Page 142 of Bonds of Pain
“That’s different,” I protest weakly. “Maya’s his Omega. Different rules apply.”
“Different rules,” Poe repeats, his voice dripping with disdain. “You mean no rules at all? Save for complete ownership?”
I want to argue, to defend Logan and the pack structure that’s been my whole world. But the certainty I’ve always felt about our brotherhood wavers, replaced by an uncomfortable awareness of just how little say the rest of us actually have in Logan’s decisions.
“So what are you saying?” I ask, dropping back onto the bench. “That we’re expendable?”
Poe’s smile is grim. “I’m saying we only have to look at his track record to know what happens to people who inconvenience Prince Logan.”
The implication hangs heavy between us. Ander. Logan’s own brother, now dead for reasons none of us fully understand. If Logan could kill his own blood...
“What do we do if you’re right?” I ask, hating how defeated I sound.
Poe’s laugh is dark and humorless. “We die. Probably at the hands of whatever assassin Logan sends to ensure we can’t testify about what really happened to Ander.”
I feel the blood drain from my face. “You really think he’d?—“
“I think Logan has proven he’ll do whatever it takes to protect his position,” Poe interrupts. “And two inconvenient pack members who know too much about his secrets? We’re liabilities now, not assets.”
The terrible logic of it settles in my stomach like lead. If Logan’s willing to sacrifice us to maintain his claim to the throne, we’re as good as dead. Our loyalty means nothing if it conflicts with his ambition.
But even knowing all that, even facing the possibility of our own execution, part of me still can’t accept it.
“I don’t believe it,” I say, the words feeling like a betrayal even as I speak them. “Logan’s our pack brother. He wouldn’t?—“
“Wouldn’t he?” Poe’s voice cuts through my denial like a blade. “The same way he wouldn’t force a bond on an unwilling Omega? The same way he wouldn’t make Cillian carve his mark into her flesh while she was restrained?”
Each word is a hammer blow against my crumbling faith. I want to argue, to find some defense for the man I’ve followed for years. But the evidence is mounting, painting a picture of Logan I don’t want to see.
“We’re all just pawns to him,” Poe continues relentlessly. “And pawns get sacrificed when the game requires it.”
The cell door swings open with a metallic screech that echoes through the narrow space. My body tenses automatically, every instinct screaming that Poe’s predictions about assassins are about to come true.
Logan stands in the doorway, but he’s not the polished prince we left behind. Blood soaks through his white dress uniform—dark stains across his chest, spattered on his sleeves, evenstreaked across his face like war paint. His golden eyes burn with an intensity I’ve never seen before, wild and dangerous.
“We have to go,” he says, voice rough. “Now.”
I immediately step forward, relief flooding through me. Whatever’s happened, Logan came for us. My doubts about his loyalty evaporate in the face of his bloodied appearance.
But Poe’s hand shoots out, gripping my arm hard enough to leave bruises.
“No,” Poe says, not moving from his position on the bench. “We’re not going anywhere until you tell us everything.”
Logan’s jaw tightens. “We don’t have time for questions.”
“We have all the time in the world,” Poe replies, voice deadly calm. “We’re sitting in a jail cell on treason charges, so we’re not exactly in a rush. I want to know why we were arrested in the first place before I make the problem worse by breaking out of the palace prison.”
“My father has turned on us,” Logan snaps, impatience bleeding into his voice. “That’s all you need to know. We have to leave before?—“
“Before what?” Poe interrupts. “Before someone discovers what really happened to Ander?”
The blood on Logan’s uniform catches the dim light from the corridor, and I notice something else—the way his hands shake slightly, the barely controlled tremor that speaks of either rage or fear. Maybe both.
“Poe—” he starts.
“I know you’re hiding something from us. Something big. And I’m not leaving until I know what it is,” Poe insists. “Tell us the truth. All of it. No more secrets.”
Logan narrows his eyes. “There is nothing more to tell you aside from the fact that we have to go.”
