Claire was not a violent woman. She did not know how to fight. She was not physically strong.
But she wasn’t defenseless. Claire was fast and clever. She just needed to find a way to use those traits to further her agenda. Deceiving Corday again did not sit well with her; but his loyalty, his intentions, were tied up in Senator Kantor’s leadership.
Maybe the Senator’s plan would work… perhaps rebels could uncover the location of the contagion. Then what? Rally the people over a series of hard years while the Dome continued to crack and more snow fell? Claire was not going to wait to find out.
Feigning complacency, smiling when she was supposed to, Claire acted the part of a submissive Omega and fervently agreed when Corday asked for her promise to stay inside. Admitting she was terrified of being given back, that she trusted him to protect her, it only took two days of good behavior before he finally left to attend his duties.
Despite the pain each step cost, once alone, she began to pace and plot.
The monster himself had told her she’d failed because she believed in goodness in a city where there was none. He was wrong. Claire knew that she had failed because she hadn’t tried hard enough, thought big enough; because, in the end, she’d expected someone else to save her.
How very Omega.
How fucking ironic that the champion the women had chosen had been Shepherd! Laughing under her breath, sickened, Claire griped her skull.
Nona, the other Omegas—not once had Corday mentioned them. It was the other Omegas, the one’s he’d freed that slipped into conversation here and there. He was trying to shore her up, show that there was hope, but he never mentioned her friends.
Claire knew why; Corday was afraid the temptation to go to them would undermine her promise to stay put. He was right.
Just as he’d threatened, Shepherd had stashed those women in the one place no outsider could get to—the Undercroft. Claire was certain down to her bones.
Getting in would not be easy. Once inside, her quest would grow impossible unless… Claire could encourage the Omegas to stand as a pack and fight.
No one was going to save them—they would have to save themselves. All Claire could do was give them their chance.
In a way, Shepherd may have even done Claire a favor. He’d have seen to the Omega’s basic needs, wanting them healthy enough for his men. After so many weeks with food, the women would be stronger, and Claire had a feeling that with starvation no longer clouding their judgment, they would also be very angry.
Anger was the only sentiment Claire seemed to understand most days. Anger was a great motivator.
Turning to pace in the other direction, her elbow winged Corday’s bookcase, knocking a mess to the floor.
Bending over to clean up, Claire froze.
An Enforcer data cube…
Information on Shepherd might be there. Maybe even Svana’s name was tucked into inside an Enforcer file.
Claire plugged it into Corday’s COMscreen and typed out the name ‘Shepherd’.
Nothing.
‘Svana’.
Nothing.
This resource was too valuable to ignore; there had to be something on there she could use. Claire just needed to think. She needed to slow her mental chatter, to breathe. A cold sweat came as her finger tapped the screen, spelling the name of the only criminal Claire knew. The COM flashed, beautiful chocolate eyes staring back at her.
Claire knew the contemptuously smirking face on that woman’s credentials, every angle of it. Even though it had been years, Claire still knew how she smelled, what her laugh sounded like. Leaning nearer the screen, the Omega almost smiled.
The next hour was spent absorbing every single detail the data cube contained on one repeat felon. Maryanne Cauley had amassed quite a record; assault, larceny, burglary, arson… her file was massive. From the looks of it, the stunning lawbreaker had gone from cocky repeat escapee of farm labor to… nothing. Her file just stopped—no record of further incarceration, no address, no date of death. She had just disappeared.
If Claire had not known what had been done with Shepherd’s mother, it would not have felt like a very… disturbing coincidence.
She did not know what made her do it, but her fingers typed out one final name: ‘Claire O’Donnell’.
It only took a moment to see the flaw on her citizenship registration. If Maryanne Cauley still lived, Claire knew where she’d gone to ground.
Corday had come back to find his apartment cold and empty, lifeless where there should have been a small Omega resting on the couch. Corday had hated leaving her, but she had sworn so faithfully, admitting that she could hardly walk on her feet, that he had believed her.
Claire had fooled him. Claire didn’t trust him. Claire had left him… again.
