35. Riley
RILEY
I stood in front of the bookcase, running my finger along the spines, pretending to look for a new book to read as I listened to the conversation near the elevator.
“Please assign someone to keep an eye on her tonight. She is not to venture. She is only to access the rooftop before the shield thins. She is not to leave. Her safety is of the utmost importance. Do you understand?”
I rolled my eyes. Goddess, he treated me as if I was a tiny child in need of a parent.
Sly grunted out his reply. “Absolutely, sir.”
Over the past week, Zander had been far more present, especially since news broke of the missing Benefactor. Tonight was the first night he was leaving me. Apparently, he was choosing to perform his usual ritual elsewhere, which was interesting and a little alarming.
The sound of footsteps approaching warned me of his impending arrival before his hands wrapped around my waist from behind, the feel of them heavy against my skin. I could appreciate the pleasant moments of affection if I chose to block out all his other controlling behaviours. I’m sure someone would love him for that, but I knew it would never be me, the weight of which was becoming a burden.
I drew my hands away from the bookshelf and rested them lightly on his, turning my head to the side. I allowed an elated sigh to escape me as I closed my eyes, not daring to look into his. Perhaps if I closed my eyes and sunk into the moment, pretended I was somewhere else, with someone else, I could endure this loveless life.
Zander came with so many intolerable edges, but he desired only me, so I was the only chance at change for us here, the last attempt to pierce his hardened heart. That had been the original goal anyways, long before I’d become desperate and an accomplice to murder.
He tucked his head into the crook of my neck, warming the skin there, though it failed to soothe the worried tension in my chest.
A blooming part of me felt a deep sadness that I didn’t love him. I didn’t believe he truly loved me either, not in the way I needed or wanted. After all, how could a man like Zander love another so deeply when his ultimate love was power?
Even when I challenged him, which was inevitable at this point, I’d decided I would do my best to look after him and keep working towards my original goal, if that was what destiny required of me.
Even if it meant I might never truly know what it was to love so fiercely and be just as loved in return.
“I need to go, my love,” he murmured beneath half-lidded eyes.
I sucked in his sickly-sweet scent, forcing myself to maintain a balanced expression even though I wanted to turn away from it.
Instead, I smiled warmly, my hand lifting to his tie to straighten it. “I know. Maybe after this is all over, we can spend some quality time together.”
His eyes lit up in a hopeful glow. “I would like that very much.”
His lips met mine in a featherlight kiss before he took a step back, still lingering, holding my hand in his own. He cast me one final, apologetic look before allowing my hand to drop back to my side and turning, walking briskly from the room.
Tonight was the last night our shield was breached. Over the next few hours, our Alphas would be readying themselves to defend the Haven for the final night of the year. I had no idea where Zander would be going tonight. He rarely told me, and he never spoke about it afterwards. I knew better than to question him on it. Besides, I had my own job to do. A bargain to fulfill.
Hushed tones reached my ears, drawing me carefully closer.
“You know what to do tonight. Wait until my Rose goes to sleep. It is a shame she chose to breach our shield. Her power presents such an uncontrollable problem for what we are building here, and I can’t have her ruining it. I trust you to make it look incidental,” Zander directed Sly, the subtle sounds of the elevator door shuttering closed in the background. I couldn’t hear Sly’s reply, if he replied at all, underneath the thump of my heartbeat bellowing its rage in my ears.
I knew they were talking about her.
Raya.
Panic wormed its way up my throat, and I fought to suppress it. Collateral was not going to be enough for tonight. I needed an immediate solution.
She would have to become part of the plan.
I composed myself again before Sly rounded the corner to stare at me. I raised my eyebrows at his blank stare and tilted my head in confusion, pretending I hadn’t heard anything.
“So…the plan remains?” I asked cautiously. The void in his emotions, emulated by his blank expression, caused a spike in my stress. Would he do it?
He blinked once and nodded. “Yes, the plan remains, Riles.”
I continued to assess him, his mannerisms slightly off and his humorous nature suspiciously absent.
“I would like Raya to be added to our plan. I want her out of the Haven.”
