Page 294 of Caged

“That’s good though, right?” Vae asks. His voice is so soft compared to Daxen’s. So removed from the reality of the situation.

Gods, I almost feel sorry for how naive he is.

“You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” I give him a watery smile. “He said that if I wanted independence, then I could manage my own needs. No blankets, no extra clothes, no books, no food. He locked me in my room for days with nothing but a glass to refill in the bathroom sink.”

I turn my attention to Dax and meet his gaze full on, despite the anger and heartbreak churning in my chest. “Maybe you would have done something different, Daxen, but I did the best I could with what I had. Which wasn’t much.”

“I think you’re lying about Caelan.” Dax’s accusation echoes around the cell as he stalks toward me. “I think you read about Mate Bonds and figured you understood them well enough to fake one. But you forgot something.”

He smirks. “If one member of our Pack were Mated to you, the rest of us would be too.”

I nod, because what else am I supposed to say? I want to laugh. I want to cry. I do neither.

Instead, I glance away from his hateful gaze and focus over his shoulder, at the bars of my cell. “Yes. You’re right, of course.”

You absolute fucking idiot. I scream in my head. You arrogant, ignorant asshole.

“I think you knew your blood was magic, and I think you knew exactly what your father was doing with it. I think you knew he was injecting omegas with it. Killing them.”

My eyes snap back to his. “What?”

The words don’t make sense at first. My brain can’t seem to put the pieces together into anything that resembles reality. Killing them. My blood. Other Omegas. The words just bounce around my skull, refusing to land. I use the wall as leverage to push myself upright. The room tilts.

”You heard me,” He scowls.

“No,” I shake my head, staggering sideways. “No, that’s… you’re lying.”

My blood can’t be killing people. I’d know if it were… wouldn’t I? Wouldn’t I know if my father was taking my blood and using it as a weapon to hurt others?

Oh, gods. How many?

How many scared, terrified Omegas have been hurt because of my blood? Because of me?

My legs give out, and I slam into the wall, barely catching myself before I hit the ground.

“You would know,” he hisses, eyes glinting and a sickly sweet smile on his face. “You are a phenomenal little liar, you know that? It’s impressive, really. How quickly you managed to wrap Vae around your finger with that sad little story.”

Vae steps between us. “Daxen. Stop it.”

Dax glowers at me, then turns on his heel and stalks out of the cell

Vae closes his eyes and takes a long, deep breath, hangs his head… and follows his packmate.

The moment they’re on the other side of the bars, Dax grips the bars of the cell door. Then, with a twisted, self-satisfied smile on his face, he slams it shut.

“No!” I lunge forward, stumbling toward them. My hands wrap around the cold iron bars, and my vision swims. Bile rushes up my throat so fast I have to step back in case I get sick.

“You said you wouldn’t leave me down here! You said⁠—”

“I said no such thing.” Dax leans in, resting his hands exactly where mine had just been. “I said you wouldn’t be down here forever.”

He bends lower and smirks. “Let’s be honest with each other for just one fucking minute, little Omega. We both knew I was lying then. Just like we both know you’re lying now.”

“Dax—” Vae grabs his shoulder, trying to pull him away. “You can’t leave her down here. I told her she wouldn’t be left here, and I meant it.”

He pushes between the two of us and forces Dax’s hands off the iron bars. “I agreed because I thought a stone cell without any fire would be a good place to have this conversation in case she…” he glances at me over his shoulder with a wince, “got upset. I was serious about leaving her down here. You can’t do it.”

“That— ”Dax snaps, pointing an accusatory finger directly at me, “is a supernatural that we don’t understand. Her blood has been forcefully injected into kidnapped omegas, and now those omegas are lighting shit on fire, glowing, and speaking in riddles when they’re not catatonic.”