Omega by Jus Accardo
Luckily G had been closer. He caught her wrist as she slipped over the side. But the ground was muddy and he had no traction. A second after latching on, he was being pulled right along with her.
I scrambled up and grabbed his feet while Cade joined him, leaning over the side to help haul Ash to safety. It took some maneuvering but a few moments later she was on solid ground and in my arms. “You’re okay.”
“None of you are okay,” Cora roared. Yancy had hauled her over the edge and stood beside her with a gun trained on the group.
Cade’s gaze flickered to mine and I shook my head slowly. There were five of us, but it wasn’t worth the risk. The chances of us all making it without injury—or worse—was slim.
“I might not have all your frequencies logged, but they’re both chipped,” Cora continued. “The bitch and the feral dog. Even if you managed to get away, there’d be no place I couldn’t follow.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But despite what you might think, you’re not the biggest bad out there. My world? We might not be as advanced when it comes to Infinity, but we have you beat a thousand times over in the military department.” I didn’t know if that was true, but she didn’t have to know that. “Like I said when we first met, my father is a general. You wouldn’t get within fifty feet of any of us.”
She smiled, but it wasn’t quite as confidant as it’d been. “Is that where Dylan took my little pet? Back home to Mommy and Daddy?” With a shrug, she came a single step closer. “No. He wouldn’t do that, would he? I suppose that means I can find the other one. I don’t want to kill Ash. I need her. But if it’s a choice between letting her get away and spilling her blood…”
Yancy flipped the safety and trained the gun directly at Ash.
There was no point in fighting it now. I supposed there’d never really been any point fighting it. Ashlyn Calvert was a part of me. Maybe she always had been. Maybe Cade’s stupid theory that we’re born with holes in our souls, but able to fill them with the right person was true. Maybe we simply had to find that person…
I had no idea what my future would bring. I didn’t know if I was in love or not. All I knew, all I was sure of, was that this was my Ashlyn Calvert. What that meant was unclear, but it didn’t matter because for once in my life I was going to do the unselfish thing. I was going to let her go.
In order to do that, she had to live…
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ash
Up until now I’d been going on the theory that Cora wouldn’t kill me. Couldn’t. She needed me—not that I’d had any intention of helping her.
Unfortunately, things had changed.
I took in the scenery and inhaled deeply. The air here was the freshest thing I’d ever smelled. The grass was lush and bright despite the lateness of the season, and close to the edge of the cliff, several patches of deep purple flowers were in full bloom.
Yancy had his weapon trained on me. His aim wouldn’t waver, his shot wouldn’t miss. The problem was, Noah and the others, they wouldn’t let it go. They’d attack. Trying to save me, trying to avenge me. Either way, the body count would surpass just me and I couldn’t have that. It left me with a single choice.
“Fine.” I stepped around Noah and squared my shoulders. “I’ll go back with you.”
Noah let out a horrible roar and was in front of me immediately. Apparently, he’d forgotten about the gun. “No. You’re not going back there.”
I didn’t want to. Not when I’d finally made it home.
As he’d fought Dylan on the previous earth, I’d grabbed Sera and woken my chip. I hadn’t really given it much thought at the time. I’d simply pulled up the PATH list and poked. It wasn’t until we landed here that I realized I’d taken us to my own personal frequency.
My real home.
I lifted my hand to touch his face, to tell him that this was my choice and he had no say in it, but he never gave me a chance. He whirled on Yancy and launched himself forward.
The group circled Yancy. He was ready, and though they got what looked like some good blows in, he was a machine and dealt with each as they came, scattering them like bowling pins across the field. Even G, who appeared to be the fiercest of the bunch, was no match.
“I’ve put up with too much from you to lose it all now,” Cora said from behind me. “Dead or alive, I am bringing you home.”
I turned to face her. This was the woman responsible for making me miserable. This person stole me from my home and family, then raised me as though I was the stain she couldn’t wipe away. I’d never been a violent person, but in that moment, looking at her and thinking about all she’d done, the only thing I wanted was to make her bleed. I let out a roar of my own and launched myself at her.
The action surprised her. I saw her eyes go wide and noted how she attempted to scamper out of my path. She was too slow, though. We collided and I took her down, fists tight and swinging before we even hit the grass.
Over and over my blows struck. Tears streaming down my face and making it impossible to see. The only reason I knew I was actually hitting her was the growing numbness in my fingers.
I was vaguely aware of a thundering pop followed by an unearthly wail. There were several moments of silence and then I was being hauled backward. Soaring through the air for a second, weightless, before the oxygen rushed from my lungs and everything swam at warp speed.
It hurt to breathe, but I managed to suck in a lungful and open my eyes. When my vision cleared, Yancy was bent over Cora. I struggled to my feet as Noah rushed over to me. He was covered in blood and bruised, but still standing. Still breathing.
Yancy looked up and our eyes met. He was too far away so I couldn’t hear him when he spoke, but I could see his lips moving. The message was clear as the sky. “See you soon.” A moment later their forms shimmered and disappeared.
I swallowed and scanned the area to take stock of the damage. On the grass a few yards away, Kori and G were huddled around a form lying still on the ground. I turned back to Noah. I took note of his blood-stained shirt and hands. Saw the anguished expression in his eyes. “No,” I said and started forward. “No. Cade—”
Noah grabbed my arm, then jumped ahead of me. “Is going to be fine. The shot went straight through. We’ll need to get him to a hospital. I don’t have anything to clean and properly dress the wound, but he’s okay.”