Relief skittered across his face before he acknowledged my request, a reassurance that he did not like what he’d been ordered to do. Some of the tension fell away from my shoulders.
“Okay, we will add Raya to the plan at your request, just as long as we get the stone so I can execute the remainder of it here when she leaves.” His voice was firm and direct, and I didn’t miss how he’d pointedly said he would be completing the rest of our plan to access Zander’s mysterious space beneath our home. I’d told him so many times over that I could do it just fine, but he said he would tell me everything he found afterwards.
I wasn’t prepared to argue with him again, given our plan for tonight. It was time sensitive and an enormous risk for us both to take, potentially putting us both in a position to be exposed as conspiring against Zander. I had initially wanted to do this on my own, but he had again insisted on coming with me as protection, as an ally and a friend.
My own anxiety was eating away at my insides; I couldn’t imagine how he would be feeling.
“I’ll be right back.” I darted to my room to quickly throw off my dress and haul on some longer pants, a tight top, and some sneakers. The sneakers were white and likely to look like shit after this, but I had eight other pairs, and my black ones were suspiciously missing. I kept my hair down, a blackened halo around me.
I told Zander earlier that I would likely go up to the rooftop to enjoy some quiet time. Windswept hair was not likely to give me away tonight. If anything, it would re-affirm my excuse.
Sly stood when I moved out of my room. His movements were slow and dragging, his expression plagued with worry. I moved closer, eager to reassure him that everything would be okay. It had to be.
He stepped closer, inhaling a deep, long breath, and closed his eyes.
“You always smell so wonderful. It’s almost nostalgic for me. Exactly like my mum’s garden used to be, brimming with life and new growth. It brings me the deepest sense of peace.” He exhaled, his voice so sweet and subdued. His facial muscles slowly loosened to fully relax, his broad shoulders slackening.
I stayed immobile, as patient as ever, allowing him the time he needed to process what we were about to do.
I personally wasn’t allowing myself to think too hard about what I’d already set into motion. I’d committed to it this far, and I needed to go all the way. I didn’t have the liberty of choice, not unless I intended to perish within these walls.
He opened his eyes and gazed into my mine, stepping closer to me, bringing his hand up to gently cup my cheek. Instinctively, I leant into his touch, my heart unable to deprive myself of this moment, knowing that was all this will would be: a stolen moment in time.
“I just have to take this one moment for myself, Riley. This one moment of doing something just for me, knowing that, after tonight, everything will change. We are like two trains running alongside each other, forever close but never intertwining. In this moment, this one, selfish moment, I want to believe we could have been, had we been gifted the opportunity to try.” He spoke the words in the faintest whisper.
When I looked up at him, my heart ached from the sorrow staring back at me.
In another life, I could have seen where this thing with him would lead. I wanted to be selfish too, if it meant I could have him. Still, I knew it would come at a hefty price, because what Zander wanted, he always got, and I wasn’t prepared to sacrifice him.
“I would have fought for you, Riley.”
A single tear escaped me, the only one I would ever allow.
“I know,” I whispered sadly. “But it is the fighting I do not want.”
The Omega before me ignited something so fierce and fearless within me yet made me feel so safe and seen in his arms. So, for the both of us, I stole that single moment when I tipped my head up and allowed my lips to gracefully glide over his own. Just one last time.
He met me softly, his lips languidly following my movements, as if relishing in my touch. He moved his hand to wrap around my lower back, drawing me closer, the other moving up behind my head to grip my hair. I noted every sensation, every movement, every smell, burning them into my memory. It was too brief.
When we parted, he kept his forehead resting against my own, his eyes closed, our breaths mingling.
“You deserve the world, Riley. I-I hope he gives it to you.” He faltered on his words, breaking our magnetic haze.
I smiled brokenly, the last slip of my emotions I would give him. I turned my head to look out the window to the Outer Ring, my purpose for moving forward.
“Even if he doesn’t, the community deserves more, and I intend to deliver it.” I spoke confidently, betraying the emotions roiling inside me demanding me to reassure him. I didn’t want to lie to him. He would see it every day.
I stepped back, his expression pained for a moment until the mask he so often wore slid back into place. It was like nothing had ever happened.
