Chapter 24
“You’re going to pay for that later,” Shiloh said after fifteen minutes of mostly silence. They’d trudged through the maze mindlessly following Sky, and now were a bit lost.
“Am not. I threw in that bit about you being my in-laws to appease him,” Sky divulged. “I bet your asshole brother is preening himself right now. Possessive bastard.”
“We have to find the first marker before we can even hope to answer this question,” Sloane called from a little way ahead. She’d already scanned the code on their entrance stickers with her multi-slate and pulled up the trivia questions.
There were numbered markers set up throughout the maze.
A list of questions, each pertaining to one marker, would help them decide which direction to turn.
If they answered correctly, they would be led closer to the exit.
If they were wrong, they’d be taken deeper into the maze.
Timers had been activated the moment they’d stepped beneath the banner at the start, and if they managed to make it out within an hour, there were prizes.
“What kind of questions are these anyway?” she continued to grumble as she walked. “How am I supposed to know the name of the first band that played at the first carnival?”
“You’d probably know if you grew up here,” Shiloh told her.
“That’s not fair. This game is catered to the locals. What about us?”
He snorted and then turned to Sky. “She’s definitely related to Kian.”
Sky didn’t want to think about the alpha right now, or about how he’d gotten so embarrassed back there that he’d defaulted and lashed out. “He’s got to be so pissed at me.”
“You were right. My brother will get over it.” Shiloh pushed a piece of dried corn stalk out of the way.
The path was cleared pretty well, but there were a few that hung over, slipping through the black mesh plastic netting meant to keep them at bay.
Floating orb lights zipped and whizzed overhead, casting enough bright white glow for them to be able to see as they wandered. “Do you usually come this late?”
“Sometimes,” Sky said. “Some years Elm and I come early. It depends on what else we have planned. We just have to get here before the event shifts into the haunted maze attraction, since he’s not great with jump scares.”
“What else is he like,” Shiloh asked, “Kian’s other brother?”
“What have you heard?”
“That he stormed out the other day when Kian tried to tell his family about us.”
Sky hummed, keeping Sloane in his line of vision as she led the way through the branching paths. They’d lost sight of other guests a while ago, and whenever he glanced behind them, there weren’t any signs of Kian or the guards.
Was he really giving him space after he’d demanded it?
“Are you upset about that?” Sky asked Shiloh, trying to focus on the conversation and do what he’d set out today to do. He was here for the twins, that’d been the truth.
“I’m used to people not wanting to get involved with me,” Shiloh replied. “Son of a mafia queen, remember?”
“I didn’t have many friends growing up,” he said. “There was just Elm for a while. It wasn’t until high school that the other kids started noticing me.”
“Never would have guessed it. You seem so confident.”
“I adapt quickly, I think?” He chuckled at his own uncertainty, given the topic.
“As soon as the other kids started trying to befriend me, it became easy to reciprocate and learn from their techniques, so to speak. I used to be really shy. I could go days without speaking a word to anyone, even my parents.”
“We were all young once.” Shiloh sighed wistfully. “We can’t stay the same forever.” His hand lingered over his stomach, but he dropped it before actually making contact, fingers tightening into a fist.
It was on the tip of Sky’s tongue to give him condolences for the loss of his alpha, but he held back. Now wasn’t the time. They were here to have fun. “Have you thought of names yet?”
“For the baby?” Shiloh shook his head and hopped over a small puddle. “It’s too soon for that.”
“How far along are you?”
“Only four months.” It took twelve for the baby to fully develop. “I have another doctor's appointment on Monday. We’ll see how things go.”
“Guys, hurry up!” Sloane laughed to show she was mostly teasing and then took a sharp right down a path that was shielded by thick stalks of corn. Almost immediately after, she let out a sharp cry. “Run!”
“That’s not funny,” Shiloh told her, though he picked up his pace, eating the distance between them only a foot or so ahead of Sky. “Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
Sky ran the rest of the way, freezing when he finally turned the corner and saw six men fighting with the twins.
They were both holding their own, and Sloane had already taken one down, but three of them had ganged up on her, and there were still two left. One drew a knife, but she didn’t seem concerned over the sudden appearance of a weapon.
“Stay back, Sky!” Shiloh yelled, dodging a punch from one of the men cutting him off from his sister. He latched onto the man’s wrist and twisted, slipping beneath his arm as he rotated it until there was a distinct pop followed by a scream.
“Screw this!” the other guy cursed and pulled a blaster from his belt and barked an order to the guys fighting Sloane. “Grab the omega and let's go!” He aimed at Shiloh.
