“So, she possesses bodies. How does that work?” Mordecai asks.
“Either she never came down or she’s found her own rock to perch on, but if she’s fallen, she would have lost her powers.”
“Would she?” I ask. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, when we fall, our bodies become…less. Our power becomes a torrent that blasts through our bodies much like floodwaters break the banks. It cannot be controlled or harnessed. You just kind of point and hope. That’s what happened to me. Or you lose all of it and become human.”
“Is that how we ended up as wolves?” Jarek murmurs.
Cadel flicks me an amused smile. “Yes, that was not intentional; I was just trying to save your life.”
“And I appreciate it,” Jarek says with a wink that makes Cadel grin wider.
Cadel rubs his face. “There’s something else.”
“Oh?”
“I think the Ravage Virus might have been a result of the gods falling and mixing with my power when I landed here. It would have been like a massive shock wave that expanded out in ripples from where I was.”
“The Ravage Virus? But that was a human virus, right? The one that ended our world?” I look between them, and, once again, I get the feeling that they are keeping things from me. “Are you going to tell me?”
Cadel shakes his head. “You need to remember on your own. No one can jog your memory.”
I grind my teeth, frustrated. “So, your power leaching out of you caused this virus?”
“I’m speculating based on what she told me. I think the gods dying mutated it and turned it deadly, especially as most of the gods who died were alphas and omegas. Instead of it becoming a power that changes, it became one that caused chaos and death. I’ve thought about it a lot. I wish I could undo it.”
“How did it stop being so deadly?” I ask.
Jarek, Mordecai, and Cadel exchange a look filled with knowledge.
“It’s—”
“Need to know?” I snap.
“Yes, sorry.”
“You didn’t intend to hurt us, did you?” I say, staring at his face and watching for the truth.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know that I was hurting you.”
He’s telling the truth; I can feel it.
“Well, there you go. You’re innocent.”
“That’s not how everyone else would see it,” Jarek says. “If they even think someone is on the other side, they want them dead.”
I stare at Cadel. “Then we tell no one. This stays between the four of us forever. We never speak of it again.”
Cadel turns to me and really studies me. “You would do that?” He seems baffled by it.
“Yes,” I breathe. “Whatever secrets we need to protect to keep us safe, I would gladly bear the weight of.”
He turns and pulls me into his arms. I let out a squeak but wrap my arms around him, holding on tight.
“There is no one more generous than you, Omega.”
I shiver as he leans in and inhales my barely-there scent straight off my bare skin. My cheeks heat, and I brush my fingers through his silky hair.
