Page 55 of Of Daggers and Deceit

I portaled us high into the air off the cliff face, ensuring my body landed on top of his briefly, his back to the ground as we fell. The last thing he would see before he died would be me, the Gifted he betrayed. The female he mistook for weak.

I drove two extra blades straight through his chest, his eyes now open with shock. His breathing was haggard and raw, and I could vaguely hear the yells from the others echoing across the field. I shoved him downward as he flailed and clawed at me, leaping upward from his body with a dark ferocity I hadn’t known I possessed.

I portaled away quickly, mere feet from the ground, knowing his fate was certain, back to the spot high up in the cliffs where I had the best view of the expanse, ready to find that other asshole, Silver.

But the moment I materialised, every muscle in my body spasmed as electrical currents ran through my body, stemming from the tracker in my neck. Wave after wave pulsed through my rigid body, rendering me unable to respond, unable to fight as manic laughter sounded behind me.

Victim to the agonising currents, I watched on below as Alphas from the Haven were subject to this horror, their bodies writhing in pain. The Dominants faltered briefly in confusion before seizing the opportunity, smashing my teammates to the ground with brutality before breaching our city and disappearing from view. I hadn’t noticed more had funnelled through our shield.

I screamed as my knees gave out in a moment of relief, involuntary tears streaming from my eyes as two unrecognisable Dominants carried the limp body of Jakari back through the veil to the other side. I hoped that, at the very least, he was dead.

Every Alpha from the Haven lay unconscious on the field, my body still tingling and barely responsive to the onslaught of moments ago. I heaved in lungfuls of air, falling to lean against a rock, now weak and depleted, to face the likely culprit behind me.

With shaky, unsteady hands, I unsheathed the last blade from my suit, turning my head to the darkness behind me, waiting for the offender to emerge.

I had barely any energy left in me, but I would fight, right up until the very end, even if my blade lay lazily on my leg, my hand barely able to hold it upright.

A rock kicked towards me from the darkness as slow, agonising seconds passed with no further movement. Adrenaline coursed through my system, desperate to give whatever energy it could to prepare myself for what was imminent.

Finally, a figure emerged.

“Well, that went better than expected.” I tensed, unbelieving of who stood before me, of who was out on the night of the thinning.

My expression mirrored Jakari’s mere moments before as I took in the Benefactor standing with a control in his hand, proudly assessing the field below with a triumphant smile.

My brows pulled together in a frown, confusion lacing my system.

I didn’t know what was happening, not the why or the how.

The only thing certain right now was that I was going to fail. Omegas were going to be taken because of this. I was going to lose the small protection my family had received because I couldn’t maintain what I’d said I would. Worry tightened my chest alongside the confusion that bubbled beneath it. No Benefactor had ever been outside of the Inner Ring, let alone to the expanse on a normal day, and never on a night as dangerous as tonight.

But still, there he stood, with a satisfied smile on his face as, slowly, he lowered his gaze to mine to take me in with a tip of his head. “I believe I deserve a reward for risking my life to come out on a night like tonight, don’t you think?”

My insides burned. I could barely think.

He surged forward with no care for what was happening below, no care for Omegas lost. My grip tightened on the blade I managed to lift towards him.

Unfazed, he pressed a button on the remote, and my body locked up again, smaller currents rippling through my limbs as he kneeled before me, trailing his clammy hands up my thighs. Every muscle strained, and I screamed inside my head. Move. Move. Move.

“This is a new technology Ace. It’s working well. It’s like an electric shock to the body, one only you can feel, and even when I touch you, I cannot.” He laughed in awe, his hands sliding higher.

A small, fearful whimper escaped me, my body unable to act, entirely at the mercy of the wicked Benefactor before me.

“You know, your mother has been promised to me,” he began, his hot breath blowing on the skin of my neck. “Not as my wife, of course. Not when she is a sympathiser. Still, she will serve me—in any way that I want.”

I choked, fear paralysing me. His hands wrapped around the back of my trembling body, squeezing the globes of my ass painfully. Pressure and pain were all I felt. Everywhere. Nausea bubbled inside me, and the desire to throw up heightened.

“But I need to make sure she will be good enough for the job. I have certain… needs that must be met, and they do say that a daughter is much like her mother. So, who better to show me than the Ace of the Haven? We have wondered whether your cunt is Gifted like you.”

Filthy lips sucked on my neck as my breaths came out in a terrified pant. I could feel the veins in my neck protruding from the torture lancing my body. I was going to die like this.

He pressed the button again, and it stopped, blissfully, even if momentarily, though my muscles continued to spasm.

My power flickered in and out with my panic, unable to grip it to move, even though I tried again and again.

“The Haven is advancing now. Not even Gifted like yourself or your father will ever be a threat again. You will all learn to serve. So be a good girl, Ace, and show me how well you will serve,” he murmured, his rough hands jerking me right up against his crotch.

My father was alive?

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