Page 185 of The Other Omega

“I like having you here.”

“So do I.”

Her fingers smoothed my collar before she settled Vaela into my arms. I stayed beside them until my pad sounded, then brought it down to the blanket.

The new chief executive had taken over the daily running of my companies. Matters requiring my authority still reached me, but I no longer spent hours reviewing decisions made by the capable people I had employed to make them. I had once considered that degree of oversight indispensable. Now I could approve a report with Vaela asleep against my chest, and the companies continued to function.

Alaric, Lucien and Caius had less freedom. A few days after Elowen woke, Alaric had explained that the work taking them from home would continue longer than he had promised. She had listened with her hand over his, then asked him to bend so she could kiss his cheek.

If people need you, you have to go. Just come back safely, all right? I need you too.

She asked about the guards, the household staff, Leenah and her daughter Neetah, even though she could barely stay awake long enough to hear the answers. I could easily imagine her beside Alaric as High Lady of House Vaelor, but I struggled to imagine how she would look at us if she discovered the full extent of our deception. As High Lady, she would face responsibilities and hardships we could not always spare her. I could only trust that Alaric and Lucien were right in believing she would grow strong enough to bear them.

She knew the attack had targeted House Vaelor and our residence, but she knew nothing of House Tureen’s involvement, the apparatus that had brought her here or the woman who had initiated the exchange. When she asked whether Lucien had discovered how she had crossed from Earth, we told her the investigation continued. That much was true. We had become practised at letting it conceal everything else.

Elowen looked up when Vaela stirred against me. I adjusted the blanket before she could reach for it, so she laid her hand on my knee instead. Her trust was so complete that I had to look down at our daughter.

A message appeared on my pad.

Caius: At the main entrance. Confirm clearance to enter.

Across the room, Eira checked her own notification. Her eyes met mine before she turned to Elowen.

“Elowen, I think the girls are ready for their afternoon story. It will be nap time very soon.”

“Oh, you’re right.” Elowen looked at me, her expression softening. “Do you mind? We’re trying to be very strict with their schedules.”

“Not at all, sweetheart.” I kissed Vaela’s head and handed her to Elowen. Eira gathered Seren, and I watched them take the girls to the nursery before sending my reply.

Leon: Clear.

Caius arrived with damp hair and fresh clothes. He had washed away any sign of where he had been before coming near Elowen and the girls.

“Come with me,” he said.

In his room, with the door closed, he stopped beside the chair by the window and gripped its back.

“The centre is secure. The captives are receiving medical care. The surviving personnel have been taken for questioning.”

“And Ivy and Nora?”

“They were not there.”

I had known from his face, but hearing it ended the hope I had carried through the morning.

“Lucien received confirmation while we were searching the centre. The sisters were moved before we attacked. We have evidence that they were held there, but the staff we captured were not told where they had been taken.”

“What of their condition?”

Caius looked towards the closed door.

“As we thought, Nora no longer speaks. Their records describe prolonged withdrawal. Ivy resists whenever she is conscious. They keep her sedated.”

“But they are alive.”

His grip tightened on the chair. “Yes, but after everything that has been done to them, Leon, I do not know whether they still want to be.”

Elowen had told us of Nora’s endless chatter around people she trusted, despite her painful shyness, and of Ivy’s cheerful, chaotic nature. I could not reconcile those women with the report Caius had brought home.