Page 53 of Of Daggers and Deceit

I spied the spot where Klarissa and Bohdi were paired tonight at the furthest point in the field as the last port of call. Her idea, apparently. I almost scoffed aloud when she’d shared the plan, given that I had been the only defence member left standing last week and the only member in our history to have ever saved an Omega.

Instead, I swallowed it down and agreed with the others that it was the best thing to do. Still, there was that same annoying, niggling sensation inside of me that felt a lot like jealousy. I swallowed that feeling down too.

The familiar vibration in the ground pulled me out of my rambling thoughts, my gaze drawn towards and locked onto the shield. Sand jostled around me, and I hunkered lower to steady myself, awaiting their first move.

Apple and Hayden were the first Alphas assigned to the initial confrontation, a tag team to keep some of them busy, hoping to draw Silver out.

I held my breath in anticipation, my heartbeat increasing alongside my rapid, short breaths. My body buzzed, the shifting sand beneath me growing uncomfortable, forcing me to plunge my fingers into it to regain my balance as the entirety of our team waited for the terror that was to come.

It was then I saw it.

A single leg, clad in black, pushing through the veil slowly, carefully, followed by the rest of the first trespasser.

Silver.

Who was followed by the bigger Dominant I now knew to be Raid, as casual and unhurried as always, followed by a third member—one I couldn’t make out from this distance, someone unrecognisable, with their back arrogantly turned to the desert.

Time ticked over, and no one followed. I frowned and wet my lips, focused.

Only three?

We didn’t move, not even when they took a few easy steps forward to stand side by side.

I waited with bated breath, my fingers clawing impatiently deeper into the sand.

None of them moved.

I stepped in a crouch to the side, peering behind their forms towards the opening, waiting for others to join them. The brunette female. The Hawk. Anyone else at all.

But there was…no one.

It was then that I concentrated back on their trio, the third figure now facing ahead sparking a sense of familiarity: tan skin, sandy brown hair, and hard eyes that surveyed the expanse.

My skin prickled in awareness. No. It couldn’t be him. I hadn’t actually believed he would dare come back.

I faltered for a brief moment. I couldn’t entirely see the colour of those eyes, but I would know him anywhere if I saw them.

My heart rate kicked up with a jolt, my eyes narrowing in on my target. Omni may have gifted me a single chance to get my revenge whilst achieving my goal.

I doubt he would have expected me to ever join the defence, to become a warrior the way I did. No longer was I the weak, timid girl that he had so carelessly tossed aside.

I would destroy him for all his sins, past and current—not only for me, but for the city of the Haven and the Omegas who are long lost.

My attention barely registered the shifting sand in my periphery, noting that Hayden was moving ahead as planned, effortlessly sliding across the sand towards them. Apple was working from the other end to meet at the feet of the intruders.

But I was so transfixed on the familiar male, stabbing into his deceitful skin from afar.

Jakari.

This was simply an opportunity I couldn’t miss. In taking it, I would help. I would show Bohdi my talent wasn’t wasted. I would show Klarissa I was strong, and I would prove to that smug, deceitful Dominant I was not the scared little Gifted he once knew.

But mostly, I would avenge myself and the Haven and every family in this city whose lives he had destroyed through abduction.

I blurred forward, my sight set on my target, materializing right at his side, to his shock. It only took a fraction of a second for me to confirm it was him as those mossy green eyes landed on me. I gripped his shoulder as hard as I could and yanked him back, portaling us directly to the place where it all began, right on the crevice of our favourite cliff.

I dumped him straight down and portaled backwards, watching him try to orient himself, swaying and staring at the ground.

“Nice to see you again, Jakari.” It was both truth and a lie in this bittersweet meeting. My heart remembered our time together, but my brain reminded me what it had become. I trailed down his body in disgust.

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