There was a note:
Dear Corday,
I can’t live a lie and stay hidden. Not the way things are now. I want you to know that no matter what happens, I chose – fully aware of the consequences.
Love,
Claire
She had signed ‘love’ but there was no apology. He knew where he stood and the position was painful and deeply upsetting. Knowing her obsession with the Omega situation, Corday folded up the letter and shoved it in his pocket. Zipping up his jacket, he went right out onto the causeways and fought through the snow to where Brigadier Dane secretly sheltered the leader of the resistance.
Banging on the door, Corday refused to let up until the woman answered.
Dane glared. ‘You shouldn’t be here.’
Corday did not wait for an invitation, pushing his superior officer aside as he growled, ‘Like hell I shouldn’t.’
‘Have you lost your mind?’ The door was swiftly locked, the invading cold air shut out. ‘Showing up here in broad daylight endangers us all.’
Looking back at the soldier, Corday deepened his scowl. ‘It’s dumping snow outside, no one’s on the street and my tracks are already being covered. Where is Senator Kantor?’
‘I’m here,’ a voice sounded from the dwelling’s back room.
Ignoring the snarling Brigadier Dane, Corday pulled the note out of his pocket and stomped over. ‘She left.’
Senator Kantor set down his COMscreen and took the note. One brief read over and the old Alpha shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Corday. It’s not like we could have locked her up.’
‘Claire is going to do something crazy!’ Practically tearing out his hair, Corday snarled, ‘We’ve gotta stop her.’
Senator Kantor shook his head, his tired eyes bloodshot and sad. ‘We cannot risk exposing ourselves on a manhunt. We both know she recognized we couldn’t help her. Do you understand that, kid?’
‘She’s going to get herself killed!’
Speaking in a low voice, the Alpha tried to convey sense and a much needed measure of calm. ‘The Omega is pregnant, she’s pair-bonded and mentally detached. She doesn’t have much time left, and she knows it.’
Rubbing his forehead as if he could wipe away his frustration, Corday demanded, ‘What are you saying?’
‘I am saying that Claire is fighting what must be a nightmare inside her. Her timeline is short and she is making her choice.’
‘I told you. The pair-bond was damaged.’
Senator Kantor dropped the fatherly tone in place for one far more authoritative. ‘She’s damaged. Her determination is the only thing keeping her together. You try to cage her, or stop her, she’ll fall apart. And that would only open her up to his influence again. It might be best to let her do what she needs to do while she can still do it.’
‘We both know she’s going to try to get those Omegas out of the Undercroft,’ Corday hissed. ‘It would take an army and she’s just one girl.’
Senator Kantor fully understood what was at stake. ‘She has an advantage, a hostage, and you don’t know where she is. Nothing can be done. Believe it or not, my bet’s on her.’
‘He’ll KILL her.’
‘Read the letter again.’ Senator Kantor handed the crumpled page back. ‘No one can comprehend the consequences like she can. She’s a grown woman who’s made her choice, just like we ask our brothers and sisters in arms to make every day.’
‘This is fucking insanity!’ Corday stormed out of the room, the note crushed in his grip. ‘I’m going to find her. I’m going to bring her home.’
Brushing past a frowning Brigadier Dane, Corday found himself caught.
His arm in her grip, Dane’s face was red and her hiss nasty. ‘You will do no such thing. Return to your home. Cool off before you jeopardize the entire resistance with your impulsive stupidity. Think, for once. Whatever this Claire has planned, distracting her or getting yourself killed won’t help anyone.’
Corday was strongly tempted to violence. ‘You don’t know Claire.’
‘I don’t, but I know you. And I know when you’re wrong.’
The weather was absolute shit. A blessing and a curse, as it seemed Thólos was hiding from the unfamiliar storm. No soul walked the streets to pester her, and though falling snow made the path difficult, the trek left her soaked to the bone and shivering violently.
In all the years since Claire had last walked the midlevel promenade, she’d forgotten much. The tight dwellings were still celery green, but it took her some time to remember which window had once housed a flower box full of red poppies.
