I hope you can forgive me for who I have become. It is a mad world with mad makers, but I have lived a path carved out for me by a captor. Maybe we were all made from trauma, purposefully molded into the image of our tormentors in so that the system could continue.
Father, if you are near, I am sorry. Sorry for everything that happened to us. Sorry for the pain the world has caused you. Sorry for my mother…
But know this. I’m only here to break the system that binds her in the center. I am the lion in their gilded cage.
Lucas pressed his fingers into Killian’s shoulders. He shook him awake as they walked toward the gates of the marble towers. “What’s wrong with you? Your face is the color of a ghost,” Lucas said.
Killian eyed the terrain and felt his heart swell longingly. He wanted love, to feel as if he wasn’t just floating in idle space. Sometimes, he felt as if everything had been stacked against him.
“Just thinking about someone,” he said.
“Her?” Lucas asked.
Killian bit the inside of his cheek. “Two families were stolen from me. The first happened when I was too young to understand. But the second time it happened, I should have been prepared. Do you ever feel like the rules have been sculpted to fuck you over?
A tired smile graced his face. “Isn’t that the point? To keep the rich richer than ever before… Man, this game has been played since the rules were methodized,” Lucas said.
Killian nodded, but he had a feeling that this wouldn’t be the end of these thoughts. As they walked into the actual grounds of the towers, he noticed how grand in scale the architecture was. A solid gold ceiling glimmered its splendor above their heads, and suddenly, the weight of where they were sank in. By all accounts, this place was made to feel like it was heaven. And that’s exactly how Killian knew this place was hell.
Lucas pointed at one of the old paintings hung near the entryway. A beautiful omega perched in a rowboat. On one end were three candles, on the other a plate of sliced apples. “You see? It’s art like that that makes a man worry,” Lucas said, shaking his head.
Killian’s eyes trailed down toward an old man with a black hood who sat in a wooden chair with a thin scalpel in his hand. Planted firmly in his eye socket was a small magnifying monocle. As he breathed loudly and squinted, he cut into the center of a blackbird. A string of guts fell onto the marble table.
“I wasn’t aware of any visitors,” the man said to Severin. “Clearly, I’m busy, and you are interrupting, Minister.”
“I need you to keep these men under your wing and out of the queen’s sight,” Severin said, ignoring the man’s comment.
“I serve the queen only,” the man protested meekly.
“I am asking you for one simple favor. After all we’ve been through, please, don’t make me beg,” Severin said.
The man set down the scalpel and removed the monocle, sighing audibly. The blade was covered in a thick red paste that dripped onto the edge of his flowing black robe. “Am I to presume you wish for me to keep them out of the sight of the prime minister as well?”
“This is for the purpose of national security,” Severin said.
The man curiously raised an eyebrow and smiled, revealing his yellowing teeth and disfigured mouth. “Does she know yet?”
Severin remained silent, but the man cackled loudly. “So, more secrets. Good, good. I love games. It’s by far the best change within the Republic. Lots and lots of games to play. So much fun.”
“Just do as I say, dammit, and I won’t have you killed,” Severin snapped.
Killian nearly chuckled at the sound of urgency that clung to Severin’s command. By now, it was obvious the three alphas were needed for his gain, but their purpose was still to be decided. One thing was for sure. He didn’t like the sound of those games, but he was confident that they were in the right place, and he wasn’t going to let his pack brothers worry.
The man croaked. “How much is national security worth these days? Perhaps you can purchase me a new bed? Better yet, I’d be willing to settle on a new room located in, let’s say, the upper quarters.”
Severin blinked wildly, and he contorted his jaw as if he were chewing on the physical thought. “Whatever you need for payment, consider it done. Just give these men jobs,” Severin said.
The man was much older than Severin. He gripped his chair and stood, knees bending from the pull of gravity. Groaning, he took in shallow breaths of dusty air and walked through the large stone hallway lit by thin candles. “Come, come,” he muttered. “I have a job for you.”
The alphas followed but Severin did not. Instead, he turned his back on the men and moved in the opposite direction.
“Where do you t
hink you’re going? You can’t just leave us here,” Vash said.
Pausing, Severin faced them and smiled. “I told you I’d allow you to see her. Right now, I need to go about my business. If Ruby finds out you’re here, you’ll be taken into her quarters and castrated. My advice is to lie low. I’ll be back when I have more to offer you.”
The whole thing didn’t sit right, but they had very few options at this point. Besides, as nice as the city was, a life near Rae was better than anything else. “It’ll be fine, Vash,” Killian said. “We’ll follow the man to our quarters and rest easy for the night.”