Alphas of Pandora, page 24
Twenty-Nine
The damn girl was fucking herself again.
Castor slammed into the conference room with the force of an enraged Alpha male, heedless of the askance expressions on the faces of his advisors. And he wouldn’t have cared much for their feelings if he had the capacity to be aware of them.
His entire awareness centered on Aura and had ever since she had run from him. It didn’t matter that the city was falling apart around him or that many members of his cabinet were in open rebellion, all he cared about was finding her and dragging the insolent girl back by her hair if it was required. Without protection, this world would tear her apart.
In saner moments, he recognized in himself all the traits he most despised in Alphas, the covetousness and inability to control baser urges. And yet, he couldn’t stop himself from stomping and raging like an angry bull with its balls in a vice. But sanity had become a fleeting thing with Aura gone so completely that it was as if she had vanished in a puff of smoke.
It didn’t help that the bond remained, connecting them so completely that his mind played tantalizing images of her, alone in a room and lying on a messy nest while she fingered herself into oblivion out of longing for him.
She still wanted him, he knew that. But acknowledging it only made him angrier as he tried and failed to understand why she would make them both suffer like this. Danger was around every corner for an Omega alone in this city.
“I want to see the Omegas that were rounded up last night,” he demanded, dropping heavily into the chair at the head of the table as he glared around the room. “Have them brought to the harem pavilion.”
“Your Omega is not among them,” Vegane remarked, voice mostly level despite a slight quaver as Castor’s angry gaze swung in his direction. “I can assure you of that, your Highness.”
“I don’t recall asking for your assurances,” Castor snapped, his glare taking in the men sitting at the table who looked to be in various stages of discomfort to outright fear.
Only Legion appeared calm, meeting the new King’s manic gaze with a level one of his own. When he spoke, the soothing note in his voice was reminiscent of the one he used on his own infant son when the child was in a fit. “I believe that Lord Vegane only meant that he does not want to see your precious time wasted. Perhaps you would be better served by turning to other matters for now.”
His fists clenched against his thighs as Castor resisted the urge to launch himself across the table and attack someone, anyone really. The rage burning in him needed an outlet before it erupted in some terrible way. Forcing himself to calm, Castor’s teeth ground together as he responded. “What other matters?”
Vegane shifted in his seat. “The Vigilian delegation has requested an audience to discuss the terms of our alliance. Postponing your wedding to their princess has not sat well.”
Castor waved that away with the barest flick of his hand. “Is there anything else?”
“This is the fourth request they’ve made this week.” A pained expression crossed Vegane’s face. “From what I understand, the delegation considers the delay to be a terrible insult.”
A low growl escaped his lips as Castor’s eyes narrowed. “Then let them be insulted.”
“You risk them taking action against us,” Legion added, expression inscrutable as he lounged in his chair. “Trade relations could be irreparably harmed if this wedding does not take place soon.”
Castor slammed his hands down on the wood surface hard enough to reverberate through the table and set its legs to shaking.
“There will be no wedding!”
A shocked silence momentarily followed that pronouncement. Then voices rose in a cacophony as many voices spoke out once to council the enraged King. Castor’s gaze grew darker as he looked from one worried face to another. He was mere moments from completely exploding.
“Enough.” Legion shouted, loudly enough to be heard over the fray. In the ensuing silence, he smoothly rose from his chair. “Perhaps it would be wise to table this conversation and adjourn for now. The subject of what should be done about the delegation from Vigil can wait a bit longer.”
The unspoken context was clear. Any discussion could wait until King Castor was in a more amenable mood and capable of responding logically.
“Yes, quiet. We will adjourn until tomorrow.” Vegane pushed shakily to his feet, the tremor in his hands a combination of old age and fear. The other advisors filed out behind him, casting wary glances at a brooding Castor as they passed.
Finally, only Legion and Castor were left in the room. Silence reigned, broken only by the low growl that escaped Castor’s throat with each exhaled breath.
When he finally spoke again, Legion’s tone remained mild. “You’re acting like a child who lost its favorite toy. I haven’t seen tantrums quite like this since I was in primary school.”
Castor narrowed his eyes. “If you think I won’t tear out your throat, then you seriously mistake by state of mind.”
“That would be a match worthy of the arena, but I would like to think you have more sense in that.” Legion rose to stand beside the still seated Castor, staring down at him with an amused expression. “It would be a shame to kill the only person willing to tell you what you need to hear.”
“And what is it I need to hear?” Castor asked, visibly annoyed although some heat had faded from his anger.
“You have your entire cabinet terrified of what you might do next. They worry that you will lead them into war with Vigil.” Legion leaned closer to rest his hands on the table, expression intent. “I understand the allure of an Omega, but you risk everything by being indiscriminate.”
But the only thing Castor wanted to hear from Legion, or anyone else, was that he had followed orders. “I want sweep searches done of every home in the middle and lower levels, each sector cleared so that every person within them is identified. Aura must still be in this city and I want her found.”
