Chapter 42 #2
“Beg me,” Jarek whispers.
“Please, I need it. I need your knot.”
His thrusts get frenzied, and I match them, meeting his energy with my own burning need. The sound of our fucking is hidden under the drumming of rain. Within minutes, I’m beside myself, sobbing and clawing at him as I shatter around him, my legs squeezing his hips, but that doesn’t stop him.
Jarek takes his time, building me back up again. When I fall for a second time, he joins me, shoving his knot deep inside me.
His mouth slams against mine, swallowing my scream. Taking it into his body. I pulse and clench around that thickened flesh that is stretching me wide. He rocks in and out of me, sending shockwaves of pure pleasure rippling through me.
He doesn’t stop kissing me, and I cling to him like he’s the life raft that will save me. Like he’s the air I’ve been dying to breathe.
Hours could have passed when he pulls away. His green eyes have flecks of orange in them that fade until they are gone. We stare at each other, locked in this silent promise, this covenant.
I cup his cheek, and he closes his eyes, leaning into my hand.
“Alpha, I am yours,” I whisper urgently. “Always yours.”
“Kaida,” he says my name again, but this time, he sounds more like himself.
We clean up quickly and walk out into the rain hand-in-hand. Cadel drops from the rubble he’s been perched on. While Legion and Mordecai appear from a different direction.
Jarek and Mordecai exchange a few quiet words, but I’m too busy watching Legion. There’s a cloud of melancholy around him. A grimness to his eyes, like he’s watching some inevitable pain come his way.
“What’s the matter?”
He lifts his eyes in surprise and shakes his head, his mask slapping back on with almost comical precision.
“Nothings wrong. I’m excited to be getting out of here.”
I don’t believe him at all, but I’m still buzzing from my moment with Jarek, so I don’t push.
The temple is just as we left it, and when we show Legion the underground river, he sits down heavily on the steps, his eyes wide with wonder.
“I never, ever dreamed there would be something like this.”
“It’s impressive, isn’t it?” I murmur, taking it in again.
“But how are we going to get everyone out?” Legion asks. “Most of us can’t swim.”
“You’re going to have to. Lie on your back, float. The people who are most vulnerable go in the boats. It’s moving fast, so I can’t imagine it will take long before you’re out.”
Legion pulls out one of his maps, a handful of pens, and starts putting red dots on it.
“What are those?”
“Resistance safe houses.”
He puts green dots on different buildings.
“These are known bases for the Beta’s Path.”
I study the map intently and then point to a section near the wall that has a question mark.
“What’s that?”
“It’s an area, the only area of the wall that we can escape from, this side. It’s climbable.”
My head jerks up, and I stare at him intently. “What? You all said there was no escape?”
“It’s too dangerous,” Legion warns. “It’s not an option, just a point of reference.”
He folds up the map and hands it to me.
“What’s this for?”
“Just to be safe. Take good care of it.”
Things move quickly after that. Less than an hour later, we escort the first lot of omegas and alphas down to the river. They stand there hesitating, but then one brave omega tosses his hair.
“I’d rather drown than face the Path.”
He jumps into the water. It snatches him up, but a whole heap more have jumped in. Within just a few minutes, they’re all gone, and it’s like they were never here.
More and more groups come and disappear; no one balks at the water; they’ve seen what the Path will do to them.
And then another group comes in, and I find myself crushed in a hug from a familiar face.
“Mia!”
She beams. “I knew you’d be okay.”
I hug her back, so relieved to see her. “I am so glad you made it here.”
“You saved us, Keres, just like they said you would.”
“I didn’t—”
“You did. Don’t be modest,” another familiar voice says.
“Sophie!” I pull her into our hug.
Sophie pulls away first, brushing her hair back. “So, a swim, huh?”
“Yeah.” I laugh. “Looks like it.”
“I’m going to hang around and help people who need it,” Sophie says, watching an omega who has clearly got a broken leg hobble towards where they are filling a boat with injured people.
“How many of us have they killed?”
“We’re estimating that of the five thousand we think were brought in here, they’ve killed around two thousand of us.”
I wince.
“You save what you can save,” Sophie says. “I’ll see you omegas on the outside.”
Mia huffs, and I find her gaze isn’t on Sophie but on Legion.
“How’s he doing?” she asks.
“He’s okay.”
“Is he? Or is he just pretending again?”
She abruptly shakes her head and smiles. “I should get out of here, huh, stop distracting you. When will you come?”
“Near the end,” I say.
She hugs me again. “Look after yourself, please.” She glances at Legion one more time, then wades out into the water and, without a backward glance, is snatched away.
More and more faces that I recognise pass through, most looking shell-shocked. Injured people outnumber the boats, so Jarek, Mordecai, and Legion went and found other things that float, pairing them with strong swimmers.
Bear comes down the next day and glances around. “Is that everyone?”
“It’s most of everyone. There are a lot hiding,” Legion says. “Nothing we can do about them. I’ve had our scouts leave up signs, but we’ll see whether or not they know what to look for.”
I’m loath to leave knowing that we’ll be leaving helpless people behind, but the chances of discovery are getting higher and higher.
“They found us!” a kid shouts, racing down the steps three at a time. He looks to be about seventeen and still tall and gangly with youth. His hair is brown and cut short to the scalp. He gets to the water and stops, looking at Bear, his whole wiry body shaking.
The Resistance leader inflates his chest. “Legion, let’s go.”
I stare at him, knowing exactly what he’s going to say next.
“You need to shut the hidden door,” Bear says. No, commands.
I glare at him.
“If you don’t, they will follow and find them.”
My ire raises.
“I could stay,” Legion says.
“No, I need you. They can do it. It’s Kaida Keres. She’s escaped the Path’s clutches twice now. She’s the best fit to survive.”
I sigh and turn and make my way up the stairs. I hear a splash, and when I look back, the underground river is empty, and there’s no one left.
Mordecai, Jarek, and Cadel wait for me at the top of the stairs, somehow already guessing what is happening.
“What are we doing?” Jarek asks as we watch the doors close, sealing it off like it was never here.
“Now, we try not to die,” I growl.