Every muscle ached. That was my first conscious thought, when reality rudely intruded on my senses again. My mind felt fragmented and disjointed, so it took longer than it should have for me to take stock of the situation. The first thing I determined was that my head also hurt, even more than expected. Either I had hit it when I fell, or someone else had hit me. That part was a bit blurry. Either way, I could feel the blood matting my hair in the back, and a splitting headache coming on. I tried to force my eyes open. That was a mistake. White hot pain lanced through my left eye and into my brain. I winced and closed my eyes again; the darkness was an improvement, though only slightly. I decided to try listening first, so I paused, trying to get a sense of my surroundings without looking at anything, just yet. It was odd. I expected to hear at least the distant din of the evacuating masses, but there was only silence. I probably wasn’t in the event hall, anymore. In fact, silence like this was unusual for a city; there was typically more traffic noise, if nothing else. That, coupled with the cool, dampness of the air, suggested I was in a basement, somewhere. Ok, that was a start. What else did I know? I was leaned up against something hard, and I could feel chains around my neck and waist. So, I was also a captive. That wasn’t exactly a surprise. It was more surprising that Carmine hadn’t just killed me, though I doubted that boded well for me. I saw what he had done to some of the others, after all. Unfortunately, that was as far as my listening skills could take me, so I was going to need to risk opening my eyes again. I took a moment to steel myself, then I cracked one eyelid tentatively.

It still hurt, but it was bearable, fortunately, the light was dim. It seemed that I was right about the basement; the floor was concrete, the ceiling was low and there were no windows. I was seated leaning up against a concrete post or pillar in the centre of the large, empty room, and the chains bound me there. They were loose enough that I could shift my position, but I couldn’t move more than a few inches from the pillar. I gingerly turned my head, taking in the rest of the room. It seemed I was alone, for the moment, but it looked like someone had been here recently, there was a small television set on a table across from me, and next to it was a mug of coffee, steam still rising from the surface. Whoever it was, they would likely be back soon. The TV was muted, but it seemed to be playing the news. I watched just long enough to be sure that the announcements hadn’t been made yet. It didn’t take long; if that had happened, I imagine they would be talking of little else, but for now, things seemed to be normal. Weather, sports, a fluff piece about a cat; without the sound I wasn’t sure of the details. That likely meant I hadn’t been unconscious for long, which was a good sign, at least as far as potential brain damage was concerned. I slowly reached a hand up to touch the wound on the back of my head, jostling the chains as I did, which caused a rattle that sounded ear-splitting in the quiet space. I winced as my fingers touched the sticky blood on my scalp and in my hair, but the bleeding seemed to have stopped, at least. As I gently palpated the wound, a door swung opened on the other side of the room and Carmine strode in. He had probably heard the chains. He smiled as his eyes fell on me.

“Rayna! Glad to see you up and about. I was worried I’d hit you too hard, and you would sleep through everything. We couldn’t have that, could we? After all, I have some questions for you. Jessy couldn’t tell me where the VIPs were being kept. But she assured me that you knew.”

“Where is Jessica?” my voice came out rough and uncertain, I cleared my throat.

“Oh, don’t worry about dear Jessy, she is perfectly safe. I merely sent her to retrieve the others,” a Cheshire cat grin flashed across his face. “You will need rescuing, after all.”

I winced. So, I was bait, now. Fabulous.

“How long have I been gone?”

He checked his watch, absently,

“About 30 minutes. They have probably noticed you’re missing by now.”

I didn’t really care much about that. Instead, I did some mental calculations. Based on what Gail said, the announcements could begin any moment. That was good. If he was wasting time here with me, that meant Carmine still didn’t know what we were really planning. Apparently, he hadn’t asked Jessica the right questions. I almost smiled, but caught myself in time and kept my face carefully blank.

“Gail is too smart to fall for a trap like this. No one will come.”

“You think they would abandon you, Rayna? What little faith you have in your friends.”

“Look, if you are going to kill me, just get it over with, will you? I’m tired of this bullshit.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I have questions for you, first. Also, I could use a little snack, and you’re no good for that if you are dead.”

“I’m not answering any questions, Carmine. As for the rest… do your worst, just get it over with.”

