Page 41 of Unhinged Omega

He mutters something that sounds suspiciously like "forget I asked" and grips the steering wheel tighter. I turn back to the window, watching the desolate landscape blur past. The silence stretches between us, and eventually, it's more awkward than the unspoken words.

"Nineteen," I murmur after a moment, surprising myself with the admission.

I feel Geo's gaze on me, searching for something. What, I'm not sure. Pity, maybe? I've never been that good at readinghim. It's part of his charm.

"That's rough," he finally grunts, his knuckles white on the wheel. "Hope he burned that place to the ground."

A small smile plays at my lips as I toy with the necklace hidden beneath my shirt. The bronzed remnants of the first match. "We did."

The memory washes over me, still vivid and visceral. The stench of smoke and burning flesh, the heat of the flames lickingat my skin, Nikolai's hand on my shoulder as we watched it all crumble to ash.

It was the first time I felt truly alive.

Truly free.

It's the only gift he ever gave me, besides a sawed-off shotgun and a lifetime of trust issues. I wonder, briefly, if he kept the gift I gave him. The thought sends a familiar ache through my chest, and I push it away. No use dwelling on the past.

Not when I have a brand new obsession to crush the remnants of my soul out of existence.

"That's it," Geo announces, pulling me from my thoughts.

I look up, blinking away the phantom smell of smoke. We're approaching a small settlement, and I have to do a double-take. It's nowhere near shitty enough to be in the Outer Reaches. The buildings are rudimentary butnice, like they've been freshly painted over and renovated.

There's no fucking way a place like this has been around more than a week without getting gutted by raiders and mercs.

"You weren't kidding about their spa towns," I mutter as we pull to a stop. It has Surhiira written all over it. "How did they even have time to do all this?"

Geo kills the engine and steps out, stretching his massive frame. "'New Reinmich' is just a proxy state for Surhiira now," he says with a grimace. "Of course, they'll be trying to close the gap. Less space for rats like us to scurry around in."

He's probably right, but I'm not worried. My habitat has been burned down before, and I survived.

I always do.

I slide out of the SUV, my boots kicking up dust as they hit the ground. The air here smells different. Cleaner. It sets my teeth on edge. I prefer being the gilding on a dirt pile, not the scum at the bottom of a castle.

"So, where's this meeting supposed to go down?" I ask, scanning the area for potential threats. The Surhiiran guards sprinkled around the quiet streets aren't wearing their usual finery, but they stick out like a sore thumb. Anyone who showers more than once a week in the Outer Reaches has a way of doing that.

Geo jerks his head toward a nondescript building at the edge of town. "There. Neutral ground, or so they say."

I snort. "Neutral. Right. And I'm a virgin goddess."

"You're about as far from a virgin or a goddess as it gets," Geo mutters, but there's no real heat behind it.

We make our way toward the building, and I can't shake the feeling that we're being watched. The fact that I can'tseewho's watching us has me even more on edge. My hand drifts to the revolver at my hip, a comforting weight against my thigh.

"You sure about this?" Geo asks as we approach the door. "Last chance to back out."

I think of violet eyes and hair like moonlight.

Of a scent that haunts my dreams.

"I'm sure."

Geo sighs, reaching for the door handle. "Your funeral."

Possibly his, too. But he's here, for all his protests.

Probably just for the skull.

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