To ruin an Omega - Chapter 348: Flip it

Chapter 348: Flip it

CIAN

With Valentine threatened to submission and with two new soul kisses in my pocket, I was prepared to go back down when I heard it.

The knock came first. Then the door opened before I could even turn around. Whoever it was didn’t wait for permission. The handle turned and the hinges swung and someone stepped into my study like they had every right to be there.

My blood went cold for half a second. Then I moved.

I turned away from the bookshelf. Away from the spot where the wall had just been solid again. I crossed the room in three strides and grabbed the first book I could reach from the desk. Some leather-bound thing about old Skollrend records. I opened it and pretended to be absorbed in whatever was on the page.

Then I looked up.

Ronan stood in the doorway. His hand was still on the handle. His face was pale. His eyes were wide and there was something in them that made me almost mad.

Fear.

Real fear. The kind that didn’t come from nothing.

“Is something the problem?” I asked.

It took everything to act calm. But I was getting better at it. Because no matter how I thought about it, I still couldn’t reconcile it. Why my best mate would be a traitor like this.

Regardless, my voice came out steady. I closed the book halfway and held it against my chest like I had been reading it this whole time.

Ronan blinked. He opened his mouth. Closed it. Then he shook his head.

“I’m fine,” he said.

He didn’t look fine. Mostly because of me I would like to assume.

“Mostly,” he added. “Actually.”

I waited. I didn’t say anything. I just watched him. Watched the way his throat worked when he swallowed. Watched the way his hands flexed at his sides like he didn’t know what to do with them.

“Alpha Aldric does seem very disturbed about this Madeline situation,” he said finally. “He called me even. He couldn’t reach out to her.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I never knew you and my uncle were close.”

“I’m your Beta,” Ronan said. His voice was firmer now. More certain. “Of course he’ll talk to me if he feels you’re being unreasonable.”

I didn’t react to that. I just kept looking at him.

He took a step into the room. Then another. He was closer now. Close enough that I could see the tension in his jaw. The way his shoulders were tight.

“I believe Aldric feels you maybe said something,” Ronan continued. “Perhaps after your mother did. Something that might have really hurt her.”

He stopped a few feet away from me. He looked at me. Really looked at me. Not like a Beta looking at his Alpha. He made it seem like a friend looking at someone he was worried about.

It was almost hilarious to see in real time.

“And being your friend,” he said and it took all I had not to laugh, “I know it’s a possibility. Considering what you’ve confided with me.”

I held his gaze. I didn’t let anything show on my face. Nothing at all.

“No,” I said. “I thought about it, and you were wrong. It wasn’t because of a lack of closure or some twisted kind of holdout of love that I had for Madeline. What I did… What I did was suspect Madeline of being the witch who killed Ophelia. That was all it was.”

Ronan’s expression changed. Something shifted behind his eyes. Surprise. Maybe confusion.

“Oh,” he said. “I thought…”

“I know.” I cut him off. “You’re thinking it now.”

He didn’t deny it.

“I didn’t say anything to hurt Madeline,” I continued. “She simply didn’t want to stay here anymore and I understand.”

Ronan was quiet for a moment. He seemed to be turning something over in his head. Working through it. Trying to make sense of it.

“What are you thinking about now?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said.

But he was thinking about something. I could tell.

“What are you doing by the way?” he asked. His eyes flicked to the book in my hands. Then to the desk behind me.

I glanced down at the book. I turned it so he could see the spine. The title was barely legible but it was there.

“This binding is useless,” I said. “But it is just useless record. I’ve been all about Fia these past few days given what has happened and neglected my duties as Alpha. So I’m catching up.”

Ronan nodded slowly. He looked like he wanted to say something else. Like there was more on his mind.

“Well,” he said. “I do think you should try calling Madeline. People have been trying to reach her and she cannot just be reached.”

I set the book down on the desk. I didn’t look at him when I spoke.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” I said. “But it’s none of my business or yours at this point I fear.”

“When you say that,” Ronan said, “it makes me think you did say something.”

I turned to face him. I met his eyes.

“No,” I said. “But I do hold some resentment. She could have helped that delicate. You know. It’s why she probably left. The guilt.”

Ronan’s jaw tightened. He looked at me for a long moment. Like he was trying to see past my words. Like he was trying to find the truth buried underneath.

I would admit that it was a bit fun. Lying to the liar.

“You’re better than this,” he said.

“Whose side are you on?” I asked. My voice came out sharper than I meant it to. “Mine or hers?”

“You of course.”

