Chapter Sixty-Four
Saphyra
T he door on the far wall creaked open, and the scuffle of shoes followed. Silhouettes blocked out the unnatural glow from the adjoining room just before an overhead light flickered on.
I wasn’t all that surprised to see Edeth leading the way in one of her ostentatious gowns. Nausea pooled in my stomach, and I shuddered at seeing her for the first time after remembering what she’d done. She looked just as vile as she always had, but something about her was so much worse now.
Trailing at her heels was the scrawny, rat-faced beta guard, Mik. Close on his behind came Edeth’s aunt and supposed dressmaker, Indra. But more surprising, was the person who brought up the back of the group. Quietly following Aster and Hazel was Violet, my kind-eyed maid who I’d hoped might be a friend.
It hurt my heart seeing her there with those monsters. I thought she was a kindred spirit, but my judgment may have been flawed and that might have hurt most of all.
I stood and brushed off my pants, taking a deep breath to calm my raging anger. “Hello, Edeth. Can you tell me what’s the meaning of this?” My words were clipped and formal. It was all I could do not to fly across the room, screaming and scratching her eyes out. Not that the bars would allow it.
Edeth stepped up to the table and looked down at the spread of guns, knives, and other equipment with a distasteful sneer. “My Stars. Would you dispense with the clueless little girl act? Or maybe you really are that stupid.” She let out an aggrieved breath. “You couldn’t have done this the easy way. Now we have to do it the hard way.”
Maybe I really was that stupid because… what?
Indra bustled up to the table, pushing the weapons aside into a pile, uncovering a glint of gold beneath. Glass clinked together in cheerful opposition to the oppressive dungeon setting as she set a basket down on the rough hewn counter. I held my breath. My mother’s datapad was right there. It seemed as though no one had noticed it yet. I diverted my eyes and tried my best to stay calm and not draw attention to the priceless piece of tech.
Wary of the smile tugging at Indra’s lips, I backed away from the bars. She was up to something, and whatever it was, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like it.
Mik bounced on his toes with glee shining in his beady little eyes over in the shadowed corner, but the rest of the room was still, as if they were all holding their breath. I didn’t want to know what they were waiting for.
Edeth was the first to break the silence. “Well, don’t keep us in suspense.” She motioned for Indra to hurry.
Indra fished around inside the basket and pulled out several small glass objects, along with what looked like dry grass. “You can’t rush these things, my dear,” she said, filling an eyedropper with yellow liquid from a vial and dribbling the contents on the top of the weeds.
Impatience drenched Edeth’s pinched features as she shouldered past her aunt and plucked a medical scanner from the basket. “I don’t know why you insist on doing it that way when we have instruments that are faster. Here, let me.”
In shock, I watched them bicker, still not understanding what was going on.
Edeth snatched another vial from Indra’s basket and dripped a bit of red liquid into the scanner’s feeder. Two seconds later it beeped, and she looked at the readout. A huge smile stretched across her face. Her eyes flashed to me. “Finally, you’ve done something right.”
“I’m sorry?” I asked, utterly baffled and highly suspicious. I’d watched Grey do numerous blood tests in the past, but what did the dead plants have to do with anything?
Indra held up the sheaf of dried grass, which was now green and sprouting on top. “You’re pregnant, stupid girl.”
“No, that’s not possible.” All the heat drained from my entire body. That couldn’t be. The dizziness and ringing slammed back into me. I needed to sit down. Or lay down. Something. My hand fell to my belly, but it felt the same as always. A giddy happiness rushed over me before anxiety sent the room spinning.
I dropped to my knees. I was trapped in a cage. My greatest enemy’s prisoner. Shadow was unconscious, and I was pregnant.
Edeth cocked her head, studying me like a science project. “Oh, I’m very certain it is possible and timely, too.”
She was going to take my baby. That’s what this had all been for. She’d just been toying with us until I got pregnant.
This day couldn’t get any worse.
Mik strutted from the darkened corner of the dungeon and approached the table to rifle through the weapons. “That means we don’t need him anymore, right?” he asked, nodding toward Shadow, who was sprawled on the dirty stone floor.
Edeth headed to the doorway that led to my only possibility of freedom. “That’s correct. But be careful not to harm the girl. I’d hate to have to borrow a drone from the Imperatrix if her pregnancy was compromised.”
They all knew. Not a single person in the room flinched. I sent a look toward Violet, pleading for help, but her eyes stared right through me.
Aster called out to Edeth, turning to catch her. “Mother, does this mean we can have Lex and Axion?”
Hazel echoed her sister as they pleaded to keep my mates as if they were property to own.
Edeth stopped in the doorway, her hands on her hips. “Don’t you silly twits see her neck? I was trying to avoid this very thing. As soon as the rest are in custody, they’ll have to be put down like the rabid dogs they are. She’s trapped them in a mate bond. They’ll only ever be mindless animals now. If the bonds are not complete, perhaps something can still be salvaged, but don’t get your hopes up.”
My fingers flew to the fresh marks along my neck, covering them protectively, but no one was paying any attention to me. How dare she threaten to kill my mates and degrade our connection? Everything about what she said was wrong.
