“You,” I sputter through my sobs. “You did. You saved me.”
“Hmmmm,” the Old Man hums against my ear. I let out a shiver, and then a shriek, as the pain comes back. “You don’t seem sincere, Omega Three. You better convince me.”
The pain starts all over again. And no matter how hard I try to make him believe he is my savior, he is only satisfied when the blackness overtakes me.
And then there is light.
Beautiful pain. Glorious suffering. Exquisite agony.
I am in eternal hell, but it feels like poetry.
He is convinced.
“Who are you?” the voice asks again.
“Omega Three,” I say. My voice is dull and robotic. But the pain is finally gone.
“Who saved you, Omega Three?”
“You did, Father.”
“That’s right,” he coos next to my ear. I know I should feel repulsed. But I don’t. He truly is my savior and I want nothing more than to please him forever and ever and ever. “You’ve earned this, Omega.” He places a golden lariat in my hands. It’s thin and snake-like, coiling in on itself like a living thing. There are sharp prongs spaced every few inches and the prong tips are razor sharp. “Collar him, Omega. Collar your Alpha and kill the others.”
“Sir.” An unfamiliar voice breaks into my subdued thoughts. “The database has been accessed and a helicopter has been spotted entering the city airspace.”
“A helicopter,” my father says, clapping his hands together so close to my ear, I startle. He lays a hand on my shoulder and whispers, “Sorry, Omega Three. But it’s all so unexpectedly heroic. Will he save you, Omega Three?”
“I don’t need saving,” I say back.
“Oh, you’re almost perfect, Omega Three. So close to perfect. All you have left to do is kill Daddy’s enemies.” My father pets my hair like I’m a dog and it feels so good. I just want to please him. Forever and ever and ever.
“Don’t hurt me,” I whimper, the pain still fresh in my mind.
“Daddy won’t hurt you, Omega Three. Daddy won’t, unless you fail. Do you understand?”
The womp, womp, womp of helicopter rotors keeps my reply inside. Lights flash into my glass cage and I sit up.
“They’re here, Omega Three. What will you do now?”
“Protect us,” I say, getting to my feet and putting myself in front of my father. “I will protect us.”
“Yes,” he hisses. “And when we’re done we go get your brother and mother and finally, I will have you all together. Kill them, Omega Three. You are indestructible. He killed your Alpha brother, Will. Lincoln sabotaged his bike in that race. Will, who took care of you all these years. Who helped bind you to me while you grew into my own sweet killing machine. Until I was ready to take you back and bring you to potential. Avenge Will, Omega Three. Kill the Alphas. Kill all the Alphas and do not stop until they have exhaled their last breath.”
I walk forward and take in the room with my new eyes. We are in the spire and the stars are shining overhead. It’s dark, and lovely, and calm, and beckoning.
A memory pulls at me. It’s a nagging ebb and flow of a memory and I want to go on and on about the stars.
But then it draws back, like a tide of bygones and regrets.
Chapter Fifty - Lincoln
Thomas looks at me as we approach the Blue Castle. He puts a hand on my shoulder as he speaks to me through his headset. “Don’t jump the gun, Lincoln.”
I look up him. He’s fingering the cord attached to his pack like he’s nervous and I realize he’s got doubts. Not about the plan—we have a solid plan—but about me.
“I know I haven’t been around, and I know you think I don’t care about her.”
Molly. He’s always been afraid of her. Afraid of what she represents and what she might become.
“But I do. And I want us all to come out on the other side together.”
If we do come out of this night alive, Thomas is the one who will take the most risk in the days to come and his continued survival depends on me. On whether I want to back him up, or throw him away like he did Molly back when we were kids.
“He made you that way, Thomas. He made you that way on purpose. Prodigy was nothing if not a tightly woven system of checks and balances. And I have hated you for the indifference he bred all these years.”
Case looks over his shoulder, hearing our conversation loud and clear on the headsets. Thomas does not move. Not even that twitchy finger on the cord.
“But we remade ourselves. And we’re going to save the girl, kill the bad guy, and tomorrow this whole fucking city will know who’s in charge.” He waits for it. Because it could go either way. But Thomas and I have never wanted the same things. I have never wanted power over anything or anyone but me. So I say, “You, brother. You have always been in charge. We’re coming out together or we’re all dying alone tonight.”