“Then drop it and just let me work.”

Ronan flinched. Just slightly. Just enough that I saw it.

“I apologize,” he said.

“Thank you.”

He nodded. He took a step back toward the door. His hand reached for the handle.

“I’ll leave you be,” he said.

He was halfway through the doorway when I spoke again.

“Ronan.”

He stopped. He turned back to look at me.

“I’m glad to have you,” I said. “Ever since that day we met, you’ve been a rock and a brother. I love you man.”

Something in his expression softened. The fear was still there. The worry. But there was something else now too. Something warmer.

“I love you too,” he said.

I wonder if he meant that… How he reconciled being a traitor with this.

He smiled. It was a small thing and it was barely there. Then he turned and left.

When the door clicked shut behind him, I waited. I counted to ten in my head.

Then I walked to the door and turned the lock. The mechanism slid into place with a soft metallic sound that felt louder than it should have.

Only then did I move.

I went back to the desk. I pulled the drawer open again and reached for the pin. I pressed the tip into my palm. The same spot I had cut before. It had healed but the skin was still tender. The blood came easier this time.

I walked to the bookshelf. I pressed my bleeding palm against the smooth spot on the wall. The blood soaked in. The runes appeared. They glowed red and pulsed and the wall shimmered and I stepped through.

But I didn’t go to Madeline. Not yet.

I turned left instead of descending the stairs. There was another corridor here. Narrow and short. It ended in a jagged corner where the stone walls met at an odd angle. The space was tight. Uneven. Like whoever had carved it hadn’t cared about symmetry or comfort.

There were bags here. Three of them. Black canvasses. Worn but sturdy. I had put them here hours ago.

I grabbed the first one. It was lighter than the others. I slung it over my shoulder and turned back toward the main passage.

Then I descended the stairs.

The air was cold down here. It always was. Cold, damp and heavy with the weight of magic that had been layered into the stone over centuries. My footsteps echoed. The sound bounced off the walls and came back to me distorted.

When I reached the threshold, I stepped through the cloaking spell. It parted around me like water.

And there she was.

Madeline.

Still tied to the chair. Still pale. Still shaking. Her eyes were red. Swollen. She had been crying again. The tear tracks were fresh on her face.

She looked up when I entered. Her expression went from despair to confusion and then something harder. Something angrier.

“You are here again,” she said. Her voice was hoarse. “Why?”

I dropped the bag on the floor in front of her. It hit the stone with a dull thud.

“Your father has made a choice,” I said. “He held my hand. So it’s time for you to play a little game and if you play it well, we all win. You even get to let your father get away with his crimes. Against our society and against my wife.”

I crouched down. I looked at her. Really looked at her. At the way her hands were still bound behind her. At the way her wrists were red and raw from the rope.

“You should know this doesn’t come easy,” I continued. “But I’m willing to do it. For old times sake.”

Madeline stared at me. Her breathing was shallow now.

“What deal did my father cut with you?” she asked.

“A soul kiss,” I said. “Like you.”

I reached behind her. My fingers found the knots in the rope. They were tight. A mighty great job if I might add..

I started to pull. The rope loosened. I worked through the first knot. Then the second. Then the third.

“Since you’re good at acting,” I said, “what comes next is going to come very easy to you.”

The rope fell away from her wrists. Her hands came forward. She brought them into her lap and rubbed at the red marks. Her fingers were shaking.

I moved to her ankles. I untied those too. The rope hit the floor in a coil.

Madeline didn’t move. She just sat there. Looking at me. Looking at the bag. Looking at the room around us like she was trying to figure out what was real and what wasn’t.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

I stood up. I reached down and unzipped the bag. Inside were clothes. Clean ones. A jacket. Shoes. Everything she would need to look like she hadn’t been tied up in a secret basement for hours.

“You’re going to go back upstairs soon,” I said. “When your father comes, it has to feel like he found you and brought you right back. Then you’ll be in tears and start confessing your sins. The real reason you escaped. The things that my dear uncle made you do. You’ll reveal his underlings too. My Beta included.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

She looked at me. Her eyes were searching my face. Looking for the catch. Looking for the trap.

“And if I don’t?” she asked.

I didn’t answer at first. I didn’t need to. She already knew. But I needed to make it clear at least.

“Soul kiss aside, your life depends on it, your father’s life depends on this,” I said instead. “Your family’s life depends on this. So you’re going to do exactly what I say. And you’re going to do it convincingly.”

Madeline swallowed. Her throat worked. Her hands were still shaking but she nodded.

“Good,” I said.