Omega Read Free

food orders from
hung over college students the rest of my life while the others
went off to positions I could only dream of.
    “ Where are you going?” she
asked, green eyes finding me. “To live with the Mountain Man on
some isolated peak?”
    “ He’s not a Mountain Man,”
I said, bristling. “He’s the greatest Olympic athlete in
history.”
    “ A disgraced one who
ditched his wealthy benefactor to live in a forest with us. He’s
absolutely mad, and he’s turned you wild and ruined any chance you
had at a decent future.”
    My anger bubbled. I knew better than to
cause a fight. I had stopped that nonsense when I was fifteen, but
sometimes I wanted to sock the pretty, perfect women around me.
    My biggest issue with Leandra wasn’t that
she was mean. It was that she was often right, and her words about
Herakles stung. Something was wrong with him, and I sometimes
thought maybe that meant there was something wrong with me, too. It
was why I didn’t turn out like Leandra and the others and why I was
definitely not going to the Silent Queen’s court.
    I squinted to see the
ticker at the bottom of the news. Civil
unrest grows. Supreme Magistrate places five more states under
martial rule over SISA’s objections. That
made about forty states under martial rule by my count. The priests
refused to tell us about the civil unrest when we asked, but
sometimes, like today, tiny pieces of information slipped through
their censoring and made it to us. I was dying to know what the
world outside our boring forest was like.
    “ When I get to court, I’ll
find you a job chopping wood or something,” Leandra said with a
wide grin.
    I stormed off to my room, followed by the
sound of her laughter. I loved Herakles like the father I couldn’t
remember, but sometimes I was really embarrassed to be me. I hated
that feeling. I had trouble making friends, more so because
Herakles often had some bizarre requirement for me to hang out with
someone. Boys had to be able to outrun me, and girls had to solve a
riddle. No one ever succeeded at his challenges, except for the
perfect little nymphs who hung out with me only to laugh at me.
    Basically, I was always alone, and he seemed
determined to keep it that way. I felt even more isolated knowing
the nymphs all had plans of where they were going after graduation
and I didn’t.
    I went to my room and closed the door,
sitting on my bed. I had barely pushed off my shoes before a tap
sounded at the door. “Come in,” I said and tossed myself onto my
back.
    “ Lyssa, I have to leave
for the weekend.”
    Startled, I immediately sat back up. “Where?
Why?” I demanded of Herakles, who had never left me for half a day
let alone a weekend. “Is something wrong?”
    “ No.” His features were
scarred beyond recognition, his smile lopsided and frightening.
Everyone else winced when he looked their direction, but I loved
every knotted scar and burnt piece of flesh on his face. He was my
protector, my friend, the only father figure I knew. He had always
been beautiful to me. “You are to travel to the eastern boundary
and back this weekend. Here’s your surprise pack. Open it when you
get there.” He tossed the satchel onto the bed beside
me.
    “ Ugh.” I eyed it warily.
He no doubt had planned another weekend of torture. I’d probably
have a hat and spoon and nothing more to survive two days in the
forest alone. Technically I should have had only three more weeks
of this madness remaining, except I had a feeling his plans were
always going to trump mine. “You’re sure there’s nothing wrong?
You’ve never left me before.”
    “ I’m going to scout
someplace where we might settle after you graduate,” he told
me.
    I looked up, thrilled. “I won’t be trapped
here for the rest of my life!”
    “ No, but you might one day
wish you had been.” He frowned. Every once in a while, my guardian
had a mood I didn’t understand. Naturally open, upbeat and focused,
his features were