“It’s an expression my Kim taught me. You will find your Omega takes over your life. Turns it upside down. Changes it.”
I remain silent.
“Still in denial? The relationship must be new. How did you find her, anyway? My magicians have had no luck finding the lostHoo-manOmegas.”
“Lost Omegas? How many?”
Aurus shrugs. “No one knows. We found the lab where they worked to import them from Earth, but all records were destroyed. Apparently, the Stone King—your dead buddy—learned that we had acquired the Ogsul technology and serum necessary to importHoo-manfemales and turn them into Omegas. When he heard that I ordered my magicians to find me an Omega of my own, he bribed some of them to work for him, instead.”
“Bribed?” My disbelief is evident in my tone. “The Stone King?”
Aurus waves his hand. “Or he threatened them, compelled them… whatever. In any case, he got them to replicate the process and bring over moreHoo-manfemales. The Omegas were supposed to be delivered to the Stone Kingdom, but the deal must have gone bad, as my Kim would say. It seems the magicians panicked and fled before they could complete their task. As a result, theHoo-manOmegas were scattered all over. One turned up in Arboron. Now, it seems, one ended up in your palace.”
“Nearby.” For the millionth time, I thank Ulf Rose wasn’t found by an Alpha soldier first. My little moonflower might have been claimed by another. The thought makes me clench my fists, my claws pricking my palms. “I need all records regarding the human Omegas,” I tell Aurus. “Anything your magicians have observed—all readings of the human vital signs, the serum effects, everything.” I need to know if my mate is healthy.
“I’ll send them, if you agree to share any findings with me,” Aurus says. It’s unlike him to be so forthcoming, but this is a special circumstance. His concern for his queen overcomes any posturing he would normally indulge in.
“Agreed. And if there is any information on successful Ulfarri-human offspring outcomes, I need that too.”
“Is she pregnant already?” Aurus smiles again. Not his usual punchable grin, but something softer. “I do not have any of that, not yet. But Khan does, and he’s already shared it with my magicians. We must do all we can to care for our Omegas.”
I raise my chin in agreement.
“You should be called the Learned King, as your father was,” Aurus says. “You are as scholarly as any Beta magician. You studied medicine, as well?”
His words are a dagger in my heart, but I keep the pain off my face. “Yes, as part of my extensive studies. My father insisted.”
“I remember. You were seeking a cure to the curse that befell your kingdom. You found it.”
“I was too late.” I lie by telling the truth.
Aurus doesn’t know the whole truth. No one does. I found a potion to heal the curse, but not cure it. The only cure was my father’s sacrifice. And it killed both him and my mother.
“Was that before the…” Aurus circles his face with his finger.
“The potion the Stone King sent tohelp, which turned out to be poison that disfigured me?” If Aurus isn’t going to be tactful, then neither am I. “It was during.” The lowest point of my life. Medela was cursed, my mother was ill, everyone was dying. In the final stages of the curse, the sickness turned the sufferer to stone. I was desperate to find the cure—so desperate that I did as I am doing now, and scoured the far kingdoms for help. Kings and magicians from all over Ulfaria sent us potential remedies. Including the Stone King.
I later came to learn that the Stone King had in fact created the curse—the Red Death—as well. He was jealous of my father, and coveted my Omega mother. I have no proof and now that the evil bastard is dead, I never will. But all evidence points to him as the creator of both the curse, and the poison that ravaged my face.
Aurus presses his lips together. I prefer his silence to his prying. I would cut the connection between us, but I need to cultivate his good will.
I’m saved from the awkward pause in the conversation by a female voice calling, “Honey, I’m home!” I tense, and swivel to check on my sleeping Rose. The new voice at Aurus’s back sounds so much like my own mate. That can only mean—
Aurus’s whole face softens. In the distance, outside of the orb’s displayed image, a door slams. And then—
The Golden King’s eyes widen. There’s a shrieking whistle. Aurus roars and throws up his arms before his entire person—and ridiculously gaudy throne—disappear in a burst of smoke.
Off-screen, someone is cackling. The newcomer strides into view. A tiny, pale-skinned human with spiky yellow hair, she saunters through a cloud of gray smoke with a large black gun cocked on one shoulder. Ulfarri troops call the gunsChitin-Killers. This one looks modified somehow, but is still almost bigger than the petite Omega.
“Kim!” Aurus shouts from somewhere off-screen. “What have I told you about shooting rocket launchers in the throne room?”
“You said it was outlawed by the king’s royal decree. But you shoot off in the throne room all the time. Fair’s fair. Besides,” she pats the gun, “this isn’t a rocket launcher. It’s aChitin-Killer. Terral and his engi-nerd buddies designed it for me, for the next time I go into battle.”
“We have discussed this.” Aurus sounds exasperated. “You will absolutely not be going into battle—”
“Ah, ah!” Kim tips the gun to point it in the direction of his voice. “You say no but I say yes, and I’m holding the modifiedChitin-Killer. It won’t kill you—we replaced the rockets with smoke bombs—but it’ll hurt.” The little human stalks to the throne, which has tipped onto its side, and leans against it. “Besides, you promised not to talk to anyone about humans or Omegas without me.”
“How did you know I was speaking aboutHoo-mans?” Aurus says.