I sighed with relief and let him lead me over to the group. Kori was helping Cade sit up. They’d bound the wound with one of the sleeves from G’s flannel.
“Looks like we’re not going home after all,” Cade said. He leaned back against Kori and tried to flex his injured arm, wincing. “Dylan’s gone.”
“And he took Ava,” Kori said. She wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned close. “We’ll get there, though. Eventually.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Eventually.”
“So where do you think we landed?” Noah turned in a slow circle. “Seems nice enough.”
“I hope so,” I said softly. “This is home. My home.”
He stiffened and turned, but refused to meet my gaze. “You skipped back to your PATH line.”
“Not on purpose. Not really. I just woke the chip and—”
“No. That’s good. Saves us a trip I guess. I know you got back here safe, so, yanno, less shit for me to worry about.”
He was right. I was here—but I wasn’t technically safe. Cora said Sera and G and I were chipped. She might not have realized this was my home world, but she could find me no matter where I went. If I stayed, would I be putting the people here—my family—at risk? And aside from that, did I want to let Noah go? Could I?
We’d been through a lot together in the short time since we’d met. He had the same face and voice as the Noah I’d grown up with, but he wasn’t him. I’d loved the other Noah. I still loved him despite learning the truth. He’d had my back in the end, and really, that’s what mattered. The rest would probably always be a dark cloud over our relationship,
This Noah, though, the way I felt about him was different. It was fire and ice and pleasure and pain, and even though in the back of my mind I feared what Cora said—that we would destroy each other—I knew I couldn’t walk away.
I couldn’t let him walk away.
“I’m not staying.”
Something like hope flashed in his eyes and he lifted his gaze to meet mine. “Not staying?”
“Don’t get cocky.” I tried to fix him with an annoyed stare, but I was pretty sure I failed at epic levels. “Cora can come back and nab me any time. I’m safer on the move. Besides, I feel responsible for Sera. I need to make sure she’s okay.”
“Responsible—”
I clamped my hand across his mouth. He didn’t know the whole story. The things Cora had divulged. I would tell him, I would fill them all in, but there was something I needed to do first.
“I’m going back there, to Cora’s world.”
He grabbed my hand and pried it loose, the hope in his eyes fanning into anger. “You can’t possibly—”
“My God.” I slapped my hand down again and shook my head. “Shut up for five seconds, will you? I’m going back there to make sure the information Phil gave us gets to the right people. It probably won’t stop her from chasing us, but it will kill Omega. After that, I’m going with you—if you’ll take me.”
He was still for a few minutes before gently peeling my hand away. “If we’ll—” His arms encircled my waist and he hefted me into the air, spinning us around several times. “I considered taking you whether you wanted to come along or not.” He laughed. “I’m not willing to let go, Ash. Not anymore.”
I rose onto my toes and kissed him. Nothing too steamy. We had an audience, after all. But it held the promise of tomorrow. Of many tomorrows.
“What will he do? To Sera?” G had been quiet, watching the exchange with a mildly irritated expression. I felt bad for the guy. It wasn’t really his fault he’d been born a Dylan. He had some issues, that much was clear, but at least he seemed stable.
Or, more stable than Noah’s Dylan.
“We’ll find her,” I said. I meant it. It’d been Cade and Noah in the beginning. They’d left behind their home and everything they knew. They’d had to deal with this alone. Then they found Kori. Now they had me and G. Surreal when you stopped to consider that we were a group again. Different versions of an original family that had once stood strong. A family that not all of us knew, but one we’d surely all come to depend on.
For the first time in a long time, I had hope. Hope for a future. Hope for love. Hope to belong…
“Do you want to see them first?” Noah set me down, but didn’t let go. “Before we go, do you want to look in on them?”
Did I? More than anything. But it was a bad idea. If I saw them, came face-to-face, would I be able to leave again? Or would I beg Noah to stay here with me so I could get to know them. Get to know him.
“Not now. I’ll be back,” I said, resolved. I tapped my forearm and woke the chip, then went to take Noah’s hand. He, in turn, took Cade’s, who was still threaded with Kori’s. She rounded it out by grabbing G. Then, as a team, I scrolled down to Dylan’s PATH line and skipped us to our next location.
Acknowledgments
As always, the biggest thank-you to my husband. You make me laugh and smile, and I would be lost without you. And, of course, my parents, who would support me no matter what (though I’m fairly certain they’re happy I decided on writing rather than goat herding as my five-year-old self declared that one time).
Thanks to my first readers and sounding boards on this one, Gia Mallory, Sue Jens, and Baker Hartford—who I owe two pounds of M&Ms after that four a.m. plot hole freak-out.
Big hugs to Nicole Resciniti—my agent, my cheerleader, and my friend. Thank you for believing in me even when I don’t believe in myself.
A huge thanks to Stacy Abrams, Candace Havens, and Greta Gunselman, for the amazing insight and edits, and L.J. Anderson and Toni Kerr who made this book look so pretty. To everyone in the Entangled family who helped get this baby off the ground—Liz Pelletier, Melissa Montovani, Christine Chhun, and all the people working hard behind the scenes so I could share Noah and Ash’s story with the world—thank you! I say this every time—it takes a village to bring a book to life and I’m grateful for each and every one of you.
My unending gratitude goes out to anyone who has ever picked up one of my books. You make it possible to do what I do—the thing I love—and for that, I have no words.
About the Author
Jus Accardo spent her childhood reading and learning to cook. Determined to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps as a chef, she applied and was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America. But at the last minute, she realized her true path lay with fiction, not food. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald.
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