Page 84 of Of Daggers and Deceit

I forced myself to swallow the bile coming up. I hadn’t known.

“The thing is, Raya, my whole world revolves around you.” He lifted his arms up and dropped them. “My entire world. But it’s quite obvious to me now that I am just a tiny blip in your existence. Too insignificant to be truthful towards. My opinion is clearly not valued, given you are quite happy to make decisions on my behalf.”

“That’s not fair, Bodhi. I was told not to tell you to protect you!” My voice gained strength; he was wrong about that. I cared too much, and it was what drove every decision I’d ever made.

He paused when I spoke, contemplating what I’d said, which surprised me.

“We have to leave, Bo,” I reasoned. “Now more than ever, because I need to get her back. There is no life for us here. It’s a cage.”

His expression hardened again. “She is gone, Raya, as is every other Omega who has ever been taken, never to be seen again. Tia would want us to protect those who remain here, to honour her memory, and I intend to do just that.”

“And what if I leave to get her back? What if I don’t accept that she is gone forever?”

I was shocked by my own words. Could I find her? I must. I could. I would prove to them I was worthy and fix everything.

Bodhi picked his stuff up and moved out of the living room towards the front door. The quiet words that followed signified the end of whatever had been blooming between us.

“You will not get her back, Raya, and I will not follow you if you try.”

He yanked the door open and slammed it shut behind him with finality, not a single glance back towards me as my face crumpled and my legs gave out in devastation.

RILEY

“My love.”

I lifted my head towards Zander, who was standing in my bedroom doorway, perfectly styled and effortless as always as he moved in closer to sit on the edge of my bed, his lips drawn down.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my hand reaching out to take his on instinct as a small spike of fear rose inside me. I hadn’t left my room at all last night. I had been quiet, keeping to the apartment since his address. What could possibly be wrong?

He looked at me sadly.

“I’m so sorry.” My expression changed, my brows pulling together.

“For what?”

He lifted my hand and kissed it, my anticipation rising.

“Your mother…” He paused, looking toward the ground. I knew when he couldn’t look me in the eye what he was trying to say to me. I clenched my teeth together, blinking rapidly so the tears would not come. My chest rose and fell rapidly as I waited for him to finish, my lips rolling into my mouth.

I would not cry.

“She was taken, along with another.”

A pained sound escaped me, but I fought for restraint. I could never show weakness, though my gut twisted tight.

“You’re allowed to cry, my sweet Rose.” He lifted his hand to gently cup my face, and I leaned into his touch for comfort, allowing him to pull me close to his chest. I nestled into him, seeking some sort of warmth. I didn’t have any fight within me. I felt defeated and deflated. Hopeless.

It was my mother who once told me I could change the world, and as a child, I believed her. I still believed her. I’d promised her I would change this city, motivated by our own experiences to change things for the better. It was why I persisted with this. Why did everything feel impossible with her now gone?

I’d failed to protect them. My mind succumbed to the negative thoughts of my failure, descending further into a dark pit of despair.

I didn’t know exactly how long he’d held me, only that a knock came at the door sometime later that disrupted the darkness inside me, and we both turned towards it.

Sly.

I cursed my situation internally as I caught the slight twitch in his jaw when Zander’s fingers raked across my thigh. This was wrong. I was hurting him.

I hated myself more in this moment.

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