“Go. Run.”
We stand still.
“Run!” She snaps her fingers, and an old female omega falls dead, a bolt sticking out from her forehead.
With another scornful glance at this insane deity, I run back into the city that has become as familiar as any place I’ve ever lived.
We race for what feels like days, but it’s only when I realise most people have peeled off that I stop. With a sob, I turn, throwing myself at my alphas.
“Are you okay?” I ask, running hands over them.
Jarek takes my hands and kisses my palms. “We’re fine.”
Legion leans against the wall, his eyes flat and exhausted. “He didn’t need to die like that.”
Theo, he’s talking about Theo.
Mordecai goes to him and hugs him, holds him while the omega falls apart. I thought I would feel jealous seeing my alpha with hands on another omega, but Legion is…family.
“Theo was a good alpha. He tried hard. Most of everyone got away, I bet he offered up for volunteers.” Legion wipes his face and sighs.
“Charlotte and Ava are gone, too,” I murmur.
His jaw drops, his gasp shattering the menacing stillness around us. “What?”
“They were in the forest, lying together. Just off the path we took.”
Legion sits down and weeps bitterly.
A scrape of stones has me whirling around, ready to attack. Mia jogs up, huffing and struggling to stay upright. Her face is red and splotchy, and I rush to her. Shame burns through me. I’d forgotten Mia was with us.
“Mia! Come on, come here,” I murmur.
“We have no supplies,” Mordecai says. “The soot and ash are going to leave tracks.”
“Do you remember where the safe houses are?” Mordecai asks Legion.
He shakes his head, but I reach into my pocket inside my jacket and drag out the letters from my mother and the map they gave me.
“I’ve still got the map.”
Mordecai kisses me hard and fast. “You are incredible.”
Mordecai and Legion pour over it, talking rapidly.
“We’re not going to survive this,” Mia says. “This is just a,” she waves her hand, trying to think of the word, “just a show.”
“Yes, it is, but I’m not going to just roll over and die for this bitch,” I say and cock my head, listening intently.
“What? Is someone coming?” Mia jumps up and gets eight feet away before I can stop her.
“It’s fine, Mia, I was listening for animals,” I reassure her.
“Oh, did you hear any?” she says, but she’s still looking around, and I don’t think she believes me.
“No,” I say, which has disturbed me far too much. I peer up at the sky.
But there’s something else that’s been bothering me, and that’s how quiet my alphas have been.
