Page 26 of Into the Fire: Before

“On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

Nope. Nothing.

Fucking hell.

I lay there, unmoving, long enough to count to three a dozen more times. Frustrated tears leaked from my eyes down my temples, dropping silently onto the rug beneath me. Brea would tell me to be kind to myself. Chaotic brains aside, omegas were prone to overexertion, dehydration, and fatigue. It had been an eventful day, after all.

Even as I imagined her coming home to the explosion of Taryn mid-cleaning and mid-organization, telling me how proud and impressed she was even as we dumped our clean clothes into a corner so we could actually climb into bed, guilt niggled at me.

Trick your brain, Taryn.

The corner of my mouth twitched up.Thanks, Imaginary Brea.

I was thirsty again. I’d need to sit up to drink. Just like that, I rose. I brought my water to my lips with one hand and leaned back on the other as I drained it. Setting aside the glass, I looked around, searching for a way to trick my brain into standing.

A fresh bead of sweat trailed down my spine. Anxiety also contributed to overexertion of omegas. I looked toward the wall of windows, watching the slow-moving late afternoon cloud cover. The heat of the day had passed. Some fresh air in the apartment would be nice, even warmish mid-June air.

“All right, here we go, ladies and gents,” I said to the empty room. “One…two…three.” The moment I was on my feet, I did a little leap of joy, punching my fist through the air.

Take that, chaos brain!

I sashayed to the windows, my face broken into a wide grin, and slid over the lock before pushing the pane up.

Or trying to. The window didn’t move.

“Oh, no you don’t.” I gave the window frame another mighty push, but it didn’t move. Didn’t so much as wiggle in its frame. Taking a step back, I looked around the windows. The dark wood grain had been stained but not painted, so they couldn’t be sealed from that. There were no other nails or anything to indicate it had been purposefully sealed.

Nope, the fucker was just stuck.

That wouldn’t do. I was a badass bitch. A motherfucking queen of doing the things. And I would have some motherfucking fresh air in my motherfucking apartment.

I was out the door before I’d even registered a decision made and taking the central stairs two at a time to the top floor. Because what was a landlord for if not to force open the windows in my apartment?

Landlord. That anti-omega landlord who can barely look at you without cringing.

Well, things were about to be awkward, because I was getting those windows open by hook or by crook.

Or maybe Lin was home today. Home and willing to have a pre-date mini-date to do some building maintenance.

The top floor opened to a small landing with two doors. The one on the left stood slightly ajar, enough for me to see a sizeable utility and storage space. Which left the door on the right as the men’s apartment.

Focused on the mission, I marched up to it and gave a strong series of knocks. I waited, but no one came. Anotherknock. Another minute. No response. I was on the cusp of retreating downstairs when I caught the faint whiff of orange and cinnamon through the door.

Caine’s scent. I sighed.

Well, Friday’s only two sleeps away, at least.

“I can hear you brooding in there,” I called out as I banged my fist on the door again. “Helloooo!Tenant in need here!”

The door swung open so quickly I nearly punched the angry alpha in the fucking face. Caine stepped back out of the line of fire, the scowl he’d been wearing already deepening with agitation. He didn’t even need to growl the “What?” to make my head snap downward so fast I cracked my neck.

At the end of the day, he was an alpha, and I was an omega, and my goddamned biology sometimes got the best of me.

Raising my eyes back to meet his, I clasped my hands in front of me and hoped the color in my cheeks wasn’t too noticeable. “My, uh, window is stuck,” I said in a much quieter voice than I’d anticipated. “Need it unstuck.”

He didn’t move. “It’s June.”

“Did the windows union negotiate for summers off?”

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