Page 37 of Beta Lies and Cursed Lives
Her head shakes, and she shrugs.“It was fleeting, but I think something’s not right. How could he be anything else?”
I frown before relaying our conversation to both Aubs and Rai, who look equally confused.
After a moment, Rai chimes in quietly, “There’s been a...shift here at the academy. Something is happening. Something big.”
“How do you know?” she whispers.
His covered face turns to her. “Something in me is changing,” he confesses. “Ever since I met you, my curse is—” he cuts himself off, head tilting in thought, “—evolving. That’s the best word to describe it. When I’m alone in my dorm, eyes free from this confine,” he touches his blindfold, “I can hear the tech throughout the entire building. I’ve never been able to do that before. Sometimes, I pick up on electronic communique. There is one word that I am seeing more and more.” He leans in from my desk chair, closer to us all. Even so, his voice is so quiet I have to strain to process the familiar word.“Rebellion.”
He’s heard it. This can’t be a coincidence. “I’ve been hearing this, too. In people’s thoughts. Not long ago, one person in particular was really concerned that they’d be found, but I couldn’t tell who it was. He hasn’t been around since.”
What kind of rebellion?Aubs signs.
I shake my head. “I mean, it’s got to be against the GBE, right?”
“Do you think the person you heard is at the war games?” Mira asks.
I shrug. “I didn’t really pay attention to when his thoughts dropped off. I actually didn’t pay much attention at all when I first heard mention of it. But lately, there are whispers in more people’s minds. It’s like they’re scared to even think about it. And now the soldiers are killing people? This can’t be a coincidence.”
Aubrey leans toward me, thinking at me with a crisp tone.“It’s possible this group, this Rebellion, is making a move, and it’s got those in charge scared.”
I take a deep breath and close my eyes, grip Mira’s hand, perhaps for moral support, then project my next thoughts outward.The guy who I stopped hearing seemed to think he knew exactly where this Rebellion is hiding out. He used the term ‘klick,’ so it’s possible it was a soldier.
Mira shifts beside me again.“But you said he seemed worried they’d be found. Wouldn’t a Beta be happy to find them?”
I shrug.There are sympathizers. Not every Beta or non-Cursed is a piece of shit. I mean, you just mentioned that soldier who seemed shaken by the Omega’s execution.
She contemplates a moment.“What do you think is going to happen?”
I frown.I don’t know yet. But I’m going to keep searching thoughts and see if I can find more information.I squeeze her hand.We need to stay vigilant. If something is happening, we can’t be caught blindsided. We stick together.I swing a harsh glare at Aubrey.No matter what.
Raito
Electronic locks are usually a walk in the park for me. Unfortunately, the biometric locks on all the dorms are blocked by the same infuriating source our collars are. Meaning my curse doesn’t have any effect on them.
Luckily for me, my brother is a genius and street-smart. Onii-santaught me things I’d never learn in school due to the role I’d been given here because of my curse’s nature. He’d also encouraged me to experiment with my abilities, something the academy almost never does.
It’s with him in mind that I “borrowed” Colt’s tablet after dinner in the cafeteria, where it was just him, Aubrey, and me, and why I stand outside Mira’s door with said tablet in hand after two in the morning.
It’s been nearly a week since that male Omega’s death, and everyone in the academy is on edge at all times. Especially Mira.
She is scarce at social times, and when she is around, her mind is elsewhere.
And I cannot stand it. My heart is ripping apart.
This must work. If it doesn’t, I don’t know what I’ll do.
Buy Colt a new tablet, that’s one thing.
Other than that…
I grip the cool, smooth surface in my fingertips and concentrate. My photographic memory goes far beyond what people read about the phenomenon, and I assume it’s a part of my curse. Perhaps the best part, as I recall with every fine detail Mira’s face when I saw her weeks ago. Some nights, I spend far too much time reliving that memory, my cock aching, the beast in me growling possessively.
The day I saw Mira feels like a lifetime ago, yet every strand of her dark hair, every line in her lips like a fingerprint, each lash surrounding her pale silver eyes flashes in my mind like a vivid still-frame.
I don’t have time to revel in her beauty out in the hall where I don’t belong. My memory zeroes in on her eyes and stays there, concentrating on every detail, every valley and slight deviation of color surrounding black irises, as I pull the cloth just a bit from my closed right eye.
Please, please, please…