There were no splashes of color now… no flowers. Soon even the withering trees would be nothing but sticks. All there was, was that too cheerful green peeking out from clinging frost, broken windows, and refuse.
Three flights up, third domicile on the right.
Standing face to face with a once familiar door, Claire jiggled the handle and found it locked. Running her fingernail around the frame, she felt a bump in the crack—a spare key hidden just as it had been when she was a girl.
The inside was dark. No one was home.
In place of the woman she sought lay junk; wires, filters, air scrubbers, pipes, and whirring machines piled all over the room. The selfish magpie had stolen them right out of the Dome’s infrastructure, and by doing so had weakened everyone else.
It was unspeakable, infuriating and, worst of all, after reading her file, Claire was not remotely surprised.
Mouth sour, Claire stripped off her wet clothes, hung them to drip in the galley kitchen, and helped herself to something dry. It was night before she finally heard the scratch of a key in the lock.
A tall beauty slipped into the chilly room, rubbing her mittened hands together. It only took the woman a second to spot Claire lounging on her couch. ‘You should not be here.’
‘You always were such a cunt. You know that, right?’ Claire snarled back.
‘That is a big word coming from you, little girl.’ Cocking her head to the side, blonde hair moving like a waterfall behind her, the Alpha changed her snarl to a provocative purr. ‘Do you have any idea how much you’re worth?’
‘Don’t get too excited. He won’t pay you… Shepherd hanged the last batch that brought me in, Maryanne.’ Claire looked at what had once been the smartest girl she knew and saw a stranger. ‘Fact is, he takes offense that anyone would expect payment for returning what’s his.’
Shoulders tight, Maryanne eased closer, eyeballing every corner of the room. ‘Did anyone see you come in?’
‘No.’
‘That means at least three people did.’
Claire let out a breath. ‘My face was covered and I’m sure you can smell for yourself that I am nothing special right now.’
Full lips smirking, Maryanne lifted a handful of Claire’s hair for a sniff. ‘True…’
Claire took Maryanne’s hand, the hand of what had been her closest childhood friend, and held it. Large eyes pleading, she whispered, ‘I need your help.’
‘No.’
‘Why?’
Maryanne pulled her fingers free and sauntered off. ‘You have no idea what these guys can do to you, Claire. Whatever you did, just find a place to hide and wait it out… but don’t drag me into it.’
‘Actually, I do know what they’re capable of,’ Claire spat at Maryanne’s back. ‘I’m pregnant with Shepherd’s child.’
‘Fuck me!’ Maryanne spun in horror, staring down at the diminutive Omega’s belly.
‘I wouldn’t, remember,’ Claire teased, trying to mimic the mischief of their youths. ‘You were all over me during school. That’s why we aren’t friends anymore.’
‘Shut up, bitch.’ Maryanne laughed, unable to suppress a wolfish grin, ‘You wish. It was Patrick Keck that I wanted to fuck… and I did. Often.’
‘Then you disappeared. You were my best friend and you never even said goodbye.’ And that had hurt a great deal. More so, because Claire knew Maryanne had been capable of so much more than the mayhem she’d accomplished. ‘I read your file. Is it true you broke into the Archives?’
‘Several times… only got caught once. Shoveling pig shit for a year was worth it. You have no idea how much some folks will pay for something as mundane as forbidden, tattered books.’
‘How did you get in?’
Maryanne licked her teeth and motioned to herself in a sweeping gesture. ‘This girl’s got skills.’
Claire grew serious. ‘And I need them.’
The woman edged closer, trailing her fingers down Claire’s tangled black hair, cooing, ‘You can’t afford me, sweet pea.’
‘I know. Which is why I hate to do this.’ Claire looked for a moment like she might lose her nerve, but she drew a deep breath and began. ‘The Omegas are locked in the Undercroft. I need to set them free, and you’re going to help me or I am going to tell Shepherd you laid a hand on me. He will rip you to pieces, because I’m not only carrying his child… we’re pair-bonded.’
Maryanne turned full Alpha. ‘I WON’T FUCKING DO IT!’
‘You will.’
