To ruin an Omega novel Chapter 351

Chapter 351: He without sin 1

ALDRIC

The warmth of the wine I had drunk earlier still sat in my stomach, leaving behind the dull, floating buzz that usually softened my thoughts and slowed the world around me. That haze however disappeared the moment my eyes settled on Madeline. The fog cleared with sudden sharpness, leaving my mind unpleasantly alert.

Because she was staring straight at me.

And she was shaking.

At first I thought it might be the wind or nerves or something small, something that could be explained away with a few calm words, but the longer I looked the more obvious it became that the trembling was supposed to look real and far from subtle. Her shoulders jerked slightly with each breath. Her hands were pressed tight against her chest, fingers curled in the fabric of her dress like she was holding herself together.

Her face had gone pale. The sickly, drained color of someone who believed they were in real danger. Her eyes were wide and glassy, and even from a distance I could see the shine of tears gathering there.

She looked at me as though she had just seen something terrible.

Something unnatural.

Something she had not expected to face again.

I took a step toward them, confused more than anything else. My mind was already turning through possibilities of what could be pulled now.

Cian’s hands was definitely in this. But how? How would he have sunk his canines in?

What move would Madeline also pull because there was no way she was going endanger her father and he family.

Madeline screamed before I had the chance.

The sound ripped through the courtyard so suddenly and so violently that several heads turned at once. It was not the startled cry someone made when surprised. It came out rough and broken, like the sound had been dragged up from deep inside her chest.

She stumbled backward as she screamed, nearly losing her balance on the gravel.

Her arm lifted and she pointed directly at me.

"Let him stay where he is!"

The words carried across the open space with unpleasant clarity.

People who had been moving through the courtyard slowed their steps. A pair of sentinels near the outer wall stopped talking and turned to look. Two servants carrying a crate froze where they stood, uncertain whether to leave or stay.

Within seconds, attention had shifted.

Every face began turning toward the center of the courtyard.

Toward Madeline.

And more importantly toward me.

Madeline spun away from me then, rushing toward Valentine with the desperate speed of someone who believed they were running toward safety. She collided with him clumsily, her hands grabbing onto the front of his suit while loud, shaking sobs tore out of her.

The performance would have been impressive if I had not known her.

Even knowing her, it was difficult not to be struck by how convincing it looked.

Valentine reacted exactly the way a concerned father should react. His arms came around her shoulders, steady and protective, pulling her close while he lowered his head toward her in quiet reassurance. One hand moved gently through her hair as if he were trying to calm a frightened child.

Then he looked up.

His gaze settled on me with an expression that had lost every trace of warmth.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded. "It took a lot to find my daughter. And when I did, she was keen on taking her life because she believed it was what needed to be done to protect the people that she loved. Now she tells me you are responsible for these vile ideas that she is having. So again, I ask, what did you say and do to my daughter?"

The question carried far more accusation than curiosity.

It was a bold thing for him to say too, given the power I had over him so I just had to wonder, what exactly was new that they had in their arsenal that made then feel they would be safe from me?

Was it Gabriel? Was that it?

I had to let that go for a hot second. I was being accused of something after all.

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