My caramel scent becomes burned in my distress.
I stand, crouching over him.
No one is taking Bird.
When the warden follows the scientist Beta with his hands in the pockets of his crumpled suit, pausing in the open doorway, I stiffen with fear.
I hate the way that his gaze settles on Bird…and my bond mark.
“We could take them both,” Dr. Gill suggests. “I could start an interesting comparative study on?—”
“Sometimes, as someone whose entire career is based on being observant, you miss the important details.” Mr. Baskerville takes off his glasses, rubbing at his nose, before replacing them. “Look at Seventy-one’s neck. He’s the one who has been in heat.”
Bird slams his hand over his neck like he can protect both his mark and the privacy of our bonding.
By acting like our bonding is just one more thing for them to study, Mr. Baskerville is violating something precious and reducing it to yet more numbers on a chart.
I ball my fists.
I’m not a number.
“Her family said that she can’t talk in this dynamic.” Dr. Gill scribbles a note on her clipboard. “It appears to be true that she’s a feral Omega. I would like to test whether I am able to make her talk by applying different stressors.”
Mr. Baskerville tuts. “And now you’re missing the important observation. Rogue Switches are forbidden from bonding for a reason. She hasbredSwenty-one. They’re both doubly polluted and foul.” Adrenaline spikes through me, when he casually reaches to rest his finger on the switch. “Step out of the cell, Op, unless you want to be shocked to death. Unfortunately, these experiments didn’t work out. It’s time to put them down.”
CHAPTER NINE
Cell, ABO Facility
Terror shoots through me but not for myself.
My life has been threatened more times than I have threatened other people’s.
And that’s a lot.
Yet for the first time, my bonded Omega’s life is on the line. And that hits different. It both stabs my heart and makes my bloodied heart beat with a protective fury so intense that I shake.
My gaze is locked on the warden’s finger, which rests on the shock switch.
Don’t.
Don’t.
Despite myself, I whine.
Mr. Baskerville’s hard gaze meets mine.
He’s going to do it. I’ve seen that look in the mirror.
Mr. Baskerville is a killer who is about to follow through on a mission. He has no mercy fornumbers.
“You know the drill,” Mr. Baskerville barks. “Step off the mattress.”
I shake my head.
“I could issue an Alpha Command. Then Omegas like you would have no option but to follow my order. You would have no control over yourself. Would you like that? Why are you trembling? Or how about this? I will call the Head Guard, then Mr. Greco will discipline Seventy-one, before he drags you both onto the floor. Sometimes, I prefer the simplest hands-on methods to execute Rogues.” Mr. Baskerville says it calmly like he’s not talking about murdering Bird and me. “It is up to you how messy this becomes.”
I don’t know if huddling on the mattress will save Bird and me from the full effects of the shock, but at least we won’t die.
