Chapter 3 #2
“It’s coming down hard, so we figured we’d send riders out based on your last message before the radio cut. We’ll come back and get the jeep after the snow clears.”
“Melons?” Rebecca asks, her brow furrowing. She looks like she’s trying to process the absurdity of it through the haze of whatever agony the bond is putting her through.
“I don’t know!” Selene throws her hands up, exasperated. “I was on the spot when they had Jess and me pick one.”
“Let’s get moving!” the man presses, his tone refusing any argument.
“We’ve got furs for all of you. It’s only thirty minutes away, but the road up to the station is icing over.
The trains are running a little delayed, so we should make good timing.
We’ll get you there on horseback.” He pauses, his gaze sweeping over us with the practiced assessment of someone who’s seen too many people fail in situations like this.
“I’ll open the door once we’re ready for you to come out. ”
Relief floods through me, warm and overwhelming, even as worry nips at its heels.
Some part of my damaged heart is aware that I can’t go back now.
Not easily. Not without consequences I’m not ready to face, including being bound to Judge as I remain a plaything in his attic while he breeds me, and Roxy gets to enjoy all the benefits of being his.
Oh, no. That just fills with me a murderous rage.
When the door shuts, sealing us back into the jeep’s fragile warmth, I glance back over my shoulder, worried he’s close.
I can’t really tell distance with this tether.
What would Judge say if he realized this man was helping me?
Would this man lock me in here if he knew who I was mated to?
No, he’d probably alert his entire team that they have an asset.
Or a problem. Depending on how they see it.
“How did this happen?” I ask, looking at Selene. My voice sounds steadier than I feel. “Where did you find these guys, and what do we owe them?”
The sound of the other two twisting in their seats fills the silence that follows.
Selene grins, sharp and mischievous. “Jess and I collaborated on this one. Judge gave me a lot of money in exchange for never going near you again. So I used it to pay for us to get to the Black Mirage, and Jess had the connections.”
Jess looks back over at us. “Yeah, I just didn’t know they’d freaking come on horses. Scared the shit out of me for a minute.”
There’s a stunned moment of silence where I process what was just said—Judge made that decision without me, tried to buy Selene off like she was a problem—and then I burst out laughing, the sound cracking the tension in the jeep.
“Oh my gosh, that’s amazing. Way to fucking use him!
” Glancing at Rebecca, I notice she’s gone even paler, her skin almost translucent in the dim light.
“Hey, hold on, are you alright?” I ask, genuine concern cutting through my own spiraling thoughts.
“Rebecca? You weren’t like this ten minutes ago. ”
She nods, but it’s weak. “Let’s just get to the Mirage. If there’s anyone or anything that can help, it’s them. I don’t know—it just hit me so hard out of nowhere.”
“We’ll get you there,” I reassure, finding a whole new reason to ensure Judge doesn’t capture us before we reach the Black Mirage.
Purpose.
Oh, I can live for that.
I can absolutely channel my frustration with Judge into helping Rebecca. She’s the one who liberated me, who gave me the insight I so desperately needed to see through his lies. She risked everything to get me out of that attic. And this is what I do as a nurse.
God, does that give me clarity.
Jess comforts Rebecca with a hand on her shoulder as we all sit here and wait.
Outside, we can hear the sound of more horses arriving, their hooves muffled by the snow.
Men are yelling to each other, their voices distorted by the wind.
The rider from before opens the door again, and another gust of cold infiltrates the vehicle, stealing what little warmth we have left.
“What shoes do you all have?” he asks, his gaze dropping to our feet.
We show him or tell him our answers. He doesn’t seem impressed, his gaze showing a bit of worry.
“We’ll warm your feet once we’re there. Aside from the furs, we got some wool hats, too. It’ll be cold, but it won’t be for long.” His eyes flick between us, assessing. “You all can ride horses?”
We nod in unison, then exit the jeep one by one, stepping into the storm like we’re stepping off the edge of the world.
I’m the third to go, and for once, I feel like a normal person.
