Page 9 of Of Daggers and Deceit

But I couldn’t promise him I would stop trying to get her out.

My gaze searched frantically around the area, for a sign of anything or anyone who might be helpful, but I came up short. There was nothing except for Alphas hovering and guards lingering, dusty pathways and a few streetlights with benches beneath them scattered in and around the houses. There were no plants to hide in unless you ventured further near the cliffs, where a few stray grasses managed to survive. I looked at the tall rose hedge behind her, the same hedge that circled the Inner Ring, shielding its residents from the impurity of our Outer Ring.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Bodhi whispered, causing a shudder to work its way up my body. “Even though he does not rely on technology to monitor this city, Raya, this area is too exposed. They will take away every freedom you have left if they find out you are no longer so defective, that you can wield your gift with precision now.”

My muscles tightened in response. Only Bodhi, Riley, and my mother knew I had more control over my gift. I was no longer the defective this city believed me to be.

“I need to do something. I cannot leave her,” I murmured to him quietly, and I felt his muscles go rigid behind me.

“I told you I will protect her.”

“The defence has never saved a single Omega from being taken from the Haven, and they always take someone with the highest security this city offers from the Inner Ring. What do you think will happen to someone so exposed?” My whispers were now harsh and hurried, the frustration and helplessness I felt seeping into my tone.

He flinched. I hadn’t meant to be so brutal, but it was the truth.

“She means a lot to me too, Raya. I will die trying to protect her,” he replied, his voice low and quiet. A strange uncomfortable sensation moved into my chest at his declaration.

“As will I.” My thumb twiddled with the ring on my forefinger nervously, my gaze still fastened on her.

“No, Raya. I need you both safe. I will protect her. For once, I ask you to have faith in me.” He became more insistent this time as guards took their positions on either side of my mum, the watching crowd beginning to draw closer to the spectacle. We waited for their announcement, her crime, as a single guard stepped forward.

“Let this be your notice. Assisting family members of criminals who are serving punishment will not be tolerated. If you are caught offering assistance in any capacity, you will serve double the punishment of the offender.” He cast his arm out towards my mum, and cries of outrage came from the crowd.

I frowned in confusion. This had never been a law in our city.

“They are only children. There is no mother and they needed food!” someone screamed, and the guard’s gaze darted to find the origin of the voice with a glare that could have cut deeper than a blade. Immediately, the crowd quietened. She gave the little girls food?

My mouth fell open in shock. We had always assisted with food in the days after a family member’s crime, and it had been tolerated for children.

“The laws have been updated as of today. Omni has decreed it.” The guards didn’t bother to await a reply, instead leaving through the gate to the Inner Ring, save for the two who remained to stand by the two bodies in chains. Alphas turned and strode away, their heads lowered to the ground with the enforcement of a new rule, one I didn’t truly want to acknowledge, as it tightened the leash we were already trying to live on.

I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off them.

Two criminals kneeled side by side, one in a cage and one more familiar to me: my Mum, who was completely exposed. The Alpha who had already served a couple of days of his sentence also had his head lifted, his chin up, though his body looked tired. As if my mother’s crime had renewed him.

The huge spotlights switched off, casting Bodhi and me into darkness. We weren’t allowed to speak to those serving their sentence, nor to give them food or water. That was our Supreme’s command, which I usually obeyed.

Usually.

But this time, I had no choice. My mother’s life depended on it.

“When did Riley say she would visit next?” I asked as Bodhi took my hand and pulled me along to our house, with only a single look back to my mother’s kneeling form. The fear inside me was suffocating, and the only thing that allowed me to turn away from her was the thought that I was willing to do whatever I could to get her out of there.

“She said she didn’t know, as it depended on the Supreme.”

I gritted my jaw. Everything always depended on our Supreme. Riley wouldn’t want our mum in chains either, and I was prepared to do many terrible things to ensure my mother wasn’t left kneeling there on the night our shield thinned.

Bodhi’s hand flexed against mine when I tried to pull my own from his grip, only for him to clench his fingers tighter, preventing me from doing so. I frowned down at it.

“Can I have my hand back?” I demanded as I tried to pull out of his grip for the second time.

He turned towards me and shot me a mischievous grin, lifting my hand towards his lips and kissing it delicately. For a single moment, he had me stupefied, and I froze. He had this capacity to make you forget things with his easy-going nature and his charm. I couldn’t help but watch it as every thought blanked from my mind in shock.

“No,” he stated. I had no choice in the matter.

Then, he turned back ahead and dragged me along behind him as my mouth flapped open and closed a few times. He was getting under my skin on purpose because he knew how uncomfortable I could be about anything to do with romance. We truly didn’t see many romantic displays at all in our community, though there were always whispers.

I stumbled along beside him as he pulled me into the house and locked the door behind us, pulling me up the stairs towards his bedroom. My stomach fluttered nervously at the sight of it, so I pushed my feet into the floor and bent backwards, pulling in the opposite direction to give some resistance. There was no way I was going in there with him. “I’m not staying with you. What is wrong with you? I have my own bed.”

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