Chapter 12 #2
She shook her head, her curls swaying. “Because it doesn’t matter.
I mean, the way I see it, there are only three options—I tell you, and you help me, leading to your death.
I tell you and you return me anyway, living with the guilt for the rest of your life.
Or I don’t tell you, and you can ease your suffering by pretending I really am the thief the Premier convinced you I was, and you did the right thing by delivering me to justice.
And personally, if I can get out of this without another person’s life being taken or ruined, I can at least count that as a win.
It’ll help me get through what’s to come. ”
She withdrew her hands and placed them in her lap, and I now hated this table between us. My mind was a storm of doubt and anger, and maddeningly, it only promised to calm if I was touching her.
But maybe it was for the best, because she was right—no good would likely come of me knowing the truth at this point.
“I meant what I said at the bar, though. About having friends.” She looked up and smiled. “Without them, I would have truly had no life. One helped me cut loose and have fun, while the other helped me explore my nerdier interests in group settings. Interests that I’d always been too shy to pursue.”
I stopped myself from asking if she meant Nellie and Kaleb.
“What kind of interests are those?” I asked instead.
“Games, mostly,” she laughed. “I love board games and tabletop RPGs.”
“Oh, like Starlight Dominion?”
Her eyes lit up, and my heart skipped a beat. Sure, I’d only pretended to guess, but I’d still heard of it before I’d ever taken this contract. “Yeah, exactly! Have you played?”
“Nope,” I replied with a sad chuckle. “I don’t have any friends, remember?”
Her smile faltered. “I’d offer to teach you, but…
Well, maybe with all the money you’re getting from this job, you’ll finally be able to take a break.
” Her eyes misted over. She didn’t say anything for a minute, and then turned to look out the window with a small laugh.
“Isn’t that funny? Your freedom comes at the cost of mine. ”
I looked down at my hands, still stretched and seeking hers. “Sage, I’m so—”
“Please stop,” she interrupted. “I’m trying my hardest to hate you right now, but everything you’re saying just makes me like you more, and it hurts too much.”
I really did feel like the biggest piece of shit to have ever existed. After doing this job for so long, I thought I’d had a pretty good radar for scumbags, which most of my bounties were.
Sage was just a nice, normal woman, though.
And beautiful—so beautiful she made my chest ache with need whenever I looked at her.
Her scent also drove me nuts, and all I wanted to do was lay her down, kiss every scar on her body and make sure she never got another mark on her. Besides my own, besides a…
I didn’t have a chance to think more deeply on it due to a loud, ear-splitting roar of half a dozen motorcycles ripping through the air, drowning out the retro rock and roll music playing from the jukebox.
A group of alpha werewolves in matching leather jackets that identified them as the Howling Skulls Motorcycle Club made their grand entrance, barking in people’s faces just for their own entertainment.
A merfolk beta couple waiting for a table got up and left, and they took over a vacant corner booth, putting their feet on the seats and lounging around like they owned the place.
Fucking werewolves.
They snapped their teeth at the poor omega waitress as she skirted around them, heading towards us with our orders on a tray.
“Alright, let me know if you need anything else!”
I beckoned her closer and spoke in a quiet voice. “Everything okay?” I asked, gesturing towards the bikers with a quick tilt of my chin.
“Hm? Oh, those guys?” She dismissed my concern with a wave of her hand. “They come in a few times a month. They’re obnoxious, but don’t usually make too much trouble. It’d be a bigger hassle to try to kick them out than to just serve them and send them on their way.”
She went to check in on another table, and I was about to start eating when I saw they hadn’t subbed the fries for a salad. Sage clocked it as well, her face scrunching. “Wait, that’s not what you ordered.”
I grabbed the ketchup bottle. “It’s not that big of a deal…”
She raised her hand and called the waitress back before I could finish. “Excuse me, sorry, but he was supposed to get the salad.”
The waitress’s eyes went wide as she realized her mistake. “Oh, right! I’m sorry about that. Keep the fries, I’ll bring that salad right out.”
Sage nodded and then picked up the hot sauce, shaking it liberally over her omelet, and my jaw dropped open. She looked up and gave me a confused smile. “What’s wrong?”
What was wrong was that she’d fixed my order for me, and now I learned she loved her food with a spicy kick. What was wrong was that I might have been falling in love with my bounty, and that was the absolute worst thing that could happen with my soul on the line.
And of course, what was most wrong with this situation was that I couldn’t tell her any of that. So I just shook my head. “Nothing. Thanks for your help.”
Sage gave another small laugh. “What? You should get what you ordered.”
