Omega Series: Omega Part 30

"I don't know," she admitted. "He's bad news. I get it. But he looks at you like there's more to his story."

Sometimes I hated how smart Leandra was.

"You guys have a thing?" she pressed.

"No of course not! I'm doomed to be alone. You all used to steal boys from me but I'm starting to think it was a good thing. If I've learned anything since leaving the forest, it's that I can't trust anyone. Ever."

"You have us."

"You're a spy!" I exclaimed softly.

"For you!" she retorted. "Herakles. You are his world."

I clamped my mouth shut. Leandra's attention was on the guests.

"The Supreme Priest is kinda creepy with that mask."

"Yeah." I twisted to follow her gaze.

Lantos and the SISA chief were talking privately apart from the crowd. Whenever I thought of Lantos, I recalled the Oracle. Studying him, a new idea formed, and I rose.

Leandra scrambled after me as I approached the two. Their talking ceased, and they looked at me as I neared.

"May I have a word?" I asked Lantos.

"Of course." He stepped away from Adonis to join me. Leandra lingered behind.

We walked for a short distance into the gardens, away from anyone else, before I was comfortable enough to speak. "Will you take me to see the Oracle again?"

Lantos was quiet, his eyes the only part of him visible from beneath the mask.

"Please," I added. "I don't know how else to go see her if you don't help with the shadows thing."

"My instincts tell me I'm not going to like this answer, but for what purpose?" he asked. His cheerful voice and sparkling eyes made him so much easier to talk to than Adonis.

"Not your concern."

"You learned those words from my chief." He chuckled. "I have the choice to take you or not, based on your response. Perhaps you should try again."

"Fine. I want her to tell me how to use my magic."

"And that's a lie."

I growled in frustration. "It's partially true. I want to kill her."

His eyes widened.

"To put her at peace," I continued.

"You speak to the Silent Queen and come away wanting to murder the Oracle. Can I a.s.sume the two are linked?"

"I saw her, Lantos!" I exclaimed. "I saw what they did to her. What they'll do to me. How can I leave her that way? If I were her, I'd beg for someone to kill me."

He began walking again. I went with him, agitated. "There is a flaw with this plan," he started. "Aside from accelerating your fate at the hands of the Magistrate, you'd also risk exposing me while simultaneously chopping off my ability to draw off my power. I'm connected to the same place the G.o.ds are."

"You said you want them to suffer. You had to know that would mean losing your power, too."

"At the right time, Alessandra. At a time of my choosing."

A chill went through me. "What if that time is after the Oracle dies of natural causes? Are you willing to let me meet that fate?"

"It would be temporary and of short endurance if so. Only until I can ensure the pa.s.sage of ... we'll just say something important from the other side of the portal."

I stopped walking.

"It's not what I want. Adonis has taken to you, and I want to respect my friend enough to spare you," he admitted.

"If you throw your friends into the arena, they're probably better off without you," I said, a surge of protectiveness flying through me.

"You're not helping your case," he chided. "My hope is to be in position well before her natural death. But I'm not willing to expedite it."

"You won't help me."

"Not unless the timing is right." The skin around his eyes crinkled in a sign he was smiling beneath the mask. "Trust me, Alessandra. I showed you your fate when no one else would. I've protected you since you were a child, and you know my motivation to seeing the G.o.ds cared for properly. I ask only that you give things time to fall into place. It'll work out. I promise."

If I do this ... if the Oracle dies soon ... he'll see me crucified. I said nothing, understanding too well what he meant.

"Don't look so dour! There's plenty of champagne and beautiful bush creatures to amuse us," he said and slid his arm through mine and walked me back towards the party.

The more I thought about it, the better idea it was to help the existing Oracle find peace. Even so, he had presented a problem I didn't think through: I didn't have anywhere to go if she died and I was next in line. Except maybe ...

My eyes went towards the villa in whose gardens we were. The Silent Queen had a network of some kind, a plan for rebellion. I wanted to think she'd be willing to protect me if the Oracle died.

But I was learning more and more that I couldn't trust anyone. Even those who seemed to be willing to help. In the end, they were out for their own purposes, and I was a means to an end. I wanted to believe the Silent Queen, but I was afraid to.

I had to break away from these people. I had the magic needed to fend off entire armies, the survival skills to live anywhere, and the ragged red cord needed to hide from even Mismatch.

A different kind of plan began to form, one that fit my own purposes rather than those of everyone around me.

Escape. After giving the existing Oracle peace.

"I'm ready to go home," I told Leandra as we rejoined the party area.

"Should you turn off the monsters first?"

