Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
It’s already been a horrendously long day by the time I get to Omega Seminar that Wednesday night. I was tempted to skip the class entirely, but I’d never hear the end of it from our instructor, Leigh. She knows my heat cycle well enough that I can’t even beg off for that.
I’m just setting my stuff down when I hear it.
“New laws aimed at limiting the rights of omega mages have just been passed by the Council of Nine,” a news anchor says, the sound drifting from Bitsy’s phone.
The junior omega is sitting backward in one of the chairs in the omega lodge, focused on the small screen.
One by one, we gather around her, watching over her shoulder.
“This is some bullshit,” she mutters.
Leigh swoops into the lodge and sets down her bag, calling our Omega Seminar to order. “Miss Jordan, off your phone, please.”
“The Council of Nine’s first session since the horrific attack has seen a surprising package of new laws, sponsored and passed by Councilor Holden,” the anchor announces.
Leigh pauses, but nods for Bitsy to let the news play.
“The Council has banned omegas from casting certain spells, any infraction of which will lead to the omega’s magic being locked. This rare process makes mages unable to cast. Further, any omega caught using combat magic of any kind will be tried in court and put to death.”
Leigh gasps as our murmurs cycle through the room.
I know what this is. A witch hunt. The Soldiers and their puppet of a councilor are trying to weed out witches—a slur used against omega mages they’ve deemed unseemly.
Dangerous. But taking away their magic for casting certain spells?
Putting omegas to death for defending themselves?
It’s worse than a witch hunt. It’s eradication, omega by misbehaving omega.
It’s a new slant to Project Halcyon, all with the same aims.
My magic has already been taken away once. I know the pain of having it just out of reach, unable to cast. Magic has truly been freedom for me, just as I told Cora. I won’t let my magic be taken again. Saints, I’d sooner die.
Bitsy swears a blue streak and pockets her phone. “I’ll say it again. This is some bullshit!”
Leigh doesn’t bother chiding Bitsy for her language like she normally would. “It is some bullshit,” our instructor echoes, her voice strained. “Girls… I’m frightened. This… No packs can protect us from this. I have a good pack, but even I…”
So, she finally realizes it. We’ve all muttered about Leigh not understanding the real plight of omegas in today’s world, but I can’t even quip that I told her so. That we all told her so. I don’t have the fight left in me, not for her. Her despair is plain in the lines etched on her face.
“I encourage you all to be careful,” she whispers, voice shaking. “Don’t fight. Behave. It could be life or death now.”
Behave? No. I can’t behave when my magic is on the line, when the magic of all omegas is on the line. I’ll fight for my independence until my last breath. And I will never let my magic be locked again.
When I leave after a very subdued session of Omega Seminar, Marcus meets me outside the omega lodge, and part of me wants to go into his strong arms and seek the comfort of his winter-wind-and-pine scent.
Before I found out about his lies, I wouldn’t have hesitated.
I would have let his comfort wash over me, soothing me and smoothing out all the jagged edges in my heart.
But I don’t go into his arms. Not this time. I stalk past him, ire rising in my chest.
Marcus grabs my hand, and I whirl around to face him, a glare on my face. I want nothing to do with him right now. His betrayal has denied me the comfort I once took in him. I want my pack, and he isn’t part of it.
“What is it, sweet-tart?”
“Don’t call me that,” I snap.
In my black mood, the last thing I want to hear is endearments from Marcus Haley. Not after all the lies. Not when he isn’t my mate.
He flinches, river-rock eyes going wide. “Juniper,” he protests. “What’s the matter?”
“Everything is the matter,” I snarl. New laws aimed at the eradication of omegas—new laws I break every time I train.
I’m plagued by brutal memories. My father has forced barbarous images into my head that I’ll never forget.
And if it’s not my memories or my father’s influence, I have my visions to contend with.
Despite the grim things I’ve seen, I seek them out again and again just so I can know more about a cruel future we may not be able to escape.
Omegas will die. Saints, an omega already has at my father’s bloodthirsty hands.
And what if she wasn’t the only one? What if she was just the threat my father used to scare me?
Marcus tries to close the distance between us, but I turn on my heel and race away from him, needing to get to Cassian and Simon, to bask in their comfort and heal in their arms. They were studying on campus tonight, waiting for me to finish classes before we all drove back together.
