Maybe cruel is a better word than ironic.
"It's fucked up," Geo supplies helpfully, refilling my coffee cup. "The guy lied to your face for, what, months? Years?"
"Years," I mutter, staring into the dark liquid. "It's not just that he didn't tell me. He actively pretended to be someone else. A defector from Surhiira, not..."
Not the heir to the throne.
"Men lie," Nikolai says with a shrug. "Especially men with power. They lie to get what they want, and they lie to keep it."
It doesn't sound like he's defending it. There's something bitter in his tone, a personal grudge that makes me wonder what lies have shaped his own past. But I don't ask. I tell myself I don't want to know.
I don'twantto get close to any of them.
Knight… he's the exception. He's already close. We share a nearly supernatural bond, and fate clearly planned for our paths to cross. I don't have the heart or the hubris to deny that.
But the rest of them?
They're already starting to worm their way through my defenses, and the most unnerving part is, I don't even think they're trying. Not even Raven. Or at least, he's been open about his intentions from square one.
What other alpha can I say that about?
"The question is," Raven says gently, "what do you want to do about it?"
Thatisthe question, isn't it? The one I've been avoiding since the truth came crashing down around me. What do I want? WhatcanI do?
"I don't know," I confess, feeling the weight of uncertainty pressing down on me. "Part of me wants to forget I ever knew him. To just... start over somewhere else. Somewhere he'd never think to look for me." I let out a hollow laugh. "But that's not really an option, is it? Not with my father hunting me down, and apparently half the alphas in the wasteland thinking I'm their mate."
Knight growls softly at this, his hand moving to rest on the table beside mine—not touching, but close enough that I could reach out if I wanted to.
Oh yeah. He isdefinitelymore aware than he was before.
"You could stay here," Geo offers unexpectedly. When we all turn to look at him in surprise, he scowls defensively. "What? The market could use an omega presence. Brings in more respectable business, less fighting."
I stare at him, trying to determine if he's joking, but his expression remains stubbornly serious.
"That's... generous," I say carefully, "but I don't think hiding is the answer. Not anymore." I take a deep breath, straightening in my seat. "I want answers. I want to know why Azarel lied to me, why he pretended to be someone he's not. I want to know if anything he ever told me was true."
"And how do you plan on getting those answers?" Nikolai asks, leaning forward even though it makes him wince. The wounds in his back must still be bothering him. "Walk up to the gates of Surhiira and ask nicely? They'll shoot you on sight. Or worse, drag you before the royal family as a curiosity—the omega who entranced their wayward prince."
His words paint a vivid and unpleasant picture, but I refuse to be deterred. "I'll figure something out. I always do."
"Or," Raven says, setting down his coffee cup with a decisive click, "you could let us help you."
I narrow my eyes suspiciously at him. "And why would you do that? What's in it for you?"
Raven places a hand over his heart in mock offense. "Can't I simply want to assist a beautiful woman in her quest for closure?"
"No," I say flatly.
"Please?" he asks, adding in a sing-song, "I have an idea."
I raise an eyebrow, not bothering to hide my skepticism. "What's your idea?"
Raven gets a gleam in his eye that suggests he's been waiting for the perfect moment to reveal this particular card. "A way to get you into Surhiira safely,andget you face to face with your princely paramour."
He glances around the table, gauging the reactions of the others. Geo looks intrigued, Nikolai suspicious, and Knight... well, Knight's masked face is impassive, obviously, but there's a clear wariness in his blue eyes.
Raven takes a deep breath, and says with dramatic emphasis, "Weallgo to Surhiira."