“Shall we?” he asked, my stomach dropping.
I looked at him one last time, the moment forever etched into my memory. No matter how brief, I was grateful for this.
“Yes. Let’s get this done.” Side by side, we walked to the elevator, taking it down in silence until I dipped to the side to hide before the doors opened, in fear of other guards around.
Sly, confident as ever, strutted forward and gave me the all-clear, moving us outside towards the corner of the garden I so often frequented. It was clear he had executed his portion of the plan well, with no guards in sight.
The smell of the roses was cloying tonight, that sickly sweet scent aggravating the nausea already present in my gut. We pressed forward into the familiar corner of the garden, the setting sun casting a warm glow over every inch.
Sly grabbed a backpack from under a hedge, and I opened it to check we had everything we needed. Rummaging around, I nodded up at him to confirm it was all good. We would likely not be speaking from here on out.
He grabbed my hand, and I felt the prickling effect of his power glide over my skin, rendering me invisible.
“Keep your footsteps light, Riles. There are more guards patrolling the streets tonight,” he murmured under his breath.
I squeezed his hand back in acknowledgement, following behind as we pushed through the gap in the hedge.
The streets were unnervingly quiet as we slipped around corners closer to the second hedge. Sly pulled my hand forward to another small gap in the hedge separating us from the Outer Ring, tucked behind a building and out of sight.
Hand-in-hand, we slipped through.
With no guards in sight, he pulled me forward again towards the tube and through the tunnel to the desert. Everything was eerily still, save for the last embers of the flickering sun casting its final glow, illuminating the pink and purple striations of the cliffs. At a time like this, the landscape was a work of art.
I eyed the compound in the distance where I knew the Alphas would be busy preparing for the night ahead, not aware that the true predator would come from behind them.
We stalked forward, the wind slightly picking up the further we progressed, a reflection of the increased pace of my heart burdened by the nerves in my gut.
Our toes touched the bottom step of the compound far quicker than expected, clearly distracted by my incessant internal chatter.
Sly typed the first and second codes into the pin pads that granted us entry to the winding staircase. The only echo was the light tap of our feet on sandstone with every step downward. The air turned cooler, almost unpleasantly so, forcing a shiver up my spine in response.
Clearly, I was unprepared.
The minute we reached the floor, I inhaled a sharp breath. Sly’s hand was the only reassurance I could seek.
This was it. My first political move.
The tiny light flicked green as the door creaked open, and we stepped into the space, all eyes on the opened doorway.
“What the fuck was that?” one of the Alpha’s piped up, everyone else drawing their weapons to silently face the empty space.
We padded into the room, working our way around the perimeter, and I pulled the gun I’d strapped to my holster, a gift from Sly for the night.
Bohdi’s eyes narrowed on the doorway. My decision to take him out and away from Raya would hurt me the most tonight.
I squeezed Sly’s hand once, the first signal to raise our guns. We had each planned who we would take out, so we worked in synchronicity, not giving them an opportunity to fight. The quicker the better was our goal.
Sly squeezed my hand twice in quick succession—our signal to go.
I fired four shots, one each for the twins and two for Bohdi, as Sly covered the remaining Alphas. I knew Bohdi would fight it with everything he had. I knew he was stronger than he knew. I had seen it.
Bohdi roared, his hand coming up to his neck to yank out the darts as he staggered towards the invisible threat, marking our location behind him.
The others went down fast. I knew how quickly the toxin worked; I’d tested it on myself earlier in the week.
Bohdi staggered forward, his face feral as he fought against the intrusion seizing the muscles in his limbs with everything he had. Sly fired another dart, landing in the same spot as the two I had let loose on my friend.
I cast a nervous glance towards him. That was triple the dose of the others.
Bohdi fell to the floor in a twitching mess, and a small slip of panic escaped me when he began to drag himself towards the exit. I fought everything inside me to hold my position and follow through with the plan, no matter how painful.
His movements slowed, and I could finally exhale when he slumped to the floor. I would have to check on him later; I was already running out of time.
As I looked around at the silent room, my stomach turned at the thought of what came next.
Now, there was only one target left.