Chapter 13
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Killian
I ris Gardener.
She didn’t tell me her last name, but Sabine City isn’t overly big. And when there’s a Season Omega named Iris being blasted all over social media, it’s not hard to put two and two together.
The name means nothing to me personally. Yeah, I’ve heard about the Gardeners, a family of so many Omegas that they are the Monarch’s wet dream. The oldest brother has even drifted in here every now and then for a drink and an escape.
He never talks to anyone, just sits in the corner booth alone and drinks. A complete loner.
But his sister…
Iris.
Icy.
Iris Gardener.
She’s not the oldest sister—Violet was last Season’s star—and I know only because no one could shut the fuck up about her and that Emporian movie star. It was the most excitement this boring island has seen in decades.
But Iris being who she is, connected to who she is connected to, can not only be hurtful to my plans of expanding, but it can jeopardize everything the Nightshades have worked for.
Our membership numbers are the highest they’ve ever been; we’re getting a lot of young people involved and hungry for a change. And that’s just what Sabine needs.
A change.
A big change.
It is a nice place, on the surface.
The rich here aren’t just rich, they’re old-money rich.
Sabine used to be the place the Council began, where all the most wealthy families settled to separate themselves from the unworthy and lower class.
It’s expanded since then, became home to others, but for the most part the outdated laws of the past govern this place.
Omegas may be cherished, but they’re also the most oppressed.
Alphas live like kings. Even for the Alphas on the Lower Side, we still hold more influence over Betas, Deltas, or Gammas.
It’s something the Council’s always blamed on DNA.
Well, I say fuck that.
Your affiliation at birth shouldn’t determine your place in society or your worth. People on the mainland don’t live by such restrictive laws and they’re living their lives just fine.
If there wasn’t a risk of Emmie’s mother taking her from us, we would’ve stayed there.
But we moved here because I have tenuous ties, or my mother did, and Emmie’s safer here as an Omega.
We just need to stay until she comes of age.
Then, Tamara would have no legal claim to her anymore and Em can live the life she chooses, wherever she chooses to live it.
But until then, I’m going to make sure my daughter has the best life I can provide her. And I know Xavier feels the same. Everything we do is for Emmie. She’s our world.
So we’ll live in Sabine, under the heavy hand of the Council, save every dime, and try to make the future better.
That’s where the Nightshades come in. Sure, it’s risky for us to be involved in the organization, but it’s still very much underground, most of the work put in recruitment and information gathering for now.
We can’t risk what we’ve started. Not for anyone, especially some bratty, virginal Omega like Iris Gardener.
A squeal of laughter grabs me from my thoughts, and I grin as I polish the bar some more.
“Daddy! Look it me! I rule!”
I look up. Emmie’s on Xavier’s massive shoulders, causing him to have to bend over to get them both through the main door.
They make a mismatched pair, a cute little blonde girl in a tutu that’s ripped, torn, and muddy, and a big, silent, tattooed man who looks like he could snap your neck for looking at him the wrong way.
Today he has his black and silver rings on, big, kicking ass boots, ripped jeans, and a worn leather jacket.
Found her up by Riverman’s Dive , he signs. Charlie said he’d put her to work if she wanted to stay.
“By the river?”
For a moment Emmie’s eyes get big. “I went to another bar. Do you think Icy lives in one like me?”
If I had a drink, I’d choke, but my head’s full of Xavier’s laugher. God damn kid hasn’t stopped talking about Iris since the day we met her.
“Do you think she’ll come back to play?”
I put on a pretend smile as Xavier puts her down. “Maybe, bug. You never know. But Freya’s waiting upstairs to give you a bath. If you don’t go now, all the bubbles will be gone.”
“No, bubbles!”
As Emmie careens off, shouting at the bubbles that she’s on her way, Xavier rubs the back of his neck and moves around the bar to make himself a drink. I thought Freya was supposed to be here earlier .
“She couldn’t make it. She’ll stay tonight, she said, in case the meeting runs longer.”
