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On accident.

I sigh. “I don’t know.”

He ignores me, finally pulling open the door we’re facing.

A cold, musty smell curls up from the darkness below, and I instinctively retreat.

“No,” I whisper, as every drop of blood in my face drains away.

“It’s just a basement, Omega,” Vae says gently. “We don’t know what you’ll light on fire or blow up, so this is the safest place for now.”

He’s trying to put a spin on it, but I’m still backing up. Still shaking my head in fierce refusal.

This is a nightmare—my worst nightmare. It’s my father’s house all over again. I was sent to his basement once, and it was the worst five days of my life. No food, no blankets, nowhere to use the bathroom except a bucket. Nothing but cold, wet air and freezing stone and iron.

I was sick the entire time I was down there. Lethargic and nauseous. Even my skin started turning a sickly grey color. I genuinely thought I was going to die if he kept me down there another day.

And the darkness. The silence. No way to tell the time or the passage of it. It plays tricks on your mind. Makes you see things that aren’t there. Hear things that aren’t real.

Those days were… terrifying. Humiliating. I had nightmares for months after he finally let me out. It took me months just to recover physically.

Vae is wrong. What’s down those stairs isn’t safe. This is a punishment. If I go down there, I’ll never see the sun again.

“I won’t go.” I stand my ground, hoping I sound strong. Dax doesn’t care, though. He’s already rounding on me, his cedarwood scent turning acrid with anger, like rotten wood.

“You will go down there, or I will do us all a favor and put a bullet through your skull.”

I whimper, and my Omega releases a keening whine. It’s in the air and echoing around us before I can blink. We face each other, eyes locked, as the shrill, horrible sound of my pain rings through the open space.

You’re my Mate. My Fated Mate!

I scream the words with my eyes, but my mouth won’t shape them.

Dax’s gaze shutters, and his brow furrows in confusion. Then his hand jumps to his chest like he’s been punched by an unseen force. His fingers splay over his sternum and flex as a shudder rips through him.

For a single heartbeat, I think he’s realized that he just crossed a line he can never come back from. I could swear he looks genuinely confused, like something just occurred that he doesn’t understand and can’t explain. His scent shifts subtly, the edges of his acrid anger smoothed over with what might be remorse.

Vae, always the peacemaker, attempts to diffuse the situation. “We aren’t leaving her there forever, right, Dax?”

I back up until I’m against the wall. Both males face me, boxing me in. I’m trapped. For the briefest moment, I thought maybe Dax felt it—an echo of the pain pulsing through my own chest—exactly where our Mate Bond should be.

Then his jaw hardens, and he shoves whatever he’s feeling down and away. He drops his hands from his chest and takes a deliberate step away from me.

“Right,” he replies, glancing at Vae.

Except… we all know he’s lying. I can smell it, and based on Vae’s wince, he can too. My eyes flick from one Alpha to the other. Both of them are unmovable. Both are completely unwilling to negotiate. Both are full of hate and mistrust in their own ways.

Both mine.

“Please don’t make me go down there,” I beg, wringing my hands in panic. “Please don’t make me⁠—”

Dax doesn’t let me finish. He jabs a finger toward the stairs and growls. “Go. Now.”

A tremor runs down my spine, but I know there’s no swaying him. Whatever hope I had is well and truly buried now. I bow my head… and walk.

When I reach the door, I peer into the yawning darkness beyond. There are no lit sconces down here. Nothing but old stone and the smell of still water.

I brace myself and step down.