Page 27 of Of Daggers and Deceit

A glow to the left of my vision snagged my attention, and I shifted my head towards it. I spied the box containing the cuffs to the side of me softly glowing at the seams, and I instinctively reached out towards it, lifting the lid to look inside.

Only when you earn it.

Both cuffs lay nestled in the same position I had left them, though they were ever so softly glowing. I blinked my eyes repeatedly, widening them to clarify it wasn’t a trick of the light. But by the time I focused on them, reaching out to inspect them, the light was gone, and they lay exactly the same as when they had been gifted to me.

I tried again, lifting and turning them over in confusion.

Only when you need it.

I didn’t know what I had truly seen, whether true or a trick of the light or still feeling hazy from sleep.

But as I set the cuff back in the box, I knew that any of those options could be true. If I could portal through space and time, then glowing cuffs were hardly far-fetched.

The problem with the possibility of glowing jewellery lay in the unknown of why and what it meant, and that was just something I didn’t want to deal with amongst the other chaos of my life. So, I shoved the box closed and turned my back on it, closing my eyes to the possibility.

RAYA

Iscanned from the floor to the roof of the worn building ahead of me that stood sentinel in the middle of the desert wasteland before inhaling a nervous breath. The only people who had ever seen the inside of it were guards or our defence, and many had only spied it from a distance. It wasn’t like there was any reason for an Alpha to be seen wandering this close to our shield.

But I’d been close enough times to feel nervous about finally seeing what went on behind those thick sandstone walls that seemed to blend so seamlessly with the landscape. Tired, worn, but strong. A fair representation of the Alphas who trained within it to defend us.

Now, it was my turn.

Today would mark a first for both myself and this building. It would be the first day someone like me would be invited inside its walls, and I would be lying if I said I was feeling confident about it.

The only gifted defence.

The air around me felt thick from the humidity as the afternoon sun blazed down, more unforgiving than usual. My body scrambled, working overtime to cool itself as every inch of my exposed skin glistened with sweat, adding to an already shitty day.

I didn’t want to be here. No one did. But I didn’t have the liberty of a choice.

I took a deep breath in. This is it, Raya.

I lifted my foot to take my first step towards my fate, but a hand gripped my forearm painfully before wrenching me back.

Asshole.

I had done my best to tune him out the entirety of the trek here, and I’d say I was successful in forgetting about the guards’ presence. They were an unfortunate early wake-up call I couldn’t run from. Zander hadn’t trusted that I would participate and follow through with his commands, and therefore, he gave me an escort.

“We are not done,” the guard growled, and I turned towards him in both anger and confusion.

“I am doing what I was asked!”

The second guard pulled something thick out of his satchel, drawing my brows together in suspicion. The black lid flapped open to reveal what looked like medical equipment. What the? My frown deepened.

“We are not done,” the first guard repeated. “You will now be coded to our system for tracking.”

My brows rose in exasperation. “Tracking? There was no mention of tracking at my meeting with Zander—I mean, the Supreme.”

The guard’s lip curled back. “Got something to hide, Defective?”

I opened my mouth and closed it, clenching my teeth tightly together before shaking my head. It was no use. It’s not like we could go anywhere with a shield enclosing our city.

The other Omega holding the offending object, which I now recognised as a thick needle, stepped forward, his eyes kind and reassuring. “It will hurt less if you don’t resist,” he offered, but I pursed my lips. This was far less freedom than I’d bartered for. Still, I would trade it for my mother’s life.

The asshole of the pair gripped my arm tightly. “You deserve much worse. I know what your kind is like.”

I blinked profusely at him. My kind? There were none of my kind here, and I had only ever been giving, kind even. My eyes watered from the body odour that floated up off his clothing, his forehead dripping with sweat. I wouldn’t give him the gift of a reply.

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