Cold sweat pricks at the back of my neck. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I believe you might have an, ah, ability that could help me find our mole, if there is one.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cassian demands, his scent spiking in warning.
The royal detective inspector is undeterred. “I believe Miss Rose has an affinity.” He turns to me. “Am I wrong?”
Marcus and Cassian are on him in an instant, Cassian with his scribe drawn. Marcus shoves the detective inspector up against one of the church’s stone walls, a low growl of warning rumbling in his chest.
Cassian stalks toward the alpha with his scribe drawn. “Why would you think something like that?”
Undeterred by Cassian and Marcus’ show of dominance, the detective inspector quirks an eyebrow. “Your reaction certainly doesn’t dissuade me. You’re protective of her. I respect that, but I have no intention of bringing harm to Miss Rose. Her secret is safe with me. I began to suspect when you came to my flat at the start of term. She knew things I wouldn’t expect her to. I don’t doubt that Andrew Radcliffe is a proud, careless piece of shit who runs his mouth, but some of the things she said… It’s like you were able to read his mind. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“You are,” I say quietly.
“And if you tell a fucking soul—” Cassian warns, his voice low and dangerous.
“Bind me in an honor spell, if you must. But if I’m right about Miss Rose, then I suspect she knows whether I’m honorable or not.”
“We can trust him,” I say quietly. “And you’re right. You do have a mole. Alan Cadigan is a member of the Soldiers of Saint Aldous.”
Cassian nearly drops his scribe as he whirls on me. “How long have you suspected? You never said anything!”
I purse my lips and then let out a heavy sigh. “I wanted to be sure. I first caught his thoughts at the start of term, but they were about me. I thought it was just me he hated, but I’ve since discovered he created a spell for Radcliffe Industries. At least, I think that’s what happened. It’s hard to be absolutely certain, which is why I’ve held back. I’ve been waiting for concrete proof, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to uncover it. I know he has a connection to Rad. I’ve caught glimpses of Baphomet masks.” I shake my head. “You all saw how much sway he has over the resistance. I thought I was overreacting. I thought he might be a plant in the Soldiers of Saint Aldous. I… I thought a lot of things.”
“He most assuredly is not,” Graeme says with a frown.
“He’s well respected in the resistance,” Marcus says. “That much is clear. And he’s respected at Fairhaven. It won’t be easy to convince people of his guilt without endangering Juniper. And you willnotendanger her.”
“Of course I won’t!” Graeme exclaims. “That’s not the kind of inspector—or alpha—I am. I’ll put a tail on him, but if he’s working with Radcliffe, I expect mage tech is involved.”
“Undoubtedly. He’s also one of the best casters in a hundred years. It won’t be easy to bring him down,” Cassian says. “Especially while protecting Juniper. If Cadigan suspects we’re onto him, he could do something to jeopardize her safety and that of the other omegas at Fairhaven. I can’t let that happen. He’s far too powerful a mage to back into a corner. Miller, keep me apprised of what your tail finds. We’ll have to approach this with care. He loathes Juniper, and I won’t put her in his crosshairs.”
Graeme studies me for a moment and frowns, his brow creasing. “She already is. Take care around him, Miss Rose. He won’t appreciate that you confronted him tonight, even if you were right. Sienna was right, too. Of everyone here, you have the most to lose.”
Here maybe, among those with enough freedom to fight, but there are omegas who have so much more to lose than I do. There are omegas, hidden away in a laboratory in the woods who lose their dignity every day, who could lose their lives if we don’t find the facility. I’ll court Rad for as long as it takes if it means finding a way to free them.
CHAPTER14
My whole world was turned upside down when Rad showed me the facility, but the world around me continues on, unchanged. Classes go on, and our workloads increase as midterms approach. I try to focus on my coursework, truly I do, but the omegas trapped in the secret lab haunt me.
The omega who fought against her guards until they clicked a collar around her neck haunts me.
Blair, convulsing on the floor as they shocked her again and again, haunts me.
My men and I do everything we can to find the facility, but we only grow more frustrated by the day. Simon’s search for mage tech turns up nothing, no matter how he refines his parameters, no matter how much he insists it should work. Luca and I hit the road whenever we can, crossing off roads on the gas station map, but it’s feeling like more and more of a fool’s errand every time we trudge back up the pack house stairs, nothing to show for our efforts but an empty thermos, and fingertips stained with permanent marker.
I don’t hear from Rad, but he’s never far from my thoughts, no matter how my men try to distract me. My pendant never chills against my skin, so I know he isn’t nearby, but I can’t stop thinking about what he said. How omegas who don’t obey must be punished.
How will he punish me when Cadigan tells him I told the resistance about the facility?
Cadigan seems to have fewer sharp words for me in class. In fact, he all but ignores me as midterms approach, perhaps because my casting is faultless. Perhaps because he’s already told Rad about my transgressions, and my fate is out of his hands.
My fears and frustrations tangle around me like the vines of the omega trap, dragging me down into darkness.
Marcus is the first to notice my slow withdrawal. He knows my tells all too well, but he says nothing. Instead, I catch more worried, thoughtful glances aimed my way, his river-rock eyes narrowed, his face lined with crestfallen creases.
My dark thoughts hound me, and I let them until, one night, Simon huffs and drags me off the couch where we’d been studying.
