“Not mad at me? She’s always mad at me. Is she here? Why would she come here if she could get in a lot of trouble?” That seemed risky.
“She’s at Grandma’s. I really like Grandma, she’s nice. She says she hasn’t met you, yet, though,” he added.
It hit me. Her mom knew I’d been in contact with the professor. If Rosalind couldn’t find me because my last name here had been changed to Thanukos, which Mrs. Silvers might not know, she must have sent my brothers to find out where I was…
“But what can I do?” I pushed. How did I even factor in with all of this?
“Something about the people who govern parallel world travel.” He frowned.
Great. What could I do that could help her that would be worth risking everything?
Unless…
Had I unwittingly caused the Authority to come after her? Did she need me to be a character witness or convince them that she wasn’t doing anything wrong?
I laughed bitterly. Like I had that sort of power. Still, it must have made her desperate.
“Everything is going to be okay, right?” he asked. “I have a job and a girlfriend at home. Um. I didn’t think we were going to hold someone up at gunpoint or kidnap you or anything. I thought we were just going to talk to you and go home. We weren’t even going to bring you back. That’s why Mom met us here.”
Odds were, she wanted to take me elsewhere–and didn’t trust them to do it, which was why she took the risk of coming here.
“One of the people you were with is the guy you dreamt of, right? I never believed you, that he was real or other worlds were real. But they are, so… sorry?” Abel made hisI’m an innocent angelface.
Could he just shut up? Was this my punishment? Death by Abel talking?
“He was there. I like this world, Abel. It’smyworld. I’m happy here. The world we grew up on might be neutral for Rosalind, but it’s not good for people like me,” I replied.
The door opened.
“Hey, I have to piss,” Abel yelled.
Someone came in with Solomon and cuffed him to another ring on an opposite wall.
Solomon scowled from his spot on the bench. “Why am I cuffed, and she’s not?”
“She’s under omega law.” The agent shrugged and left.
His head cocked. “You’re an omega? How is that possible? Mom and Dad aren’t omegas.”
So, Solomon knew what omegas were.
“Mybio-dad, the one you held up at gunpoint, is an omega. Me? Rosalind literally had my omega killed at wilderness camp,” I countered.
Abel frowned. “I don’t know what that means.”
“You and Rosalind are running an interdimensional smuggling ring?” I prodded, wanting answers.
“What? No. That would break the law. We just help people sometimes.” Solomon shrugged.
“For a fee?”
His eyes rolled. “She’s allowed to have her own money.”
“What do you need me to do?” I asked curiously.
“Look, we make most of our money off things that technically aren’t illegal. Sure, sometimes we help people. But, all you need to do is tell them we’re not doing anything wrong,” Solomon answered.
Sure.
