He zipped his suitcase shut and picked it up, and Sidian shouldered the leather bag. The drawstring bags were out in the car, still filled with Sidian’s clothing from the center and Roman’s clothing from the mission. Until he could find somewhere safe to dump them, they were staying right wherethey were. Only took one curious person and one call to the police to blow everything wide open, and Roman had no desire to be considered a fugitive from the law.
The Vipers operated illegally. They didn’t have a choice. Ouroboros’s money protected them mostly, giving them ample resources and paying off police and judges as need be. The original founder of the organization had set up a sting and handed the law so much evidence about an omega trafficking ring they chose to look the other way, building the foundational precedent for the status Ouroboros had now.
But it would only take one moron to fuck it all up, and Roman did not intend to be that moron.
“We’re going to hit Main Street after breakfast,” he said, and Sidian bobbed his head in understanding. “You see anything you think you need, let me know, but try not to grab too much so we can still travel light. If it’s not something we can fit into one bag, I’d prefer to leave it for now and spoil you with it later.”
The corner of Sidian’s mouth twitches. “You seem like you make spoiling money.”
“First thing on the list is a big, cozy nest for you to laze around in all day.” Somewhere permanent, somewhere real, somewhere Sidian could load it up with all the pillows and blankets he could ever want.
Sidian leaned up on his toes, pecking Roman on the lips. “Long as I have you, I’ll have just about everything I could need.”
They checked out at the desk and loaded the car back up, though the nerves in Roman’s stomach wouldn’t be soothed until they were on the road. While taking back roads came with certain risks—easy to be chased, easy to be cornered, and even if the Ultima was an off-road vehicle, the trees couldn’t be driven through—the reward outweighed the risks. It would be so much harder for them to draw attention to themselves if they were outwhere no one was looking, and small-town police were rarely called in to work larger cases.
That was how it had to go until they were back with the Vipers. Once they made it to the Pit, Roman could finally breathe easy.
Fable waved to them from the counter while Sidian shot toward the table from yesterday, settling down in the booth with a relieved sigh. Though he’d only been with Roman for a couple of nights now, he looked so much better. His color was back, his eyes were glowing, and the dark circles were slowly fading away.
I can take care of him. I knew I could do it.
“Nice to see you two again this morning,” Fable said as she sidled up next to the table, notepad in hand. “Tell me what I can get for you this fine morning.”
“What my dog had yesterday,” Sidian said, nudging Roman’s foot under the table. “Double all the meat, though. I’m starving to death.”
Fable let out a nervous little giggle, only relaxing when she saw Roman didn’t even respond to the supposed jab, and scribbled down the order. “What to drink? We have decaf if you want it, but it’s pretty nasty, like you’d expect it to be.”
“Orange juice today sounds just perfect.” Sidian fluttered his lashes at Roman, and his chest tightened. He felt like a stupid fucking teenage boy all over again. “And what do you want for breakfast, Roe?”
“Pancakes sound nice today.” Something filling and heavy; he would need the energy while they were on the road. “And a side of sausage links, if you don’t mind, with black coffee.”
“Coming right up.” Fable turned and half-skipped back to the counter, and Roman wondered for a moment if she had a mate of her own somewhere.
She was sweet. He hoped someone treated her right.
“The one thing that I keep thinking about is something you mentioned last night,” Sidian said, and Roman blinked at him,stirred from his thoughts. “You said you’d leave the Vipers if I wanted you to. I’m not saying I do, but are you sure you’d be fine with doing that if I asked?”
What kind of question even was that? “I care more about your happiness than I do their mission. It was good to help, but…” But Sidian was more important. It was selfish, in a way, but Roman did not care. He would always put Sidian first. “But I would choose you, over and over.”
Sidian glanced around the diner before leaning across the table. “What, like…Isall the stuff you get up to? People talk, obviously, but everyone talks. I don’t think anybody knows shit.”
Sidian was right; talk meant nothing. Most alphas and omegas heard rumors about Ouroboros growing up because they remained a persistent thorn in the side of the beta-led government. Most of the large-scale attacks on government facilities or buildings were attributed to them, though becoming a Viper meant discovering that half of those were blamed on Ouroboros for the sake of bad press. Some of that blame was to allow the police to avoid the fact that they couldn’t find the culprits they were searching for.
And to this day, the police still refuse to admit when Ouroboros assisted in an investigation. Not that they ever asked for help, but every so often, goals aligned.
“Ouroboros is an organization run by a group of very elite alphas, omegas, and one epsilon. And that’s the boss.” Roman watched Sidian’s eyes widen. “Jagger is my captain, and he answers to the boss. In order to even be around alphas, Devereaux has to wear a gas mask.”
Sidian whistled and leaned back in his seat, his eyes wide with intrigue. “Guess it’s a good thing I’m an omega in case I ever meet him.”
The edges of Roman’s vision flickered crimson for just a moment.Calm down right now.“The boss himself is harmless,at least to omegas. He runs the Vipers. Each leader hand-selects their teams and trains them. There are five more Vipers besides myself and the captain, and I assure you they’d all be thrilled to meet you.”
“Do they know about me?” There was a halting quality to Sidian’s voice, an uncertainty that made Roman’s stomach twist. “I mean, not that you had to tell them about me, but—”
Roman cut him off. “We aren’t a close group. We’re not a pack. But the boss knows your name, like I said.”
“Right. Cool.” Sidian dropped a hand to his stomach, then shoved both of them behind his thighs, nervous, it seemed. “So, the whole breeding center thing. That’s your MO?”
“The boss’s, but yes. The Vipers occupy ourselves with that program while the other branches handle something else. The Mambas, for instance, prefer to focus their time and effort on taking down trafficking rings. The Cobras concern themselves with political work.”