“Patience. I like to savor my meals. How about I start by explaining what is going to happen next? I find anticipation to be a very keen source of suffering, don’t you?”

I turned my head away and ignored the question.

“Very well, you don’t have to participate for this to work,” he replied indulgently. “First, I am going to get the location of the safe rooms out of you, so my people can get set up to assassinate our targets.”

“And why would I ever tell you that?”

“Because I can make you suffer greatly, if you don’t.”

“Been there, done that. Next?”

“So stubborn. I always liked that about you,” Carmine’s eye flickered opalescent as he watched me. “You were one of my favorites at the Organization, you know?”

“Oh?”

“Of course. You felt such responsibility, such a burden. Your self-imposed suffering was a pleasant treat, on the difficult days. Your pain really helped tide me over, while I was playing the whipped dog for your masters.”

“Whipped dog, huh? I seem to recall you had plenty of power, and that you were greatly respected.”

He snorted derisively,

“Maybe by your standards. People like you always happy with whatever crumbs someone is willing to throw you. But to me, being restricted, having my teeth filed down, it was worse than death. I am meant to be the master, not the servant.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Meant to be? By what right, exactly?”

“By right of power! You see what I have done already. Should a person capable of that waste their life in obscurity? Should I have to limit myself to protect others? Should I be forced to languish as a mere public servant?”

“I could certainly think of a few better places for you.”

Carmine laughed good humoredly,

“I bet you could.”

“Besides, it isn’t like you did this alone. By my estimation, you aren’t even the only Omega, are you? How many others played that part?”

He chuckled,

“Very clever, Rayna. No point in denying it, I suppose. There are a few others. After all, I certainly wasn’t alone in my ideals. They will also reap the benefits. But make no mistake, I was the one with the plan. I am the one responsible for changing the world. People like you have been in charge for too long. It’s our turn.”

“Is it?” I raised an eyebrow, flinching as the motion shifted my scalp, tugging on my wound. “You aren’t in power yet, Carmine.”

“No, but it won’t be long now. Gail and her friends can’t keep our targets under wraps forever. And I can wait. I have been patient for decades, a few more days, even weeks, is nothing. It is only a matter of time before we find an opening, before we pick you all off, one by one. All you have done is delay the inevitable. After all, we have the advantage of numbers. Many of your people have already fallen, and there weren’t that many of you to begin with.”

“Yes, you planned that part out very carefully, didn’t you? Though maybe you will satisfy my curiosity, since we are chatting. Why did you let any Partials through the screening, over the years? You could have eliminated us that way, without all this fuss.”

“Unlikely. If we passed over too many, we would have raised suspicions before we were ready to act. We had to be very careful; we always let at least a few through, just to keep people from asking questions or looking for other solutions. Just enough so it seemed like a temporary drought. I must admit that lately I have been regretting passing you through the testing, all those years ago,” Carmine sighed. “We were already thinning the ranks back then, you know? There were other viable candidates that we passed over, that year. With the benefit of hindsight, I would have chosen one of them, instead. You have been more trouble than you are worth.”

I chuckled,

“I appreciate the compliment, but if it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else. Someone was always going to stop you, Carmine. Maybe they would have even done a better job.”

“Perhaps. But perhaps not. Few would have trusted Simon’s ramblings so readily. If you had hesitated to put the whole organization on alert, over the unsubstantiated claims of a traitor, if you hadn’t gone on the run immediately, if you had brought him in to the office to share what he knew with the others, to confirm his story… Well, we would have had you, you know? Stopped this little rebellion before it even started.”

I did allow myself a small smile at that,

“Well, I must say, however this all turns out, throwing a wrench into your plans has really been the highlight of my career.”

“Yes, I will admit, you and Simon certainly did that. But it won’t be enough, in the end. Surely you can see that. Why keep fighting it? If you tell me what I want to know, I will make your end quick and painless. If you refuse me, I will have to proceed with the second part of my plan.”

“And what would that be?”

Reaching into his pocket, Carmine extracted a slender object, toying with it between his fingers as he spoke.

