To ruin an Omega novel Chapter 443

Chapter 443: Seeing Red 3

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I turned back toward the sentinels.

Valentine’s screams had become something else entirely. They had lost meaning as they were not words anymore. All he had going for him now was sounds. The raw, wet, and broken kind.

"Stop."

The command left my lips quietly, but it cut through everything. The wolves froze mid-motion, their golden eyes swinging toward me in perfect unison. One of them had its jaws locked around Valentine’s shoulder. Another had been working on his ribs. They released him at the same time, stepping back with blood dripping from their muzzles.

Valentine collapsed.

What remained of him barely looked human. His left arm bent at angles that shouldn’t exist, the bone visible through torn flesh. Deep gouges ran across his torso where claws had carved through skin and muscle like wet paper. One leg twisted beneath him, mangled beyond recognition. His face had been spared, but only just. Blood poured from his mouth with every rattling breath, bubbling between his teeth.

He was drowning in it.

I watched his chest heave, struggling to pull air through punctured lungs, and felt nothing.

A soft sound pulled my attention away.

Number Four lay a few feet from him, curled on her side among the debris. Her breathing came in shallow gasps, each one weaker than the last. The rot had spread further up her body now, blackening the skin all the way to her neck.

She lifted her head when she saw me looking.

"Please."

The word came out barely audible, more breath than voice.

I moved toward her, my footsteps crunching over broken stone, and crouched down beside her. She flinched but didn’t pull away.

"I want a kind death."

Tears streaked through the dirt on her face, cutting clean lines down her cheeks.

My throat tightened.

I reached for her face. My palm hovered just above her cheek, and she closed her eyes.

"What you did was wrong," I said quietly. "But I understand. You just wanted to live. It’s the mortal thing to want."

"You’re going to kill him." Her voice cracked. "That means I’m going to die. If the blood loss and shock don’t kill me first, the rot will. It hurts. I don’t want to die like that. Give me something kinder. I’m fine with that."

I started to nod.

Then I felt it.

The hum started low in my chest, spreading outward like ripples on water. Heat bloomed in my palms as that familiar feeling took over. I looked down and saw the glow beginning. Soft at first, then brighter. The hue of beautiful blue brought tears to my eyes.

"No."

The word came out startled, confused, but the light didn’t stop. It grew stronger, spreading up my wrists and forearms until both hands burned with it.

"I believe the goddess wants you to live." I met her eyes, watching them widen as the glow reflected in her pupils. "And I want that too."

I pressed both hands against her.

The moment my palms made contact, the light surged. It poured into her like water filling an empty vessel, flooding every crack and hollow space. I felt it moving through her body, tracing the paths of her veins, searching out every place the rot had taken root.

Number Four gasped.

Her back arched off the ground, every muscle going rigid, and her mouth opened in a silent scream. The blackened skin on her arm began to shimmer. The rot peeled away layer by layer, flaking off like ash, revealing clean pink flesh underneath. The wounds across her torso closed. New skin grew over torn muscle, smooth and unblemished.

The light intensified.

It consumed the remaining rot completely, burning it away until nothing remained but healthy tissue. Her broken ribs knitted back together with audible cracks. The gash across her temple sealed itself, leaving no scar behind. Where her hands had been severed, the light gathered, thick and blinding, shaping bone, weaving muscle, stretching sinew. Fingers formed slowly, then all at once, until both hands were whole again, unmarked, as though they had never been cut at all.

Then, just as suddenly as it began, the light faded.

I pulled my hands back, breathing hard, and watched as Number Four slowly sat up. She touched her arm with trembling fingers, running them over, flesh and bone that had been lost and skin that had been dead and blackened moments before.

"Something’s changed."

Her voice came out stronger now, steadier, and she looked at me with wide eyes.

"Now you’re free to live your life as you wish."

She got to her feet, swaying slightly, and pressed one hand to her chest like she needed to confirm her heart was still beating.

"Thank you."

"What’s your name?"

"Prue." She said it quickly, almost surprised by the question. "My name is Prue." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Enjoy your new life, Prue."

She nodded, her eyes shining, and the words came out in a rush.

"I will."

Then she ran.

I watched her disappear into the shadows between the broken walls, her footsteps fading into nothing, and felt something loosen in my chest.

"What about me?"

Valentine’s voice dragged my attention back.

He’d managed to lift his head slightly, though the effort made fresh blood spill from his mouth. His eyes found mine, still sharp despite everything. Still calculating.

"You’re going to die here," I said it matter-of-fact, like I was telling him the weather. "Are you afraid?"

He laughed.

The sound came out wet and broken, but it was still a laugh. Blood bubbled between his lips, running down his chin in thick rivulets.

"Someone old and wise wrote something I read once." I moved closer, each step measured. "Sometimes poison is the only mercy for the doomed."

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