Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
Faye
I’m pacing back and forth in my room, my breath coming in and out so fast that my head is spinning. The truth is, I’m upset. I’m upset that the world is exactly the way I thought it was.
If only I was wrong.
Glancing at my mirror, I wince. I’ve had my hands on my face and neck too much today. The makeup to cover up the bruises from Kurt has rubbed off. I’ll need to ask Addilyn to borrow more. The last thing I want when I’m already feeling so vulnerable is to look broken too.
As broken as I feel.
As I expected, the council, the three ultimas, did nothing to help with the situation with Serra. When I testified that this was exactly the same way Kurt had killed Miles, they said that case was never solved. Like me seeing him murder my brother was somehow not evidence.
I was told that, unless I had concrete evidence, I shouldn’t be pointing fingers. And especially not at an alpha. When Ezra and Cayson revealed my bruises and what they had witnessed with Kurt, Kurt was made to “apologize for getting too excited near an omega.” He did so, with gritted teeth and eyes filled with rage, and I was reprimanded for stepping away from the games and being a temptation for Kurt.
Cayson and Ezra had looked on with disbelief.
The council said they’d look into Serra’s murder, but their tones, and even their expressions, said they wouldn’t be looking into Kurt. I highly doubt they’ll even speak to him further, because speaking to him would make him upset that his honor was even being questioned, and they don’t want to deal with an angry alpha. Or his dangerous father.
Cowards. All of them.
There’s a knock on my door and my entire body goes rigid, remembering the way Kurt had come shoving in here before. It’s only been an hour since I was dismissed by the council, and only a few hours since we found Serra’s body, so Kurt will still be fired up, and the dark night would be a great cover for whatever he might have planned for me. Except now Cayson and Ezra assigned a guard to sit at my door. Kurt wouldn’t risk attacking me with a guard around, would he?
I walk to the door slowly and open it just a crack, prepared to start screaming if I need to. When I see Addilyn on the other side, I let out a breath of relief and usher her into the room.
“Hey,” Addilyn says, holding up her foundation. “I saw you in the hallway earlier, and I thought you might need this.”
“Thank you,” I say.
I sigh, tilting my head up so she can apply more to the tender skin of my neck. Addilyn focuses on the task at hand while I stare at her. She has her light brown hair braided down her back today, and she’s changed from her riding clothes into a pretty purple dress.
“How did the ride and the scavenger hunt go?” I ask.
She grins. “I was partnered up with three sexy alphas. I’m not sure whether I had a real connection with any of them, but I wouldn’t mind a night spent with any, or all , of them.”
“Addilyn!” My cheeks heat.
She laughs. “Oh, come on. Like you weren’t checking out that Cayson on your ride! You hardly seemed upset to have him as a partner!”
I’m embarrassed that she noticed. “He’s not the worst looking… but I’m still not in the market for an alpha.”
“Think if you say it enough it’ll be true?” she asks with a wink, before looking at my neck and face and saying, “You’re all done.”
“I’m going to owe you an entire bottle of the stuff,” I mutter, catching her eye as she tucks her makeup into her pocket.
She laughs, and we fall backwards onto the bed, side by side, both looking up at the ceiling. Thoughts about Kurt and Serra come back to me, and I feel tension sing through my body. How is it that I can know who murdered someone but not be able to get justice for anyone just because I’m an omega?
The unfairness of it all burns inside of me.
“I heard about the meeting with the council. Well, everyone sort of heard about the meeting. Secrets don’t last long here,” Addilyn says, running her hands over the duvet beneath us. “Is it true, Faye? Do you think Kurt killed again?”
It feels like there’s no point in continuing to tell people the truth about the situation. The people with power, who could actually do something with it, never actually help me. But I take a deep breath, deciding to tell Addilyn what happened. At the very least, maybe I'll reinforce why she should stay away from Kurt at all costs.
“Yes,” I breathe, the images of the murder popping into my mind like they always do. I close my eyes against the picture of Miles’ lifeless eyes. “She was killed the same way as my brother.”
I heard the snap of my brother’s neck. Watched the life leave his body.
I feel her groping across the bed, and I reach out, hooking our pinkies together like we used to when we were little kids. Just the small bit of contact calms something inside me. It’s weird, I thought reconnecting with people would be horrible after so long, but it’s actually kind of nice. I think I might have missed this.
“What do you think the council will do about Kurt?” Addilyn asks.
I can’t stop the humorless laugh that bubbles from my lips. “Absolutely nothing ,” I say, shaking my head. “Just like last time when I went to the authorities about my brother.”
“That’s terrible. I can’t imagine we live in a world like that.”
And yet, we do.
“It shattered something inside of me when I realized my place in the world.” And what alphas could get away with. “To save time, they should just write it into law that alphas are allowed to murder people in cold blood. What’s the point in having a law if you never enforce it?”
“That would be terrifying,” Addilyn says, shuddering.
“It’s already terrifying,” I counter, and she goes quiet.
A part of me feels bad. My life was better before I learned the truth about the roles omegas and alphas truly play in our world. Should I really show Addilyn this side of the mirror? What if in doing so I hurt her too?
She rolls over to look at me. “What do you think will happen, then? Since the council isn’t going to do anything about it?”
I release a slow breath. “Well, Kurt stood before the council and denied everything, suggesting that I’m making things up because I have some kind of grudge against him, and they seemed to believe everything he said.” I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to forget that moment. “So, I think Kurt will keep doing what he always does, whatever he wants, without any consequences.”
The bodies will pile up, but everyone will look the opposite way… unless he kills someone more important than betas and omegas. I almost hope he does, so we can finally get justice, which is a terrible thought.
She hesitates, then pushes forward. “Do you think he’s going to find a way to be worse to you now?”
Of course I do.
I see Kurt’s cold eyes behind my eyelids and my spine goes stiff. Kurt has already been targeting me since the moment I showed up at The Selection, but I have no doubt it’ll get worse with this new accusation. I absolutely have a target on my back now, and there’s no escaping it.
But I can’t freak out. If I do, he’ll already win.
“I just have to stay safe, make sure I’m not selected by any alpha, and get out of here so I can go home. Hopefully, with Kurt’s alpha duties, he’ll forget about me and leave me alone.”
After the scene in the woods today, I can’t shake the feeling that even when I’m back at my cabin, I’ll just be a sitting duck for Kurt to come and shoot whenever he feels like it. Because if Kurt could kill Miles and Serra over absolutely nothing, I’m sure he’ll kill me over this without hesitation.
Am I safe anywhere now?
For a fleeting moment, I think about what it would be like to have Cayson and Ezra with me, like I did in the woods today, but I push that thought away. Ezra isn’t looking for an omega. I’m not looking for an alpha. And Cayson doesn’t seem like the kind of person who can commit to something for breakfast, let alone spending the rest of his life with another shifter.
I’m on my own in this. If I survive, if I die, it’s all on me.
“I’m afraid,” I admit, after a long moment. “I’m afraid that there’s nowhere I can go now that Kurt won’t be able to reach me. My only possibility of a happy ending is getting back to my cabin and never seeing Kurt again.”
As long as Kurt leaves me alone there.
“It will all be okay,” Addilyn says, pulling on my hand and twining our fingers.
She’s trying to sound convincing, I know, but there’s an undercurrent of fear in her voice I’m not sure she could cover with all the positivity in the world.
Not that I blame her. I’ve gone ahead and further pissed off a psychopath. Lucky me.