Omega came into view then, and several girls gasped. His obsidian form was motionless, but the position in which they’d caught him made him seem to writhe within the stasis field, his black eyes blazing with fury. Even contained, he radiated menace. The purple energy crackled and sparked as he seemed to fight against it despite his body’s physical stillness, and I saw both Alpha’s and Beta’s concentration intensify.
“Keep moving,” Alpha commanded the security team. “Get him to the transport.”
“Wait!” A familiar voice cut through the chaos. “Where are you taking her?”
Ms. Opalin pushed through the crowd of students, her face a mask of concern and confusion. She wore a simple robe hastily thrown over her nightclothes, her gray-streaked hair loose around her shoulders.
“Ms. Opalin,” I managed to say, my voice hoarse. “It’s… it’s alright.”
“Alright?” She stared at me, then at Beta, then at the struggling dark figure being carried past us. “Jendra, what happened? What is that thing?”
“I…” The words caught in my throat. How could I explain? How could I tell her that I had summoned this monster from my own twisted desires? “It’s my fault. I did this. I need to go with them.”
Beta’s arms tightened slightly around me—not restricting, but protective. “We need to leave immediately,” he said to Ms. Opalin, his tone unyielding. “The entity is unstable and dangerous. The girl is coming with us for her own safety.”
“No.” Ms. Opalin stepped forward, her expression hardening. “She’s a Hippolytan citizen. You can’t just take her?—”
“Ms. Opalin, please.” I reached out from beneath the blanket, my hand trembling. “I want to go. I have to go. This is… this is all because of me.”
Our eyes met, and I saw the exact moment she understood. Her gaze flicked from my face to Beta’s protective hold on me, to the way I wasn’t struggling or protesting. To the obvious care in how he carried me.
Her expression transformed. The concern melted away, replaced by something cold and disappointed. Disgust.
“You gave in,” she said quietly, but I heard every word. “After everything I taught you. After all your promises about maintaining your principles.”
“No, I—” But what could I say? That I had summoned a being of pure domination because I couldn’t stop fantasizing about submission? That even now, held in Beta’s arms, I felt safer than I had in days?
“Let her go,” Ms. Opalin said to Beta, her voice hard. “You’re doing exactly what your kind always does—corrupting young women, convincing them they want to be subjugated.”
“Madam.” Beta’s voice remained calm, but I felt tension coil in his muscles. “I understand your concern, but this situation is far more complex than you realize. The entity she summoned poses a threat to this entire planet. We need her cooperation to contain it.”
“Summoned?” Ms. Opalin’s eyes widened, then narrowed as she looked at me. “Jendra, what did you do?”
I couldn’t answer. Tears spilled down my cheeks, hot and shameful.
Alpha appeared at Beta’s side, his expression grave. “We’re leaving now. The transport is waiting.” He looked at Ms. Opalin with something that might have been sympathy. “Your student will be treated well, I assure you. But she must come with us.”
“Jendra.” Ms. Opalin’s voice cracked slightly. “Don’t give in to this. Don’t throw away everything you are.”
But I had already thrown it away, hadn’t I? The moment I had watched Sala on the stage, the moment I had summoned Omega from the quantum void, I had destroyed any chance of being the woman Ms. Opalin wanted me to be.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Beta turned and strode toward the exit. The last thing I saw before we left the dormitory was Ms. Opalin’s face—that look of profound disappointment mixed with something that might have been pity.
My classmates parted to let us through, their whispers following us like censorious ghosts.
The cold night air hit my face as we emerged outside. A sleek transport sat on the lawn, its ramp already lowered. The security team carried Omega up first, the stasis field flickering slightly as they maneuvered him into a reinforced containment unit inside the vessel.
Beta carried me up the ramp, and I glimpsed the transport’s interior with its gleaming metal and myriad indicator lights. He set me down gently on a padded bench, keeping the blanket wrapped around me.
“Stay here,” he said, his blue eyes meeting mine with an intensity that made my breath catch. “We’ll talk once we’re in flight.”
The ramp closed with a hydraulic hiss. Through the viewport, I watched the dormitory recede as the transport lifted off, carrying me away from everything I had known.
Away from Hippolyta.
Toward Magisteria.
Toward whatever fate awaited me.