“You see, your friends back at the venue may have found and disarmed our devices, but I did have just enough leftover explosives for one last job,” he gestured to the ceiling above us. “I prepared this room, wired the charges up to collapse it when I push this little button,” he displayed the detonator proudly, flicking the guard up to display the red trigger underneath. “When your friends arrive to retrieve you, I will drop a tonne of rubble on all of you. With luck, I will get Simon and at least one other Partial for my trouble. But I know you don’t want that to happen, do you? So, I am giving you a choice: tell me what you know, and you will be the only one caught in the collapse. What do you say?”

He tucked the wireless detonator back into his jacket pocket, patting it gently as he did.

“And I suppose I will just have to take your word on that, huh? You must think I am very stupid, Carmine. I would happily save lives, if I could, but you are planning to kill every Partial, and Simon, anyway, aren’t you? So, why would I endanger innocent people, for nothing?”

“Innocent?” Carmine scoffed. “They’re politicians, Rayna. Some might say we are doing a public service.”

I rolled my eyes but said nothing.

“So, that is your decision, then? You will simply wait for the others to arrive?” Carmine was only trying to get a rise out of me. It wouldn’t work. “I will find out anyway, it is only a matter of time. What is the point of this?”

I could probably ask him the same question. After all, I knew I was dying here either way. Truthfully, I knew that from the moment I woke up in chains, but the realization bothered me less than I would have expected. I seemed to have mostly made my peace with it, at some point; after all, why should I live when so many other good people had died? As a result, Carmine’s threats had little sting. Collateral damage was a concern, but I hoped that Gail and Simon would easily see through his ruse with Jessica, and with any luck, they were not going to show up. That meant all I had to do was refuse to tell him anything, and this would all be over soon enough. I leaned my head back against the pillar and closed my eyes, letting the cool stone soothe my head wound. There was only one more thing I wanted, before that happened.

“Maybe a little time is all I need,” I didn’t open my eyes.

“Why? You think they will somehow get you out of this?” he scoffed.

“No, I think they are busy with more important things. I just want to see it, before the end.”

“See what?” his tone suddenly turned sharp.

I needed to be careful not to overplay my hand here, he couldn’t know anything about the announcements until they began, because he might try to stop them, but as long as I was vague enough, there was no harm in winding him up a bit. Maybe I could even irritate him enough to speed this whole thing up.

“Oh, nothing, nothing at all.”

“Are you trying to bluff me? Get me to bargain with you in exchange for information?”

“Nope. You have nothing I want, Carmine. I am just trying to find a way to enjoy my last moments,” I glanced at the TV behind him, the news broadcast continued without interruption.

Carmine followed my gaze,

“What are you expecting to see?” he asked, hitting the button to raise the volume.

The newscaster was in the middle of a story about a local festival that was beginning today.

“Weather report for tomorrow,” I smirked. “Just wondering if it is going to rain. I’m planning a picnic.”

He took a step towards me, fists clenched in anger,

“Tell me the truth. Now.”

“Why don’t you come over here and make me?”

He stopped advancing and shook his head ruefully,

“Ah, I see now. Nice try, Rayna, but I know you. You are just trying to upset me, so I will do something stupid. But I am not going to get close enough for you to try any tricks.”

“Well, you can’t blame a girl for trying,” I shrugged, leaning my head back again.

Carmine grabbed his mug and took a sip of his coffee, gathering himself. When he finally turned back to me, mug in hand, he seemed to be prepared to try another tactic.

“Perhaps we can try this another way…”

Suddenly, he was interrupted by a piercing tone that issued from the TV. The emergency alert system had been activated. Surprised, Carmine turned, watching as the Prime Minister appeared on the screen, greeted the people, and launched into a carefully prepared speech. I didn’t pay attention to the words, I knew what he was going to be saying, instead I watched the incubus. I got to see his teeth clench, the blood drain from his face, his hands shake with fury, splattering hot coffee onto his sleeves and wrist. He didn’t even seem to notice. It was everything I could have hoped. Gail and her team had gotten it done. It was too late for anyone to stop now. The world knew the truth, and the Domini couldn’t operate in secret any longer. Carmine knew this as well as I did, and though the announcement continued, detailing actions people could take to protect themselves, and the measures the government was putting in place, he turned back to me, rage distorting his normally flawless features.

“What have you done?” he snarled.

I just smiled. This was the only thing I had wanted to see. Carmine could do his worst, now.