No one is mentioning that I smell like omega.
They’ll be able to smell that I’m mated, if the suppressants even let that through.
But out here, in the chaos of the storm, it doesn’t seem to matter.
Once I’m out, I’m aggressively guided toward a black horse like I’m someone ordinary. There’s no extra concern or reason to guard me, and that motivates me even more. The man helping doesn’t hesitate, he grabs me by the waist and hoists me up, his grip firm and guiding.
I’ve only been handled like this by Judge.
With a sinking clarity, I envision Judge killing the man who’s helping me for touching me this way.
What am I supposed to do, though? If I tell him about Judge, he’ll freak out.
And what about Rebecca? She’s dark bonded, suffering, and in desperate need of the Witch Doctor’s intervention.
Helping omegas has always been a creed of mine, a line I won’t cross, no matter the cost.
I have Judge’s shirt tucked into my bag, and I wrap a fur around myself as they hand me one. The cold is vicious, biting through every layer, but we ride on in a line, tied together like a chain of desperate refugees.
In a way, I feel kind of bad that I haven’t told him who I am. But what good would it do? This is the wastes, right? It’s a brutal world out here, and it’s not my fault I’m in this situation.
The ride feels like it takes forever and no time at all. The world narrows to the rhythm of the horse beneath me, the sting of snow against my face, the distant shapes of the other riders barely visible through the white. And then, suddenly, we’re there, the train depot rising out of the storm.
I slide off the horse, my legs shaking from cold and adrenaline.
“We want the pelts,” Selene negotiates immediately. “Only fair, with the jeep and all.”
“Yeah, keep them,” the man says, dismounting and shaking snow off his fur with a sharp, practiced motion. “We want that jeep.” His eyes narrow slightly, curiosity cutting through rectitude. “What are you all running from, exactly?”
“Everything,” Rebecca replies.
The man cringes slightly when he sees the state that she’s in, taking a step back like he doesn’t want to catch whatever curse we’re carrying.
He holds his hands up in a gesture of peace.
“Fair enough. Won’t ask more.” His eyes flick past me, down the length of the track, toward the darkness that continues to swallow sound.
“This isn’t an official train ride. It always stops here to make a delivery.
Pay the conductor—only the conductor—to get on.
Cash. If he’s in a mood and won’t take you, that’s it. I can’t help you from there.”
We step away from him and wait, all the horses guided away. It feels almost too easy, honestly.
Snow crunches beneath my shoes as I pace, the sound oddly loud in the muffled quiet. Then we see the lights of the train, and my heart pounds from adrenaline. Holy shit, we might actually escape!
Selene moves first as the train rolls to a stop, purposeful as ever, disappearing into the steam that pours from the engine. I watch her silhouette blur and reappear through the white smoke, and she waves us forward.
“Get on,” the conductor snaps when we reach him, sticking his head out. His face is hard and weathered. “Stay out of sight. I already told her where to go.”
Selene takes us on a very long walk to the back of the train cars until we reach one that looks like a light is on inside. We climb aboard, the metal so cold I nearly fall as I let go like I just touched frostbite.
The car we’re in is a freight car, stripped of anything resembling comfort. There’s a metal drum welded into the middle, a pile of wood and kindling beside it, and not much else other than a light overhead.
“At least we know this is legit,” Jess mutters, nudging the drum with her boot. “There’s even wood. And kindling… oh look, a few matches!”
The train lurches not long after we get a fire going, smoke rising through what looks like a modified chimney above us.
The car shudders beneath us, metal groaning against metal, before settling into motion.
The world outside begins to slide away, swallowed by snow and distance.
I sink back into the fur, letting the warmth wrap around my shoulders as we all absorb the heat of the fire.
My spine finally unclenches, tension draining out of me in slow, shaky increments.
It’s such a bizarre, strange reality to be living this that I can’t quite process it. I’m not trying to pass as a nurse anymore.
I’m not blending in.
I’m not hiding in plain sight.
I’m on a train headed straight for the Black Mirage.