Sky reacted without thought, catching Shiloh’s shirt and yanking him back. He twisted in the process to put himself between them, hissing when a bullet grazed the side of his left thigh. It stung, but adrenaline had already taken hold of him, and the pain didn’t cause any sort of hesitation.
He rested his weight on his left foot and kicked high, knocking the weapon out of the man’s hand. Clearly the guy had been of the same opinion as Shiloh and didn’t think he could fight.
The sound of the blaster going off echoed around them. There was no way Kian hadn’t heard from wherever he was. He’d find them for sure. All they had to do was hold their ground until then.
Sky heard a gasp and turned just in time to see Shiloh take a knee in the abdomen, fear spiking through him. But before he could go to the younger man, the one who’d held the blaster returned his kick, knocking his feet out from under him.
Shiloh stumbled, caving in on himself protectively, but that momentary instinct to protect his unborn child cost him.
The man in front of him produced a knife of his own, slashing Shiloh’s arm with the blade.
As soon as he turned to try and evade, he lost his footing and fell face-first into the dirt.
“Don’t!” Sky punched the guy on top of him and got back up, just as the one with Shiloh lifted a foot and stomped down on Shiloh’s lower back.
Omegas had a tendency to protect each other in situations like this.
In most situations, really. That was part of the reason why Pera had been so infuriated on Sky’s behalf.
They might have equal rights now, but one hundred years of equality was nothing in the face of thousands where omegas were ruled by alphas and treated as property.
Sky’s omega instincts saw red. His mind fritzed, and he was unable to hold rational thought. All he knew was that there was a pregnant omega being attacked, and he had to do something to stop it.
While the man was distracted with Shiloh, Sky snuck up on him, slipping the knife, now held loosely at his side, out of his palm.
He shifted his grip, like he’d done a thousand times in practice, and struck, the blade slicing through the man’s throat with a lot more ease than Sky ever would have imagined prior to this.
Warm blood sprayed against his face, the sudden wetness snapping him out of it just enough to register what he’d done. As the man clutched at his sliced throat and stumbled back, Sky stared wide-eyed at the weapon in his own hand.
Another blaster shot went off, and the man jerked as he was hit. When Sky looked up, he found Sloane holding the gun this time. She put a bullet in the remaining men, then spun on her heels and did the same to the two she’d knocked out during their scuffle.
“Sky!” Kian appeared, taking in the scene while Pike and the guards went to the twins. He rushed toward him, then came to an abrupt halt when he noticed the knife still in Sky’s hand. “Hey, little omega, look at me. No, not at that. Look at me.”
Sky’s whole body felt like it was vibrating as he stared at the bloody knife in his hand.
His gaze roamed their surroundings, taking in the dead bodies.
Red was seeping into the dirt, turning it a ruddy clay color, and he turned and retched over the mesh fence, tears blurring his vision as bile and his earlier lunch burned up his throat.
“Sky,” Kian approached him, but when he straightened and startled, he held up both hands. “Baby. It’s okay. I’m here now. Put down the knife.”
“What…” He glanced at it again and then chucked it aside as though burned, clutching his hand close to his chest before he recalled the blood. “Oh my gods! What did I do?!” Desperately, he turned to Kian. “I didn’t mean to! I didn’t! I just reacted! I just—”
“You protected yourself and my siblings,” Kian cut him off, finally grabbing onto him and hauling him against his chest. He cradled his head and let loose soothing alpha pheromones, cocooning Sky in the comforting lull as he continued to reassure him in a hushed, subdued voice.
“This was self-defense. That’s all it was.
There’s nothing to fear. I’ve got you. I’m here. ”
“Boss,” Pike interrupted them, but he didn’t stop even when Kian snarled a warning. “Boss, this is really bad! Shiloh is—”
Reminded of the pregnant omega, Sky burst from Kian’s arms, rushing over and dropping to his knees next to Shiloh.
Sloane was holding him half in her lap, tears spilling from her eyes as her brother groaned and whimpered.
Blood stained his pants, and it was clear it was coming from him.
“Hospital,” Kian snapped. “Get him up!”
Pike lifted Shiloh and carried him, heading back the way they’d come.
“The maze,” Sky said, only for Kian to shake his head and take his hand, pulling him after the others.
“We’re backtracking. We remember the way we took to get here.” Kian’s brow was furrowed, but he took the time to order one of the guards to call for backup and find out who the men who’d attacked them were and what they’d been after.