Page 16 of Vicious Kings
And public.
Which means news of a wild omega literally falling out of thin air is probably spreading through the city like wildfire.
So much for subtle infiltration.
"The heat," I say, because I need to know. "What did you do?"
"Administered suppressants," he replies, gesturing to the IV bag I disconnected. "Your body was in critical distress and the portal radiation compounded it. Without intervention, you would have died within hours."
The casual way he says it makes my skin crawl. Like omega deaths from heat are just another Saturday in Fae-land. Which, knowing what I know about how they treat us, they probably are.
"How would I have died?" I ask. "It's just heat. Don't omegas go into heat all the time?"
He looks concerned and confused, and with a subtle wave of his hand, the others leave the room. Once we're alone, he takes a step closer and if he notices the way my body instinctively tenses in response, he doesn't acknowledge it.
"As I mentioned before, you were injected with a stimulant seemingly designed to induce heat," he begins carefully. "An omega's natural biological processes are extremely delicate. Even the prolonged use of suppressants without a break is not medically recommended, let alone a chemically induced heat. The body has no time to ease into the cycle." He pauses, his lips sealing into a thin line. "Especially if it was the first time you were in heat."
The statement holds a question, but I don't feel like answering it.
Clearly, he gets the memo because he sighs. "I can treat you more effectively if I understand where you came from. Who gave you the heat trigger shot?"
I consider my options, and even if telling him to fuck back off to sparkletown is the most appealing one by far, I know I have to give themsomething. Just enough to justify my presence here, not enough to make them suspicious of my true purpose in Valemyre. "My family."
The horror that immediately crosses his face is more human than I expected. Unsettlingly so. And it's true enough, in a technical sense. Seveline's bloodlines are closely guarded. Most hunters are related, to one degree or another. "And why would your family do such a thing?"
"They found out what I was, and they dumped me in the woods for the monsters to claim," I say with a shrug. "Guess they thought if I was in heat, it would hurry the process along."
The horror written on his face somehow intensifies. "Gods," he mutters under his breath, making a strange, seemingly habitual motion with his hand, like he's pulling something over his chest. "I knew the hunters were savage, but I had no idea they were willing to go to such lengths."
I freeze, not even having to manufacture my shock over the fact that he already knows what I am. But that's just as well. It'll make the role I have to play even more convincing.
The doctor gives me a knowing look. "There are few reasons a lone, unregistered omega would be wandering in the sacred woods," he says in answer to my unspoken question. "Especially one carrying a knife with the Seveline cult's insignia."
I bristle at the reference to our order as a cult, but I guess from the Fae perspective, that sounds about right. And I'm not supposed to have any warm, fuzzy feelings toward my family, considering these people think they left me for dead.
Technically, they did.
"The question is," he continues, those purple eyes lit with curiosity as he studies me, "how could an omega be born into a family of hunters?"
"I'd love to know the same thing," I mutter. "If those tests you ran on me turn up the answer, please do let me know."
He gives me an infuriatingly patient smile in response to the sarcasm. "I'm afraid there are some things even our technology cannot ascertain. Such as how an omega managed to conceal her identity for so long under the roof of hunters."
"I didn't," I say with a shrug. "You know what resonance is, right?"
"The nascent abilities hunters possess," he murmurs thoughtfully. "You breed selectively for them, if I'm not mistaken?"
"Gifts," I correct. "They're bound until we're twenty. Even we don't know what they are before then."
His eyes widen slightly in understanding. "I see," he says, nodding thoughtfully. "Yes, I do recall something about this… Unmasking, is that what you call it?"
"Yep," I answer. "Apparently, my 'gift' is being an omega."
The bitterness in my tone is something I don't have to fake, either.
The doctor frowns slightly.
"I know it may not seem like it now, but it is," he says, his tone surprisingly genuine for a monster. Even if he is a pretty one. "Your family may not have appreciated you for what you are, but here in Valemyre, omegas are sacred. Treasured. Being one is a great honor."
