So, no. The world isn’t safe for the omegas we freed from Rad’s torturous facility. The castle may be, but it’s yet another place the omegas aren’t free to leave. Most take it in stride, grateful for the protection, but I hear whispers as I help unwrap sleeping bags and inflate blow-up mattresses. I look around at the omegas. They don’t look like they feel safer, even when Graeme and Jack explain about the magic once again.
They’re safe here for now in their newest prison, but it isn’t enough. I hate that they can’t be free, that the world is too dangerous a place for them. I vow in that moment, spreading a sleeping bag out on an air mattress, that I will protect them. I will keep them safe however I can for now. And in the future, I vow to make a world where they can live free from persecution. Free of looking over their shoulders wherever they go. A world free from experimentation, free from Omega Rehabilitation Centers and the Soldiers of Saint Aldous. I’ll fight for them until my last breath.
If only I knew just how big that fight would be.
During the week,I spend my free hours and nights at the castle, helping the omegas settle into their new home. It isn’t without hiccups, but slowly they emerge from their shells. Their voices rise above whispers, and once in a while, an omega will even laugh, though the sound is scarce.
They’re curious about the Soldiers of Saint Aldous and their oppressors. As I tell them about the evils we’re up against, their faces grow grim. While some fall to tears, others harden.
“Fuck this,” Blair says from her position by Nathan, the wunderkind scientist who was forced to develop the collars. Though he’s an alpha and part of the means of the omegas’ oppression, most of them have taken to his quiet, friendly manner, and they see him as a victim—just as they are.
I look up to Blair from where I’m seated at the head table in the great hall. All the other tables have been pushed aside, and the room has become a gathering space once more. “Blair?”
“I mean it. Fuck this. I want to fight back. Half the guards in the facility were scared shitless of us when we weren’t collared. Saints, I could blow their heads off with a glance. We have affinities. More power than they have. Not all of us know magic or even how to use our affinities yet, but we’re powerful. Or we could be. Especially together.”
“I never got to learn magic,” Aimee chimes in. “I was supposed to get packed up, so I never got to go to an academy. I want to learn. Blair’s right. I want to fight back. Fuck this and fuck those guys. Teach us how to take them down. Teach us magic and teach us how to use our affinities. You’re the most knowledgeable among us. We know that. You can help us.”
I can.
Though their affinities differ, the omegas in the castle aren’t the only omegas who want to fight back. I want to fight tooth and nail beside them, especially against the growing threat of my father and Baphomet’s Prince. I can cut another Rose puppet string by helping these omegas learn to harness their affinities and stand up against their oppressors. I can and need to fight by their sides.
But as for teaching them the basics of magic? I know just the person.
In a rare moment of calm,I’m curled up with Ian in the big, cozy chair in his study. He rakes his fingers through my hair, a contented sigh escaping him as I breathe in his cedar-and-bergamot scent. I nuzzle into him and sigh myself. After the strain of the past two weeks, catching a moment alone together is a blessing.
“Ian?” I say, my voice muzzy with satisfaction. “You told me you wanted to teach the omegas magic. Is that something you still want? Would you do it for me? I can’t think of anyone more perfect for the role. You’re the best teacher I’ve ever had, and the omegas know you as my mate. They want to learn, and you could teach them.”
He’s thoughtful and hesitant for a moment. “I don’t like the thought of being away from you all day. It’ll be long hours without you, my darling.”
“We’re already separated when I’m in class. I hate the thought of it too, but if you come home to me every night…”
“I hate knowing I won’t be able to protect you. I won’t be able to get to you quickly if something happens.”
“I won’t be alone.” No matter how conflicted I feel about him, Marcus is my constant shadow while I’m on campus. I do feel conflicted, but now isn’t the time for such thoughts,not while I’m curled up with my mate, asking the world of him.
“Cassian and Simon are going to graduate soon.”
“I’ll still have Marcus protecting me, and Luca will still be on campus next school year.”
“I still don’t like the idea of leaving you without your full pack’s protection, even for a moment.”
“You can’t be with me on campus anymore,” I remind him gently. “You’ve taught me to protect myself so well, you and Cassian both. This is so much bigger than me. Than us. You need to do this for you, and I need you to do it for them. Ian, youthrivewhen you teach. And you can teach me to teach them, too. I want to help them learn their affinities.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “I won’t stop at basic spellcasting and shields. The omegas need to be prepared, just like you are. They need to know how to defend themselves, and how to strike back.”
I smile against him. “Good, because they want to learn. Ian, I want to teach them to escape omega traps, too. And that’ll require seeing if I can do it again, myself. Escaping Rad’s trap could have been a one-off, but there has to be a way other than blood magic to escape an omega trap. There has to be. The spell I used…”
He sighs. “You ask so much of me when you ask me to hurt you, my darling.”
“I know,” I say quietly. “But I only ask you because I trust you implicitly. With my life, my being, my heart.”
“I can’t deny you anything,” he mumbles into my hair. “If we’re going to do this, and I suppose we are, you’re right, there can be no half measures. We’ll teach them to escape omega traps if we can. You and I can start this weekend if I can get Mai to support us and heal you from the thorns.”
I nod against his firm, muscled chest, listening to thestrong, steady beat of his heart. My mate is giving me and the omegas a gift I can’t fully fathom: the gift of fighting back.
I’m eager to tell them, but I’m just as eager to cuddle up against Ian and enjoy these few moments of peace with him.
Ian isn’tthe only one helping the omegas. Though the castle is safer than the omegas’ previous accommodations, Graeme and Jack are still vigilant the first few weeks, taking shifts to watch over the omegas. Mai’s pack regularly helps out, though I can tell it’s straining the young healer. Between their guardians and the thoroughly scanned aid shipments that continue to show up, the omegas have everything they need.
