Page 126 of Dark Haven Omegaverse

Drake simply smirked, knowing I liked it.

“Hiro?” I asked when he didn’t respond. He was staring at the doorway in a dissociated state.

He blinked a few times and nodded. “Yeah. It’s stupid, it wasn’t even me.”

Roman had taken it for him but it was no less his body. For the first time since being with them I could see the struggle to keep his hold on reality, his eyes unfocused and a blank stare taking over until Drake walked over and put his hands on Hiro’s shoulders.

“Don’t,” Drake warned. His voice was firm and sharp and had Hiro swallowing hard. “We don’t downplay our bullshit past. That shit was fucking awful and it affects you.”

“You’re right,” he said, sliding his hand into Drake’s and taking the step toward the door.

Seeing them together like this was such an interesting contrast to their usual personalities. Drake wasn’t as sharp with Hiro as he was with me, but I thrived on both his venom and his praise, whereas Hiro needed his calm.

Our half demon was far more perceptive than anyone gave him credit for. Including himself. Drake painted himself as a monster in his head, undeserving of any praise or appreciation. I wish he could see himself as we did. A leader, protector for not just us but all of Dark Haven, and the man keeping us together.

Hiro stopped so abruptly I ran into him, cursing as my nose burned from the harsh contact.

“What the hell?” I asked but Hiro turned abruptly, vomiting all over the back wall.

I stepped back, horrified at his sudden change until I looked past him and saw why.

Drake was already moving to stand between him and the macabre scene.

“What the fuck?” I gasped, unable to look away.

There, in the center of Vane’s office, where the couch once stood, was another body.

This time the blonde girl was naked, her long hair roughly cut off and thrown into the pool of blood beside her. There were x’s carved into her eyes with a jagged blade, the delicate skin tearing but you could barely see it in the carnage it had left behind.

“Was it Bradley?” I whispered, the visage eerily similar to the faux therapist’s journal.

“Doing Vane’s bidding I assume,” Drake answered as he walked to the side to take in the letters sprawled on her body.

There was a single word, spanning from the bottom of her breasts to her pelvis.

Welcome

“He knew we were coming,” Drake said, taking off his shirt and covering the girl. “Harlow, go carve out the sigil on the door and call Ivar. I meant to do it when I found it a few days ago, but got called away. We can’t dispose of bodies here but he can.”

“Okay.” I uttered the word, my mind stunned into near silence. Things were escalating swiftly, and I didn’t like the taunting Vane was doing. He was far more psychotic than anyone admitted to this godforsaken hospital.

The sigil was just inside the door, behind a coat rack. My body froze as a figure moved to stand in the doorway, looming over me as if to dare me to continue.

Letting out a growl at the hallucination, I shoved the rack down and took out my dagger, stabbing it into the wall repeatedly, using it to get out the horror and devastation I felt for the dead girl in the other room.

The fear I felt for myself.

He wanted that to be me.

The figure continued to move closer as shadows closed around me. I ignored them as I tried to move past the biggest emotion I couldn’t shake.

Guilt.

She died because she looked likeme. I hadn’t realized I was crying until my vision blurred with tears.

Even then I didn’t stop stabbing the wall, cutting through the ward until it was barely visible.

This time, I didn’t have to call for my monster, he just came.

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