“I thought you were with Spence?” I looked at him, he was wearing a tux.
“He needed me to get something that he forgot.” He gazed at the doorway. “Uncle Nick? Uncle Nick. Is that you?”
Nick glanced at Evan, head cocked as if trying to place him.
Evan crossed the living room in a few steps and threw his arms around him. “It’s me, Evan. Kim’s son. I’m so fucking happy to see you. Spencer and Auntie Ilena are going to be so happy. They’ve missed you so much.”
“Evan.” Nick held him tight. “You’re such a big boy. Did you and my son mate?”
Evan laughed. “We just formed a pack together. Spencer and I are mated to Grace.”
Agent Weigmier focused on me. “If I might have a word?”
“How old are you now? How much did I miss?” Nick sniffed.
Evan put an arm around his waist. “Hey, why don’t I make you some coffee, and then we can go see Spencer.”
I stared at Agent Weigmier, still not convinced he wouldn’t stuff me in his car and take me some place.
“In private?” he prodded.
“Okay.” I brought him inside and led him to the creepy doll room, which was ready for Mercy. All three of my Everydolls stared at us from behind the glass of the cabinet. Someone had placed a sign that said,Please help me, I’m trappedin the handsof my Gracie doll. By the handwriting, I was pretty sure that it was Wes.
Shit, I hoped my sisters would arriveafterAgent Weigmier left.
“Thank you for bringing him,” I told Agent Weigmier.
“He is your husband’s father. I assumed some sort of familial relationship.” Agent Weigmier nodded.
“Yes. The father of one of my husbands, not Fade. In this world I can have all of the spouses,” I said. “You won’t need to take Nick back for any reason, will you? Does he have to meet with a parole officer? I don’t know how any of this works.”
“Someone might come to check on him, but unlikely, especially if he gives no cause for it. I tried to reduce his footprint, as I did yours. Hecan’tresume his research, Dr. Ellington. Certainly, he can’t hide more omegas. If he does, I won’t be able to help him, and he’ll die in jail like his colleague," he implored.
“I’ll do my best. Hopefully, he’ll just want to travel with his wife and enjoy life. You… said something about things still not being set right after all these years. You’re not going to return the omegas to worlds where they’re illegal, right?” The very idea sickened me.
He shook his head. “There are very few good reasons for us to do that. Even if there were, omegas fall under Precious Population Protection Protocol, and a case can usually be made. However, not all designations sent elsewhere have all those protections–especially when their crimes have nothing to do with their designation.”
I snorted. “If the woman who stole me from this world and raised me in the other wasn't dead, or of an illegal designation, I’d have you extradite her here to stand trial for what she took.”
Agent Weigmier paused. “You werestolen,or do you mean it colloquially, since I am assuming you were small and had no say?”
“She’s my mother’s identical twin. I was stolen so that she’d look like a single mom.” Anger surged through me. Rosalind took so much from me. If she hadn’t robbed that vault, they wouldn’t have come after my mother. While sure, Thora might have had to raise me by herself, I would have been here.
I could have gotten to Wes, because I would have been able to find Rockland on a map. Thora would have taken me to the Omega Center, and some nice advocate would have helped me locate him. Tears pricked my eyes.
“Oh my. Do I need to recite equations with you?” His voice became soft.
“I’m okay. You can’t change the past. It was a mess because of people being sent to incompatible worlds.” I rubbed my temples.
“It’s a mess because of tenacity and people thinking that doing good absolves them from breaking the laws–or that they’re above them. And yes, sending people to incompatible worlds is an even greater headache than sending them to compatible ones,” he admitted. “It was eventually taken care of, with much effort, but as I said previously, we’re still cleaning up.”
“But the omegas here are okay?” That was a relief because I worried about them since it had been so long and they all had established lives now.
“Yes, those who have made their homes here should be safe.”
Good.
“What about other people like me?” I couldn’t be the only one.
