Page 140 of The Other Omega

“Where’s the cloth I gave you this morning?”

He stopped chewing. “I left it at work.”

“Please bring it home tomorrow. We haven’t many spares.”

“I’ll bring it.”

I put a clean one in his bag. Marek’s used cloth was folded in the outer pocket, and Tomas handed me his before I asked. His boots were still in the passage, so I nudged them beneath the bench with my foot.

I’d been staying with them for a while, although I still listened for footsteps outside whenever the room went quiet. After Haven House, I’d avoided anywhere that required papers, but I couldn’t continue sleeping wherever I happened to find a hiding place. These three needed someone to cook and manage the house, and in return I had food and a room with a lock on the door.

They knew people were looking for me. I hadn’t given them my family name or explained what I’d done, and when Marek asked whether the men following me were officers, I couldn’t give him an answer. He’d spoken to the others before they agreed I could stay, and we’d been clear from the beginning that household work was all I owed them.

Before my heat, I’d asked for their help, and we’d discussed what I would allow. There would be no claim, no bite and no expectation that anything would change afterwards. Their touch eased the worst of it, even though their scents still felt wrong. They kept water beside me, made certain I ate and left me alone whenever I asked.

I finished packing the satchels and put them by the door. Tomas took his cup into the kitchen before going upstairs, while Marek checked the rear door and windows. Rafe remained in his chair with his pad.

“Good night,” I said.

“Good night.” He looked up as I reached the stairs. “You’ve secured your window?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

I’d chosen the smallest bedroom because it faced the rear garden. A lean-to stood beneath its window, with a sloping roof and a drainpipe at the far end. From there, I could reach the narrow passage beside the house and the alley beyond it. Tomas had offered me the larger room at the front, but I’d asked for this one.

Once inside, I locked the door and crossed to the window. I opened it far enough to check the roof below, then closed it and fastened the latch.

My nest filled most of the floor. The blankets didn’t match, and one cushion had a clumsy seam I meant to unpick when I had time. I straightened it and placed my shoes beside the mattress, within reach of my bag. Inside were a change of clothes, my folded coat, a little money, food, my pad and the few useful things I’d managed to keep.

I checked the fastening Marek had repaired before changing into my nightdress. Once I lay down, I could hear water moving through the pipes and someone walking along the passage. I listened until I was certain the sounds were coming from inside the house.

I hadn’t contacted my family since Haven House. Sometimes I wanted to hear Mother’s voice so badly that I lay awake imagining what I might say if she answered. I wanted one of my fathers to come for me and tell me I didn’t have to manage everything alone.

But my call had led the people searching for me to the refuge. I could still remember Tessa taking my hand as we tried to get everyone out, and I couldn’t risk another call simply because I missed home.

I pulled the blanket over my shoulder and listened to the house until I fell asleep.

The crash woke me before I understood what I was hearing. Glass shattered downstairs, followed by a shout and another blow that shook the floor. I pushed my feet into my shoes, grabbed my bag and went straight to the window, but the latch caught halfway.

A shot cracked downstairs as I pulled at it again.

“Elowen.”

Marek was outside my door. I turned the key and let him through, stepping back as he shut and locked it behind him. There was blood on his shirt.

“The latch is stuck,” I said.

He crossed to the window and gripped it with both hands. The metal snapped, and he forced the window open.

“Onto the lean-to. Keep low and use the drainpipe at the far end.”

He took my bag so I could climb through, setting it beneath the window while I got onto the sill. My nightdress caught under my knee, and I pulled it free before lowering my legs outside. Marek held my forearm until my heel found the roof, then let me crouch against the tiles.

He’d just picked up my bag when a shot struck the bedroom door. Wood splintered into the room, and he ducked, dropping it back onto the floor. I reached through the window, but my fingers couldn’t reach the strap.

The door buckled under another blow.