Glancing around, I saw guests gathered around the creatures. "Nah. They seem happy." And I hope they eat some of these people.

Leandra trailed me as I left the gardens and walked around the villa to the covered sidewalks.

"I want to run away," I told her.

"I don't blame you."

"No. I'm serious."

Leandra drew abreast of me and met my gaze. "To where?"

"That's what we need to figure out. Somewhere they won't look."

"Outside the walls, then."

"Yeah."

"That's risky. If they found you in the forest, they'll find you wherever you go."

"But I have my magic. I'll keep learning to use it. Even if they do, I can make them disappear like I did the Typhon."

"True." She was frowning. "Didn't you talk to the Silent Queen about her plan?"

"Yeah. But, Leandra, every one of these people wants me for their purpose. To play a role in their plan. No one is looking out for me." The image of the Oracle was in my head once more. "Just like no one is looking out for her. They only want what she can do for them."

"Who?"

"The Oracle."

Leandra was quiet for a long moment before speaking again. "I understand, Lyssa. I don't disagree. But you need to consider the idea the Silent Queen might be a better option. One that helps us bring back the Old Ways."

The wisdom in her words held me in silence as I reconsidered. She was right. But so was I, to want my freedom. On the surface, the Silent Queen appeared to be the best option I had.

"And ... you need to complete your trials before you can access all your magic. Think about it. Do you want to be caught outside the walls by a desperate G.o.d?" Leandra advised as we entered my villa.

"No," I answered.

"You've had a rough go of it lately. Try to see your situation with less emotion."

"You always make sense," I said moodily. The buzz of alcohol had faded, and I was starting to feel heavy. "I'm gonna take a nap."

Leandra left me at the doorway of my bedroom. I changed quickly and dropped into bed, troubled and needing some alone time to think.

Chapter Nineteen.

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.

Aristotle Later on, I was on a journey to explore the villa to find some shred of insight into Cecelia's life when Leandra found me.

"You have a guest," she said.

"Ugh. Who?" I leaned back from searching beneath the bed in one of the guest bedrooms.

"And you're in jeans. Great." She eyed the designer jeans I'd uncovered in the ma.s.sive closet. I was barefoot and wearing the most dressed down blouse I could find. "Probably someone you don't want to see."

"There's a million people on that list!"

"Adonis."

And he's number one. "Can you tell him I'm ... I don't know. Dead."

"He's the SISA chief, Lyssa. Whatever is going on between you two, you need to keep in mind he's in a powerful position. We might be able to use that."

Over my dead body. But I rose. "Fine."

I trailed her out of the bedroom. I steeled myself to tell Adonis to leave and walk away.

Entering the foyer area, my tongue stilled when I saw him in his black uniform once more, the one that clung to his muscular thighs, displayed his flat abs and outlined the shapes of his shoulders and biceps. In the end, I stopped and stared at him, speechless long enough for him to beat me to it. Not that it mattered. Nothing he could say would sway me from my intention.

"Care to spar?"

Except that. I crossed my arms. "You have an entire organization of people to spar with."

"None of them are as fast as you."

A trickle of pride slid through me. "Okay. Meet me in the garden." I spun on my heels and returned to my room to seek out clothing for the event.

And then I sprinted from my room to the door leading to the garden. Not because I wanted to see him, but because ...

Well, I did. It was impossible to deny it. No matter what I knew about him, I didn't want him completely gone yet. Slowing, I exited into the garden and finished tying my hair into a ponytail. He stood ready in the stone courtyard at the center of the garden.

Adonis said nothing but lowered into a fighting stance. With a deep breath, I did the same.

We began to warm up with slow movements, lazy strikes and soft blocks. I half expected him to speak, but he didn't, except to offer advice as we sparred.

Warm ups transitioned into bouts of heated combat that galvanized me. I was angry with him, at my world, at everything. I fought him harder than I had in the SISA building.

I was soon sweating in the late afternoon sun, focused on obliterating his guard or at least, beating myself against it until I could no longer think or feel. His technique was flawless, his reflexes otherworldly. It was easy to let go, to unleash every last ounce of conflicted emotion, and channel everything into physical struggle once again.

In the end, he'd win. I knew this. But I didn't care. We went on for an intense hour or two. My breathing grew ragged, my movements lethargic and tired. At long last, he put me out of my misery and pinned me. An arm bar around my neck, his thighs locked around mine, I was immobilized on top of him, facing the sky with him between me and the ground.

I went limp and tapped out.

Adonis released me, and I rolled off him onto my belly. He remained on his back, breathing hard. Sweat dripped down my neck and soaked the roots of my hair.