Page 179 of Star Claimed Omega
‘You knew.’ His timbre rasped like torn gravel. ‘You’re across this. That’s why you brought me here.’
The Synth AI didn’t flinch. ‘I did,’ she murmured. ‘I want you to be happy, Santi. So, not sorry.’
His utterance dropped to a growl. ‘Fokkyou.’
He huffed, torso heaving. ‘Get thefokkout of my face.’
Miral exchanged glances with Kaal, whose expression was incredulous.
‘Damn,’ Kaal whispered.
‘You too, brother.’
‘Nokahawathen?’ Kaal groaned.
He flinched when Santi bared his fangs at him.
‘Sawa, we’re out.’
The pair of Signet operators left, with Miral shooting a smile at Soleil and a wink of encouragement on her way out.
Santi’s spectral power flared, sending a wild charge through the place.
Followed by his whisper, a guttural command ghosted over the room, threading through neural links and audio nubs:
‘Clear out.’
A chill swept the air.
Cups rattled. Breaths caught, and feet rustled as customers dashed to escape.
A man, who must have been the café’s rotund manager, bristled from behind the counter. ‘You can’t just -’
Santi’s form shimmered with his ethereal wolf force, his sapphire and violet eyes burning, claws extending.
Thekinaipaled. ‘Hell, I knew it. I sensed she’d be trouble when I hired her.’
He too fled.
Soleil remained, hands crossed over her chest as she glared at Santi’s roiling silhouette.
When the cafe emptied, he raised a privacy shield, opaque, sealed, isolating them both inside a moment he never dared dream possible.
Then he sat hard in the nearest chair, collapsing under the burden of his agony, his head swimming with the realizationshe was alive.
He stared at her, his pulse hammering, and she met his gaze without flinching.
Finally, he summoned his inner strength and stood slowly, walking to her.
He made an involuntary reach to touch her.
When she flinched, his entire body recoiled like he’d been stabbed.
His voice was a prayer of ash. ‘It’s me,mi sol.’
Her reply was colder than the freezing vacuum of space. ‘I see that, and I’m the woman you made feel like shit on your shoe the last time we met.’
Santi’s gaze fluttered shut as he took harsh inhales, his heart closing to imploding, unsure if he could survive this.
