52. Zoe
Zoe
A hand squeezes my shoulder and shakes me awake.
It takes my eyes a moment to focus, and when they do, I see a woman with golden eyes and flame-red hair leaning over me.
She's beautiful in the way fire is, a quiet danger that you know will never be tamed but could work with you if you treat it right.
"We don't have much time."
The words spill out of her, the voice familiar and tickling the back of my battered mind.
Why does my body hurt so much?
I try to sit up, but I cannot move, and I try to beg for help, but my mouth won't open. My heart rate kicks up, panic setting in.
What is wrong with me?
"You're paralyzed. The drugs they put in you haven't worn off. I need you to listen, okay? I know you're scared. I know you're angry at me."
It hits me where I recognize the voice from, why this woman seems vaguely familiar. It's Ilota. The Goddess's likeness was perfectly captured in the painting I found in the chapel, but it couldn't convey the otherworldly glow that surrounds her.
"I couldn't stop your shift. I tried, but I'm not strong enough. I'm surprised I was able to make it to you at all."
I try to speak to her in my mind.
"Where is here?"
She kneels next to me and grabs my hand. "Fetoria. Or, what Fetoria was, when I still walked amongst my people."
"Why do you not walk with us anymore?"
"Outside of me being too weak, it's not safe for us. Everyone loves their Gods until they realize what we're capable of. We are better tolerated when our flaws cannot be seen." She peers down at me with eyes full of nostalgic love. "You look just like her. It's why I chose you."
"Like who?"
"My most devout. Her name was Essie. She's your grandmother many, many generations back.
The council killed her." She wipes away a few errant tears.
"And then they hunted my Blessed, until all that was left was her daughter, Iva.
She kept my secret, kept my garnet." The Goddess looks at the place on my throat where my garnet used to rest. I lost it in the shift.
"I knew it was too dangerous to keep Blessing my children.
They were being slaughtered, and I refused to see another die.
I had hoped someone would come by that could fix things, but I was losing faith. Until you."
Until me.
What makes me so special?
"My siblings had Blessed beautiful, strong Alphas that were untethered, without an Omega partner waiting for them. I saw the opportunity for what it was and chose you in the hope that my siblings would see you as worthy of their children. And they did."
"But you don't trust Dominic."
She shrugs. "I hardly trust Kashmyre. But having Dominic by your side, if he puts you first, may be the key to ousting this corrupt council and revealing what they have done. What they're still doing."
"How have you managed to bring me here? You've barely spoken to me."
Her eyes grow wistful, a pleasant smile stretching her cheeks and revealing dimples on either side of her mouth.
"Your pack. Viv. Your mother. All are praying to me, right now.
Viv is…" She winces and puts a hand to her temple.
"Particularly fervent. And the Hierophant.
" She laughs now, and the sound is the most lovely music I have ever heard.
"He's furious. But he has a right to be. "
I feel pressure starting behind my eyes, and my hands and feet feel like they're being stabbed with needles. I try to wiggle my fingers, and one lifts just off the ground.
Ilota notices and takes my face in her hands. "You're waking up. I need you to stay strong, Zoe. Things will get worse before they get better. You are not alone, and you are not forgotten. Do not let them break you. Remember whose daughter you are."
There is so much I want to ask her, so many things I want to say, but I feel my Goddess fading around me, and pain fills my body.
My back arches as I try to escape the bone-shattering pain, but I go nowhere, strapped tightly to a table.
"Ah, you're awake." The deep voice makes my skin crawl. "You may want to keep your dragon under control if you want the pain to stop."
My dragon must have been trying to push to the surface to heal me, or maybe to grow closer to Ilota.
I remember every bit of that dream, and I know it was not an invention of my anxious mind. The Goddess chose me, and she appeared to me to make sure I knew she was still looking out for me and believed in my ability to handle this.
Though right now, I really wish she had chosen someone else to Bless.
