Lyra's POV
The room they brought me to was disgusting.
Cramped and neglected, with black mold creeping up the walls like twisted vines. The furniture looked like salvage from a junkyard, barely cleaned enough to pass as functional. A sagging mattress on a metal frame. A dresser with a broken drawer hanging at an angle. One lamp that sputtered weakly when the omega flicked it on.
I surveyed the space without letting my expression shift. This had to be Kaelen's work. Another layer of punishment disguised as mercy. Or maybe the omegas had taken it upon themselves to decide what I deserved.
Either way, I could handle it. I had lived through worse.
The omega who had escorted me lingered by the door, studying me with cold calculation.
"Thank you," I said simply.
Her eyes hardened. "You need to wash."
"I understand."
"No. Right now." She folded her arms across her chest. "You need to scrub every inch of filth off your body before you meet the Grand Luna tomorrow."
