Chapter 11
Nine days until appeal
CRESCENT
By morning I knew what I had to do.
It was the only way, and I would only have one chance.
I slept fitfully, weaselling my way out of Karma and Sin’s arms as they slept. When I tried to leave the room, the door was locked, and I remembered Sin mentioning that it stayed locked from night until morning.
So nerves gripped my stomach as I laid in bed beside their comforting warmth, waiting for the sound of the door unlocking.
When I heard it I tried to bolt from bed, but Sin’s arm wrapped around my waist.
“Where are you going, beautiful?” he asked.
I looked back at him, trying to memorize every plane of his face so I’d always remember. “Um, just the bathroom.”
He grunted and released me, falling back into the bed. I needed to sneak past him to get out of the cell, but how? Karma’s snores were so loud they practically vibrated the mattress, but when I glanced at the other bed I met Phantom’s soft brown eyes. He was awake too.
My teeth sank into my bottom lip. I couldn’t spend a second longer with them, or the corruption could be too much.
Rushing to the bathroom, I used the toilet in the stall and then stood by the sink, staring at myself in the mirror.
How was I going to…
A throat cleared. “Mind if we come in?” Phantom asked. I could just see Sin over his shoulder. “Only one bathroom, and I desperately need a shower.”
My cheeks flushed as I flashed back to the previous day. Karma in the shower with me, abs in full view.
I had to make sure I didn’t touch Phantom like that or he’d be the next one to lose his mind and soul.
But this was an opportunity…
“Yes, uh, come in.”
Both of them strolled casually through the door and into the large tiled room, Sin going to the sink and grabbing a toothbrush while Phantom stripped his shirt. I swallowed and avoided looking too far down his body, even as I walked up to grab his hand.
Closing my eyes, I lifted his arm up and rubbed my chin against it, scent marking him.
Sinner.
Seductress.
Corrupter.
It needed to be done, but the Sister’s teachings nagged me all the same.
His scent of gunmetal became sharp, but I scurried away before he could pull me closer.
Sin was next. I wrapped my arms around him and climbed onto his back, indulging myself by taking a deep breath. His blockers were wearing off, his scent of desert eclipse almost at full force—the first time I’d scented him directly.
Then I scent marked his shoulder, near the crook of his neck.
He groaned, the sensation vibrating through me until I released him and hopped down to the ground.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“You said we were mates. I have to give Karma one too, it’s only fair.”
They didn’t stop me as I hurried from the bathroom, closing the door behind me.
But I didn’t pause at Karma—I couldn’t risk it. I headed straight to the cell door, intent on escape.
VANDLE
Among a million grey shapes, I woke to a shock of colour. The first colour I’d ever seen in a black-and-white world.
Through the smallest lens—metal biting at my cheek—I saw her.
The most beautiful creature I’d ever laid eyes on.
Mine.
I knew she was mine without her scent—because nothing else in the world was in colour but my girl, as if it was holding out only for the most beautiful thing it could find.
My… omega.
She was too pale—more than I was expecting, but it meant the flush of pink on her cheeks was brighter. And the colour in her eyes… I stared, following closely through the slit as she padded across the room.
The colour in her eyes was a bright, electric warmth.
Could that be gold?
I hoped…
My chest was tight, joy making it hard to focus.
Until I saw what she was doing.
Her fingers curled around the bars at the door.
What…?
She glanced behind—toward the bathroom. There was fear in her gaze.
Why was she afraid?
She wasn’t just mine… The rest of my pack shifted in my mind, balls of light, alive and comforting even when I was the most distant.
She couldn’t leave.
My body slammed against the metal cage, pain distant enough to be ignored.
It was happening again. An ancient terror, guilt that burned me alive—only this omega, this time, it was different.
I watched through the slim window as she slipped through the door and was gone.
“NO!” But there was metal between me and her.
Again, my aura flared and my weight hit an unmovable door.
Again.
Again.
Pain tore through me, aura blitzing the space, but it wasn’t enough.
I looked again and froze.
The most beautiful creature was gone…
No…
I couldn’t hear through the blood roaring in my ears.
Again, my body crashed against metal.
Again.
And—bang!
The sound of the world crashed in as metal caved. Not enough—but then—a latch sounded. I saw the faintest flash of auburn hair, and half feral eyes of my packmate, as if he had felt my desperation, but then I was crashing past him.