Page 59 of Let It Snow (Eden’s Omegaverse #7)

I open my eyes, heavy as lead, and the room spins.

For a second, I feel like I’m not even myself.

I hate this sensation. I used to wake up like this almost every day for a month, fighting through the fog in my head, and now it’s back.

What the hell is happening? I can barely piece it together.

I remember trying to help Snow’s brother, Winter, and then… nothing. Just a blank.

When I finally force my eyelids fully open, a cold shiver runs through me. I’m lying on a table, my wrists bound.

Six men stand around me, and directly in front of me, on the opposite wall, there’s a large monitor. On the screen, someone is lying unconscious on a bed, hands and feet tied, just like mine. A long, pale-gold braid lies across his shoulder.

Lake?

Lake!

A surge of fear cuts through my chest.

What the hell?! What’s going on?

I look at the men around me, and the worst part is: I recognize some of them. Ferro's soldati. Mafia.

But that’s not the thing that nails the coffin shut. Another figure steps into the camera’s view.

"Rocco!"

The name rips out of me as something clamps painfully around my throat.

"Oh, awake already? Hello, sweetheart. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon. How delightful!"

That voice. My fists clench on instinct. I know that voice so well, the same one that used to whisper disgusting things under my door back in the fortress. It all comes back like an underground tremor, making me tense everything at once, my jaw, my eyelids, every muscle.

Swallowing hard, I keep quiet and listen. Whatever he’s about to say, I need to understand it perfectly. A lot depends on this.

Rocco crosses his arms over his chest.

"So… my dear Summer, I know you’ve got a few tricks up your sleeve, but if you value the life of this charming omega I’ve got here," he says, running a hand down the cheek of the unconscious Lake as he speaks. "You’ll cooperate."

My mouth hangs open in shock. What happened? Were we kidnapped? Where is everyone else, Snow? Aiden? This is so absurd, so impossible. Is this what Snow meant, that thing he said was coming, the blind spot he couldn’t see?

Did Snow finally make a phone call to Moon? I forgot to ask! Did he figure out the details, a way to get us out of this? Or not? Damn it. Panic floods me.

"Where are Snow and Aiden? Did you kill them?!"

Rocco laughs. "Oh, you made it way too easy for me. You took hiding in plain sight to a whole new level. I never would’ve guessed you’d be dumb enough to stay with Sun’s parents.

I came there to get my revenge on Sun, and look what a sweet bonus I found lying on the floor, waiting for me to take, without breaking a sweat! "

"Did you kill them?!"

"No one’s dead, little bird, calm down. I came for Sun; I wasn’t even looking for you at the time, but after I found you, I knew I had to have some leverage, so I took this cutie."

"You son of a bitch! Let Lake go!"

"Oh, hun, finding you is an incredible opportunity, and I’m going to take full advantage of it.

I’ve got a few things to handle, some unfinished business with the Russians.

So I want to utilize your sweet help because I know that lovely head of yours holds a power Anzo could never quite tame.

Maybe this time we’ll give it a try. And if you value this blondie’s life, and something tells me you do because he’s such a pretty thing, then—"

"Let him go! He’s a survivor of abuse. He doesn’t deserve this!"

"Ha ha ha!" Rocco laughs, but his laugh doesn't sound human, far too demonic for this. "If that argument ever worked on me…"

A groan filled with anger and despair rips from my throat.

Rocco chortles. "Well, we don’t want to add to his abuse, but that depends on you, babe.

His safety in exchange for a few favors.

Nothing big. Just getting rid of some idiots who are standing in the way of our business.

It has to be done quietly because the FBI’s got its eyes on us, and that’s where you come in… "

I close my eyes for a moment, knowing I don’t have another option. I could never allow Lake to be hurt. I know what he’s been through, and I won’t let anything happen to him again.

"Fine," I say, keeping my voice steady. "I’ll help you in exchange for Lake’s release. But I need a guarantee you’ll do it."

"Well, you have my word. You know that’s sacred." His mouth stretches into a smile. "Whenever I’ve promised something, I’ve always kept my word." Then he bursts out in a vicious laugh.

I draw a deep breath, my whole body trembling and buzzing with nerves.

My eyes lock on Rocco. I could tear him to pieces, or maybe save Lake.

But how far away is he? I doubt I can repeat the same trick I did for Winter.

Lake isn’t my blood, so there’s no energy link for me to reach through and pull him out.

Besides, I wouldn’t even know how. Snow was the one who did it for me last time.

