Page 94 of Unhinged Omega

want to wrap around her

shield her from world

but arms will not move

too weak

too broken

a failure

she smells different

a stronger smell

a sweeter smell

a smell that reminds me I do not deserve this

do not deserve to be so close to her

do not deserve to even taste her

Chapter

Twenty-Five

RAVEN

The rumble of the engine and the crunch of gravel under the tires are the only sounds that fill the tense silence as we speed away from the chaos. My wrists ache where they're bound behind my back, the duct tape digging into my skin with every bump and jostle of the armored vehicle. But the physical discomfort is nothing compared to the storm raging in my head.

Cosima.

My mate.

She's out there somewhere, alone and vulnerable in a wasteland that would tear her apart without a second thought. The image of her moonlight-silver hair disappearing into the treeline haunts me, playing on repeat behind my eyes.

I should be out there, tracking her down, keeping her safe. Instead, I'm trussed up like a turkey in the passenger seat of Geo's stolen ride, helpless and useless.

I want to fucking scream. But I know it would be pointless. Geo's always been stubborn as an irradiated mule, and right now, he thinks he's doing what's best for me. Protecting me from myself.

That's the only reason I'm only plotting to escape and not plotting to put a bullet in that double-plated skull of his.

But even as fear and worry gnaw at me, there's something else. A certainty, bone-deep and unshakable, that she's okay.

That she's alive.

I can't explain it, can't put it into words that wouldn't sound utterly insane. But I know, with every fiber of my being, that if something had happened to her—if she was hurt, or gods forbid, worse—I would feel it.

It doesn't make me want to find her any less, though.

I close my eyes, trying to focus on that connection, that inexplicable bond.

She's clever, my moonlight goddess. If she's survived this long in the cesspool that is the Outer Reaches, she's got more than just a pretty face.

Run, I think, willing her to hear me somehow.Run and don't look back. I'll find you. I swear I'll find you.

The vehicle slows, and I open my eyes to see we've arrived at the market. Or rather, the unremarkable patch of wasteland that hides Geo's underground empire. To the untrained eye, it's just more dead earth and scrub brush. But I know better. Beneath our feet lies a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers, a haven for every kind of criminal and degenerate the Outer Reaches has to offer.

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