Page 91 of Mercy & Her Devils

Antonio’s laid out in a forest glade with his head pillowed in Kai’s lap. He’s squinting at the camera in what appears to be the summer sun and laughing. He looks like a self-satisfied cat.

I flush, when I see that Kai is stripped to only his trousers. His chest is muscled, defined, and fucking magnificent.

His hand is resting possessively on Antonio’s head.

Gabriel must have taken the picture.

The two men look happy together. I love that Gabriel has that.

But then, why is he banished to this lonely bedroom by himself?

Why does it only smell of him and not his other pack mates?

Underneath the photograph on the bedside table is a single item: a jeweled dragon.

The dragon is beautiful and made out of rubies for its scales and aquamarine gems for its fierce eyes.

I stroke my finger over its head.

It sort of looks like me.

How much is this worth?

I glance over my shoulder at Gabriel. “Still believe in dragons, Gabe?”

Finally, Gabriel stops pacing. “Something like that.”

He tilts his head like he’s analyzing how to move me as a piece in a chess game. “Were you trying to help me? Did you rebel and end up suffering the agony of the broken bond because of what you found in that file?”

I freeze.

What do I say?

I can see the guilt already worming into Gabriel’s mind.

I shake my head. “I’d been working up to the decision for a long time; I just hadn’t fully known it until that moment. I couldn’t continue to be matched to the man who ran the Institute. I rebelled to fight for all Omegas. I needed to fly free myself as well because Fletcher thought that he was protecting me by keeping me inside his house but he wasn’t. I couldn’t live like that. It was breaking me by a thousand tiny cracks, one more every day. Seeing you in that file was just…”

“Just what?” Gabriel’s voice is tight. “Why the Sheriff decided to do the most barbaric thing that he could to you? He hoped to hide you, so that no one would find out about his monumental security breach and incompetence. He had various options. Firstly, he could watch and see if you slipped into a coma or lost your memory as a side effect. If you didn’t, then the type of pack who he sold you to would never listen to anything that you told them, even if they gave you permission to speak. He made certain of that. This man has been hunting me for long enough. I know how he thinks.”

“And I was bonded to him,” I reply. “So do I.”

“He’s a bloody coward.” Gabriel’s eyes darken.

Except, he doesn’t know that Fletcher cried.

Fletcher is many things but he thought that he was saving my life.

Gabriel needs to understand.

“He could have handed me over to the authorities.” I rub my finger over the dragon’s smooth head to soothe myself. “I would have been executed.”

Gabriel draws in a sharp breath. “They don’t do that to Omegas.”

I rush to Gabriel because I need him to hear me on this.

I grip his chin like I would when we were younger. Now, he’s so much taller than me, I need to stand on tiptoes.

“You weren’t in the Institute. I was. And you didn’t see the fear on Fletcher’s face. The more that Omegas stand up and demand to have their voices heard, the more that the authorities toughen their stance to silence us.”

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