Page 213 of Unhinged Omega

still connected

still mine

she reaches up

strokes my hair from my mask

touches silver lips

second kiss

through metal

through barrier

"Worth it," she whispers

chest cannot contain feeling

this new emotion

this impossible warmth

maybe i cannot love

but maybe this is more

Chapter

Forty-Six

NIKOLAI

Ipace the length of Geo's living room, each turn making my wounds throb. The pain is a persistent reminder of Geo's bullets in my back, of the unwelcome fact that I now owe Raven my life, and most distressingly of all, of Cosima choosing a literal monster over me.

My mate.

Mine.

The thought makes me grind my teeth until my jaw aches.

Geo sits in his armchair by the fireplace, pretending to read some pre-war book as if I'm not here, as if we're not forced into this bizarre truce while waiting for his golden-haired drama queen to return.

The crackling fire does nothing to warm the ice in my veins. My fingers twitch with the urge to wrap around someone's throat, preferably Geo's, but I'd settle for any target right now.

The silence between us hangs thick and hostile until?—

A dullthunkcomes from down the hall.

Geo's eye flicks up from his book, meeting mine briefly before returning to the page with forced nonchalance.

I open my mouth to make some cutting remark when another sound interrupts me. A low rumble, like a growl, followed by what sounds like... laughter?

Cosima'slaughter.

My stomach knots. The implications crawl under my skin like acid.

"Sounds like your doc's a real miracle worker," I drawl, the words tasting like poison.

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