Fine. He points the drink at me. But make sure she doesn’t do it again. We’re lucky Charlie is a friend.
I’d ask why he has a stick up his ass, but I know. Green eyes and dark hair and a whole lot of attitude. But I’m not going to say it.
She’s irrelevant, even if I can still smell her in the air when I head upstairs or sit at the place she sat at the bar. She’s haunting this place. And Xavier is softer than me. He will think he’s in love with what we can’t have.
Fuck man, Xavier signs as I grab a beer. I can still smell her here, as if she wasn’t even wearing a blocker. And she definitely was.
I could, too, which is something I’ve been wondering about myself. The blocker colognes most rich Alphas and Omegas use during the Season have a slew of chemicals meant to erase their natural scents. It fucks with the nose, makes a strange void where smell should be.
Maybe her blocker was faulty? But I could still sense it. Iris’s scent was just like a layer underneath the nothingness. Still there, just muted.
Who fucking knows. Doesn’t matter anyway.
I take a long swallow of my beer. “How many people do you think’ll show up tonight?”
Hopefully more than last time.
“If we can break this fucking stranglehold, things will be better around here.”
Because you think we can fuck the girl? He sets his glass down, removes his jacket, and tosses it at the end of the bar.
“You want to fuck the girl.”
We both want to fuck the girl , he says.
I give him a dark look as my chest tightens, as do my jeans. Fuck yes, I’d love a piece of Iris, but that isn’t why we’re doing this.
“Dude, neither of us want Em growing up in a world where her future’s preordained, that she needs to find an Alpha, fuck, and have babies. If she wants that, great, but maybe she wants to be a professional boxer or…I don’t know, a vulcanologist or some shit.”
His mouth twitches. Maybe.
“This shit is important.”
You’re preaching to the choir, Kil. I’m just worried about what would happen if the Monarch sniffs us out and we get caught.
“We’re not going to get caught,” I say.
He shakes his head. Emmie can go from having two dads to having none.
“We’re not going to get caught,” I repeat. “And besides, the risk is worth the outcome if we succeed. Don’t you think?”
Xavier sighs. Anything for Emmie.
That’s what it all comes down to.
All of this, every single thing, is for our baby girl. Council be damned.
We both get ready for the evening, and to keep things easy for Freya, we open early today and close well before dark.
I check the register, making sure we have enough for any possible rush. I’ll be around, of course, but Freya’s used to running the place if we’re elsewhere. The couple of others we employ don’t share that privilege.
Trust is a hard thing for me to give nowadays.
I should’ve learned the lesson after that fire. When I lost my sister. But Tamara’s betrayal is what sealed it. There will be no strike three for me.
When I’m finished with the register, I make sure the feeds on the cameras work.
Expecting trouble? Xavier brings a container of clean glasses from the drying rack and starts to stack them on the shelf.
“Always,” I say. “But since we’re hosting this one, I want to keep an eye on who comes and goes.”
Xavier checks his phone and signs. Need to see to a delivery. There’s an issue.
I close the hidden panel in the wall that houses the electronics. “Need help?”
Under control.
I nod, and we part ways.
As the first patrons trickle in, Freya takes the bar, and I go and tuck Emmie in for bed. She’s not going to stay in it, I know. It’s too early according to her, but hope’s always an eternal thing and maybe this time, she’ll listen.
Right.
“Daddy?” she says as I reach to turn off the light.
“Yes, bug?”
“I am not tired. I’m awake! See!?” She sits up and arcs her arms in the air like she’s miming a sun.
Somehow I withhold the groan. “Do you want a story?”
“Yes. I will fall asleep if you read me a story. The Space Princess one.” It’s her new favorite, one of the contraband books I brought back from the mainland.
As I read her the story, she yawns, snuggling down with Delores next to her, a wing sticking up. She finally closes her eyes, and I kiss her forehead before heading back down to the bar.
The moment I step out onto the bar’s floor, the front door opens and in walks the one person I never expected to see again.
Iris.