But Legion did not so much as blink. “As you wish.”
He would make this right, Castor told himself as he glared down at his own clenched fists. The compulsion that drove him remained inscrutable, but he was done fighting it. Eventually, would recover his mate and ensure her safety if he had to tear this city down around their ears to do it.
Aura met Adrian’s abrupt return to the safe house with surprise that quickly turned to fear when he explained why he had come back so soon after the last visit.
“How long before they reach us?” Her voice seemed deadened even to her own ears, the inevitability of it robbing her of emotion.
A muscle tightened at the corner of his lips. “The Guardians are moving quickly. They will probably reach this sector by tomorrow.”
They stood in the small anteroom before the large door to the outside that Aura had not crossed since she arrived. The windows remained covered both day and night so she hadn’t seen sunlight in weeks, much less felt the touch of its warmth on her skin. Adrian had made it clear when he brought her here that going outside was an impossibility. She had grown up on a space station so it seemed strange to miss a thing she had only recently discovered, but part of her craved that open sky.
It would almost be worth the consequences it might bring to be outside again.
Her voice turned accusing. “You told me before that leaving isn’t an option, that there was no other safe place to go.”
His expression darkened at her tone. “The circumstances have changed. If you stay here, everything you’ve risked may have been for nothing.”
“You’ve also taken a risk,” Aura pointed out as she sank down on the foot of the stairs and stared at the grubby floor. “You never explained why you helped me. Castor would kill you if he ever found out the truth.”
Adrian became unnaturally still, his gaze hooded so as not to reveal even a hint of emotion. “My reasons are my own, but I can leave you to your own devices if you prefer.”
“No, please. Thank you for helping me, you don’t have to tell me why you’re doing it.” Aura swallowed past the painful lump in her throat, feeling inexplicably close to tears. “What are the chances they’ll find me here?”
“Likely to certain. This house is remote but still well within the boundaries of their search grid. I can’t guarantee that you won’t be discovered hiding out here.”
For a moment, despair overwhelmed her. It was so tempting to just give in instead of so desperately trying to stay one step ahead and still fail. She had to remind herself once again of what was at stake. “And they’ll drag me back to him, kicking and screaming so he can lock me away and violate me whenever the mood strikes.”
“I can only assume so.”
“The women here might cover for me if I hid, pretend that they’ve never encountered me before.” Her words were heavy with desperation. “I could just find a place to hide if the Guardians come looking for me.”
The twitch of his lips was the only evidence of how laughable he found that idea. “And what do you suspect will happen if their duplicity is discovered? Do you imagine that the Guardian Alphas would take kindly to a group of unregistered Betas hiding a renegade Omega in their midst? The work camps would be the most humane consequence they might suffer.”
A group of children, the oldest of them no more than five, ran down the stairs and past them in the direction of the kitchen. Their laughter echoed off the walls, the sound lasting even once they had disappeared down the hall.
And it was considering the children that decided for her when it came to the matter of fight or flight. She couldn’t risk something terrible happening to them because other decisions. Even though these children didn’t belong to her, she still felt compelled to keep them safe.
“You have to take me away from here,” she declared, pushing to her feet on knees that shook. “Right now.”
“It’s dangerous,” he warned. “The streets are full of opportunistic gangs looking for Omegas to round up and I won’t find you a place safer than this one. Returning to the palace and your mate might be the better option, given your choices.”
“No,” she said, voice sharp. “I won’t ever go back to him willingly. I don’t care what awaits me out there.”
“Ultimately, the choice is all any of us ever have.” Adrian leaned back against the bolted door and crossed his arms over his chest. “But freedom comes at a price.
There was no good response to that.
It took little time for her to gather the meager belongings that amounted to only a single change of clothes and little else. The nest she had created was scented only with her own spendings and held little value to her. Although she looked at the configuration of bedding with a twinge of remorse, recognizing that it would be dismantled once she was gone.
They waited until nightfall for several agonizing hours in which neither of them spoke or acknowledged what was about to come next. Aura did not bother to make elaborate farewells with the other people in the safe house, if only because she had little idea of what to say. She wasn’t one of them and never had been, nothing about that had changed.
The sun had dipped well below the horizon when Aura took her first steps outside in weeks, bathing the streets in a silvery cast of twilight. She had taken in little of the scenery when Adrian first brought her to the safe-house under the cover of darkness, but she took the opportunity to absorb every detail now.
Metal structures extended into the air, high enough to block out the sky and create dark patches of shadow on the dusty ground. The air was thinner here than it had been in the palace and each breath she took caught in her throat as if there were invisible particles in the air that irritated the sensitive passage.
The people who lived down here did not merit the same luxuries as those who resided above, she had figured out that much.
Adrian hustled her to walk faster, seeming unconcerned with her interest in their surroundings. She desperately wanted to know what moved him to aid her considering the risk. He owed her nothing and yet here he was protecting her when the consequences could be deadly.
