Page 45 of The Hitman's Omega Priest
The room looked like any standard bedroom might, with a dresser directly in front of him, a single window, and two doors,one shut and one that stood halfway open. But unlike in a normal bedroom, this window had metal bars on it.
He also wasn’t chained to the floor or the wall, so he shoved his covers aside and swung his feet over the side of the bed. “Where the fuck are we? Who are you?”
“It’s been so long.” His companion looked at his hands, as if the answer was written on them. “They only call me Omega. That’s what they’ll call you.”
Terror sliced coldly through his chest. “Who’s they? What’s your name? How long have you been here?” Kensley stood and walked to the window. Saw only sprawling countryside that was mostly flat, full of grass and small trees, which told him very little. It could be the Midwest as much as someplace in Europe.
“I don’t know where we are, no one ever told me. I learned quickly not to ask questions. He’ll punish you. He’ll break you.”
Kensley turned and studied the other man. Similar age, but taller with thin blond hair, gaunt cheekbones, and a general haggardness that made him seem twice as old. “I’m Kensley.”
The other man’s eyes went distant. “My name was…it was…Malori. I haven’t said it in so long.”
“What’s out there?” He pointed at the half-open door.
“The rest of the apartment.”
“Apartment? So, there’s another door to the outside?”
“It’s locked. There’s no escaping, Kensley, believe me, I tried. So did the omega who was here before me.”
Kensley really didn’t want to know. “What happened to him?”
Malori shrugged one narrow shoulder. “About a week after they brought me here, when I stopped fighting back, he disappeared. If you’re here, that means I’ll disappear soon. But fuck, I am so tired.”
“Tired of what? Why are we here?” He suspected but had to hear it. Had to know how hard he’d need to fight.
“Entertainment.” Malori turned and left the bedroom.
Bewildered, and on the cusp of losing his shit, Kensley followed him into a living room. Pretty typical setup with a couch, two chairs, side tables, a TV, and two more windows, both with metal bars. The same view of indistinct countryside. He spotted three more doors and tested them all. The first was a bathroom, the second another bedroom, probably Malori’s. The third didn’t budge.
“It won’t open from the inside,” Malori said. “It’s where Master enters. We only leave with him.”
As much as Kensley’s instincts told him to search for an escape, the perfectly defeated expression on Malori’s face and the exhaustion in his voice, told Kensley it would be futile. “And go where?”
“Downstairs.”
“Why?”
“We’re omegas, Kensley. Why do you think?”
Bile scorched up Kensley’s throat, and for the first time, despair tickled at the back of his mind. King hadn’t paid enough for him. Someone else had bought him. And now he was in some sort of brothel for people with an omega fetish. It explained everything about Malori’s stooped shoulders and dead eyes.
“We need to get out of here,” Kensley said.
“There’s no way out. I’m not the first and you won’t be the last.”
Oh yes, I will be the last. Even if I die trying, I will tear this place down one brick at a time.
“My brother has a lot of money and power,” Kensley snapped, unwilling to give in to his despair. He embraced his anger and frustration over trading one prison for another. His entire life had been a series of prisons. First the abbey, then the cabin, over the ocean to the beach house, and ending at thatbizarre windowless room. Now this. No. No more prisons. “King is looking for me. I know he is.”
Malori’s dead expression went briefly curious. “You have a loved one in the outside world?”
“Yes, my half-brother. You don’t?”
“No. My family was not supportive of me being omega. As if I had a choice. I had no belief in religion, so I didn’t join an Order. I tried to survive, and I thought…I thought I’d found a new family. But I was wrong, and now I’m here. I’ll eventually die here, but I had hoped they wouldn’t find another to replace me.”
Kensley desperately wanted to hug his forlorn companion, but he doubted the gesture would be welcome. “Whoever they are, they picked the wrong omega. Not only will I fight every step of the way, I know there are people looking for me.”Please, Bishop, be looking for me.“They will find us, Malori. Believe that.”
