Page 27 of The Runaway
“Antoine gives Dante what he wants most of the time,” Adalene said, sounding upset.
“Does he?” Connor asked. “Maybe it looks that way on the surface. But I’ve yet to see him ask for something that Antoine didn’t want him to have. So how can you really tell?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
It was about three o’clock in the afternoon when Gabriel came striding into the house yard, feeling rather pleased with himself. He spotted Antoine talking to Cirroc and headed over, politely waiting until they’d finished to announce his news.
“The pigsty is finished,” he said. “I’ve put the gate on the fence and fitted the catch. All we need now is some pigs.”
Antoine grinned at him. “Nice work. Thank you. Let’s go and have a look at the finished product, shall we?” he suggested. “Mm, I can already taste the bacon.”
Gabriel laughed and led the way. But as they reached the edge of the yard, the loud clopping of horses’ hooves got their attention, and they both looked up to see three horses pulling into the yard. The leader of the group was a huge man, both tall and broad, on an equally massive horse. He had a dark beard and a number of rings glinted on his fingers. One of the betas rushed over to take his reins, and he dismounted.
“Felix,” Antoine called, grinning as he walked towards the man. “Welcome. To what do we owe the pleasure?”
Gabriel recognised the name. This was the famous Baron Felix Bardet, then. In the month that he’d been here, he hadn’t yet had the chance to meet the man.
“It’s good to see you again,” the baron said, shaking Antoine’s hand enthusiastically. Then he glanced at Gabriel with a curious expression.
“This is Gabriel Calvet, my cousin,” Antoine introduced him. Gabriel held out his hand, to have it engulfed in Felix’s much larger one. “He was a sergent in the army. Recently retired from his military duty.”
“A soldier? Well, it’s an honour to have you here,” Felix said, in his deep voice. “And good riddance to the English, am I right?”
“Yes, sir,” Gabriel said politely. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“This is my son, Borya,” Felix said, waving him forward. Borya was also a large man, though a good thirty years younger than Felix. “And Julien, one of my deputies.” Gabriel shook both their hands, while the usual pleasantries were exchanged.
“Now, Antoine,” Felix said, turning back to the alpha. “As much as it’s always a pleasure to see you, I’m afraid the news today is not as good as I might have hoped. There are rumours flying about the district.”
“Rumours of what?” Antoine asked. There were all manner of things that might have gone wrong. A sheep thief stealing stock. A landslide that had cut off one of the roads. An outbreak of disease.
But what Felix said made Gabriel’s blood run cold. “Tales have reached my ears of a new addition to your estate. A young omega. And according to the stories, he’s a runaway. Would you happen to know anything about that?”
Gabriel was silent, schooling his face into a carefully neutral expression. For all the stories of Felix’s benevolent ways, this man was still the local arm of the law, and he wasn’t sure which way Antoine was going to play this. Did he trust Felix enough to be truthful? Or, if he risked attempting to deny it, was the baron savvy enough to see through the lie?
“These things are best discussed in private,” Antoine said, after a moment’s hesitation. “Please come into the house.”
They all filed into the sitting room, Gabriel letting their guests go ahead of him. Inside, they all took their seats, Borya and Julien watching quietly as Felix took the lead. “So. This omega,” he said, keeping his tone casual. “Been a long time since there was a runaway in my district.”
“Indeed it has,” Antoine said. “And may I ask what you know of this omega?”
Felix’s mouth twisted in a wry smile. “Keeping your cards close to your chest, are you? Fair enough. An alert has been put out from Earl Castillon in Lyon. An estate in his district reported an omega running away several weeks ago. He was traced as far as Roanne, but they lost him after that. He’s a young man in his twenties, by the name of Connor.”
“And who reported seeing him on this estate?” Antoine asked. As yet, he’d admitted to nothing, but as they all knew, his lack of a quick denial was telling in itself.
“You know I can’t tell you that,” Felix said, though he looked sympathetic about it. “If people choose to bring information to my attention, I’m obliged to respect their privacy.”
Antoine sighed. “I’m aware that the legal requirement is to return any runaway omegas to their rightful owners. I would have no intention of stealing one, any more than I would steal someone’s horse. But in this case, things are a little more complicated.”
“How so?” Felix was neither angry nor impatient.
“Back on Connor’s home estate, he said his masters beat an omega to death for a minor infraction. He ran away because he didn’t want to be the next to be killed. As far as I see it, that’s a reasonable desire. His masters have treated him extremely harshly. There’s no justice in sending him back again.”
“There aren’t many people in the world who would speak of justice where an omega is concerned.”
Gabriel longed to issue a sharp retort to that, but thankfully, Antoine beat him to it. He was a newcomer here, after all, and it wouldn’t help any of them for him to get the local baron offside.
“The world would be a much better place if there were more of us,” Antoine said. “And if those of us who did feel that way were more vocal about it.”