Page 6 of Rivers and Roads

I blinked against the sun as we hit the street, still grateful I could feel it on my face after spending so long underground. Kor stepped closer to me as we hit the edge of the pavement, and I hesitated, my gaze fixed across the street at the little shop.

It took me a second, then I remembered what Cameron had said earlier. I had dinner with him and Talia more often than I didn’t, and it was nice. It felt as close to family as I was pretty sure I’d ever get, and there was something almost hopeful about being around a child—especially since there were so few now in Corland.

“Wait a sec. Cam asked me to invite you and Misha to dinner,” I told him, touching his arm to stop him before he stepped into the street. “Zane’s supposed to show up too.”

Kor hesitated. He liked Cameron, and had gotten to know him better, but I also knew the man was a stark reminder that Kor’s blindness was permanent. And it had been a year, but it wasn’t long enough for him to let go of the grief at how much had changed—and what he’d lost.

But I knew he liked Talia, and I could see something almost like relief in his expression when I made the offer. “Yeah. Misha would like that. He loves that kid.”

I grinned a little and shook my head. “Wants a litter now?”

Kor elbowed me in the ribs, hard enough to knock the wind out of me. “Not in this fuckin’ lifetime.”

I laughed again, and for a very brief moment, I was able to forget that I was standing on the precipice of shit hitting the biggest fan we had.

Kor’s living space felt like a minefield now that he needed everything a specific way—unmoved and unchanged. I wasn’t exactly nostalgic for our disgusting barracks, but it was a mark of how different everything had become since he returned from his capture.

But it didn’t help that I felt like I wasn’t allowed to relax and just exist in Kor’s home. Misha did his best not to over-step or over-compensate, but I could feel his eyes on me, like he was tracking everything I touched.

I knew part of my frustration with him was that he was human—or at least, closer to human than I was comfortable with. It wasn’t his fault of course, and I liked to think that even if his father hadn’t played God with his DNA, he would have sided with our cause. But it went against every atom in my body to trust him. It was a mark of how far we still had to go, even if we managed to put a stop to the governments’ experiments.

And I wasn’t sure I’d ever get over what the humans had done to people I cared about.

But I was trying, and I wasn’t going to stop trying. I offered Misha a small grin, and he returned the greeting with a nod as he stepped aside so Kor could head to the bedroom to get ready. I followed the Omega into the kitchen with the bags, but as I started to unpack them, his hand clamped around my wrist.

Our gazes met, and there was a moment where I felt the urge to shove him to his knees for the disrespect. It passed as quickly as it started, but I couldn’t hide from the guilt that surfaced after my breathing returned to normal.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

Misha drew his hand away and shook his head. “I shouldn’t have…I just.” He cleared his throat. “I have to label everything before stuff can get put away.”

Something else I didn’t think about, because I wasn’t forced to live that way, and I had long-since stopped spending time at Kor’s after it was obvious he and the human couldn’t keep their hands off each other for longer than a few minutes. I didn’t mind—I wasn’t about to begrudge my best friend any second of pleasure he wanted to take. But it only served to remind me that I was alone, and that the only time I had given my heart to anyone, I was betrayed.

“Do you want to help?” he asked.

It was an olive branch, but I wasn’t in the mood to take it. “You go ahead. I’ll uh…I’ll watch.”

Misha raised a brow, but he didn’t argue as he pulled out a small sheet of stickers and a black electronic pen. I watched as he added the stickers to the top of each item, then quietly spoke the label into the speaker at the top before putting them on the shelf or in the fridge.

“Did Cameron convince you to invite us over tonight?” Misha asked, his voice nudging into my thoughts.

I glanced over at him and probably couldn’t hide the guilt from my face. “Not exactly. He just suggested it.” He hadn’t needed to talk me into it. I was reluctant, but I was trying to be better—and not just for Kor’s sake. I wanted to find it in me to like Misha on his own. “I figured you’d want to see that kid again.”

Misha laughed quietly as he arranged the vegetables in their little crisper. “That kid. Not a fan?”

With a small scoff, I pulled out a kitchen chair and eased down, kicking my leg up onto the other one. “Not something I really wanted to get involved in. I didn’t really think I’d live long enough, anyway.”

Misha hummed softly, shutting the fridge door. Before he could say anything else, Kor appeared in the doorway. “You two in here?”

Reaching out, Misha touched his wrist, and Kor moved into his orbit. “Just finished putting the food away. You all set? Talia sent me a message and said we can head over whenever we’re ready.”

Kor’s head turned in my direction. “You need anything before we head out?”

Shaking my head, I pushed to my feet. “Nah. Though… Did she say anything about Zane?”

Misha’s brow furrowed as he grabbed his keys off the counter, then moved back to Kor’s side. “No, why? Is he having a bad night?”

“He’s missing,” I said.

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