Chapter 17: Valek

Chapter

Seventeen

VALEK

N o one else seems to notice the giant fucking bird in the room.

Fascinating.

The huge white bird spreads her wings, feathers shimmering with an iridescent glow that shouldn't be possible. I watch, transfixed, as those impossible feathers pass through the delicate pastries laid out before us, bathing them in a kaleidoscope of colors.

It's beautiful.

Mesmerizing.

My gaze darts around the opulent train car, taking in the tense postures and furrowed brows of my... companions? Captors? I'm not entirely sure where I stand with this ragtag pack of misfits anymore.

I push the hazy thoughts aside, focusing instead on the tiny people I've just noticed crawling over the macarons. They're ant-sized, their minuscule forms scurrying across the pastel surfaces of the delicate confections. A shame they're pissing all over the macarons. I've liked every macaron I've ever tasted, and I'd like to try one.

One of the tiny rainbow people waves at me.

I wave back.

"You alright there?" Whiskey's gruff voice cuts through my musings. "You're staring at those cookies like they insulted your mother."

I tear my gaze away from the miniature circus unfolding on the dessert tray. "I could be their god if I wanted," I drawl, a lazy smirk curling my lips.

I lean back in my plush seat, watching the show unfold before me with lazy amusement. The drugs still singing through my veins make everything pleasantly hazy, softening the edges of reality.

But not enough to dull my senses completely.

No, I'm far too experienced for that.

Whiskey's eyes narrow. "Huh?"

I can't help the low chuckle that escapes me. If only they knew the wonders hidden just beneath the surface of their dull perceptions. The vibrant tapestry of reality that unfolds before those with eyes to see it.

But they're all so... limited .

Blind to the true nature of things.

They can't even tell our dear doctor is fucking us all over.

This is the perfect opportunity to fuck off into the sunset, and if I had any self preservation, that is exactly what I would do.

I have no interest in waltzing into the walled-off nightmare that is Surhiira. With our luck, Plague is a spy or assassin or he's been a real princess all along, and he's been looking for the perfect opportunity to hand us over.

He certainly looks the part. All sharp angles and pretty eyes and black hair and fancy smug bullshit seeping from every pore.

But it seems I'm leashed now.

Ivy has successfully collared me, and it's just as real as the metal one I popped off her neck before setting her free. As she nibbles at a purple star-shaped fruit—suspiciously, because she's a good, smart girl—I can't help but let my gaze roam over her beautiful bare neck.

And yet she chose captivity.

Apparently, so did I.

Fuck .

My eyes drift back to the big white bird. She cocks her head until it's upside down and her long skinny beak opens up, revealing the swirling black emptiness of space in her throat, as she speaks.

"Chasing shadows will only lead you further into the dark."

Her voice echoes in my skull.

"You make an excellent point, my feathered friend," I muse, raising my glass in a toast to her.

"What the fuck are you talking about, psycho?" Whiskey demands.

I turn to him slowly, savoring the way the world blurs at the edges. His face comes into sharp focus. Poor, simple Whiskey. So eager to fight, to fuck, to feel something— anything —beyond the yawning emptiness that comes with being a puppy dog of the state.

"Just having a delightful conversation with a goddess," I reply, gesturing vaguely toward her. "You should try it sometime. Might expand that pea-sized brain of yours."

Whiskey's gaze darts suspiciously to the empty space beside me. "There's nothing there, you nutjob."

"Oh?" I feign surprise, tilting my head. "And here I thought the giant, glowing bird was impossible to miss. My mistake."

A low growl builds in Whiskey's chest. "I swear to fuck, Valek, if you don't cut the crap?—"

"You'll what?" I interrupt, my voice sharp as a blade. "Beat me senseless? Been there, done that. I'm afraid you'll have to be more creative."

"Calm down, both of you," Ivy mutters, clearly annoyed, her pretty lips stained a bit purple by the fruit. "We don't need a Caveman VS Psycho fight before we even get there."

