Page 96 of Daughter of Garnet

He fucked me in every way possible. There were moments of passion, of affection, and those born of a brutal need to get off. It was amazing.

By the time Sunday rolls around, I'm sore between my thighs, but my cramping has stopped, and my temperature has returned to normal.

"I thought I needed a knot to break my heat?" I ask my Beta as I accept the cup of coffee he's holding out for me.

"You do. It must've just been a heat spike, and bonded Betas can provide regulation to Omegas during one."

He sits beside me on the bed, and I scooch closer to him. "How'd you know that?"

"I have access to one of the biggest libraries in the realm. I did some research."

Affection for him pulses in my veins. Cliff is amazing, and if my dragon hadn't insisted I bond him when I did, I would have come to the same conclusion on my own.

After breakfast, we both shower, then I change my sheets. We curl up together, and Cliff plays with my still-wet hair.

"What are we going to do about Warren?" There isn't a part of me that wants to try to salvage things between us anymore. I know our friendship is over, and part of me wants to write my mother to let her know, but that's a conversation we need to have in person. I'll need to go see her as soon as possible, because I have a lot of questions to ask her, starting with how she knew I needed the necklace. "He's going to tell someone. I'm an Omega."

"Yeah, he probably is. Hopefully, no one believes him. There has never been a case of someone able to hide their designation, even for a small amount of time, before."

"Would we know if there was? Isn't that kind of the point of hiding?"

He chuckles and kisses my temple. "I suppose you're right."

"We need to tell him the truth, right? That it's life or death? He doesn't want me dead."

"I don't know, Zoe. It could be even more ammunition for him to force something between you. He would hold it over your head and try to blackmail you." Cliff isn't one to think the worst of someone, so I know he believes what he's saying.

The worst part is, I do too.

"So what do we do?

"I wish I knew. Has Ilota talked to you since the sermon?"

"No. She comes and goes. The more people who worship her, the stronger she is. I think I'm starting to figure things out, but I wish she could just tell me what I'm supposed to do. I want to help, but I don't know where to start."

Cliff hums and weaves our fingers together. "Why do you think she hasn't told you?"

"What if even she doesn't know? Or she needs me to figure it out on my own for some Godly reason?"

"Maybe. She told you things are broken. We know her Omegas were slaughtered. We also know the Archon took all of the Omegas from here and wants to distribute them to Alphas as he sees fit. Maybe she doesn't think you need information other than that anymore." He pulls our joined hands to his mouth and kisses the back of mine. "Or maybe the Gods are elusive and sometimes need us to save ourselves."

It seems unfair that a God would tap me for help but not provide any of her own. But what if she can't? It's not like we gab all day long. Maybe I'm getting the only amount of information she can manage to send my way.

What if I've been asking the wrong questions all along?

I close my eyes and decide to try a different tactic. "You never answered me the other night. The other Gods are purposefully withholding their Blessings from Omegas, right? Does this have anything to do with the Archon gathering up all the Omegas and taking them to Raeldell? Is he what's broken?"

"Yes to all. The fish rots from the head down."

Now we're getting somewhere.

All of the pieces to the puzzle are starting to come together, and it's taking the shape of the Archon.

Cameron finds me that evening in the back of the library, where I've got my nose buried in Of Gods and Government, a book explaining how the Archon and the Arcanist work together to rule the realm.

"Hello, lovely Zoe."

I startle, having not heard him sneak up on me, and gaze at him from my position on the floor. "Good evening, Hierphant. I'm supposed to bow, right?"