Page 69 of Marked Omega

“It sounds that way,” I agree.

We are in possession of what very well may be the biggest secret in the world. But I remember what Hannah pointed out when we were talking in the baths. We have no way to communicate with the outside.

It’s the biggest secret in the world, and it’s totally useless.

PART FOUR:

THE OUTSIDERS

CHAPTER 30: KADMON

The Source Speaker.

That is what some of the tribe have started calling her. They think she is some kind of prophet who will lead us into a new age. Lily denies it, and I can tell she doesn’t care for the attention.

Still, prophet or not, there is something special about her.

Back at our dwelling, Lily and I are relaxing together in her favorite place—a bed of moss beside the central pool in the main room. The sound of the small, splashing waterfall is soothing. It reminds me of what happened at the big waterfall, when Lily had her spell of sickness. I don’t like that memory.

When I glance down, I see that Lily is distractedly fidgeting with the ring on her finger. The one that I gave her.

“You are thinking about your friend,” I whisper, smoothing my palm over her shoulder.

Lily nods.

“Sara,” she says. “And also my other friend. Eva.”

“Eva?”

Lily nods again.

“She’s the whole reason I came to the zone in the first place,” she says, her voice warbling slightly with crying. “She was part of the same mission that brought Hannah here. All I knew was that she had gone missing, and I thought we were coming on a rescue mission to save her. But I was wrong, they were only using me as bait. The same way that they used her.

Lily breaks down into sobs. I hold her close, not saying anything, just letting her get it all out.

“Eva was my best friend,” she says at last. “When I first started working at SynerGen, I didn’t know anybody there. It was so intimidating. But Eva befriended me.”

I give Lily a loving squeeze.

“I know why she wanted to be your friend,” I say. “You’re special, Lily. She must have seen that in you.”

Lily just shakes her head sadly.

“I don’t want to be special,” she mutters. “It’s not fair.”

Her words surprise me. I gently tilt her chin up to look at me.

“Lily, what are you talking about?”

She blinks back more tears, but these seem to be born of anger more than sadness.

“I mean it’s not fair what happened to Eva and Sara. The energy of the Source changed them into betas. It’s like they weren’t…chosen. But I was.”

She sniffs back her tears and gazes into the pool, but I know her eyes are looking way beyond that rippling surface.

“If it were up to me, I would trade places with either one of them,” she says.

I have thought myself tough. Indifferent to pain. I have undergone the trials of manhood. I have fought the far-landers. But Lily’s words sting me like a dagger in my heart.