"Perfect," Rocco says.

One of the men steps forward from the edge of the room.

I see something in his hand. I have no idea what it is, but before I can react, he presses it against my neck, and a moment later, everything goes black again.

◆◆◆

When I open my eyes, I’m in another place. For a moment, I think it’s the Black Room, where I spent so many hours forced to fuck Anzo’s bony ass.

But no. This one is smaller, with a monitor strapped to the wall like someone hung it in a rush.

I’m lying on a table, tied at the wrists and ankles, just like back then. And on the screen, also exactly like before, I see Lake unconscious on a bed, hands tied, eyes shut.

I wish my eyes were shut too, because I feel half-asleep, half-drugged.

Oh Fate, how long has it been since this started?

Two men stand near him, like they’re waiting for a signal.

But I’m not alone either.

When I manage to focus, a stab of horror goes through me—six armed men stand lined up against the wall. Fuck! My whole body feels like it’s sinking into something dense and dark.

That’s when I hear the sound of footsteps.

The door swings open, and Rocco walks in.

Fuck. How well I know that scar cutting across his face, his black eyes, his twisted smile.

"I see you’ve already made yourself comfortable, Summer. I know that face, you’re boiling inside, full of rage. But you left so suddenly, babe; we didn’t finish our business."

He comes closer, leaning down toward me, and the stench of his breath hits me. Rotten, suffocating. I want to jerk my head away, but everything in me moves sluggishly, like I’m underwater.

Sadly, his odor pulls up memories of when Anzo wasn’t watching, and Rocco used to press his body against mine, whispering filth about how deep he’d fuck me, that I would feel him at my throat.

It wouldn’t take much to destroy him.

One snap of my fingers. One thought.

But also one look at the screen shows me Lake’s guards staring at me, watching, waiting for me to slip.

"So tell me, what do you want me to do for you? Say it." I force the words out of my mouth, thick and heavy like oil.

"Oh, so you want to skip straight to business?" Rocco walks around me like a predator. "But I’d rather start with something sweet. You and I still have an unfinished date. Things that have nothing to do with killing Russians. Isn’t that right, Summer?"

He gets closer, his hip slamming against the table so hard the vibration shakes through me.

He leans in again, his breath brushing over my face. He sniffs over my glands, then winces.

"I’m guessing that little hole of yours isn’t so tight anymore, somebody else claimed it, but I’ll take what I can get. Give me a nice fuck, Summer, and then we’ll deal with the Russians."

I scream, trying to jerk away, but I can't; I’m miserably slow, the drug or whatever they gave me before hasn’t quite left my system.

"I’m not doing that!"

Rocco’s grin twists into something mocking, sharp with superiority.

"I knew you’d refuse." He flicks his hand toward the screen. "So what then? You want me to pass this experience on to him?"

The taller guard grabs Lake’s waistband, yanking his pants down from his hips.

"No!" I scream so loud, but it comes out like a gasp, my voice ripping apart. Whatever’s been pumped into me is debilitating. What the fuck did they drug me with?

Rocco raises his hand, and the men freeze, annoyed.

"Oh? So you’ve changed your mind? Here’s the deal: either he gets fucked, or you do. One or the other."

My eyes sting with tears. Dear Fate, I hate this bastard so much. If I could, I’d make him dust in a blink. But why Lake? Why did it have to be him?

"I choose me," I choke out, my throat tearing.

I look at Lake’s limp body. One of the guards pulls his pants back up while the taller one steps away.

It’s the only choice I can make. Lake has already been raped enough times in the past, I won’t let him live through it again.

Rocco’s hands close around my waist, and I tremble in disgust as he drags me to the edge of the table.

"Oh, Summer, you smell so good, just like a young omega should. I envy your man, getting to fuck that sweet hole every day. But I’ll take the leftovers."

With a knife, he cuts through the rope on my ankles, shoves my shirt up, and grabs the waistband of my pants. He pulls them down in jerks, tearing them off.

A sob rips through my chest. I can protect myself from pain if I want, I can put up layers of air, thick enough that nothing gets through. But the thought of him inside me—it’s the worst nightmare I’ve ever had.

Anzo sometimes fucked me rough with a dildo, and I would use my power to stop the pain.

But the act itself was still degrading, shocking, unbearable.

And Rocco is not a man who just stops. He has no mercy.

He’ll torture me until someone forces him to turn his attention elsewhere, and I don’t know what to do about it without collapsing everything, crushing both our families.

Moon’s prophecy burns in my mind again.