Indra tucked her supplies back into her basket, bumping her way past the three women who’d once been my maids to catch up with Edeth. Jostled by Indra’s hasty exit, Violet stumbled into the table, causing the weapons to clatter and bang against one another.
“Clumsy, useless girl.” Indra called over her shoulder before leaving, following behind Edeth with Aster and Hazel yapping at their heels.
Mik was happily digging through the assortment of guns and knives laid out on the countertop, bouncing from foot to foot like a greedy child. So when the maids left, he didn’t notice the dagger that skittered across the floor and landed next to the cell bars.
Violet must have knocked it to the ground when she stumbled and stepped over it so no one would see. That couldn’t have been an accident. She would’ve had to kick it in the opposite direction that she’d been walking for it to have made it that far.
Whatever the case, I wasn’t going to pass up my only chance at protection.
I inched closer to the barrier. Once I was within arm’s reach, I snatched the knife from where it lay next to the bars. Before Mik bothered to look up from the table, I had it tucked up into my sleeve. It was big, reaching all the way to my elbow, but it fit.
Shadow was still out, but I heard a muffled groan and felt a flicker of consciousness through the bond.
Wake up. Wake up.
I glanced back at Mik. He was holding a massive serrated knife and had a wicked gleam in his eye. He took a step toward the cell door, and I scrambled backward, putting myself between the deranged looking beta and my unconscious mate.
“I am your Queen. I command you to stand down.” My voice trembled, but I kept it as steady as I could, not wanting to show this little turd any fear.
“You’re not the queen of shit. No one likes you. No one respects you. How do you think you could rule anything? What a joke. You’re just a body to incubate babies in and as soon as you pop this one out, you’re going back to the Hive. So is that baby Robin had. That’s where omegas belong.” He stuck a big iron key into the lock and turned it over with a clank.
The door squealed open, and he stepped in.
I hissed, staying between him and Shadow, who I felt stirring through our connection. I just needed to stall a little longer, and he’d be awake and would have no trouble taking the beta out. A growl rolled in my throat and I bared my teeth.
He wasn’t getting past me.
“You’re actually trying to protect him?” Mik laughed. “Do you think he loves you? You really are as stupid as Edeth said. No one wants you here.”
In the beginning, I might have believed him, but after what we’d been through, I questioned it. Maybe he was right, and some people wanted me gone, but when I thought about the way the guards outside the throne room smiled and the residents in the pit looked at me with hope, I was sure that he had it wrong. Even if he was correct and there were some that would rather I leave, it didn’t matter. I was here to protect my citizens and my planet. A little weasel like him wasn’t going to stop me.
“Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” Mik smirked at me. “It would be easier if you just gave up.”
He moved further into the cell, but I held my ground, a low growl rolling in my throat. His eyes narrowed, and he made a mock shrug. Then his fist flew, knocking into my jaw and sending me tumbling across the floor, my head ringing.
“Don’t get in my way again or it’ll be worse next time.” Mik didn’t even bother to look at me when he said that, too intent on murdering my helpless mate.
I pulled the knife from my sleeve and charged at Mik, who was kicking Shadow in the ribs.
I had no idea what I was doing, but I couldn’t let this happen. My mind was engulfed in a haze of rage and desperation. I wasn’t losing my alpha, and I definitely wasn’t going back to the Hive. My vision faded at the edges and narrowed on the focus of my anger. Adrenaline spiked through my system, and I charged.
I held the hilt of the dagger with both hands and drove it into Mik’s spine. The blade bounced off something hard, so I slammed it down again and again. Mik thrashed wildly, but I threw one arm around his neck and jumped onto his back. I clung to him as he spun in circles, trying to dislodge me.
Blood splashed over the knife, and my hand slid through the gore, off the handle, down over the sharp edge. The pain couldn’t stop me. Desperation to save my mate and my unborn baby exploded in my chest. Fury fueled my rage as I stabbed him until, finally, he stumbled and fell, tripping over Shadow’s body.
I was drenched, my face and hair dripping with something I didn’t want to think about. The thick, coppery scent had me swallowing back bile. My palm throbbed and blood oozed from a nasty gash where I’d cut my hand in the flurry.
When I looked down, I saw the dark eyes of Shadow looking up at me.
“My little omega. I never imagined how perfect you’d look in red.” His voice was cracked and dry, but I’d never heard anything so wonderful in my life.
He pushed the wheezing, twitching body of Mik off him with a sickening squelch and got to his feet. “I hope you know that no matter what, even covered in blood, you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen and you always will be.”
His words warmed my trembling, adrenaline saturated heart, but… “How long have you been awake? Why didn’t you help me?”
He brushed off his dirty uniform, smirking. “Not long. You already had it well in hand. Who was I to stop you, my queen?” Normally, his voice held an edge of mockery, but not this time. He sounded sincere, and the way his eyes captured mine settled my racing pulse.
I dropped the bloody knife with a clang and rushed into Shadow’s embrace. What had I done? I was a monster.
My torment zipped through our connection, and I knew he could feel it. His arms wrapped me up, holding me close to his chest. “Everything is going to be okay, my perfect, beautiful little omega.”
A dainty gasp rang out behind me, and I jerked free, whipping around, prepared to face our next threat.