Page 15 of The Hive

“I haven’t emerged into a classification yet. So, I’m just an omega prospect.” Maybe he didn’t know how it worked here.

“Okay, omega. Why have you come to torment me?” He was staring at the vent again, and his gold-flecked green eyes stripped me bare.

Caught under his piercing gaze, I was barely able to contain the whimper clawing at my throat. I needed to pull myself together. I came here with a purpose, and I needed to get on with it. This wasn’t strictly what I was supposed to do, but maybe there was a way I could help more.

I swallowed my nerves and asked, “Are you Drone 4569?”

He kicked at a black shirt crumpled at the bottom of the bed, flipping the designation tag stamped on it toward the vent. Stitched in plain white lettering was D-4569. I already knew it was him, but the confirmation took my breath away. He was real, and this was happening.

My lips formed around his name, a name I had spoken a thousand times in my dreams but had no real memory of. “Lex…” I let the silence drag out, and he stood up and pulled his shirt on, quickly buttoning it up.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?” His commanding tone jarred me out of my reverie.

I bit my lip, considering the wisdom of sharing this with him. It was probably better to get it out of the way now, rather than waiting.

“My name is Saphyra, Omega Prospect 1571.” The words were rough, like being forced out over sandpaper. I didn’t know if that would mean anything to him, but for some reason, his opinion meant everything to me.

He strode closer to the vent, his eyes narrowing as he studied me through the thick metal grating. “What did you just call yourself?”

I cleared my throat and tried again. “Saphyra was my gift name. My nurse, Iris, gave it to me, but my designation is 1571.” Talking about it made me strangely self-conscious when addressing this figment of my imagination turned flesh.

He considered that for a moment, as if he was working out a complicated equation in his head. His eyes flashed up to meet mine through the mesh. “So, they found you, after all?” A smile tugged at his lips, revealing a dimple that triggered more memories of him as a small boy laughing as he ran through a stone palace. He was not that boy any longer. He was all alpha now.

Not waiting for an answer—not that I knew how to answer anyway—he continued on, “Do we have a plan of escape? We need to move quickly. I have a bad feeling about what they have planned for me in this cage.”

I didn’t know why he had a bad feeling, but I had one, too. It was pretty clear they were using drones to see omegas through their heat, and something about Lex doing so made my stomach tie up in knots. He was right, though. We needed to get him out of there as quickly as possible.

“We don’t have a plan. We didn’t know where you were until just now.”

His eyes closed, and he took a deep breath through his nose. “Fuck.” He ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. “There’s not much I can do from in here, but tell me what’s happening. Where are Axion and Valyx? What’s the situation like?”

I quickly explain about the decoys and our living arrangement, the security, the cameras, and the impending emergence of my classification. His expression shifted from amused to irritated, and finally to contemplative.

His voice dropped to a low murmur, and he casually adjusted his position to turn away from the cell’s monitoring device. Drones must talk to themselves all the time, but no reason to risk more than we already had.

“Okay, I may have an idea. This man, you mentioned, Grey. He has access to a blueprint of the station. There are tunnels under parts of it for moving cargo. The guard brought me through some on the way here, and I’ve heard grinding noises under my floor. I think they may connect through this area as well. You’ll need to confirm using the blueprints, but if we can find access to those cargo passages, they will lead to the bays where ships load and unload.”

That made sense, even though I hadn’t considered it until now. Supplies were transported in lifts that ran all over the station. There was a suspicion I wanted to check out too, but this was a good place to start. “I can find out. I’ll try to let you know, but you should be ready to go at all times, just in case.”

“I will be.”

I was reluctant to leave, but I had already spent too much time here. His warm scent clung to my skin, and when I slipped through the airlock and into the main duct, the blast of clean air was like a bucket of cold water. I made note of the plaque over the maintenance hatch indicating Lex’s room number and hurried back as quickly as I could.

Chapter Fifteen

Saphyra

The scramble through the vents seemed shorter on the way back, even after taking a wrong turn, but I made it. When I peeked out of the maintenance hatch in the medical bay, my decoys were waiting for me. Ghost got there first to help me down, but I could see Shadow’s dark eyes on me. Once I was on the ground and safe, both alphas backed away and kept their distance.

I looked between the two of them as an awkward silence fell on us. “What’s wrong?”

Shadow remained silent but Ghost replied, “Your scent. It’s changing.”

Warmth permeated my body as a hot blush rose to my cheeks. Well, this was embarrassing. I shouldn’t have stayed and watched that drone, Drax, and Revayah. Images of his glistening, slick-coated cock sent heat pooling between my legs again as I looked at the decoys in panic. “I’m sorry! I don’t know how to stop it.”

Both of the soldier’s nostrils flared, and their knuckles flexed as they fisted their hands at their sides.

“You can’t stop it, omega,” Shadow said.

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