To ruin an Omega - Chapter 354: Red wine Problems 2

Chapter 354: Red wine Problems 2

FIA

I poured a small measure of moon water into the mortar. The liquid turned the powder into a thin paste. I stirred it carefully. The mixture needed to be smooth and consistent. Any lumps could affect how quickly it worked.

My chest felt tight.

“It was dumb.”

The words came out sharper than I intended. It was probably rude as hell but I couldn’t mind that. I was genuinely worried.

“You didn’t have to put your life on the line to take down that bastard.”

Tears burned at the corners of my eyes. I blinked them back. Now was not the time to fall apart.

“Anything could have happened,” I said. My voice cracked. “Anything. Your safety is paramount.”

I heard the bed creak behind me.

Then Morrigan’s hand touched mine.

I turned.

She had sat up slightly. Her fingers wrapped around my wrist in a warm and steady manner.

“You know why I did it.”

Her eyes held mine.

“For your safety. For Cian. If I achieved that, then I was fine perishing.”

The tears spilled over.

I wiped them away with the back of my free hand. Then I picked up the bowl with the paste and moved back to the bed. Morrigan settled against the pillows again. I sat beside her and brought the bowl to her lips.

“Please, open.”

She obeyed.

I tilted the bowl carefully. The paste slid onto her tongue. She swallowed it in small amounts. Her face twisted at the taste. Wolfsbane was bitter and unpleasant. But necessary.

When the bowl was empty I set it aside.

“Well,” I said quietly, “it seems what we did was an overkill.”

Morrigan managed a weak smile.

“Cian was planning something and whatever he planned worked. Now Aldric could die in that cell or during the trial. It might raise a few questions.”

She swallowed the last of the paste. Her throat worked slowly.

“A monster takes himself out to preserve his dignity,” she said. “I don’t know. It seems very likely. Wno would question that?”

I reached for her hand. Her fingers closed around mine.

“It seems it might all work out in the end after all.”

Morrigan’s breathing had already started to even out. The paste was working. The wolfsbane would counteract the poison. The nettle would help her body process what remained. Moon water bound it all together and accelerated the healing.

She would be fine.

“Your vision will be old news,” she said. “So stop worrying.”

Her voice was getting quieter. Drowsier.

“If he does die in a cell… Or he somehow survives long enough to be charged by the elder’s circle, this is a done deal either way.”

I wanted to believe that.

I wanted to feel the relief that should have come with knowing Aldric had finally been caught. That justice was coming for him. That everything we had planned and risked had led to this moment.

But something gnawed at me.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I heard he brought up the elder’s circle by himself. What if he’s plotting something?”

Morrigan’s eyes were half-closed now. The paste had started pulling her toward sleep. It was part of the healing process. Her body needed rest to recover.

“Nothing he could be plotting could save him.”

I held her hand tighter.

“Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

Thorne cleared his throat behind me. I had almost forgotten he and Maren were still in the room. They had stayed near the door. Watching and waiting.

“Is she going to be okay?” Thorne asked.

I nodded. “She’ll be fine. The paste will work.”

Maren stepped closer. Her eyes moved between Morrigan and me.

“What happened to her?”

“She poisoned Aldric and to sell it, she has to take some too.”

The words hung in the air.

Maren’s expression shifted to surprise then understanding, before morphing to something that looked almost like respect.

“Did it work?” she asked. “Will that cruel bastard perish?”

“Probably. But I don’t know yet.”

Morrigan’s breathing had deepened. She was asleep now. Her face had relaxed. The color was already starting to return to her cheeks.

I stood slowly and pulled the blanket up over her shoulders.

“We’ll know soon enough,” I said.

Thorne moved to the window. He looked out toward the courtyard. The noise had died down outside. I supposed most of the crowd had dispersed. Only a few people remained. I noticed guards still stood stationed at their posts. Servants whispering to each other near the fountain.

“Cian moved fast,” Thorne said.

He wasn’t wrong.

Whatever my husband had planned, he had executed it perfectly. Aldric had been cornered in front of everyone. Publicly accused. Arrested. There was no way for him to wriggle out of this quietly. No backroom deals. No manipulation.

This was out in the open now.

And that terrified me as much as it relieved me.

Because Aldric was probably going to be most dangerous when he was cornered.

The way he smiled when things went wrong. The way he seemingly adapted and shifted, while probably finding new angles to exploit.

He had called for the elder’s circle himself.

That meant he had a plan.

Or at least he thought he did.

I walked over to the cabinet and started putting the supplies away. The remaining moon water went back on the top shelf. The wolfsbane root and nettle returned to their labeled containers. My hands moved through the familiar motions while my mind turned over possibilities.

What could Aldric possibly have planned?

The elder’s circle was supposed to be impartial. They were supposed to follow the rigid law. But I knew better.

There was no avenue to pretend to not see it when I had been around Hazel’s trial.

Though objectively, If the evidence was strong enough, they would find him guilty. And if they found him guilty, the punishment for treason was death.

Unless he had leverage.

Unless he knew something that would turn the trial in his favor.

I closed the cabinet door harder than I meant to. The sound echoed through the quiet infirmary.

Maren looked over at me. “You okay?”

“Fine.”

I wasn’t fine.

I was scared.

Not of Aldric himself. Not anymore. But of what might happen if this didn’t work. If somehow he found a way to survive this. To twist the narrative. To walk away clean while everyone who had stood against him paid the price.

Thorne turned from the window.

“We should let her rest,” he said.

I nodded.

He was right. Morrigan needed sleep. And I needed to find Cian. Needed to know what his next plan was. Needed to understand what happened next.

We left the infirmary quietly. The door clicked shut behind us.

The hallway outside was empty. Most people had returned to their rooms or their duties. The estate had settled back into something that almost resembled normal. But the tension remained. It hung in the air like smoke. Invisible but undeniable.

I could still see Aldric’s face in my mind.

That smile.

The way he had looked at Cian.

Like this was all part of some game he was still playing.

And maybe it was.

Maybe we hadn’t won yet.

Maybe this was just another move on a board that was far more complicated than any of us realized.

I pushed the thought away.

Morrigan was right.

Nothing Aldric could be plotting would save him now.

We had him.

Finally.

And soon this would all be over.