Page 148 of Daisy
"Hey." August's voice carries that underlying strength that always steadies me. "You couldn't have done anything. You were just a kid, sunshine."
"But I knew," I sob. "I knew something was wrong, and I let him convince me I was crazy."
"You were seven," Dante says quietly. "He was the adult. The one in power."
Their anger washes over me. Not at me, but at the situation. At my uncle. At a system that puts children in impossible positions. It makes me feel less alone with this horrible knowledge.
I take a shaky breath, wiping my face. "But I'm not a kid anymore."
And that changes everything.
I stand up, and even though my legs feel shaky, I keep going. "There are omegas out there right now trapped like I was. Male omegas hidden in basements. People suffering while we sit here in our safe little life."
"Daisy—" Dante starts.
"No." My voice gets stronger. "Don't tell me it's too dangerous. Don't tell me we can't win. That male omega I heard crying? He's still down there. Still alone. Still being used to keep my uncle stable so he can destroy more lives."
I look around at them. "While we sit here when we could be changing everything. No more Choosing Days. No more elite bloodlines owning people. No more omegas treated like property."
"The system will fight back," Cassian warns. "Hard."
"Then we fight harder."
Silence. I can see them all processing this. The weight of what I'm asking.
"Beautiful," Dante says finally, "the system's got resources we can't even imagine. Private armies. Unlimited money. Government backing."
"So did the old kings," I say. "Until people decided they'd had enough."
Gunner shifts behind me. "You're talking about war, sweetheart."
"I'm talking about justice."
More silence. Heavier this time.
"Can we even do this?" August asks quietly. "Six people against all of that?"
Dante stops pacing. His voice is strained. "Beautiful, I've seen what the elite families are capable of. The resources they have. We're talking about six people against an entire power structure that's been in place for generations."
"Maybe that's exactly why we can do it," I say. "They won't see us coming—six nobodies with nothing to lose."
Silence stretches between us. I can feel doubt creeping in. Not doubt in me, but doubt in whether this is possible. Whether we can actually win.
Gunner speaks up first. "Maybe we can't take down the whole system." His voice sounds rough. "But we can save that omega. We can save some of them."
"Some isn't enough," Cassian says flatly. "Not when we know how many are suffering."
"So what are you saying?" Dante asks, turning on him. "That we should try to destroy everything? Risk all our lives?"
"I'm saying," Cassian stands up slowly, "that some fights are worth the risk."
The room goes quiet. They're all wrestling with it. The safety we have here versus the people we could save. The life we've built versus the war we could start.
I can see the exact moment Dante makes his decision. His shoulders straighten, his face hardening into that tactical mask I know so well.
"If we do this," he says quietly, "we do it smart. We don't just charge in and hope for the best."
Wait. Is he actually?—?