Eerie quiet permeated the empty streets, making their footsteps seem overly loud as they crossed the street. Dust kicked up around her as Aura hurried to keep pace with Adrian’s much longer strides, making her sneeze and cough so that the sound echoed off the nearby buildings.
Caution had made him land his skycar far from the warehouse because it wouldn’t be prudent for him to be seen coming and going. But that meant they had more ground to cover while out in the open and exposed. Broken windows and doorways that had been blown open greeted Aura’s wary gaze as she looked around, more evidence that this particular sector was sparsely populated.
Normally a comfort, the silence out here was oppressive. She felt the quiet like a physical weight on her skin, bearing down on her in a way that was suffocating. Even with Adrian beside her, Aura had never felt more alone than she had in that very moment.
Adrian glanced back at her as he used his grip on her arm to encourage additional speed. Even more than his presence, how he interacted with her was utterly confusing. He did not treat her like a piece of meat in the way that other males did, but he also seemed more than willing to aid her despite his lack of interest in her charms. Aura was grateful that he had not insisted on being compensated for his help because the only thing of value she had to offer was her body. But it was difficult to understand what drove him to put himself at risk with no clear gain for himself. She opened her mouth to ask again, hoping for an explanation that made some sort of sense, but some preternatural sense robbed her of the ability to speak, alert to danger as the hair on her arms stood on end.
Still, the attack came suddenly and without warning.
One moment, they were alone. In the next, men with heavy hoods covering their faces and brandishing weapons surrounded them. She let out a shriek as her arms were roughly grabbed from behind and she was wrenched back against a chest as solid as stone.
Her first thought was that the Guardians had discovered her, but the leering face above her was not the countenance of a man fulfilling his duty. Pockmarked skin and crooked teeth greeted her. When the man pulled her closer, rotten breath assailed her nostrils and made her gag.
“What do we have here? Another pretty for the pile.”
She cringed away, but the odious man only pulled her closer until she could feel the bulge in his pants that he shamelessly rubbed against her backside.
Adrian fought with more skill than seemed possible and it took nearly a dozen men to subdue him. Aura watched in horror as her only protector was brought to his knees, dazed with a line of fresh blood trailing from his slack lips. A final blow took him to the ground, and it was impossible to know if he still lived.
Fetid breath blew across her ear as the man behind her loomed over her shoulder. “I can already smell your Omega cunt. You’ll fetch a pretty price at auction.”
Hands pulled at the thin fabric of her dress, tearing the garment until it hung in tattered strips around her waist and left her chest bare. The moment that more of her skin was revealed, one man let out a muffled curse.
“Those are claiming marks.”
The man behind her shrugged, gripping her arms tightly enough to force a sound of pain from her throat. “With so many Omegas being dragged to the palace, any of the ones left are worth their weight, claiming marks or not.”
“What should we do with the male?” another asked, and it was clear whoever had spoken hoped for a response permitting violence.
“Bring him, too.” The man who held her had to be their leader, judging from the note of command in his voice. “Maybe he knows where we can find a few more.”
Aura felt herself being dragged backwards, away from the sky car and in the direction of a desolate patch of empty grass.
She started fighting when they removed a metal grate, revealing a long descent into some sort of underground tunnel. But the man who held her was so much stronger that she would have been better served attempting to move a mountain. Her flailing attempt at escape was met with a low chuckle and then an angry growl when her elbow drove into his belly.
“This is a wild one,” he commented wryly, then cuffed her hard enough across the face she saw stars. “Too bad we won’t get to tame her for ourselves.”
“Are you sure we can’t take a little taste?” Another man sidled closer and slid a sweaty palm along the exposed skin of her chest and down to squeeze one of her nipples painfully hard. “Nobody has to know.”
“Hands off the merchandise,” the leader snapped, easily pulling her along despite her resistance. “Unless you want to come up with the money we’ll get for her yourself, I’m not risking you breaking a toy I intend to sell.”
Aura wanted to tell them she wasn’t simply an Omega found wandering the streets, but bit her tongue. Even if they believed that she was the Omega that Castor had torn the city apart in search of, that knowledge would likely make her even more valuable to them not less.
She was dragged to the edge of the opening to a tunnel, even as she dug her heels into the dirt. Her protests were little more than the beat of a hummingbird’s wings against raging wind and equally as effective.
Terrible things happened in the dark, things that were even worse than what she had already suffered. When she screamed, a ruthless hand clamped over her mouth to silence the sound, although no one was around to come to her rescue. The bandit gripped her so tightly around the middle that it robbed her of breath and would likely leave her with bruises on her belly. As he spun her around to face him, she caught sight of Adrian’s prone body being dragged through the dirt. It was a distant thought that if he died, then there was truly no hope left for her.
“You’ll do best to come without a fight,” her kidnapper growled, his eyes glaring down at her with merciless intent. “All you’ll get for it is more pain. This’ll be the only time you get the warning.”