"As you wish," I say pleasantly, giving Whiskey my sweetest smile.

Whiskey's jaw clenches, his hands curling into fists. But before he can unleash whatever witty retort he's cobbled together from the few words rattling around in that vacant brain of his, understanding dawns in his eyes. His lips curve into a smirk that's equal parts amusement and pity.

My lip curls.

How dare this buffoon feel pity for me.

"I get it now," he says, leaning back in his seat. "You've hit your head one too many times."

The laughter bubbles up from my chest, dark and hollow. Oh, if only he knew. If only any of them knew the truth of what lurks beneath the surface of reality. The horrors that wait in the shadows, hungry and patient.

"No," I purr. "You're all just too blind to see the truth."

The temperature in the train car seems to drop several degrees. Ivy and Thane are watching us now, their attention drawn by the tension crackling between Whiskey and me.

"The truth?" Thane's deep voice rumbles from across the compartment. "And what truth would that be?"

I turn to our dear leader. How the mighty have fallen, reduced to following the breadcrumbs left by a man we barely know. A man who's leading us straight into the jaws of the beast.

"The truth," I say, savoring each word like fine wine, "is that we're all fucked. Royally, thoroughly, exquisitely fucked."

"Care to elaborate?" Thane asks, his tone deceptively calm. But I can see the tension coiled in his massive frame, ready to spring at a moment's notice. Ready to fight.

Is that really all these alphas can do?

I wish Ivy had higher standards.

Wish I wasn't looking forward to a lifetime of dealing with their bullshit. Then again, that lifetime might be cut short once our train reaches its destination.

Ivy will be safe, though.

Of that, I am certain.

Surhiirans are a mysterious people, but their love and reverence for omegas is no secret. Knowing she will be worshiped and adored as she deserves makes it easier to swallow how likely it is I'm about to be snuffed off the face of the planet.

I just hope it's a firing squad.

I don't want to hang.

"Well?" Thane presses, jarring me from my thoughts.

I lean forward, elbows resting on my knees as I steeple my fingers beneath my chin. "Think about it," I say. "We're on a train bound for a nation that is known for brutal secrecy and utter disdain for outsiders. And yet here we are, being treated like honored guests. Are you really not suspicious?"

The silence that falls over the compartment is thick enough to choke on. I can practically hear the gears turning in their heads, see the doubt creeping into their eyes.

Good. Let it fester.

Let it grow.

"You're one to talk about suspicion," Whiskey growls, but there's a flicker of uncertainty in his voice now. "After the shit you pulled, kidnapping Ivy?—"

"Ah, yes," I interrupt, my smile sharp enough to cut. "My great betrayal. Tell me, Whiskey, have you bothered to ask our little wildcat what actually happened during our time together? Or are you content to wallow in your assumptions?"

Ivy tenses, her sea-green eyes sharpening at me.

"That's enough," Thane snaps, rising to his feet. He towers over us all, a mountain of muscle and barely contained rage. Just a big fucking caveman. "We're not doing this now. We need to stay focused, stay united?—"

A bark of laughter escapes me, sharp and bitter. "Oh, you must be feeling very united after what you just did with your brother."

The words hang in the air like a live grenade, and for a moment, I think Thane might actually kill me. His eyes blaze with a fury I haven't seen outside the battlefield.

But then something shifts in his gaze.

The anger doesn't fade entirely, but it's tempered by something else. Something that looks dangerously like understanding.

"You're trying to divide us," he says quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Why?"

I lean back in my seat, spreading my arms wide. "Why not? We're already fractured. Broken. A pack of rabid dogs pretending to be a family. I'm just saying out loud what you're all thinking."

My eyes find Ivy's, holding her gaze as I continue. "We're walking into a trap. All of us. And one of our 'brotherhood' knows exactly what's waiting for us on the other side."

As if on cue, the train begins to slow, the landscape outside blurring into a sea of white stone and a sparkling blue lake that stretches on for miles.

We're here.

The point of no return.

The final fuckening has begun.