Goosebumps flushed across my skin at his words and the wicked intent behind them. Fresh fear spiked a layer of sweat over the back of my neck and I bit the side of my cheek. “Keep your shit together, Gina,” I said under my breath, pep-talking myself. “You’re not going to let him win.”
I clutched my fingers into fists as I approached the towering building that would take me between realms.
What if I’ve already won? he said in my mind, his cocky tone saying that he was just toying with me now.
“I said, get out of my head,” I growled, storming into the lobby and taking a sharp right to the elevator used by fae to travel in and out of the Human Realm. Once I jumped worlds, my Alpha would lose his grip on my mind and I could find my next hiding spot.
The bellhop took note of me, a human who logged the comings and goings of the fae and was well compensated to report all travel to the Elemental Council and keep his mouth shut to the rest of the mortal species about fae-kind.
He was even better compensated not to mention me.
“Miss Gina,” he said with a polite nod. “On the run from that asshole again?”
I gave him a wink. “What can I say? He’s persistent.”
The bellhop tsked, but waited expectantly in my path. He might pity me, but he still had a job to do.
Good thing humans could be bribed.
With a sigh, I pulled out my entire week’s earnings from the café—which was substantial, given how human males thought they could buy my attention with their paper money. I’d gotten some amazing tips as a bartender, but it surprised me how the tips as a cafe waitress were comparable and sometimes even better. Thanks to the businessmen in the morning with fat wallets and lustful eyes.
I was happy to take their money and dash their hopes. No one touched me without my permission, which was rarely, if ever, given.
No permission needed when you’re already mine, Came my Alpha’s cruel reminder. I pressed my lips in a thin line and ignored him.
The bellhop’s eyes sparkled when I deposited the wad of cash on the counter, slipping it discreetly within his reach without touching him. I had no desire to see his dull future, watching fae travel all over the multiple realms while he sat here, dreaming about joining them one day. That wouldn’t happen. Humans didn’t get to play with fae, not often, anyway.
“Seems your papers are in order,” he said with a polite nod, no doubt hoping I would be his rare chance to finally be a part of a world he watched from the sidelines.
If I wasn’t on the run, I might have entertained the idea of helping him. As a Fortune Fae I got away with occasional mischief, but I had enough heat as it was.
“Of course they are,” I replied.
His gaze followed me as I moved past him and towards the elevator that would take me home. My nest was in Fortune Fae territory, and while I didn’t like getting close to my kind right now, it was a necessary risk. I needed to draw from the source of my magic to accurately read my own future, not to mention see enough of a reliable vision to determine the best path I could follow.
Stepping into the elevator, I slid one of my Fortune cards into the slot and punched in the sequence that would take me out of the Human Realm.
My stomach dropped when the elevator shifted realms, going inwards and outwards instead of the standard upward lurch one might expect. I blew out a breath when a weight lifted from my mind, signaling that I’d momentarily broken the lock my Alpha had on me.
“Not today, bastard,” I said, feeling smug. Even if he guessed I was heading home, I wouldn’t be sticking around long enough for him to track me.
The elevator doors opened, revealing a vast landscape that heralded my kind’s most prized landmarks: Fortune Fae Academy and the Collegium. A thorned forest surrounded the Academy, embracing it in cruel intentions and daring anyone to attempt to approach—or escape.
A massive structure overshadowed the Academy, towering behind it like a faithful sentry.
The Collegium.
That’s where graduates worked to predict futures that impacted all the realms. I paused, indulging a moment to appreciate the structures. If things were different, I would have loved to
delve into the ancient scrolls and pick apart old visions to help understand what was happening to me now, but to step through those gates would be to accept my fate; to accept my role as an Omega and submit to a mate-circle and my Alpha.
I didn’t even know his name, just that one of my visions had triggered my once-dormant Omega traits, calling my Alpha to me whether I wanted to or not.
By the impression I had of the bastard so far, there was no way I could allow him to get his hands on me. Alphas were possessive, indulgent, wicked creatures that I wanted nothing to do with. I’d avoided their kind all my life and I wasn’t going to stop now.
This wasn’t a legal entry point to the Fortune Realm, but I was already a fugitive. Omegas were not supposed to run. They were supposed to be good little Fae and attend Fortune Fae Academy, submitting to their mate-circle and supplementing the Fortune Fae’s visions.
Something big was going on with the time-space continuum if Omegas were starting to emerge, myself included. I sensed a massive vision that lingered on the edges of my mind ever since my Omega traits started to emerge. If that vision descended on me now, I had no doubt it would crush my mind. I had no interest in being subjugated to that kind of vision. Let some other Fortune Fae deal with it.