Page 24 of Of Daggers and Deceit

“You are never alone at night,” he tossed casually as he bent to scoop the last pieces of glass up off the floor to throw in the bin.

“I am,” I replied steadily, and he laughed again and shook his head, forcing a small confused smile from my lips.

“I don’t think so, and I would know because I assign the guards to you.” The smile fell from my lips then. I hadn’t known.

Sly managed to catch the change, confirmed by the words that spilled from his lips, “I knew you wouldn’t like it. That’s why I assigned myself to you most of the time. Zander approves and,” he paused, moving towards me with that same mischievous grin of his, “I know you adore my company.”

I scoffed, the weird tension in my chest easing. “Hardly.”

His face beamed at my reply as laughter bubbled out of me. “Hmm…but you will. Perhaps you’ll even come to crave it.”

He began to slowly circle me in perusal as I tracked his every step, shifting my body towards him, never allowing my eyes to leave him. What is his problem?

“Why didn’t you come and meet me?” he asked quietly.

There was so much to lose. The price of lying to Zander was too great. And why would this Omega, who I barely knew, want to help me?

“What do you gain by me doing so?” I retorted, and he ran his hand through his slightly ruffled black hair.

“That’s a difficult question to answer,” he replied, his feet coming to a stop directly in front of me as our eyes locked. Was this another test?

“Everyone always wants something. You expect me to trust you when you admit you can’t answer the question.” My chin lifted, annoyed that he expected so much from me for little in return.

“I said that it was a difficult question to answer. I didn’t say I wouldn’t.”

I remained silent, an encouragement for him to give me something to grab onto. His expression lost its mischief and instead turned earnest. “Truthfully, I would hope to lose some of the regret that continues to haunt me for my lack of action, where I didn’t do enough for someone who reminds me so much of you.”

“Who?” If I regretted anything, it was that single question, because the moment it left my tongue, his face pinched and then smoothed.

“Someone who felt trapped in a life she hadn’t truly created. I see so much of her in you, trying to fit in and be the person another expected her to be. But it never ends well. It didn’t end well.”

“I’m sorry.” My head dropped to the floor, ashamed of pushing him as his voice cracked near the end.

“It was a long time ago now,” he replied softly, “But I see an opportunity here with the power I have to give you a little more freedom than you have right now.”

My throat began to close again, though he didn’t intend it. He was admitting that I was simply a symbol of the Haven and not much more. Those rough fingers touched ever so gently beneath my chin as he lifted my head upward. It was strange having someone else mirror a movement Zander so often prompted of me, even stranger that it seemed warmer and less critical.

His expression was serene, almost melancholic, as I inhaled his almost oceanic scent that was as warm and inviting as the sea breeze on a balmy day. It sparked a pleasurable memory I had experienced only once on a media day for the debut of a newly built boat for our fishery.

“The price may be steep, Sly,” I whispered, and I had no idea why there was this thick tension suddenly between us. Was I going to do this? Or would I test him in return and find out for myself where he was honest?

He didn’t smile, didn’t jest as he had done in our previous engagement. He simply nodded in acknowledgement.

“Perhaps, if he finds out what I offer you. But not even you know that yet, and it’s not like I am planning a revolution. So, if you want to know what it is, what your life could be like with more control, you will have to take a leap of faith and meet me in the garden as you said you would.”

He took my hand in his again, his thumb caressing the back of my palm in reassurance, settling something deep inside me. I didn’t bat him away this time. Instead, I focused on it, relishing it, because everything about this shared moment seemed more real than anything I had ever experienced with Zander. Somehow, it chased away the loneliness I had been feeling earlier, replacing it with something that felt a bit more like hope. Perhaps Sly was Omni’s answer to my earlier prayers, and his offer was the first step towards solving the problem that seemed to plague me.

I pursed my lips in contemplation, my hand dropping back to my side.

There was only one question that remained as we stood together in my and Zander’s home.

Would I dare take that treacherous leap to find out?

RAYA

“What have you done, Raya?” My mum’s voice was the first to reach me as I stepped a weary foot through my front door.

She was standing near the doorway, her sand-coated arms crossed in front of her dirtied dress, her hair unkempt as her vibrant, knowing eyes cast over me.

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