To ruin an Omega novel Chapter 279

Chapter 279: Quit me

MADELINE

I stood up.

The chair scraped against the floor behind me and I felt Aldric’s gaze follow my movement. I didn’t look back at him. I couldn’t afford to right now.

My feet carried me toward Cian and I stopped a few paces away from where he stood in the doorway. Close enough to see the sweat beading at his temples. Close enough to smell the earth and exertion clinging to his skin.

"For what?" I asked.

The words came out more neutral than I felt. More controlled. Because part of me wanted to help him. That traitorous part that still remembered what it felt like to be his. To have him look at me like I mattered.

I did want to help. Goddess help me, I did.

Cian’s eyes shifted past me. A quick glance that took in Aldric and Elara sitting at the table behind us. His jaw tightened and something flickered across his face. Hesitation maybe. Or awareness that we had an audience.

"Can we talk privately?" he asked.

His voice dropped lower on the last word. Almost like a plea.

"Of course."

I moved past him and into the hallway. I heard his footsteps fall into step beside me and we walked in silence for a moment. My heart hammered against my ribs but I kept my breathing even. I kept my expression calm.

"I know I have no right to ask," Cian started.

We turned down another corridor and the sound of our footsteps echoed off the walls. His longer strides meant he had to slow down to match my pace.

"But I need your healing abilities," he continued. "To help someone."

My stomach tightened. I kept walking and kept my eyes forward.

"What happened to them?" I asked, my mind immediately going to Fia.

Cian ran a hand through his damp hair. The gesture made it stick up at odd angles and I caught myself tracking the movement before forcing my attention back to the hallway ahead.

"It’s the delicate Skollrend hired," he said. "She looked at something with her abilities and the most insane thing happened. Her eyes literally burned."

The words hit me like cold water.

My steps slowed without my permission. My mind started working through what he’d just said and connecting dots I desperately wished would stay separate.

Delicates? Aldric has mentioned them. But the thought of one needing my help.... Especially knowing what their scary ability was... Could I?

Because for my spells to work remotely, I needed to touch them. I needed physical contact to weave the magic through the object or person itself.

Which meant...

Which meant the delicate would have access to my memories. Every single one the second I attempted to touch them. Every moment I’d been trying so hard to hide. Every secret I’d buried deep where no one could find them.

She would see me as a traitor to Cian. She would see what I’d done. What I was still doing.

Revealing Aldric would be a nice touch.

But Cian would never forgive me for everything else that I was certain she would see. For the choices I’d made. For the people I’d protected at his expense.

My feet stopped moving.

I stood there in the middle of the hallway and my pulse thundered in my ears. Cian kept walking for a few more steps before he seemed to notice I wasn’t beside him anymore.

He turned and looked back at me. His brow furrowed in confusion.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

I looked at him. Really looked at him. At those blue eyes that had once looked at me with nothing but warmth and trust. At the strong line of his jaw and the way concern etched itself across his features.

"I almost forgot," I said.

My voice came out quieter than I intended. Softer.

Cian took a step toward me. "Almost forgot what?"

The concern in his expression deepened. He probably thought something was mentally wrong. That I was having some kind of episode or reaction.

If only it were that simple.

"I had forgotten you have such an effect on me still," I said.

I let the words hang there for a moment. Let him process them. Let him remember what we used to be to each other.

"That I almost forgot what you said to me just yesterday."

His face changed. The transformation happened in stages. First confusion. Then recognition. Then something that looked like guilt mixed with regret as he realized exactly what I was talking about.

"I know," Cian said quickly. He held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I apologize for that. I do. And I know you owe me nothing."

He took another step closer and his voice dropped to something that sounded almost desperate.

"But this delicate doesn’t deserve this."

It hurt. Goddess, it hurt to hear the earnestness in his voice. To see him standing there asking for my help when he’d practically called me an enemy just yesterday. When he’d looked at me like I was something dangerous and foreign instead of the girl who’d loved him for a very long time.

But I had to protect my interests. I had to protect my family first. Before my heart. Before my feelings. Before the stupid part of me that still wanted to give him anything he asked for.

"I’m sorry," I said.

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