Page 72 of Shadowlands Omega

“Perhaps.”

“What did the fabric merchant say to you?”

“That…” I debate how honest to be with Yaron and decide to go withmostlyhonest. “That we should come here. That other villagers that have worked with Trash City in the past have come through here before.”

“There aremorefamilies that have worked with Trash City?” His fury reminds me why I went withmostlyhonest. If he was willing to burn down an entire church to kill my family for our involvement, I don’t doubt that he would burn this tavern down with twenty times as many people in it to condemn the tavern’s guilty owner.

“I don’t know for sure. I don’t know any myself. I didn’t even know my family was working with Trash City…ouch.” I glare at the burly male who just ran into me, sloshing beer on my arm. I’m about to tell him off when Yaron starts to turn. “Yaron…” I warn, lifting my hands to ensure he doesn’t decapitate the man for a little push and a little spill.

But Yaron is denied his chance for revenge when the unrepentant drunk man is yanked off of his feet and tossed towards the exit by my brother. He glares as the man totters into another couple. One of the two men that form the couple grabs the drunk before he can run them over. He pitches him further towards the exit, where he lands face down on his belly across the threshold.

My brother rolls his eyes and shakes his head. Yaron abruptly pushes me towards my brother. “Take her upstairs. I will join you shortly with keys to our rooms.”

“You don’t want me to handle this, my Lord?” Mara says.

“I think I can manage this simple task, Mara.”

She nods. “Of course.” And abruptly turns on her heel and starts towards the staircase. My brother and I follow.

The next level up is entirely exposed, rooms running along the walls of the inn, the center open and looking down on the boisterous crowd below. We continue to the third and final floor of the inn. Here, the world is almost as loud as it is downstairs given how thin the walls and floorboards are. A drunk man is salivating over what appears to be an equally drunk woman. I think they might actually be fucking against the far wall. My brother slaps his hands over my eyes and I fight him off, laughing. Meanwhile, Mara whistles incredibly loudly and is intimidating enough for the couple to stumble out of sight down the far hallway.

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving our Lord down there on his own,” Mara says, glancing over her shoulder at the staircase. “I’m going to check on him.”

I open my mouth to tell her that he’s easily the scariest creature in this place, but I decide against it and let her do her job. She disappears, leaving me alone with my brother for the first time all day. In weeks. Maybe, since we were ten years old and we decided to play a prank on Owenna that got us grounded for two weeks. Granted, being grounded didn’t have much weight. We just continued to perform the same humdrum tasks we’d done the previous day, only this time, we were forced to do them together. It was nice in its own way.

“What are you thinking about?” Cyprus says to me, leaning against the opposite wall. He’s smiling a little deviously in a way that’s so characteristicallyhim,I smile.

“That time we painted the inside of Owenna’s shoes with saffron oil.”

“Oh yeah.” Cyprus chuckles, “The soles of her feet were yellow for weeks.” I laugh with him, feeling light, feeling hopeful. I haven’t felt like this in so long the sensation has become foreign. “Mama and Papa were so mad at us. Saffron is so expensive.”

“And so is leather. They had to buy Owenna new shoes.”

“Not a problem foryounow.” He has atonethat Mama would whoop him for and that I don’t like at all. I kick his shoe — try to — but he evades my strike. I huff and lean back while he goes on, “And my guess, based on the way he looks at you, is that you won’t have that problem ever again.”

I feel warmth in my face when Cyprus lifts an eyebrow. “Stop that.”

He shakes his head and roughly rubs his face. “What did you do to him, Kia? Never seen a male so singularly focused on anyone. Maybe Papa was like that with Mama at the beginning. He’d do anything for her.”

His words should make me smile, but with Zanele’s words in my ear now, they don’t. I whisper, “Like work with Trash City.”

Cyprus frowns, getting a faraway look in his hazel eyes. Same eyes that Audet has. Same eyes as my father’s. “Yeah. Like that.”

I feel bad for ruining the moment and quickly grunt, “I didn’t do anything to him. It’s just the Omega bond. The pheromones are confusing him.” I know it’s a lie, but I’m certainly not about to delve into the details of whatever is happening between Yaron and I with my twin brother.

“It’s definitely not that. At least, it’s not all that. You did something to him, bewitched him with your feminine wiles.” He shrivels his nose in distaste and I laugh and lift my leg, pretending to kick him in the groin this time. He bats my foot out of the air.

“I didn’t do anything, I’m telling you.”

“You did. A Shadow Lord’s never taken a Lady before.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did. Think hard.”

“Well…”

“Yes?”

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