Page 26 of Of Daggers and Deceit

“Your dad told me I could only give these to you when I felt it was the right time—when you both needed them and had earned them. I don’t really know what he meant by earned them, given what they are, but still, I will always honour his wishes, so I have waited.” She held out the box towards me, her eyes glistening again as she smiled brightly. “I can’t think of any more appropriate time than now.”

I stared down at it, somewhat afraid to touch another item of my dad’s. Or ruin it. Or lose it. It seemed safer in her hands. But my mum was intuitive, seeming to sense my hesitation. She lifted it towards me, a look of pride on her face. A bigger part of me didn’t want to turn away from it or disappoint her. I wasn’t as naïve as I once was.

Slowly, I reached out to take the old navy box from her hands, gently removing the lid.

Nestled inside the box sat two beautiful golden cuffs. What the? When I both needed and earned them. Jewellery, though?

My mum watched me as I carefully lifted one from the box to inspect it. Simple but beautiful, and surprisingly lightweight. I had always enjoyed jewellery, but I never needed it. I lifted the other cuff for inspection, same as the first.

Though grateful, I knew I would cherish these simply because they were from my dad. Still, I felt confused.

“I had to earn these and supposedly need them?” I asked as my mum simply laughed at my puzzled expression.

“I thought the same thing when I saw them,” she replied before her attention caught on the jewellery with a frown. “But, knowing your father, I believe there is more than meets the eye.”

My expression mirrored hers as I stared down at them, my lips twitching back and forth.

“Thank you,” I breathed as I stumbled forward, wrapping her in my arms with a tight squeeze that she returned.

“No, sweet girl. Thank you.” Her voice was muffled as I crushed her into my chest, but I heard it all the same, just as much as I felt the ferocity of her love for me. I was glad to have gained my fire from her.

After several minutes, we finally released each other and headed off towards our respective rooms with a final goodnight to the other.

With my mind now occupied solely on the gift from my father, my fingers no longer have that same itch to draw and colour, to escape. Instead, a deep fatigue set in as I set the cuffs to rest on my bedside table and fall down onto my bed, sleep claiming me almost instantly.

“Hello, darlin’. You’re the last stop on this trip.” A wild, wicked grin looms towards me from the dark.

Fear paralyses my limbs at the sound of his voice, my head darting left and right, desperate to find Jakari. Where is he? He promised to meet me.

The dominant before me steps closer, his face dark with a promise of pain.

“I-I-I’m not an omega,” I stammer, stepping backwards until my back hits stone.

His lips lift mockingly. “So I’ve heard,” he begins. “But I’m not here for you. I’m only here for those precious journals in your bag. We’ve been looking for them for some time now.”

Dread blooms in my gut. Not those. It’s all I have of him.

Still frozen, I manage to grit out a single word. “No.”

“No?” he questions, one eyebrow raised as he begins to move towards me. “You seem to think I was asking. No, darlin’, I’m very much taking them. Jakari has requested them, and what that Dominant wants, he gets.”

Grief and fear war in my gut, my body shaking against the hard rock behind me.

No. No. No.

I slam my head repeatedly against the rock at my back. It’s just a dream.

But the Dominant steps closer. My hands tighten on my father’s journals. It’s just a dream.

Wake up, Raya.

Wake up.

The smell of smoke wafts off him, filling my nose with its awful stench. Fear spikes in my chest. I pull forward in desperation and slam my head a final time against the stone at my back, a final attempt to wake up from this horror.

I lurched up from my bed, gasping for air as I swiped at the hair plastered to my forehead with sweat. The full moon beamed in, steady and sure, illuminating the space around me, seemingly enhancing all the shadows within my room. Including my own it seems.

I focused on quieting my breathing again and steadying my erratic heart. I hated that night, resented Jakari even more, but I couldn’t change it.

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