Page 97 of Where the Current Takes Him
“He never cared about Beau. He was using him. And using you.”
Jonathan’s eyes drifted back up to Loriun’s.
“He wanted money, and the reputation he needed to win his election.”
“Money?” Jonathan swallowed hard. “Did you… pay for Beau?” He shrank back when Loriun growled.
“He manipulated me too, pretending the money was for Beau’s resettlement costs. I was able to move past all of these things for Beau’s sake, but now.” Loriun closed his eyes. “I cannot allow him to continue.”
“So…” Jonathan licked his lips nervously. “What do you want from me?”
“I need to find the upper hand,” Loriun said. “There must be something you know that I can use.”
“We’re not that close, I mean…” Jonathan took in a shuddering breath. “We’re family, but I was never part of any of this. At least, I didn’t know I was.”
“Something from his past then.”
There has to be something. No one is invincible.
Jonathan was staring down at the bit of floor between them. “There is… one thing. But if he ever finds out I told you, my life is over.”
“By the time I am done with him, he will have no power. That, I can assure you.”
The man looked up, a minute spark of defiance lighting his face. “Can you guarantee that I will be allowed to keep working for Ikatere, no matter what you might learn about my past?”
This startled Loriun from his frenzy. “Ashford has something on you, too.”
Jonathan let out a bitter laugh. “He has something on everybody. That’s how he gets where he wants to be.”
Loriun contemplated his employee’s request. “Are you planning to do harm to my company, my people, or my family?”
Jonathan looked shocked. “No! It’s nothing like that. I just… I have a past I’m not proud of.”
“But you have learned from your mistakes?”
“You have no idea.”
“Then I promise that your position at Ikatere is safe from any retaliation Ashford might attempt.”
Jonathan nodded slowly. “Okay. I’m going to hold you to that, Mr. Kolhn.” He took a deep breath. “
“Ashford was born an Omega.”
Chapter 40
Loriun
Loriun took a step back, as if he had been shoved. “He was born a what?”
“An Omega. But not a proper one.” Jonathan shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know all the details, but we grew up together and our mothers talked. There was a period of time right after your people came that humans were being born as incomplete Omegas. Like, their DNA hadn’t been fully altered. Ashford’s parents did everything they could to fix him. Not fix,” he corrected quickly. “But in their eyes, they were fixing him. When he hit puberty, that’s when they started realizing. By then, other kids were cropping up with Omega traits and doctors were starting to research what was going on.
“We had no idea at the time, because the Mer were still in their pods. Anyway, they figured out that he had the normal human male systems, but he also had a uterus and underdeveloped scent glands. So he didn’t have that sweet smell Omegas usually have. Not unless you got really close to him, so he just wore cologne. When he was fifteen, he got surgery to remove his uterus, and was one of the first volunteers to test the new suppressant medication.”
Loriun’s mind was reeling. It was all making sense now. His hatred for Omegas and the Mer, the way he offered Beau up as a lab rat… He wasn’t trying to return humanity to its original state; he was trying to fix himself.
“The clinical trials really messed him up,” Jonathan went on. “I think that’s why he only ever had one kid. I know Ileana wanted a huge family, but they really struggled to conceive. When Beau was born an Omega, he was pissed. But that’s pretty much all I know. We drifted apart when we both went off to different colleges, and now we only see each other on the holidays.”
He shrugged. “I don’t like the person he became, but he’s still family, you know?”
