Chapter 28 The Code for a New Life #2
I reached up and touched the bite mark—his bite mark—gingerly, the skin warm and pulsing. “I don’t think so.”
“Good, that means he doesn’t know you’re gone yet. But once he figures it out, he will let his anger through, and it’s going to hurt. Eventually, your inner omega will be at war with your head, trying to appease him. Are you due for a heat soon?”
Vesper hopped into the back seat, rummaged around a bit, and then hopped back up to mine, handing me a small, brown paper bag.
“I have your anti-rejection meds, and some heat suppressants if you want them.”
“Wow,” I gasped, giving the crow a scratch as a thank you before taking the bag from him.
“You’re very thorough. I don’t think I’ll need the heat suppressant, though.
I, um…” It was a little hard to admit. Going into heats was such a quintessential part of being an omega.
If I hadn’t been broken before, I definitely was now.
“I haven’t gone into a heat in almost two years.”
Morgana didn’t react at first, but then she glanced towards me briefly. “Oh?”
I grabbed one of the bottles of water that had been left in the drink holder and took a sip with one of my anti-rejection pills. “Yeah. I was about to go into heat when I saw the news that Victor had gotten married, and then it just sort of stopped and never came back.”
A growl reverberated through her chest. “Men like him give alphas such a bad fucking name. Do you… want to have one? I think there are heat inducers—”
“Oh, he tried that, too,” I chuckled sadly. “It got me on the cusp, but never pushed me over the edge. It’s like my body just shut that part of me down, knowing he wasn’t safe… emotionally and otherwise.
Even though I knew now it wasn’t a betrayal in the sense that he had been intimate with someone else, my hormones weren’t taking any chances with an unfaithful alpha.
“Honestly, Sage, I don’t think there are enough words to say what a vile Magik he is.”
There certainly weren’t.
“In any case,” she continued. “If you change your mind, just let me know. My elf hookup in Elmaris can get you any kind of medication you need.”
I took a deep breath, considering her words. Going into heat without a partner to help me through it—without someone I trusted—felt like asking my body to betray itself all over again, and maybe having the suppressants on hand was better than not.
“Although considering the emotional blockage, witch medicine might be better…” she said, half under her breath. She turned on her blinker, taking an exit for a rest stop.
“Bathroom break, then switching cars,” she informed me as we parked in the nearly empty lot.
I got up, stretched, and then put Ember in the new car before heading toward the restroom to pee.
Being outside, especially in the middle of nowhere, was surreal. For a moment, it felt too big, and I almost dove straight into the new car just to feel walls surrounding me again.
But I didn’t want to be afraid. Instead, I took a moment to close my eyes, counting to ten and getting used to the gentle morning sun on my face, the breeze blowing my hair, and fresh air filling my lungs.
I wasn’t going to let him take this from me, too.
* * *
We stopped again at a small, roadside diner for breakfast, and I was beyond excited to eat something that wasn’t meat or leafy greens—the only things Victor’s chefs ever made for me.
I waffled between something spicy or something sweet and finally decided on sweet since breakfast was the only meal of the day where eating what was essentially a dessert wasn’t frowned upon.
“Blueberry pancakes with extra whipped cream and a coffee, please,” I ordered, wiggling in my seat like a toddler when the coffee was placed in front of me minutes later. I dumped two packets of sugar and four little containers of half-and-half into the cup, stirring gleefully.
Morgana chuckled from her seat across from me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so happy to drink diner coffee before.”
I thought about explaining that Victor didn’t let me drink coffee since it inhibited iron absorption, but I didn’t really want to bring the mood down. And I didn’t want to frame everything I did around him anymore.
“What can I say? I’m a cheap date.”
As we waited for our meals, I thought more about my broken heats, and how, if by some miracle I was able to move on and find someone I felt safe with, I might want to try having one again.
Witch medicine probably would be better in that case.
Elf advances in medicine were certainly nothing to sneeze at—Hecara knew I owed my life to them.
But elf medicine was designed to treat what was happening now, whereas witches looked at why it was happening in the first place, and took your Magik into account.
Merfolk did better with anything water-soluble, werewolf potions were always brewed on a full moon for maximum effect, and demon medicine needed to be heat resistant.
So an elf suppressant would try to force my body into heat, but a witch-made medicine would be brewed with my intent in mind, and with the knowledge that I had equated heats to danger and pain.
“Before all of… this… I was actually going to create an app that connected Magiks looking for personalized potions with witches who could make them.”
Morgana’s brow raised. “Is that right?”
I nodded, taking a sip of the weak, sugary, and creamy coffee.
“Yeah. I know lots of witches find it difficult to work in other city-states, so I wanted to make something that would allow them some independence while also helping Magiks who live far away from a witch apothecary but need charms or spells.”
The alpha pursed her lips in thought as she looked up, considering my plan. “How would that work?”
“Easy,” I said, recalling the elevator pitch I’d crafted for one of my business classes.
I started stirring my coffee absentmindedly, proud that I hadn’t forgotten.
“Witches make charms, potions, enchantments… all kinds of things. Right now, if you need something specific, you either have to know a witch personally or travel to their shop. And even then, not every witch works with every type of Magik or can help every condition.”
Morgana nodded along, her undivided attention thrilling.
“My app would let witches list what they can craft, and Magiks could request custom items tailored to their abilities and problems. One witch might specialize in potions that stabilize demon colds, another might make tonics to combat altitude sickness for non-cits living in Halcyon, or underwater breathing charms for visitors to Tideholm. Everything’s personalized and safe, delivered wherever you need it. ”
Morgana leaned back. “So you’re basically creating a magical, online marketplace?”
“Exactly!” I said, snapping my fingers. “Elf medicine is general—mass produced, with the same formula for everyone. But witches can account for someone’s Magik, their body, their habits, and history.
The platform makes that expertise accessible without anyone having to leave home.
And since it’s all online, you don’t have to worry about adding on customizations for anything embarrassing. ”
Morgana let out a low whistle, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “That’s actually brilliant. If it worked, it could help a lot of witches, and a lot of Magiks.”
I grinned, feeling a spark of my old excitement bubble up again. “Yeah. That was the idea, anyway.”
The pancakes arrived, and my stomach growled in anticipation of the unhealthy amount of sugar and carbs I was about to consume. “It’s too bad I can’t do that anymore, though,” I said with a sigh, stuffing my face.
“Why not?” Morgana asked.
I closed my eyes, savoring the combination of butter, maple syrup, and blueberry melting on my tongue, and then swallowed so I could answer.
“I mean, I’d need a computer and someone to go over the code.
I had already finished most of it for my senior capstone project, and it should still be saved in the cloud somewhere.
But there were some bugs I hadn’t figured out how to fix yet, and—”
Morgana held out her hand to stop me. “I can get you a computer. As long as you aren’t reaching out to old contacts and you operate under your new name, you don’t have to live in online isolation.
And for the coding, the elf who can get the meds happens to be quite good at that kind of stuff.
I can cover his fees if you want him to look it over. ”
I paused, my chest constricting with joy I was too afraid to let loose. “Really? You’d… you’d do that for me? On top of everything else?”
She gave a sly shrug, cutting into her Eggs Benedict. “How about I just take a percentage of the profits? Does fifteen work for you?”
My eyes began to blur with tears, the smile so big on my face it hurt my cheeks. “Make it twelve and you’ve got a deal.”