Page 88 of Generation Omega: Revealed
“You have my word. Now, let’s go.”
I quickly help Ethan don a shirt and a hoodie with a zipper in the front, as well as his boots. He’s compliant—too compliant, almost soulless. Then I lead him to the main door that requires a code to exit and, from there, up the stairs and into the garage where a nondescript white cargo van is parked.
“It won’t be comfortable, but I’d like you to sit in the back just until we’re out of the immediate area.” I search his face for acknowledgment because his mind is completely silent.
Ethan nods and moves toward the sliding door. I get there first and open it for him, giving him a hand as he climbs inside, our touch helping him with more than balance. He sits on the mat beside two large duffels filled with weapons and one cherished keepsake. After he leans against the side of the van, I hand him his father’s jacket.
Only for that does he meet my gaze. “Thank you.” He places the jacket on his lap and rests his bandaged hands on it.
I reach for more information and finally recognize that his pain is worsening, especially his hand. It will need tending after we get where we’re going. I slide the door until it latches and hurry to the driver’s side, igniting the ignition as soon as I’m seated. I hit the remote and the garage door opens, freeing us to venture onto the street.
It’s a disconcertingly quiet ride out of the city. The warehouse was beyond the initial lockdown perimeter, but if we’d waited, the expanding barrier would have caught us. As an added precaution from the drones above the city, I pull onto the highway in the opposite direction of our intended destination.
Agony tears through me so swiftly, I think my heart is rupturing. I swerve wildly, hearing Ethan’s body impact the side as he grips my chair for stability. I release the accelerator and manage to lightly use the brake as I pull onto the shoulder. Once we’re stopped, I grip my chest and attempt to breathe.
“What is it?” Ethan asks, hunched between the two seats.
“The omega legacy isdispleasedwith our current trajectory,” I grit out, followed by a dozen of my favorite curse words in my native tongue. “No wonder alphas were such easy prey… this isbeyondstupid.”
“Rejected bonds—that’s what this is, isn’t it? It thinks you’re leaving Tillie and…” He gasps. “This is happening to her, isn’t it?”
“I have no idea.” But that’s a lie. The reverberations of a plaintive cry batter around inside me, like a scream trapped inside a cavern. “Yes.”
Ethan grabs my arm. “What do we do? How can we help her?”
I struggle to answer over another round of having my heart sliced in half. “We need to turn around so we’re heading in the same direction, but I can’t drive like this.”
“I’ll drive.” He’s out of the side door and at my door a few seconds later, helping me to walk around the front of the van and get settled on the passenger seat.
I can’t stop spewing my venom at everything about the omega legacy, all that brought me to the most embarrassing display of weakness in my entire life.
Ethan, now behind the wheel, flinches from the sound of sirens approaching.
“They’re going the other way. It’s not about us.”
He nods tightly and uses the signal before pulling back onto the freeway. Every inch we move away from her, the trauma in my chest increases. I’m shuddering through wracking convulsions as he takes the next exit. We move over the bridge and back onto the highway going north.
The sharpness of the pain diminishes instantly, but it’s still torture. The legacy is angry and punishing me…us. She’s inwardly shrieking—there’s no way to avoid it or the rage fueling it. It’s a cord between us, reminding me of my responsibility to her, but even more unsettling, our shared torment forces me to recognize a similarity between us.
My phone rings, and I accept the call using the speaker.
“What the fuck is happening?!” the actor shouts over the thumping of helicopter blades, but they are clearly moving away from him.
I hear other voices telling Gideon where to take her. His response is a roar that sets my teeth on edge, as he commands everyone to leave.
“Tell me now!” This alpha means business, and his power reaches me even with the distance between us.
“It’s an unexpected complication.” I can’t conceal my own suffering from him. I think I might be sick.
“Why didn’t you know this would happen?” he growls.
I chuckle, sounding like a sinister, dying villain. “I never cared what happened to them, but this explains why my job was so ridiculously simple.”
The omega screams. Ethan hears it, but I feel it, the pull of the void that captured her.
“I swear I will rip you apart if you don’t fix this.” Gideon speaks those words, and Ethan’s soul declares the same. His need is the one that resonates most powerfully.
“We’re trying, Gideon.” Ethan hits the accelerator hard, until I remind him that we can’t draw attention to ourselves. He eases slightly, gripping the wheel with white knuckles.
