2Jaide
“Don’t do it, Jett.”I whispered the words for the thousandth time, not that it would make any difference.
He had already made up his mind, and it wasn’t like we had another choice.
We were out of money. Our rent was past due, and neither of us had eaten in the last few days. It was this or the poor house, which would not end well for an unbonded female Omega like me.
It was a risk to even have me out of the apartment, which is why Jett went with me everywhere. I had covered myself in the overpriced descenter we bought on the black market. The stuff was rare and hard to get. I only used it when I was in heat or when I really needed it. Like now, when we had journeyed to the seedy part of town where the Synians lived.
Jett and I lived in a rundown hovel next to the railroad tracks, but somehow this was worse.
This side of town was crawling with Alpha males. I could smell them from where I sat in the car; human, fae, Lyrous, Synian. I think I even detected the stank of a witch. None of them would be kind to me.
Which is why we were here. We needed money to find a mate for me. A good mate. Not one that would use me like a cum dumpster and throw me away when I had ‘served my purpose’ and given him all the sex and babies he desired.
Doing this would give us the money we needed to pay a mercenary to get us to one of the Omega Sanctuaries that lined the border of Sypani and Xerai. Just a few months and it would all be worth it. At least that’s what we kept telling ourselves.
We were both liars.
“Six months, Jaide,” Jett whispered, his warm hand wrapping around mine and sending a shot of heat through my veins. I didn’t even flinch, it had happened enough in our life that we had never questioned it. It was just some weird twin thing.
Besides, this time, it was nice. The car was cold, seeing as we didn’t have the money for gas to keep it running beyond emergencies. Gas was something that only the rich could get their hands on in more than the half gallon jugs Jett traded favors for. Most cars lined the forests as rusted relics from a world that was far more plentiful than this one. Those that had money had cars, while the rest of us slowly reverted back to using horses. The only reason we had this car was because a rich man had taken a liking to Jett, and we only kept it around as back-up. It could get us out of dodge, if needed, and protect me if we lost our house. Today, it had gotten us to the center of the capital city of Serai, and it would get me back home. Alone.
For now we sat in the cold, watching the snowflakes from the first snow of the season stick to the windshield, blocking our view of the red door.
The door Jett would be walking through in minutes. It looked so appealing set into the dark stone, bright lights shining through the snow like something out of a children’s novel.
A creepy ass children’s novel with bloodsucking, sex-crazed Synians.
So, not a children’s novel at all.
The massive red door was carved with swirls and flowers that made it look like it was pulled right out of the dark ages. It probably was, considering the old corner it was on. Clean cobblestone and black marble stretched before it, making it seem like you were visiting a king and not just the Synians’ underground kink factory. The whole thing had been set up about sixty years ago after the four Synian Kings invaded our lands. The ruler of Sypani, Boam, cut them a deal to stop them from killing us all.
Instead of being killed for it, humans would get paid to give blood to feed the Synians. In return, Boam wouldn't hire dragons, their riders, and Omegas to kill the Synians. But after the economy collapsed a few years later, the whole ‘sell your blood’ deal deteriorated into the Blood Auction.
Which is where we were.
Now, instead of being ripped out of your bed at night, you could just come to their headquarters in the city of Serai and sign your life away. They paid good money to suck your blood and fuck you in any way they desired.
The looming building was at least ten stories high and stretched across a city block. Once inside, you let the Synians do whatever they want to you and come out six months later, richer than you’ve ever been.
Rich and completely messed up in the head.
Six months inside and Jett would get enough money to get me to a sanctuary safely. The journey there was dangerous, and the lands around them filled with Alphas trying to get their hands on an Omega.
If I wanted to find an Alpha who wouldn’t fuck me to death I needed to get there. It would also set Jett up so he could find his own Omega. So he could live his own life for once instead of stressing about where to find more descenter and keeping me safe by paying off the people who found out about me.
“You say ‘six months’,” I whispered, squeezing his hand as I glared at the red door like I could burn it to a crisp with only one look. “But you know their bite is addictive. You know how few people make it out of that place, and those who do…” My warning faded away, our focus twisting to the people hiding in the alleys surrounding the bright red door.
They were covered in blankets. Gaunt, half-starved faces staring at the red door with a furious hunger. The Covenless.
The humans who had already sold their blood, and their bodies, only to be evicted once they were deemed useless. They made it out alive, but were left addicted to the bite of a Synian. Now they were cursed to an existence of stalking Synians, hoping for just one more bite. It barely counted as being ‘alive’ at all.
Zombies weren’t real, but the Covenless seriously made me wonder if they could be. Maybe they were all that was left of the Betas in the land before ours.
“I’ll be fine. It’ll be fine,” Jett whispered, almost as if he was trying to convince himself. He squeezed my hand and sent another zing of energy up my arm. It was only then that I looked at him.
He may have a dick instead of a vag, but that was one of the only things that set us apart. Both us had long silver hair, although he wore his in a messy man bun that accentuated his strong jaw and purple eyes. Eyes the same color as mine.