fuck did you say?” I step away from ‘er and she wobbles, reachin’ for me, but I don’t let her get close.
“What?” She blinks her glossy eyes up at me and I fuckin’ wanna gouge ‘em out.
“What in the fuck did you just say to me, Omega?”
“I…” She looks around, scratches her head. “I just…he says…the man in the cave…” She makes a face and shakes her head and tries to focus on my gaze, but can’t seem to find it. Like she’s talkin’ to someone else. “He said Noon. Noon…pretty. It’s a palindrome, too.”
“Fuck you.” My hands form fists and I look around, takin’ another step back, glancing around wildly. I don’t smell foreign scents, but this Omega’s got gifts — maybe more power than she lets on, maybe this novice Omega act is just that — a fuckin’ act. Maybe she’s cloakin’ more power, more gifts, a partner, another Alpha,one she actually wants to be with…
“You got a partner out here with you? Somebody you’re workin’ for? That whole shit back at Trash City an act? You belong to them? That why you know so much about their guns? Why you got so many theories? You even from Prayersville or Grasslands? Or are you Merlin’s fuckin’ puppet?”
“What…I don’t…I’m confused…”
“Don’t fuckin’ play me, Omega!”
Her eyes squeeze together and her shoulders tense by her ears. She shakes her head, lookin’ like she’s tryin’ to reorient herself and when she stumbles, I catch her even though I wanna rip her head off at the neck.