The blonde paced towards the window, checking for the twentieth time for a sign of trouble. ‘Goddamn you, Claire. Goddamn you and your pointless humanitarian bullshit. You always were a goody two-shoes when we were kids; it was disgusting then and it’s even more pathetic now.’
‘But I was never a pushover.’ Claire took Maryanne’s arm, her expression one of desperation. ‘I am sorry, but I need you. I need the skills you have that I lack. If you do this for me I will never bother you again.’
A deadly look came with the question. ‘Why not just ask your mate?’
‘He’s the one who locked them up.’ Claire pushed her hair behind her ear and stood her ground. ‘Like you, he’s blind to what is right and wrong.’
Maryanne cursed. She raged for hours, trying to talk Claire out of such madness, but the outcome was inevitable. Maryanne Cauley had no choice, and she knew it.
They fought over the plan vehemently. There was no time for reconnaissance, the pair blind to what may or may not be waiting. Diversion was one thing, but what Claire intended was insanity. But it could be done, Claire knew it in her bones. She could make it work. She had to, because if she did not give her all, risk everything, then nothing would change.
In the end, it was a shot in the dark at best… suicide at worst. But Claire, it seemed, had come to the right woman.
Maryanne Cauley knew the Undercroft—she knew entrances, she knew secrets—and though she refused to speak of why, it was obvious that once upon a time, Maryanne Cauley had been disposed of down in that dark place.
Shepherd’s mother was not the only woman thrown into hell.
At dawn, Claire was exhausted but determined. Maryanne swore up and down and yanked Claire to bed when the Omega would not stop yawning. Once under the covers, it was so simple to fall into old patterns; Maryanne braiding Claire’s hair just like she had when they were little.
Hoping the answer would not be as disappointing as she anticipated, Claire sighed, ‘The way you talk about the Undercroft, the look in your eye every time I say the name Shepherd… You know him.’
‘Everyone knows him.’
No, it was much deeper than that. Claire rolled over to look her friend in the eye. ‘Don’t lie to me, Maryanne. He scares you. He scares you because you know him. Somehow you were once involved with that monster. Are you still?’
Maryanne tried to be flippant. ‘Involved? I should be asking you that same question. After all, your romance is probably going to get me killed.’
‘I am not mated to Shepherd by choice.’ Claire would not let herself blink or stutter. ‘I went into estrous unexpectedly in front of him. He forced the pair-bond.’
Maryanne had the decency to look stricken. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, Claire, but this is Shepherd. He’s a powerful man. It seems a little strange that he would bond to a woman he didn’t know… I mean, he’s a warlord. People probably give him Omegas for Christmas.’
Svana’s words echoed in Claire’s head. ‘We have not shared a heated Omega in some time.’
‘They do… I don’t know why he bonded to me, and the one time I asked, he gave only pointless, empty words.’ Her green eyes grew harder, as did Claire’s demand for answers. ‘My question, Maryanne. How do you know him?’
Pursing her lips, Maryanne confessed, ‘I, um, needed friends once.’
‘I was your friend. I would have been, had you not run off… and,’ Claire sighed, knowing Maryanne well enough to see she was not exactly an innocent, ‘done the things you did until you got thrown into the Undercroft.’
Maryanne snorted. ‘Before I found a way out.’
‘From Shepherd.’
‘My services in exchange for my life.’ The girl who had never felt guilty about a single trespass she had committed in her life looked at her old friend with uncustomary regret. ‘I was the one who recovered the access codes to the Judicial Sector and the Citadel.’
Brows drawn tight, Claire hissed, ‘How could you?’
‘I didn’t know their plans for Thólos. I swear.’
Claire didn’t want to hear it. ‘What did you think he would do once freed?’
‘He was already free…’ Maryanne whispered. ‘How do you think I got out?’
Claire’s brows shot up. ‘What?’
Maryanne snorted at the small woman’s naiveté. ‘Sorry, bitch, but we’ve been screwed for a long time.’
‘Do you know where he keeps the virus?’
