To ruin an Omega - Chapter 335: SOS 2

Chapter 335: SOS 2

CIAN

“Cian,” she said when she finally noticed me. Her voice cracked. “What the fuck.”

I stopped a few feet away from her. I didn’t say anything at first. I just looked at her. Took in the state of her. The way her chest was heaving. The way her hands were shaking behind her back.

“I’m sorry,” I said finally. “But this is the only way I knew to end it.”

Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. “What?”

“It’s clear you’ll protect your monster of a father more than anyone else.”

“That’s why I made that pact with you.” Her voice rose. Desperate. “So you could trust me.”

“Well, I don’t.”

The words came out flat. Final. I watched them land. Watched her flinch like I had struck her.

“You didn’t tell me your father was the one who tried to kill Fia.”

Her face went white. “What?”

I pulled her phone from my pocket and held it up. “The delicate I hired saw it. So there is no point denying it.”

“No.” She shook her head so hard her hair whipped across her face. “My father would never. He was not the one. I swear to you.”

“I would have thought so too.” I turned the phone over in my hand. “But it makes sense the more I think about it. He is a slave to my uncle just as you, isn’t he? The delicate must have known better than to reveal her hand when she was in the most unsafe place she could be. My pack.”

Madeline stared at me. Her breathing was shallow. Fast. “What do you plan to do now? Why am I fucking here?”

I laughed. Not because it was funny. Just because the question was so absurd I didn’t know how else to respond.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I assure you. It’s started already. You need to see how deranged my uncle is being right now losing you. He’s losing his mind. Calling. Texting. Threatening.” I paused. “You must be his most important pawn.”

Madeline scoffed. “I doubt it.”

“No?”

“Your uncle just doesn’t like not being in control.” Her voice was hoarse and just as bitter. “Now that I’m out of sight, he’s terrified at the endless possibilities. That is his greatest flaw for someone who thinks he is such a mastermind.”

She swallowed. I watched her throat work. Watched the fear creep back into her eyes.

“But,” she said. She looked at me. Really looked at me. “He will destroy my family if he thinks I’m gone. So Cian, I am begging you, have mercy on me.”

I nodded. “That’s the main idea.”

I unlocked her phone. The screen lit up. I scrolled through the notifications. I saw thirty-seven missed calls, twenty-three voicemails. I selected one of the old ones and held the phone up so she could hear.

Aldric’s voice filled the room. Loud, angry and goddamn frantic.

“You think this is a game? You think you can just walk away from me? From this? You know what happens when people try to make moves without my express permission. You know exactly what happens. So pick up the fucking phone. Pick it up now. Or I will make you regret every single breath you take from this moment forward.”

The message ended.

Madeline’s eyes were wet. Her jaw was clenched so tight I thought she might crack a tooth.

“Soon enough,” I said, “he’ll call your father. If he hasn’t already.”

I scrolled down and found another voicemail. This one was not as old. From about twenty minutes ago. I pressed play.

Valentine’s voice came through. Different from Aldric’s. Quieter. But no less desperate.

“Madeline, please. Please pick up. I do not know what you are doing. I do not know what you are thinking. But you need to call me back. Right now. Do you understand? This is not a request. This is not a suggestion. Call me. Do not do this. This family needs you.”

I cut it off halfway through and slipped the phone back into my pocket.

“Aren’t I good?” I said.

Madeline started to cry. Not the quiet kind. The kind that shook her whole body. The kind that made her gasp for air between sobs.

“Would you hurt me like this, Cian?” she said.

“You hurt me first.” I took a step closer. “You twisted the blade several times. How I retaliate to that would never be fair.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Those are words anybody can say.” I crouched down so I was eye level with her. “Right now, the enemies have eaten deep like moths of a tapestry. I cannot afford to be kind even if I did consider it for you before because of hard times. Until I learned what your father did.”

She looked at me. Her eyes were red and desperate and pleading. “He did not. Cian’s trust me.”

“You’re wasting your breath. I assured her.”

“Now,” I continued, “your family’s survival depends entirely on whose side your father chooses.”

I pulled the phone back out. I opened the messaging app. I typed one word.

Help.

I held the screen up so she could see it. “I’m sure this should push your father enough to see this is not by your will. And like any good father, or masquerading good one, the next thing he would do is call me.”

“What then?”

I didn’t answer. I pressed send first.

The message went through. One word. No context. Just enough to make Valentine’s blood run cold.

“Pray to your goddess that he stands by my side,” I said. “Because the messages and mail that Aldric and him have sent are more than implicating enough.”

I stood up. I slipped the phone back into my pocket and looked down at her.

“I’ll be saving them and ensuring others get them. What do they call it now? A dead man switch.” I smiled. It felt wrong on my face. “The Royal werewolf family and the court of Hekate’s maidens would love this, I’m sure. But this only becomes an issue if I’m betrayed or brutally murdered, of course.”

Madeline stared at me. She didn’t say anything. She just stared.

I turned and walked back toward the threshold. Back toward the corridor. Back toward the stairs that would take me up into the light.

Behind me, I heard her start to cry again.

I didn’t stop. I didn’t look back.

I just kept walking.