As difficult as it is, I breathe through the panic and pain, willing my dragon to recede. After a few moments, the pain stops, and I turn my head to look at my captor. I can feel a collar rubbing against my throat as I do.
A shock collar, just like Cameron wears.
I'm not surprised.
The man sitting on a stool beside the table isn't one I have seen before. He's bald, wearing robes similar to Cameron's, except that instead of being black with embroidered cords in the colors of the Gods, his are pure white. I may not have met him, but I know in my gut who he is.
"Arcanist."
He inclines his head in a way that almost suggests respect, if not for the predatory glint in his eyes.
"Nice to meet you, Zoe Ansell. Blessed Omega of Ilota. You must forgive me for my excitement. I have never met one of your kind before."
"My kind?" My voice is weaker than I want it to be, but I know it is the drugs wearing off, not fear, as the man may assume. "We are all the Gods' children, are we not? I am not another species."
"I've always wondered if Ilota's Omegas feel different than the others.
Omegas are prey to be hunted and consumed by the predators that rule our realm.
But you are not prey, are you?" He pulls his chair closer to me and peels my lips away from the teeth.
"You're just as much of a predator as I am. Probably more so. It's unnatural."
"Now, Harold, be kind to the poor thing. She didn't choose this." The Archon appears at my feet and holds me by the ankle. His grip is not painful; it's claiming, and bile rises in my throat. I try to wiggle away from him, but my restraints prevent me. "Leave us, Arcanist."
The holy man rises and bows his head in a respectful nod to the Archon before leaving.
"How are you feeling, Zoe?"
"Like you fucking care."
He clicks his tongue. "Nasty language. Not very becoming of an Omega."
My clothes are shredded from my partial shift during the ceremony, my jeans in strips around my legs. As the Archon circles my table and moves closer to my head, he drags his hand up my bare skin.
The touch is wrong. So wrong that my dragon tries to push forward, and an electric current runs through me. I bite my tongue as my body thrashes against the pain.
"Oh, darling girl. You must not let your beast control you. Breathe through the pain, and tell her to recede. There's no need for you to suffer."
"I wouldn't suffer if you'd take this Godsdamned collar off of me." The words are barely gritted out between my clenched teeth, but I know he heard and understood me.
"We can remove the collar when I am convinced that you are ready to perform your Omega duties without letting your beast control you.
It's a safety precaution. We cannot have a dragon flattening people when you're out in public.
" A hopeful feeling washes over me. If he'll let me out in public, I can escape.
"For now, you'll have to stay here, I'm afraid.
Just for a bit, until I get your accommodations ready and prepare your training. "
"My… training?"
"Yes, darling, your training. We've got to get you in shape if you're going to make an appearance at the Renewal Gala." What could he need me for there, when they pretend we have a choice in our leader by voting for him to continue his reign? "We only have three months to get you presentable."
I have a feeling I am not going to like the answer, but I have to ask, "What do you mean, presentable?"
He strokes a finger down my face, and I shiver with disgust. This is Dominic's father, and that Alpha may be an asshole, but he's my asshole. This man should not be touching me. Not when he knows I am his son's scent match.
Except, I don't think he cares about that.
"I mean that you need to be in control of your beast, and you need to learn how an Omega is supposed to behave. You may be a dragon, but you are still an Omega, and you will act accordingly."
I gather spit in my mouth and let it fly toward his face. It smacks him in the cheek. "I will never be the Omega you wish me to be."
The Archon, looking entirely unbothered, pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes his face.
"As the Archon's Omega, there will be things expected of you.
Until I can trust you to do your duties, I will have to keep you collared.
It's nothing personal, darling, I hope you know that.
" He strokes my hair back from my forehead.
His tone may be gentle, but the look in his eyes is anything but.
"How you present yourself will reflect on me as your Alpha, and I will not have you damaging my reputation. "
He bends down and kisses me on the forehead. I wish nothing more than for my hands to be free so I can wipe the feel of his lips off my flesh, but struggling against my binds is pointless.
"Get your rest, darling girl. You have lots to learn."