It’s hard to explain properly what meeting Lincoln and Noah is like. Because in a lot of ways, I know them. Meeting Noah though was different because I had time to desensitise to him and prepare to be around him. There’s no denying though that meeting them in the flesh really feels more like a reunion. I’m not shocked Lincoln jumps in to soothe over my worries, and I’m also not surprised neither of them have figured out who I am, because when we usually talk, my voice is disguised by a computer program. Still, it’s disorientating, straddling the blurred lines of knowing them and not knowing them.
Lincoln reaches out and takes my hand, even though I’m not offering it. He demands my attention in the gentlest of touches. “I get that a lot, actually. People think they know me because of Late Nights with Lincoln. But I have two very definite sides to who I am. Once I get out of my work clothes, it will help. Our concern for you is real,” Lincoln adds, and he somehow transforms in front of me, losing his showy, staged smile and becoming a more relaxed version. Still with a panty melting smile, mind you.
“I’ll be fine,” I say before turning to look out the window, watching Valak where he stands between us and the darkness outside. He turns to me, his face not giving away how he’s feeling though. I keep going. “I’m generally not a people person, if you know what I mean.”
And I’m not. It’s not because I don’t want to be, it’s because of a few bad experiences. Horrible ones, really.
Without a doubt, I know I wasn’t always so fearful of people. I remember a time when it was different, which is why I’m so suspicious and wary these days. Being knocked on your ass does that. I also know it wasn’t one incident, but a series of events that seemed to remind me of my poor luck and how shit people can be. Clearly, some events were more profound than others, and I’ve categorised them in my head to before Regalo and after.
Before Regalo, I have a series of snapshots of a happy childhood. In some, I remember being told how beautiful and wonderful I was, in others it was about how magical being an omega was going to be. If I close my eyes on some days, I can feel the curtains brushing over my face as my memories have me racing from a buttercup yellow bedroom to lush green lawns. In some flashbacks, I’m dancing, my arms spread wide as I spin around, singing and laughing with an older woman. Even now, I can smell fresh cut lawn and think of that time and hear my childlike giggles. And there’s no forgetting how much I was loved.
The room I remember was full of dolls and teddy bears, painted flowers and leaping unicorns on the sunshine yellow wall, a kitten with electric blue eyes, and the softest white coat slept on lilac fluffy blankets. Purple frosted cupcakes, blue lemonade and apple slices cut into stars were the food of princesses. I had everything. I swear I never asked for a thing because affection, gifts, happiness rained down on me.
And then it changed. Without warning too, when the life I knew, the people who loved me, disappeared.
Even now, one of the hardest things about the pre-Regalo times, is understanding thehowof what happened. Thewhyis a no brainer, hello pure omega genetics. Jesus, even now I shudder when I hear people called Eve, or Eva, Evaline, the word evolution is enough to have me ready to fucking vomit. The how doesn’t relate to what they did in the laboratory because I know what they did. My how is, how did I go from being so loved and cherished to being nothing but a nameless possession used for experiments. In time, the how warped into how could someone let me go so easily? How could they love me, and leave me, or let me go? How could they have never looked for me?
Lincoln squeezes my hand, bringing me out of what happened years ago back to the car. I drop my eyes from his face and focus on his thumb trailing over my hand while his deep voice and insight soothes. “We have that in common then. I’m not a people person either. Haven’t been for a while really, they’re all sharks wanting a piece of you.”
Truer words haven’t been spoken. I wonder though how much their opinion and my safety will change when these alphas discover that I’m not any normal omega, when they find out I’m probably the last pink diamond.
“You got that right. I’ll be fine, honestly. It would be good to get out of the city and get some food and rest.”
Noah and Lincoln take what I say without any question or argument. Both of them basically taking a breath of relief. Valak turns and paces.
“Meet me where we said. Don’t any of you upset or freak her out again, or we’ve got fucking issues,” Gabriel snarls, and it’s the complete opposite of who he has been. The click as he disconnects our four-way call is as resounding as his threat.
And then Noah jumps into action. “Okay then. I’m driving also, so I’ll take lead until we get to Mount Blarney, then Lincoln can show us the way.”
“A convoy across the country still seems excessive.”
“Not at all,” Lincoln adds as he turns back around and starts fiddling with the mirrors and getting the seat in the right position to drive.
“I guess you need to know that none of us have much confidence in the government and we always take additional measures to ensure as many outcomes as possible. Extra vehicles means more options in case something happens. You’ll find the majority of the alphas involved in the Alliance are similarly minded. And on that note, let’s get out of here.”
“I’m leaving my car here and getting one of the alphas to drive it around so we don’t raise suspicion. Gabriel set it up,” Valak says, and the others mutter an agreement of sorts.
Within a few minutes we’re off. Noah takes the lead in his pearl white Lexus with Valak as his passenger. The roads are busy but not crazy, and people zig and zag in and out with the flow of the traffic.
A text from an unfamiliar number lights up my phone, and I only need to read it once to know it’s from Gabriel.I think it’s important we sort stuff out straight away.
L: Okay. Like what?
G: Val is the broody one and I’m the go getter with anger management issues.
L: Wow, I’m sold. Anything else I need to know?
G: My guiche is pierced.
L: How does that affect me?
G: Because I sleep naked.
L: Again, relevance?
G: It’s the only way to tell me and Val apart.
L: Are you saying I have to ask you both to squat before I know who’s who?
