Page 64 of Bonds of Pain
I realize I’ve spoken the thought aloud only when Ares responds to it.
“Queen Midale was an advocate for Omegas to have positions in government. She’d been pushing for a referendum in the senate before she died.”
“I didn’t know that.” I pick up a slice of bacon and nibble at it, despite a complete lack of appetite. “Logan never talks about his mother. It’s strange.”
“He barely knew her. He was young when she died,” he replies easily. “Midale was more progressive than most people realize, maybe radical in some ways.”
And a predator, I think, remembering what I learned about her from Poe. Sounds like she was suited to palace life is more ways than one, though that is a thought I keep to myself.
Curiosity peaked, I lean closer. “Radical how?”
Ares shrugs, looking somewhat abashed. “I’m probably saying too much. Midale had…ideas about how things should be between Alphas and Omegas. The king would occasionally indulge her by letting her address the officially address his cabinet and rouse some small number of supporters. But…”
“But the king never had any intention of instituting any real change,” I finish for him. “Because if he wanted to do that, then he would have.”
He actually has the nerve to look apologetic. “Things are the way they are.”
I push the plate away, inexplicably annoyed with him. Ares is a prototypical Alpha, exactly who this system is designed to most uplift. I shouldn’t expect him to be some staunch advocate of Omega rights, but his easy acceptance of the status quo is still infuriating. “I suppose I should just be happy with garden parties and charity events.”
He drums his fingers on the table, eyes flicking from the nearly full plate back to me as if warring with the urge to force me to eat it. “Have a little more.”
“I don’t want this.”
A muscle in his jaw twitches once. “Then, I’ll get you something else. What would you like?”
“I’m not hungry.”
Ares studies me with an unreadable expression. Finally, he lets out a soft sigh. “What do you want from me here, Maya?”
What do I want? Aside from a way to turn back time, there isn’t a damn thing he can give me.
“Maybe I just want some acknowledgment of how messed up this all is. A trick of birth shouldn’t put you in control of another person.”
His expression is incredulous. “You think I have control over you? I can’t even get you to fucking eat.”
I cover my eyes with the heels of my palms, resisting the urge to scream at him. “That isn’t what I mean.”
He gently grips my wrists, pulling my hands down until I’m forced to look at him. The sympathy in his gaze is more than I would have expected to see from him.
“Tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it,” he says, voice earnest.
I haven’t decided what sort of punishment Ares deserves for what happened to me. Or how to deliver it. And I won’t unless I get close enough to him to figure it out.
I should have known that he wouldn’t be able to resist a damsel in distress.
This is an opportunity I didn’t expect to get so easily. I can take advantage of Ares’s desire to protect, to be that idealized Alpha he sees himself as. Logan’s head on a pike is probably too much, but I need to ask him for something good. Something Logan won’t like, that might be the start of a wedge driven between them.
“I want to leave the palace.”
His eyebrows go up. “And go where?”
“It doesn’t matter. I just want to get away for a few hours. I’ve barely even left the apartment for days.”
He looks at me for a long moment, considering. I can practically see the wheels turning in his head. The volatility of Logan’s reaction has to be weighed against the points he’ll score for fulfilling my request. Finally, he gives a small nod. “Fine, but you have to finish these eggs. We’ll go out after the coalition meeting.”
“Deal.” I pick up my fork, feeling a surge of triumph. “Thank you.”
He gives a rueful chuckle as he leans back in his chair. “Thank me after Logan gets done rearranging my internal organs.”
