“You’re fighting in your own way. I spent years trying not to come here. I don’t know if I would have had the courage to volunteer.” And that is very true. Especially after I went to the citadel. Facing what I went through again? No, thanks.
Mia crinkles her nose. “We’ve all lost so much. There isn’t a single family left untouched by this madness. Most of us don’t have any family left.It’s not so much a sacrifice as an honour. If I die, I get to join my family again.”
I bump her shoulder with mine. “See, brave.”
“Keres?”
“Yup?”
“Thank you for saving me.”
She sniffles and then turns, throwing herself at me. For a long moment, I just stand there, then I lift my arms, holding her while she cries.
“I’m sorry. I thought I was good and ready to die, but twice, the sickness and then the Beta’s Path. You saved me, and I don’t want to die yet. I haven’t lived.”
“Mia,” I murmur, patting her back. “We’re okay; we’re not going to die.” Hearing myself say those words, I realise I don’t believe them yet, but I want to.
“I know, I’m just so grateful.” She lets me go and swipes her arm across her eyes. She offers a wobbly smile and pats her light brown hair back into position.
Legion folds his arms over his chest and watches. He looks exhausted still, and I don’t know; there’s something off about him.
“Come on, we have to keep moving,” I murmur.
She wipes her face and gives me a wavering smile and rushes to catch up with Mordecai. I watch her, considering what she said. I don’t think she has anyone left in her life. The Resistance are her family, so it didn’t matter how scared she was; she came anyway.
My admiration of her goes up.
Legion and Cadel catch up and walk on either side of me. I glance at Legion, trying to figure out his secret until I feel like I’m going to go insane. I’ve never seen an omega cry like that. Not in such heartbreaking, soul-stealing sobs. Someone hurt this omega badly. I don’t think he will ever willingly open up, though.
The streets are narrow, and we’re walking in knee-high grass, but everything is quiet. No drums today, which is a welcome relief.
Does the Beta’s Path take days off from killing?
I glance at Legion, who looks away quickly. I’m still staring at him when he glances at me again, his face going pale.
“I can’t take it anymore!” I explode. The group stops, turning to me, but I ignore everyone but my target. I turn on Legion and bare my teeth at him. “Out with it!”
Legion purses his lips. “I knew your mother.”
I stop walking towards him, the world tilting wildly, leaving me feeling like I’m balanced on the edge of a cliff. I stare at him; every instinct in me is screaming at me to reach for him and shake the truth out of him.
Cadel grabs the back of my neck in a hold that stops me moving but grounds me in a way that has me thinking instead of reacting.
“You knew my mother?” I manage to choke out.
Legion sighs heavily when he looks at me; his eyes are full of regret. “Yes. In fact, I might be the reason she didn’t make it.”
I stare at him, wondering if I’m going to have to kill this omega that I have started to like.
“Start at the beginning,” I spit out through gritted teeth.
The whole Beta army could walk past right now; I would not look away from this male.
He runs his hand through his long hair and looks away. “Five years ago, I was injured and hiding in a building that was falling apart. Your mother came in during a storm. It was ferocious, wild, and crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it, but I was convinced I would die.”
I glare at him.
“She helped me heal, and she talked to me a lot over the next couple of weeks. She told me lots of things. To be honest, I thought she was crazy. Your mother talked about you a lot. She said that you didn’t know what was coming and that you will never know how sorry she is.”
