Page 146 of Daisy

"Jesus, guys, dial it back," Hawk says, and he's suddenly right next to me, hands hovering like he wants to touch but doesn't know if he should. His own emotions are spiraling, but there's guilt there too. Like he thinks he's the reason I can't handle their intensity right now.

When they get themselves under control, the silence feels heavy.

"You're talking about revolution," Gunner says quietly.

The word should terrify me. A month ago it would've sent me running. But with them all here, loving me...

"Yeah," I say. "I am."

Dante gets up and starts pacing. He looks like he wants to punch something. "Do you understand what that means, Beautiful? What we'd be up against?"

"The entire system," Cassian says grimly. "Every elite bloodline. Every politician who's built their career on omega trading. Every alpha who thinks they're entitled to own us."

I know. God, I know. My chest feels tight thinking about it. "I can't ask you to follow me into this. I won't ask you to."

"You're not asking," Hawk says, standing up. "You're telling us you're going with or without us."

I want to deny it. But I can't. He's right. I've already made the choice. The question is whether they'll make it with me.

"Fuck." Dante runs his hands through his hair. "Beautiful, if you do this, there's no going back. Your uncle will use everything he has to destroy you. The media, the legal system, hired killers—everything."

"He's been trying to destroy me my whole life." The words come out steady. Old me would've whispered that. "The difference is now I'm not alone. And now I'm not that scared little girl anymore."

I can see it in their faces, they're starting to believe this could actually work.

"There's something else," Dante says. His voice is grim. "Something I figured out when I was working security. About your uncle."

My stomach drops. "What?"

"He's fifty-eight years old. Most beta-born alphas start going feral around forty. Dead by forty-five. He shouldn't be stable. Not unless..." He trails off.

The room goes dead quiet. I can see it clicking for everyone at different speeds.

"Unless what?" But even as I ask, my stomach is already dropping. I think I know where this is going.

Dante's jaw clenches. "Unless he's got access to an omega. Hidden somewhere. Someone he's been using to stay stable for years."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

I can't breathe. Can't think. The room starts spinning and I have to grip Gunner's arms to stay upright.

And then it hits me. The memory I've buried so deep I almost convinced myself it never happened.

I wake up from a nightmare.My heart is pounding, and I'm sweating even though my room is cold.

But there's something else. A sound.

Crying.

I slip out of bed and pad down the dark hallway in my nightgown. My bare feet are cold on the hardwood floor. The house is so quiet except for that sound. Someone is crying, and it makes my stomach feel funny.

I follow it down to the basement. Each step makes my heart beat faster. That door that's always locked. Uncle's special room that I'm never supposed to go near. My nanny told me that some rooms are private, that Uncle has important work down there.

But tonight, it's not locked. It's cracked open just a little, and that's where the crying is coming from.

I shouldn't look. I know I shouldn't. My hands are shaking as I reach for the door. But I'm seven and curious and someone sounds so hurt. What if they need help?

I push the door open just a crack. Just enough to see.