Nothing. Not even a flicker.
He stayed perfectly still, perfectly quiet, just the way they wanted him. The way they shaped him. The way they’d taken him apart, piece by piece, until there was nothing left but a shell of an Omega.
Anger hit me square in my chest.
I wasn’t sure what I expected, but it wasn’tthis.This wasn’t the reunion I imagined. This wasn’t the boy I remembered, even three days ago.
And I knew, with clarity that hit me like a punch, that I wasn’t walking out of this room without him.
Not again.
The past three days were enough torture on my soul. Going any sort of time without having this Omega in my life would be the cause of my death.
“Kasey.” His name left my mouth before I could stop it, yet I got the same response as moments ago.
Absolutely nothing.
I stepped closer, slow enough to not startle him, though I doubted anything could.
“Kasey.” I tried again, quieter this time. “Look at me.”
Nothing.
His gaze stayed fixed on the floor, unfocused, like he wasn’t seeing it at all. Like he wasn’t seeinganything.
I crouched in front of him, lowering myself until I was level with his bowed head. Close enough to see the faint shadows under his eyes, the way his lashes rested against his pale cheeks, the way his expression held nothing.
“Kasey. Please.”
Still, nothing.
He wasn’t ignoring me. He wasn’t resisting. He simply…wasn’t there.
Whatever part of him used to light up when he saw me, whatever spark made him laugh, or pout, or cling to my sleevewhen he was scared, had been pushed so far down he couldn’t reach it anymore.
I lifted my hand, stopping inches from his face before cupping his cheek in my palm.
The only thing he did was blink slowly, like that alone too all the energy out of him.
“Look at me, Omega.” I said, my voice barely holding steady.
His eyes finally shifted. Not up, not towards me, just a tiny flick, like he’d heard an order that he couldn’t ignore.
There was no light in his eyes. There was no hope. No life.
“What have they done to you?”
My gaze roamed over the rest of his form, taking note of the deep purple marks around his neck. The way the darker indents of fingers popped here and there, like someone tried to strangle the life out of him.
I lifted his chin gently. This close, the damage was impossible to ignore.
Shadows covered Kasey’s skin, faint in some places, darker in others. It was scattered across him like someone had tried to paint over a canvas that used to be whole. They were fresh, less than a full day.
Kasey didn’t flinch as I gently brushed the back of my hand down his torso. He didn’t shy away. He knelt there, enduring whatever I wished to do to him.
Whoever put these marks on him deserved to die in the slowest, painful way possible.
Disgusted by my own thoughts, I stood too quickly, my head rushing with blood.
