Page 79 of The Wronged Omega

Lucinda got our attention from the head of the table by clapping her hands. “Welcome! I hope you all are pleased with your present for the evening. Enjoy them however you see fit within the rules that you all know well.” She didn’t address the slaves. We all knew what was happening. We behaved and didn’t get punished. That was the game. “Dinner will be served momentarily.” She left, and we didn’t see her the rest of the night.

Was this some sort of thank you to these men? What was this event supposed to be? It seemed rather boring and ridiculous to me.

Dinner and drinks were served, but we weren’t the ones eating. We fed our “masters.” Well, everyone except me. Alli demanded I also eat, so I did. I wasn’t about to argue with him on that.

He kept his hands to himself and took what I gave him from the plate. Each person had something different. Some had steak and asparagus, which was an odd choice. Others had soup or chicken or pork. It was a wide variety.

Alli had chosen a large pot pie with veggies, and I believe it was turkey instead of chicken. It was easy enough to feed him and myself, and I figured he’d planned that as well.

When he leaned forward this time to whisper in my ear, I remained still without cringing. “They will all start to leave soon.” I glanced at him, not understanding what he meant. “We will leave as well.” The emphasis on the word “leave” made me think he meant much more than everyone adjourning to their respective rooms.

I nodded as hope filled my insides. I crushed it down until I was certain of what he meant, but some remained.

Alli had a plan, and I was beyond ready to get out of here.

Thoughts of it being a trick flitted through my mind, but I was to follow every instruction my “master” gave me tonight, so I was only following the rules Lucinda had given us. It would be her fault if I escaped, and a small smile crossed my lips as I took another bite of the pot pie.

Just as he had said, everyone finished their meals and left. Eventually, there were only three pairs left of the near twenty we had started with.

Without a word, Alli took the fork from me and set it down. He stood and helped me to my feet before gripping my arm and half dragging me out of the room. Please be for show.

We exited the dining room and took a right. Going left led back to my room and the others.

He didn’t speak as we rounded corners and he pulled me along.

Finally, I saw a large door in the middle of a large foyer.

“Get ready,” he ground out as we were a few feet from the door, but a voice stopped us, and my heart plummeted into my stomach.

I was never going to make it out of here.

Chapter 39

Odie

The lead we had was small, but we had gone through every other option available to us. We heard a rumor about a dinner party being held at a mansion six hours from our location. The dinner party wasn’t what tipped us off though. Many known buyers in the sex trafficking world were all flying in for it. That’s what tipped us off, so we dug a little and found out about the party.

I didn’t think Lucinda was dumb enough to host such an event so close to us and a short time after taking Ellie, but after busting a handful of auctions and holding houses in the last three days, this was all we had left. It was all repulsive, and I despised Lucinda even more, despite not knowing how much of what we had handled the last few days actually connected to her. It didn’t matter. She was a part of the world, and it all needed to rot away.

Lucinda was also the one who placed all of those men on the list we had on file. We didn’t know how many were coming in, but our current total that we knew of was seven. No one was ever able to pin enough on them for an arrest, but we all knew they were scum.

This was why my aunt had gone under the radar for so long. She gave enough information that she seemed to be the best at her job, but really, she was hiding the biggest busts of them all on purpose. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was more involved than we knew.

The one piece I truly didn’t understand was why Ellie? She was a high-level target and knew what the plan was. After finding out Ellie knew and had told all of us including our father, why didn’t Lucinda back off? What was in it for her?

Was she planning on framing someone else? That might work for the council, but she would never be able to pull it off on us. The world would know what a horrible person she was.

That was probably part of it. Taking Ellie would throw us off her trail, especially if she wasn’t home when the initial abduction occurred, then she could find her or pretend to search for her at the very least. Whoever was caught with Ellie would be sentenced almost instantly. The council was many things, but they never allowed Primarchs to besmirch their name. That was why hiding Mine for the time being was so important.

They knew everyone’s identity, so slipping her into society wouldn’t work. We would have to fake like we were mated to a Human for the rest of our lives and hope we found a Witch that wouldn’t share our secrets. Trusting one would not come easily after Vaila, if I ever did trust another enough.

Mine couldn’t go through that again, so I would do whatever I needed to make that happen.

“Thinking hard or hardly thinking, Cap?” Sloane asked from next to me, falling back into his old habit of referring to me as his captain.

Iker was driving with Leona in the passenger seat. Cy was behind us in the third row with tech all around her. Sloane had a laptop on his lap and was feeding her information as we went along.

Usually, I would drive, but given the situation, Iker pulled the Omega card and demanded I get in the back. If I pushed, he would have given in and let me drive but only because he respected me and my position. Because I respected him as well, I let it go. Besides, I’d be speeding, and this wasn’t exactly an on the books sort of mission, so I couldn’t pull out my identification and get out of it.

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