“Morning.” I smile as they’re closer.
“Pretty sure it’s well past noon.” Cyra laughs slightly and just seeing her calm and not totally stressed out feels good.
“It’s always morning somewhere in the world, we’re just in the wrong timezone.” I get up and step closer to her. “I wouldn’t go inside just yet... The other two seem to be holding a ‘who can choke on the food the fastest’ contest.”
She lets out a louder laugh as she glances past me and then she looks up at me. “And you have other plans?”
I shrug. “We could go for a walk on the beach. Enjoy the view. I could even let you ride on my back.”
She frowns slightly, though she’s still smiling. “I’m not entirely sure that would be safe. I’ve never ridden a horse before.”
I’m about to reply with a funny remark about me teaching her, but stop when I catch the look on Max’ face, who’s staring at his phone.
He lets out a loud curse as he holds his phone out for me to read. ‘Unknown Omega who left the Night Gala with four Alphas turns out to be Cyra Fireborn, parents confirm...’
“We already knew that.” I shrug, but he points to his phone again, and I read on as he slowly scrolls down.
‘... parents confirm in preview for exclusive interview. Revealing that they have been living in fear for years, ever since the Omega went missing. They were fearful she’d been taken and bred against her will, but never dared to speak out in case it could put their Omega child in danger. Watch the whole interview live in an hour.’
“Oh, fuck.” I nearly crush the empty mug in my hand as I try to not believe what I just read. That... Oh, crap. “How the fuck are they going to spin that?”
“You think they need a spin?” Max’ voice is cold. “Who is going to go against a pair of rich, half-phoenix parents, who are going to be ‘overwhelmed with happiness’ they ‘found’ their ‘long lost’ Omega daughter again?”
“What?” Cyra steps between us as she takes Max’ phone to read it herself. As her eyes go over the lines her jaw sets and her eyes flare. “Oh, hell no. Fucking no. They’re not... Hell.”
One hour. We’ll find out whatever lies her parents are going to spin in one hour. That is... This is not good.
Footsteps thunder through the house as Zack and Spence appear in the doorway.
“Did you see?” Spence manages to get out of the house first. We all nod. “This was a scenario we didn’t consider.”
“No, we didn’t.” Max sighs. “Let’s go inside. I suddenly don’t feel so safe out here. Whatever they’re going to say, it won’t change much from the scenarios we already thought up. Just, maybe the arguments will be different.”
I look at Cyra, but she’s still frowning as things are running through her head. How I wish I could look inside her head right now, maybe make her feel safe. Anything to take that frown away.
My phone rings and I see it’s Mummy, my Omega parent. Ehh... “I’ll be right with you guys, need to take this.” I walk in the direction where Max and Cyra came from as I answer the phone, trying to get some privacy. “Hi.”
“Hey.” Mummy doesn’t sound very happy. “The news, is it true? That girl you were spotted with, is she the Omega they’re talking about, this Cyra girl?”
“Yes. That’s her.”
She lets out a disbelieving sound. “You snuck off with a kidnapped Omega? What the hell? Did you know?”
“She wasn’t kidnapped. Her parents knew where she was all this time.” At least, that’s what I’ve understood from Cyra’s fear of her parents taking her from her apartment.
“That’s what she’s saying, but to stay hidden for that long, you need to be able to lie very well. Don’t believe anything she says, son. If she’s been able to evade her parents for years, then she must have gotten really great at lying. How else can an Omega survive out there on her own? No. I’d never trust an Omega like that, ever. I’d always be worried what else she’s lying about.”
Mummy sounds so convinced and I realise with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that whatever Cyra’s parents are going to tell in the interview doesn’t have to be the truth. It just has to play into a couple of horrid stereotypes that some people believe so easily about Omegas, and then just spin enough of the truth into it that it’s easy for people to accept the parts that are lies.
We’re not just fighting Cyra’s parents, we’re going to be fighting the perception of a lot of people, people we depend on for our jobs. Oh, crap.
This move is even more ingenious than bringing out a ‘rightful mate’, which would mostly become a game of ‘who can convince the public who’s more worthy to mate her’ but this way anything Cyra says will be questioned and doubted and if we fight for her, anything we say will be distrusted too. Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
25 Cyra
I can’t help but stare at Liam as he stands at the end of the terrace, right where it changes into dunes. First, his back is straight, but as time passes, his shoulders slump and his body fills with tension. Whatever he’s talking about on the phone, it’s not good. It’s definitely not good.
Then Liam spins around and stalks over, his long strides taking him through the living room and into one of the side rooms. A room I haven’t checked out yet, much too busy with getting some food into me before exploring the rest of the house.
He comes out with the laptop, cursing under his breath. “They’re not doing this. They’re