“No, I know. I’m just surprised you cared.”
She tucked a lock of hair nervously behind her ear, her cheeks tinging with pink. “It’s not that big of a deal,” she said, parroting me.
Averting her eyes, she took a small, tentative bite of her omelet before adding more hot sauce.
Taking a deep breath, I started to eat my own dinner when that prickly feeling one got when they were being watched crept along my skin. I turned around to look at the werewolf pack from where they sat, finding that they were staring at us.
At Sage, more specifically.
A growl worked its way through my chest, and my hands clenched into fists around my silverware.
Sage had noticed as well, and I could see the tension in her shoulders, the way she didn’t look up and was concentrating on her meal.
“How is it?” I asked, trying to put her at ease.
“It’s good, thanks.”
The werewolves were whispering to each other, and one finally stood and made his way over. I bristled, bracing myself to defend my omega.
I meant my bounty. Defend my bounty.
She wasn’t my omega. Sage was just an omega who happened to be my bounty.
The werewolf’s head was shaved, but his beard was long and unkempt. He put his hands on the table and leaned towards Sage, who had started shaking in her seat. I was shaking too, but for an entirely different reason.
“Where’s your alpha?” he snarled.
“I’m right here, asshole,” I replied. Okay, maybe I wasn’t actually her alpha. But we could pretend for simplicity’s sake.
“Like fuck you are,” he spat.
He grabbed her arm roughly, causing her to whimper as his dirty thumb rubbed along the vicious scar on her right bicep. “These are werewolf bites. Where’s your alpha? Your pack? You running out on them with this demon trash?”
Werewolf bites? Fuck, I couldn’t believe I’d missed that.
But how did that factor in with the vampire Premier?
Not that it mattered right now. He’d touched Sage, he’d scared her, and now it was time for him to leave.
I got up, grabbing the werewolf by the collar, twisting cotton and leather in my fists. “I think it would be best if you just went back to your table now,” I said, the promise of violence seeping into my voice as smoke curled out of my nostrils.
He stared me straight in the eyes. “And I think it would be best if we returned the witch to her rightful owner. Because it sure as fuck ain’t you.”
Fire burned in my blood. Maybe I wasn’t her alpha, but I sure as fuck was something, and there was no way I was letting him take her from me.
My eyes flickered to the anti-demon tattoo on his arm, but possession wasn’t the only weapon in my arsenal.
“You sure you want to do this?” I asked, my tone low. He looked strong.
But I was stronger.
He swung at me, his form sloppy and undisciplined. I easily dodged the blow and twisted around to slam him into the table, hard enough to rattle the plates, then tossed him like a bag of garbage over the counter behind us, knocking over a rack of pies.
The pack roared and came for me fast, all claws and fury.
Fire bloomed in my hand. I slashed a burning line across the first one’s chest, the fire catching and flaring wildly. He shrieked, pawing at his shirt and falling to the ground to try to put it out.
A heavy fist came from my other side and cracked against my jaw. I staggered, laughing through the pain, and then drove my elbow into the attacker’s throat. He dropped, gasping for air.
Another leapt at my back and I spun, grabbing him mid-jump and throwing him through a booth.
Baring my teeth, smoke bleeding from my skin, I stared at the rest of them
“Come on,” I said, with a little turn of my hand. “You guys started it. Allow me to finish it.”
And when they rushed me again, I was more than ready.
One of them drew an adamantine chain, swinging it wide. I ducked under the first swipe, caught it in my hand on the second, and yanked hard. He stumbled forward, straight into my fist, his nose exploding in a gush of blood.
Another lunged with a dagger. I grabbed his wrist, hellfire licking up my arm, and shoved the blade back into his gut. He went down choking and sputtering.
The last two hesitated, and I flexed my hands, flames curling along my knuckles.
“Pick them up,” I said, nodding at their broken pack mates. “And get out.”
They thankfully did—dragging bodies and not daring to look back.
The diner was in shambles, and I’d scared away almost all of the customers out of here, but I didn’t care. My inner alpha preened that I’d protected Sage. Defended her against those who’d dared to claim she wasn’t mine.
My “not-my” omega.
But when I turned back to smile at her, I found her panting shallow breaths, her skin clammy, and her hand grasping at her chest.
“Sage?” I asked, panic seeping into my voice. “Sage? What’s wrong?”
She winced, closing her eyes and struggling to find the words.
“Sage!” I grabbed her shoulders. What happened? Did the werewolves do something to her?
Did they touch her?
“… Hospital,” she whimpered.