“I also… I don’t know. I’m sorry to dump this all on you. It’s somethingIwant to tell you, because you should know before making this decision.” I glance at her, my body stiffening in case she’s about to attack me. But she’s still got herback to me. “Judge drugged you the last few days with engagers.”
A high-pitched sound escapes me. “He didwhat?” I ask through the fabric of a sweater as I yank it over my head, my voice muffled and shaking.
Rebecca’s tone drops, low and urgent. “My sister works in the infirmary. She handles inventory, the meds, all of it. She saw Judge’s requisition—he’s been signing them out himself. Jack overheard Judge mentioning the engagers to help form a proper bond.”
I freeze, the wool halfway down my arms. “You’re lying,” I manage, but my voice doesn’t sound sure of anything.
“No, I’m not. You think I’d risk coming here if I was?”
My jaw goes slack as I stare at the pile of wool socks I never even wear. Of course, there’s no underwear. Just as he promised.
Oh my god.
It explains too much.
The memory hits me—how crampy I had been without any other signs of estrus. How much of an attitude I got for no apparent reason. How at peace my body was just tosmellJudge. What if that wasn’t peace? What if it was chemical?
But then that other part of me that’s still tethered to him whispers back, traitorous and tender. What if he didn’t mean to hurt me? What if, in that strange and broken way of his, he thought it was the only way to keep me safe, like he always promises?
Is there a way I can ask him to explain himself? Or would he then literally chain me up in here?
Fuck.
Selene is here.
No, I have to see what Rebecca is talking about, so I continue to dress myself because, at the bare minimum, I want shoes on if all this shit goes down. “I don’t have a coat or anything.”
“I have a jeep ready.”
“Really?”
“I’ve been planning this formonths,” she says. “Selene got involved because my sister was tending to her wounds, and they sort of got to talking to each other. It started off about me, but Selene threw you into it. She was really worried about you, even if she was beaten to hell herself.”
Judge didn’t mention Selene waswounded.
“What’s the plan?” I ask, figuring I’ll figure this out on the fly.
“I take you to the little social gathering, and show you what Judge’s planreallyis. You can either come with me after that or not. I just ask that you don’t stop me. I don’t have access to the scraps, or I’d take them, too.”
“Deal,” I say. Who am I to stop an omega who knows she needs to run for it? “And if this is a trap?” I ask, wanting to gauge her reaction.
“You’re already in one,” she remarks, heading down the stairs.
“What about the guards outside?” I step out into the hall and see they’re on the ground, slumped over.
“My sister got me the right meds. She’s the one driving the getaway jeep.”
My heart races with pure adrenaline, because that actually kind of makes sense. Rebecca hands me a wool hat from a bag on her shoulders. “Put your hair in it.”
I nod, though my stomach twists as I shove my hair under the knitted cap, tucking every last strand out of sight. My fingers shake a little. She also hands me suppressants. It feels like a betrayal to Judge, but if there’s even achanceshe’s telling the truth, I need to know.
Something has felt off this entire time, and this is making me feel vindicated.
I follow Rebecca, like maybe I woke up in a dream, still feeling like none of this is real, including my tether with Judgethat feels perfectly content on his end. She takes me to a doorway that leads to a smaller hall. “Servants hall. We’re going to spy from one of their windows. The jeep’s waiting in the cooks’ loading bay, if you still want to go after what you see.”
I don’t think my heart can race any faster than it already is, the sound whooshing in my ears. We pass two people—a pair of older men hauling flour sacks. They barely glance up, and I realize hownormalRebecca looks here. The confidence in her stride, the easy nod she gives them. I’m not afraid anymore, either. So what if I get caught? No matter what, I feel like I’m about to finally make my way to the last layer of truth and lies.
Iknowsomething is going on beyond what I’m being told. I can feel it in my bones.
