Page 56 of Shattered Omega

I took a breath, steadying myself as I set the knife back down on the side table.

I hadn’t needed it. Just her.

I would protect her.

No matter what happened, she would be safe. Dusk was the first line of defence, but I was the last.

SHATTER

“What is it I can help you with?”

Uncle sat behind his desk in a formal posture with fingers clasped, as calm as ever yet there was a look on his face that hadn’t gone away since the first moment he’d laid eyes on me.

I was sure he’d believed I was dead.

I was still reeling from stepping back into this place, a thousand memories flooding back. Memories that weren’t memories, but instead an unidentifiable smudge of time.

A nightmare.

And everything in this place was the same.

From the pristine cream foyer, marble floor, and giant crystal chandelier hanging overhead, to the spiral staircase that led up to his office. In here it still smelled faintly of his autumn scent, the bookshelves were the same, and I sat on one of his comfy, oversized, reclining chairs that were so familiar to me.

The smell of a wood burning fire permeated the room, his hearth alight.

Roxy was waiting downstairs in the foyer, being the best friend in the world and never asking a question—not even at the shock on Uncle’s face as he’d caught sight of the dark bond on my neck.

“I need to know what happened in the facility I came from before the Institute took over.”

“That wasn’t anything I was involved with,” he said, face paling ever so slightly.

“You must know something about it.”

He took his time replying to that, considering me. “If I did know anything, I would be wise to keep quiet about it. The people involved with those sorts of?—”

“My mates.” I took a breath, daring myself on and praying I wasn’t making a huge mistake. “My mates were in those trials.”

Uncle froze, eyes widening. “You claimed your mates were?—”

“The Lincoln pack. I… I thought they were. I need your help, and for that, I’m going to tell you some things.” I anxiously drew out the papers I’d brought. I could memorise lines like this easily, but when I was nervous… Well, it was better to have it here. “You can’t tell anyone else—and you have to swear you won’t or I’ll… I’ll tell the Institute that you lied to them about me. I saw my files,” I pushed on, not daring to look up at him. “You told them that I died in your care.”

It was something that surprised me in the file that Dusk had been given by Decebal, the one about me—though I’d dared not bring that particular piece.

“I rather thought you might be grateful,” Uncle said. “The Institute is relentless. There was no other way to truly guarantee your freedom.”

I swallowed, fingers holding the files tight.

It wasn’t the only thing he had done. I’d known before I left, something I’d been told by Aunty Lauren, but scouring his letters to the Institute had confirmed it.

He’d never once given them my chosen name.

To them, I was Subject One, and I had never been anything else.

And he was right. Now, I was going to use that against him, but I didn’t have a choice.

“If they find out you lied about that, you’ll be in huge trouble. I-I looked it up.” I lifted the file I was holding, trying to keep my voice steady. “They classified me as a… Phantom Anomaly.” I worked to stop my words from tripping over themselves. “It says, ‘Impeding the Institute’s efforts in the surveillance, apprehension, or detention of entities of a Phantom Anomaly classification or higher is considered a national security threat, punishable by…” I cleared my throat, pushing on. “By indefinite confinement in a secure facility, as per Article 42, Subsection 3C of the Civic Safety and Unknown Arkologic Entities Act, enforced by the Containment and Supervision of Biohazardous Entities branch of the GPRE.’”

I finished in a rush, and there was a long silence as I set the paper down, daring to look back up at him.

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