Page 9 of These Bonds that Unite Us
It’s so loud. Too loud.
I want it to stop.
I’m already broken. Bordering on the line of no return. Why do the kicks keep coming?
‘And now you’ve ruined us.
Left my mates' hearts shattered in the face of your secrets.
Your memory is a disease we can’t wait to be rid of.’
My heart ceases its furious rhythm for a second. I can feel it–the choice to stay or go. I could give up now. Accept my mates truly want nothing to do with me. That my actions have destroyed them as thoroughly as theirs have broken me.
All of my pain could stop if I let go.
“Omen, you need to eat.” Lex’s voice cuts through my spiraling thoughts. I suck in a deep breath, filling my stinging lungs, and my heart resumes its arrythmic beat. I’m still alive, though just barely.
I should probably tell Lex how dangerous my rejection is starting to be. Hiding from my birth family won’t do either of us any good if I give in to the depression my messed up brain chemicals are causing.
It takes all of my strength to crawl to the edge of the loft where my temporary nest is. Staring down the ladder, I can’t find the will to force my legs to work so I can climb down to the ground floor.
Lex returns, his gray eyes worried when he sees me leaning heavily against the railing. His mouth opens, but whatever he is going to say is cut off when an alarm beeps loudly through the house. He rushes to check our exterior security feeds, relaxing when he sees whoever is headed our way.
Five minutes pass before the front porch creaks beneath someone’s weight. Lex has one hand wrapped around the gun he had stashed in his go bag when he opens the door. “Good evening, Ferguson.”
“Dromir. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Lex moves to the side and a man steps through. He’s younger than Donovan—maybe in his forties—with light bronze skin and cropped black hair. His jaw is covered in a thick but well-kept boxed beard that doesn’t seem to fit with his pressed dress shirt and expensive suit. His startling bright blue eyes quickly find me. They’re assessing as they scan over me.
Whatever this man is here for, I have a feeling it isn’t good.
Forcing myself down the ladder, I quickly collapse on the worn, plaid sofa in the living area. When I can find the energy to leave the loft or some semblance of an appetite, this is where I’ve been sitting. It takes too much effort to make it across the room to the kitchen.
Lex presses a plate of some protein-heavy pasta into my hands before standing off the side. He carefully places himself between me and Mr. Dromir, though I don’t get the impression Lex sees this man as a threat to my safety.
“Hello, Miss Powell. My name is Lukas Dromir. I work alongside Donovan Griffith as one of the leaders of the Designation Activists Underground.” He sits on the edge of the love seat across from me, unbuttoning his dark blue suit as he watches me closely.
“Um, hello,” I mumble.
Lex is glaring at me from the side, frustrated I haven’t started to eat. His approach to taking care of me borders on bullying at some points. Or maybe it feels that way since he’s very demanding of me despite my indifference.
“I won’t sugarcoat things, Miss Powell. I’m here to speak to you about your father.” Mr. Dromir laces his hands together and leans forward his expression grave. “After your sister left the state of New Hampshire, things within the state took a volatile turn. When you were able to escape his men at the safe house in Pennsylvania–well the actions of the Montgomery anti-designation group insurmountably worsened. They’ve started buying and kidnapping omegas from surrounding states.”
I set my untouched plate aside. With the nausea now churning in my stomach I doubt I’d be able to keep any of it down. My birth father has a laundry list of hidden crimes he or his associates have committed over the years, but masskidnappings? His anger is making him reckless. Dangerous to everyone around him.
“You’ve been rejected,” Dromir states bluntly. His words pierce through my heart adding to the deluge of pain already battering against the organ. Lex growls but the beta is unfazed. “Seeing you with my own eyes, well, you are dying Miss Powell. At this point, neither I nor the doctors working with the DAU, see an outcome of this chemical rejection where you survive.”
As much as it hurts to hear the words spoken aloud, I can’t deny what he’s saying. I’ve felt myself declining. My body is slowly giving up without a bond to stabilize my internal chemistry.
“Now hold on-” Lex snarls.
“He’s right.” I cut my bodyguard off. If Mr. Dromir is mentioning my declining health, it’s for a reason. “What do you need me to do?”
“Your body isn’t healthy enough for a task like this,” Lex reminds me for the hundredth time since we got back to New York. He was adamantly against my plan when I presented my idea to Lukas back in West Virginia.
My bodyguard thinks I’m being reckless. He’s afraid something will go wrong and I won’t make it out alive. His reaction would be even worse if he knew I didn’t plan on surviving.
“I know, Lex. My weakness doesn’t change anything. I’m still going.” My words are harsh, filled with annoyance from his worried pacing and words of concern. “It’s time to end this. To bring my father’s kingdom crashing down around his feet. He needs to be stopped and we all know I am the only one who could get close enough to him right now to accomplish this.”
