Page 96 of The Other Omega

“I was hoping you might have news of my family,” I said. “Are they well?”

“Quite well. Your fathers have delivered your counterpart to Stormforge and should be on their way back to Kharith by now. She was very well received, I’m told. Didn’t I tell you she was a clever, cunning thing?”

I leaned towards her. “But you said she would be retrieved. You said your superiors would take her.”

“I advised them to take her from Hart Manor while we still had access.” Her mouth tightened. “My superiors, however, believed an abduction from the family home would attract too much attention. They insisted on intercepting her during the journey, but of course, their officers failed.”

“Will there be another attempt?”

“I do not know. Retrieving her now is considerably more difficult.” She took a low breath. “Such a pity. I would have liked to examine her again.”

She adjusted her cuff, and I found myself watching her hands. The Alpha who’d questioned me during her last visit had worn his ring openly enough. He must have thought I was too frightened to notice it.

“I can’t say I’m surprised. House Tureen may excel at technology, but technology alone is no match for House Vaelor’s strategy and military strength.”

Her fingers stopped against her cuff. She looked at me for a few seconds, then sat back with a smile.

“My clever girl. What gave them away?”

“The Alpha who questioned me was wearing their crest. You told me your overseers opposed my mating to Stormforge, and he threatened my family unless I gave him our security arrangements. I presume House Tureen is doing rather more than financing your research.”

“Very good, Elowen. Yes, they have considerable interests in our work.” She looked so pleased with me that I immediately regretted saying anything. “But I’d rather you didn’t trouble yourself with matters you can’t influence.”

“Do my fathers know? Or House Vaelor?”

“Not as far as I know. Your fathers believe Omega traffickers were responsible, and House Vaelor has reached the same conclusion.”

“Then you must make certain it stays that way, Mireya. My family can never learn what I’ve done. I would rather die than bring that shame upon them. House Vaelor could destroy them over my deception.”

“My dear, precautions were taken to conceal who was responsible. Your family won’t know. Your mother may have dismissed me and refused to speak to me, but I can hardly blame her after the way your counterpart has manipulated her.” She gave me a gentle smile. “You know I love your family. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure they never learn of your sacrifice.”

It was easy for her to call it a sacrifice when she could leave whenever she wanted. I kept my mouth closed, although the bitterness in my scent should have told her exactly what I thought of that. Either she didn’t notice, or she chose not to care.

“In any case, we no longer need your counterpart. She provided the original data, of course, but we needed a wider range of subjects to establish which markers mattered. Her younger sisters have proved especially useful.”

“Her sisters?” I looked up, wondering whether I’d heard her correctly.

“Both presented successfully. Their biological markers are remarkably consistent with hers, and the differences have been just as informative.”

I knew there were two younger sisters in C-17, just as there were in my own family, but I’d never imagined they might be here.

“You mean Ivy and Nora? You brought them across?”

“Yes, little dove. We could hardly confirm the formula without testing suitable candidates.”

She kept explaining why sisters made such useful subjects, but I stopped listening properly. All I could think about were the cells, the examinations and the sounds that travelled through the corridors after the physicians had finished their work. I knew I’d seen only a fraction of what this place could do to an Omega, and Ivy and Nora wouldn’t even have known what an Omega was before they arrived.

“They didn’t agree to come.”

“My dear, how do you propose we ask? We would first have to convince them that our world exists, and only then could we begin explaining why we need them.”

“Where are they?”

“At one of our research facilities, of course.”

I pictured Ivy and Nora surrounded by physicians, trying to understand what was happening to their bodies. Had they been kept together? Had anyone even explained what an Alpha was before they were made to meet one?

“Have they asked about their sister?”