To ruin an Omega novel Chapter 390

Chapter 390: "The End is Near"

VALENTINE

I waited until Cian’s footsteps had completely faded down the corridor before allowing myself to breathe.

The exhale left me slow and controlled, though the curse that followed slipped out under my breath.

Madeline had just painted a target on my back.

She had warned him and handed him the exact blueprint he would need to control me, to bind me the same way Aldric once had.

And Cian had listened.

I had seen it clearly in his eyes. The way he had looked at me when he spoke about those files, about keeping them in reserve, about using them if I ever stepped out of line.

He would do it.

He was not Aldric. He did not crave control for its own sake, did not wield it with the same quiet cruelty. But he would use it if he believed he had reason to.

Which meant I had to be careful.

More careful than I had ever been.

I turned toward the door, already moving before the thought had fully settled. I needed to find Madeline. Needed to get to her before she made things worse, before she handed him anything else he could use against me.

She was emotional. Hurt. I understood that much.

But understanding did not change what she had done.

She had just placed a weapon in Cian’s hands, one that could be turned against me, against all of us.

I stepped into the corridor and paused, glancing both ways. The hallway stretched out in either direction, quiet and empty.

There was no sign of her.

I started walking, my pace steady as I checked each room along the way, pushing doors open, scanning quickly for any trace of her presence.

There was nothing.

I turned the corner and headed toward the guest wing. Madeline had stayed here before, back when she had been engaged to Cian. Old habits had a way of resurfacing, especially when emotions ran high. If she had retreated anywhere, it would be somewhere familiar.

I found the door to her old room and pushed it open without hesitation.

It was empty.

The furniture remained exactly as it had been, but the space carried the stillness of disuse. It felt untouched, as though no one had set foot inside for days, maybe longer.

I closed the door behind me and lingered in the hallway, letting my thoughts settle into something sharper, more deliberate.

She had probably left already. Gone outside with Wilhelm. We were heading back to Primrose tonight anyway.

I should just let her go.

We could talk when she got home. When she had time to calm down and think clearly.

I started toward the main entrance.

That was when I smelled it.

Faint but unmistakable.

Rotting flowers. Sweet and cloying and wrong.

I stopped.

A door beside me was slightly ajar. Just a crack. Like someone had closed it but not latched it properly.

The smell was coming from inside.

I smiled.

Then I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

It slammed shut behind me.

Not from the wind. Not from momentum.

From a familiar energy that was akin to magic itself.

I did not turn around. I just stood there and waited as a figure emerged from behind the wardrobe.

She was still small, like I remembered. Though I could not see her face because she was hooded. I did not like the way she moved, though. She moved with the careful, deliberate steps of someone who knew exactly how dangerous they were.

So I figured this could not be good. I channeled the tiniest offensive magic into my fingers, waiting for a slight wrong move to ignite it.

The hood fell back, and as I suspected, it was indeed number Four.

Her face was pale but healthy. The lesions were completely gone from when I last saw her. Someone was taking her pills consistently.

"How are you, Number Four?" I asked. "Your gifts of small miracles have gotten better. But do better to hide the cloying scent of it."

She looked at me with those dark, hollow eyes.

"I wanted you to notice."

Interesting.

"I was going to ask what you were doing here."

"Luna Pauline instructed me to watch you."

I felt something cold settle in my chest.

Pauline.

Of course.

"Really?" I kept my voice light. Curious. "Why?"

Number Four tilted her head slightly.

"She is scared you will implicate her because of your interest in the girl. She likes the freedom that has come with that man’s death, and she instructed me to secretly watch you and kill you when you try to make the move she believes will drag her right back to hell."

I let the words settle for a moment.

Pauline had sent her to kill me.

My own collaborator. My partner in all of this.

She had decided I was too much of a risk and sent Number Four to eliminate me before I could drag her down with me.

I should have seen it coming.

Pauline had always been a survivor first. Loyal second.

I looked at Number Four.

"You are here to take your best shot then."

She shook her head immediately.

"I do not know if I can beat you, and I do not even want to try."

"You and the rest are disappointments compared to this girl. So yes. If I get her and you help me in most ways than one, I will help you. I am that benevolent."

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