Smirking, Maryanne shared a hard truth. ‘If I did, do you really think I’d be here, stockpiling and preparing for the end of the world? Listen to me, Claire, they don’t know about this place. I wiped it from the records almost a decade before I was tossed downstairs. I have enough food, enough air scrubbers to get through almost a year. You don’t need to follow through with your crap plan. You can stay here with me. Should the worst happen, all we’d have to do is wait until the virus did its work.’
Claire shook her head. ‘The Dome is cracked, Maryanne. You’d freeze to death as the ecosystem fails. It’s like he planned for people like you. We’re all going to die; we’re all going to die if nothing is done.’
They were both anxious, tired… just like everyone else in Thólos. There was no point in further argument. Instead both Claire and Maryanne fell into hurried preparations. Things needed to be built for Claire’s scheme, and technology learned. Maryanne’s explanations, the way she could make something dangerous from nothing, reminded Claire just how out of her element she was.
Rudimentary bombs, how to override basic access panels—Maryanne was teaching her instead of just making them herself, wordlessly reminding Claire that their association would soon end and that the fumbling Omega would be on her own.
When all the tools were ready, Claire showered, scrubbing off any lingering trace of Corday’s scent. Maryanne was in that bathroom applying lipstick as if they were planning an outing, not an attack against the tyrants holding the city. Blinking at the mirror, Maryanne froze, jaw agape at the sight of the Omega’s naked body.
The Alpha touched without asking. ‘What is all of this?’
Claire didn’t need to look down to know what Maryanne found so disturbing. ‘The price of my freedom.’
Careful fingers traced the yellowing handprint over Claire’s throat. ‘And your neck?’
An incoherent noise, a mockery of speech got stuck in Claire’s mouth. ‘It’s nothing.’
Maryanne took her chin and turned Claire’s face to meet her own big brown eyes. She smiled, teasing. ‘Your feet are disgusting. You’re bleeding all over my floor.’
And the pain was a blessing, the perfect distraction. ‘Shepherd didn’t allow me access to shoes. I had to run in the streets barefoot.’
‘Does it hurt?’
‘Yes. But it doesn’t bother me and it won’t slow me down.’
Maryanne crouched to see why fresh blood was running down her old friend’s shin. ‘Your knee needs stitches.’
‘Nothing I can do about that right now.’
‘Sit down, I’ll do it.’
It was so backwards to have Maryanne Cauley be the one to tend to her; as kids it was always the other way around. Watching the fully grown woman pull a needle and some metallic thread through her skin, feeling the pinch and burn, the world seemed so very strange. ‘Whatever happened to your mom?’ Claire asked.
‘Who fucking knows,’ Maryanne muttered as she made another tight stitch. ‘Probably OD’d years ago.’
Claire just hummed, distracted. ‘My dad died four years back. Roadway accident.’
‘Your pop was always pretty cool.’
Claire had to agree. ‘Yeah… I’m glad he’s not here to see this.’
Maryanne rubbed her lips together as if she wanted to say something but thought better of it. Instead, she stood and gathered clothing appropriate for the mission and shoved the horrid black garb of Shepherd’s Followers towards Claire.
The Omega didn’t balk, just dressed silently while Maryanne squeezed her limber body into a matching uniform.
‘You know, Claire,’ Maryanne was dead serious, knotting her hair to tuck under a cap. ‘Underground there’s a whole ‘nother world. Those who follow Shepherd are beyond dangerous.’
‘Whatever they are doesn’t matter.’
Maryanne’s voice fell flat. ‘What I am trying to tell you is, pair-bond or no, they have an agenda. Shepherd might just kill you.’
Claire had no illusions on that score. ‘I’m counting on it.’
‘I could save us all this trouble and kill you right now,’ the Alpha offered.
‘That’s awfully sweet of you,’ Claire teased, standing on tiptoe to press a peck to her friend’s ruby lips. ‘But I will already be dead to you after tonight. Give me what I need and you have my word.’
Maryanne tucked a loaded gun into Claire’s pocket. ‘Promises, promises…’
‘And, Maryanne,’ Claire added, forcing a playful smile. ‘You look like a slut in that outfit.’
