Chapter 5: Immediate Tension

Delaney

The sight of Paola's brother leaves me light-headed, mostly because she told me so much about him over the years and I never knew that I'd already seen him before. 

The man standing before me gives me a once-over. Paola has cut her hair short and has gotten rid of all the black dye on her hair, and honestly, I think the color suits her more. Her hair is now the same dirty blonde as his, making them look very alike. 

Only, the big difference between them is that although Paola can be explosive at times, she has this soft look to her. Her eyes are big and kind. Her brother, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. His eyes are full of curiosity and disdain as he sizes me up while a sly smile curls at the edges his plump lips. When they land on mine after his assessment, I have the feeling that he's making fun of me in his head. 

I wonder if he recognizes me, too. 

The day of the trial was such a long time ago. 

"This is the friend you made in prison?" Pollux asks. His voice is low and deep with a sensuality that's impossible to ignore, even when he's poking fun at me. 

"Yes, the lovely Delaney Waters," Paola says with a wide smile.

"Lovely?" Pollux echoes before his eyes return to my face. "I heard you killed a man, Waters."

His tone has a biting edge to it now, and the smoothness I detected earlier becomes sharpened somewhat. Paola straightens her back and glances at her brother with annoyance etching her features. I don't give myself the trouble of retorting. 

"I killed a man, too," Paola claims to diffuse the tension that has formed a bubble around us. "So, you better think twice before poking fun at two cold-blooded killers. If we killed before, we can kill you, too."

Pollux laughs a little, though his eyes remain cold and emotionless. "Oh, I know that, little sis."

Paola opens the rear door for me and I get in the car. The interior smells like leather and the perfume she's wearing, which is rich and exotic. The car creaks when her and her brother climb in, and then she turns in her seat to look at me and says, "You're going to love where we're going."

"Where's that?"

"Paola," Pollux says sharply. "We don't talk about it to strangers."

Paola rolls her eyes. "She's not a stranger; she's my best friend. And stop trying to tell me what to do already. It's annoying as shit, okay?"

I can tell that Pollux doesn't like me, but it doesn't bother me much because I'm used to people not liking me. It's happened my whole life. Even other women at the prison didn't dare to get close to me because somehow, the information about my curse spread around, and people refused to get close to me. 

Even in prison, people felt like they were better than me. 

It was only Paola who didn't look at me that way. When I confessed to her that I'd been born under a black moon, she simply shrugged. "So what? How fucked do you think your stars have to be for you to end up in jail at some point? I've never been superstitious like that. I think luck is subjective."

That was when we became truly inseparable until her release, of course. 

"It's a safe place for Omegas," Paola explains, interrupting my train of thought. "It's a place where we don't suffer prejudices. We can work and live however we please."

"Sounds great," I admit, but even as I utter the reply, my thoughts drift to the envelope in my hand. The instructions clearly state that I need to leave the country and assume a different identity. So, being here isn't going to be doing me any favors. I might even get myself in serious trouble. 

I don't even know where these orders and the money have come from. But for the officers to have access to it, it must have been someone big.

Pollux sighs, clearly displeased with the whole thing. Honestly, I don't really understand what I've done to him to get him to treat me like this. That's why I'm assuming that it's something that Paola must have said to him. It could be that he's prejudiced. 

Most people are. 

Paola glares at the side of his head before turning to look at me again. Her eyes and my face and she reaches across the seat and takes my hand in hers. "You're going to love it out here, Delaney. It's a beautiful place, the world."

I smile and tears sting my eyes. I've always told her that I saw the world differently from everyone else. To me, it had always been a shithole filled with people with superiority complexes. That's why a brand new life wouldn't be so bad for me. I could leave; abandon my plans of revenge and just start a life somewhere else. My new papers still claim that I'm an Omega, but at least there's no sign of me being born under a bad moon in them. 

Nobody would know, and I'd be able to lead a normal life for once. I graduated. I could probably do something with my education. 

But there's a lot to think about. For the longest time, all I could think of was getting back at the people who put me in here. Alec Castell. Carla. Thelma. All of them. My plans gave me strength and I looked forward to them.

But now that I'm out, being practical will benefit me more. 

We'll see. 

The drive is fairly long and nothing else is said, not even between the siblings. I have a feeling that his harsh comments have upset her. I stare out the window of the car and take in the lovely nature all around us. When was the last time I had a view of the forest? What happened that day hadn't been enough to turn me into a nature-hater, surprisingly. Or maybe looking at the trees just feels great after years of seeing nothing but gray walls.

"We're almost there," Paola announces after a while. 

We've finally started driving toward the city, and the area they're headed to is completely unfamiliar to me, or maybe things have changed so much that it feels like I'm in a foreign country. I keep staring out the window until we reach a tall, gray, nondescript brick building. The cobblestones that lead up to the entrance are wet, and the air is humid. It rained not so long ago.

We all get out of the car at the same time and Paola interlocks her arm with mine as we head inside. Her brother is right behind us, and I don't dare to look back at him. An old woman is seated behind the reception, and she doesn't look up as we walk past her. Nobody says a word to her. 

"It's right here," Paola tells me as we enter the dining area. "There are other entrances to our world around the city, but this one is my favorite one."

"What do you mean?" I ask in confusion. 

Paola simply smiles as we reach a small coffee table nestled between sofas. She pushes some of the sofas aside and then she ad Pollux remove the coffee table, leaving only the rug behind. it's only when they roll the rug aside that I understand, or behind to.

They're referring to a trap door. Right in the middle of the dining room of this inn. 

Pollux opens it. and I only see darkness within. Paola has a flashlight in her hand and she says, "Follow me. The ladder is wobbly, so you have to be smart about your descent. Grab the rungs well."

She starts going down and I watch her disappear into the darkness. Pollux is standing next to me, not saying a word. Form the depths below, I then hear her voice. "Come on down!"

I don't even know where to start, so I kneel and then put a leg into the whole in hopes of stepping on a rung. She's right; the ladder is wobbly, and that makes me scared because I don't know how bad the fall would be if I were to slip. 

"Careful!" she calls out. 

I put my other leg into the hole and finally find my balance, or so I think. As I'm going down, my fingers slip from the floorboards, and I wobble precariously. Pollux grabs my hand to steady me, and for some reason, electricity travels down my arm at the contact. I stare into his eyes and he looks at me for a few solid seconds. His face is blank but his eyes...there's something about them. Something like despair or maybe—

"Are you okay?" Paola asks.

I clear my throat before speaking. "Yeah. I'll be right down."

He releases my hand and I finally bend over to grab a rung. I take a few breaths before going down. I do it slowly so I don't get hurt again, and I'm surprised that it's a pretty short drop. I look around quickly and gather that we're in a tunnel. There's dust everywhere, and I fight the urge to sneeze. 

Paola is standing right next to me with the flashlight in her hand. She smiles. "Exciting, right?"

I rub my wrist and nod. "It was something different. Where does this tunnel lead to?"

"A place we call The Underworld," she replies in a sinister manner. "Don't worry. It's not as bad as it sounds. Let's get going."

"What about your brother?" I ask, since he's not down here yet. 

"He'll come," she replies shortly. "Or not. I don't care right now."

Our arms are locked once more, and we walk straight into the void.