Frantic (The Omegaborn Trilogy 2)

Chapter Eight

Triss

When the sun set that night, Ellie led me back to the Omegaborn base. She led me to the door and quickly explained that she had to go back into the lab to finalize a few more anti-suppressant stocks for the mission tonight and then left while I walked into the command room where Nikki was waiting.

The chamber was well lit. In the center was a heavy oak table laden with blueprints and she was poring over them in preparation for the mission tonight. The moment I entered the room, she lifted her head and smiled in my direction.

“I’ve decided to join your cause,” I said, lifting my chin and setting my mouth in a firm line. My voice was quiet and strong, as I carefully controlled the simmering anger over what I had seen today.

“Good. I’m glad. I was hoping you would,” she replied quietly. Her icy blue eyes were bright and expectant as well as cool and calculating. She looked like she was preparing herself for war.

“What should we do first?” I asked.

“Well, you can probably take off those shitty regulation clothes now if you want. I’ve always hated them,” she answered, and I laughed out loud at her unexpected outburst. She winked back at me knowingly.

I was wearing the vest and pants she had given me underneath the gray clothing. It had helped to keep the scratchy fabric from irritating my skin. I slipped the gray shirt over my head and kicked off the loose pants onto the floor.

“I almost wish I could burn them,” I muttered, and Nikki chuckled.

“You and me both, my friend,” she replied. She pulled a chair close to her and I took a seat. I looked over the blueprints she had in front of her, recognizing the layout from many places I had visited before. I knew the suppressant department well. I also knew it was really well guarded.

“What’s your initial thoughts?” I asked her next.

“Well, I was trying to determine the best entry point. If it was better to get in quickly and make a fast exit, but now that you’ve joined us, I was hoping to could shed a little light on the situation at hand,” she said, cautious hope making her tone light.

With a nod, I started off with what I knew. I described where I’d come in when I visited, the points with the most guards and anywhere I thought might be a good location for our path toward the suppressant system. We talked about possible routes for hours and I described as much as I could remember in order to help her and the Omegaborn complete their mission with as little fallout as possible.

“You know how the airborne suppressant system works? How it operates and how it will aerosolize the counter drug?” she asked then, her icy blue eyes searching mine.

“I do. I have intimate knowledge of how to load the drug cartridges in, how to turn it off temporarily so the canisters can be changed. It’s not something I can describe really. I’ll have to come with you so I can show you myself,” I said.

“We’d be indebted to you, for whatever help you’d provide,” she said quietly.

I stared down at the blueprints, my mind racing with further questions.

“Tell me more about the counter drug. How long does it take to be effective?” I asked, turning back toward her.

I could feel the airborne suppressant already working on me. The bond was slowly growing weaker. I doubted it would ever fully disappear but would leave a dull, painful, empty ache. I wanted to be free from the suppressing effects of the drug. I wanted to be my omega self. I wanted to get the counter drug in the air so I could feel like myself once more.

Even more so, I wanted to be back with my alphas once again.

“The airborne counter suppressant works at a slower rate than the injectable version. It’ll take about an hour to reach full effect. Then it should awaken the alphas and omegas within the city dome not long after that.”

I licked my lips, thinking the timing over in my head.

“What if you and the Omegaborn go into heat too? How will you make it out of the city when estrous takes over you? I know what it’s like. It’s impossible to fight off,” I whispered.

Her blue eyes leveled with mine.

“I’m stronger than that. I’ll make it out, no matter what it takes, and I’ll take my girls with me. No alpha could handle me anyway. I like to be in control,” she replied, her confidence blatantly obvious. I bit the inside of my cheek.

I hoped she was right. The lives of the Omegaborn depended on her strength. I quickly dropped the subject and the two of us went over the decided entry and escape routes a few more times.

Several hours passed and I couldn’t help but notice the constant throb of the bond.

It wasn’t as painful as before. I wasn’t sure if it had weakened that much or that maybe my men had moved closer to me, but it was still too new to me to tell the difference. I didn’t know very much about the mate bond, to be honest. Even the silver-haired omega and her alpha had never bonded. To be honest, I only had rumors and conjecture to go off of, which were terribly unreliable.

Once, I had looked down on omegas even though I’d been one myself. I used to be a powerful female scientist obsessed with vengeance, but so much about me had changed. My omega nature had finally been liberated and now I was who I was truly meant to be. I wanted to protect that, and I wanted to give the rest of the Omegaborn the same thing.