I need them, their arms around me, Cass’ scent in my nose.
“Juniper!” Marcus calls. “Slow down!”
He jogs to catch up to me and grabs my shoulder, but I slip out of his hold with practiced ease. After all, he’s the one that taught me the maneuver while teaching me self-defense.
“Please, tell me what’s wrong,” he begs. “You know I’m here for you, no matter what it is.”
Is he? After he lied to me for so long?
I feel spite churn in my gut, sharp and unforgiving. “I need my pack right now. Not you.”
He stops abruptly, staring after me as I cross the bridge.
And there are my mate and my love. I don’t know if they’ve heard the news yet, but it doesn’t matter.
Cassian senses my sorrow through our bond and immediately pulls me into a tight hug.
I breathe in summer breezes and salty sea air, just as Simon encloses me from my other side, gathering me between them as he rests his head on my shoulder.
“We’ve got you,” Cassian murmurs, nuzzling my temple.
I let the tears fall then, and, in their arms, I cry until I have no tears left.
When I’ve finally dried my eyes, we load into the back of the SUV, Marcus getting into the driver’s seat.
I cuddle in beside Cassian and Simon but can’t help catching Marcus’ river-rock eyes in the rearview mirror.
Their depths are pierced with a longing so poignant I turn away, a scowl on my lips.
He doesn’t get to feel that way for me. Not after all his lies.
I should be studying for the finals that are coming.
Instead, I’ve got my nose in my phone, scanning omega message boards and chats for any sign that an omega’s been caught using a banned spell.
Only most of the message boards have gone dark following the latest laws from the Council, too easily tracked to be safe.
We’re being divided from each other, our avenues of support and camaraderie cut off as the message boards slowly die out. More and more, there are no safe spaces for us to gather, especially online.
I sigh and drop my phone onto the mountain of pillows I’m curled up with in my nest, just as Marcus comes up the stairs.
“Care to work on your self-defense training?” he asks, lounging against the door to my nest.
I press my lips together and shake my head. “Not tonight, Marcus. I’m exhausted.”
He eyes me, searching my face for the truth behind the short statement.
He knows there’s more to it. I know he does.
And there is. I’ll never forget the spike of fury he felt during one of our last training sessions.
The way his scent went bitter and dark. I still haven’t puzzled out what it meant.
But beyond that, I don’t want to feel his hands on me, adjusting my stances, helping me through the moves I’ve been learning.
Not because I think it’ll make my skin crawl.
Far from it. I’m afraid he’ll feel so good, so familiar, that I’ll forget his lies.
That everything will go back to the way things were.
As though a wedge hasn’t been driven between us.
“You’ve blown off your training for weeks now, Juniper. And you’ve been avoiding me.”
The truth stings. I never wanted this great gulf between us.
I never wanted him to lie to me for so long.
“Yeah,” I say flatly, “and I spent all day teaching fifty omegas to escape omega traps. I’m still healing.
Leave it, Marcus. I’ve had a busy few weeks and, in case you hadn’t noticed, the world is on fire right now. ”
“All the more reason you should be training as hard as you can right now. You practice a dozen banned spells every week, but you’ll need more than banned magic to protect yourself.”
My chest tightens with rage, and I surge to my feet, squaring off with him. “Stop telling me what you think I need,” I grit out, my voice rising. “You’re not my mate!”
Downstairs, everything goes quiet, and I feel concern flitter up my bonds with my mates, but I ignore them. I’m incensed, flushed with anger at Marcus’ audacity.
He flinches at my sharp words, a wounded look ghosting across his rugged features. “That’s never stopped you from taking my advice before.”
“That’s before I knew you were lying to me!
” The words spew out of me before I think them through, before I can even try to hold them in.
I’m indignant, fired up and ready to fight back against Marcus in a way I never have.
This all comes out now, all the rankling pain and vitriol I’ve been shoving down since the end of my last heat.
“I’ve never lied to you. What are you talking about?”
His newest lie only serves to fuel my fury. “You’re not immune to me. You’ve been lying to me this whole time!”
He steps back as though I slapped him, though I haven’t moved from my nest. “How long have you known?” he asks quietly.
“It doesn’t matter. I thought I could trust you. Just… just get out!”