Oath of the Alpha - Eva Dresden Page 0,17

all the ill-fated colors. Tracing the line of a sturdy umber trunk up to the canopy, Aida watched with rounded eyes as the leaves in their lofty boughs became fuller, brighter, thicker.

Turning in a tight circle, Aida looked all around them. Not just contained within the circle Marilsa had scratched on the ground, the changing landscape stretched deep into the trees, all of it changing. Moss and grass exploded from the ground, and the shocking colors of flowers unfurled in their cozy beds of green, the soft groans and rustles reaching a murmuring crescendo before settling with a contented moan.

“What…? What did you do?”

“You, girl. Not I.”

Chapter 4

Aida

“No! I… I can’t…”

“Come, sit.”

Brows scrunching together, Marilsa shuffled through the tall grass before she stooped and tore a clump free. She muttered to herself as she repeated the action, clearing away a small patch she then filled with more twigs and branches. Her earlier fire had disappeared during the change, this new one brought to life with flint and stone before she sat hard in a space of flattered grass.

Aida edged closer, going to her knees to stare at the flickering orange flames. Finding no sense of the dark energy Marilsa appeared to wield, she sat back on her heels and gnawed at her lower lip, taking some comfort from the known sting of teeth worrying her flesh raw.

“You did that, Aida Vertia,” Marilsa murmured, tossing a leather sack into Aida’s lap. Rushing headlong, leaving her no time to question, Marilsa continued, “You’re an Omega, child. Your power is limitless. It’s what makes you so coveted. Dangerous.”

“They said I—”

“Yes, yes, you have no power. They used to tell them all that. Back when your kind roamed free. Kept you weak, made you think you must depend upon them. Until they plunged their daggers into your chest and split you open, gutting you like a fish. After they’d made use of your slit, of course.” Marilsa sniffed, unbothered by Aida’s thready shriek or the way she hurled the bag back.

“You’re lying to me. You were going to kill me, same as them,” Aida stammered out, clambering to her feet though her knees felt watery and loose.

“Perhaps. Had you been weaker, not fought as hard, I might have gleaned what I could from you. Not as they would, mind. I’m no mage, and I do not deal in blood as they do.”

“Why? I’ve done nothing—”

“You were born, weren’t you?” Marilsa asked, venom dripping from her low hiss.

Aida jumped as the fire popped and sent a shower of sparks into the air. Wrapping her arms tight around her middle, her chin began to dip. Years of accepting the blame for things she had no control over weighed on her shoulders until she stooped and shivered.

“He came here to kill King Kistsam, murder his new bride maybe. Would have left all of us alone had it not been for you, though.” The bitter bark of her laugh rattled through the small clearing. “Well, he wouldn’t have stripped the land as he did, at any rate. Maybe would have left more than a handful of souls alive.”

“I’m sorry,” Aida whispered to her feet. Guilt lay thick and acrid on her tongue, choking her.

“As well you should be.” Marilsa grunted and flung the bag back to Aida’s feet. “Eat. Drink. It will be a long night.”

“What?”

“I spent enough time stalling Rhyn Lirkinson and his pet mage. More with that spectacle you made of things. We haven’t much time. Now sit down, shut your mouth, and listen, girl.”

Legs folding, the thick grass was little cushion as Aida fell hard on her backside. With narrowed eyes peering sidelong at Marilsa for what Aida suspected she’d done, Aida snatched up the sack and wrenched it open. Eyes rounding as she viewed its contents, she pulled out the bright green pear, her hesitation lasting only a moment before hunger won and she crunched into the juicy fruit.

“Now, then. Omegas. They say the first to be sacrificed put the mages into an uproar. They hunted down the one who did it, killed him for the atrocity. Many years passed, and there was a great war. Another offered himself up. They weren’t so angry that time, for it won them a war and drove the tribes back into the plains.”

“Himself? You mean there are men like me?”

“I said quiet!” Marilsa huffed, turning her glittering gaze to the fire to stare deep into the flames. “After that, they say it was not so uncommon. The