To ruin an Omega-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."

Smart girl.

"You probably did the same thing you did to me for her sake, for your sake too. If I attack you, it will probably hurt me."

She was right.

The binding I had placed on her made it impossible for her to harm me directly without suffering the consequences herself. The same binding I had used on all of them. A safeguard for my safety and that of my family.

But then she raised her hand.

The sheet on the bed behind me moved.

It lifted into the air and twisted as it reformed itself into something long and thin.

Then it wrapped around my throat.

The pressure was immediate. Not enough to choke me. Not yet. But enough to make the threat clear.

I smiled.

"Your evolution is beautiful."

Number Four’s expression did not change. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"So you do intend to kill me."

She shook her head again. "I already said I am not."

The sheet tightened slightly. Just enough to make breathing uncomfortable.

"The loophole does not give me freedom. I need either her or you alive to live. But I do not trust Pauline. She is irrational and scary."

Her voice was flat. As a matter of fact.

"I would rather bank my cards on you. You are a monster, too. But you are familiar and rational in the sense I care about. So I shed my loyalty to Pauline and swear it to you instead. I will be your ally."

The sheet loosened.

I reached up and pulled it away from my throat. It fell limp in my hands.

Number Four watched me carefully.

"And in return?" I asked.

"I want to live. I want to be free. Your goal was to create a healer from the age of legends, and you did. I know that is all you wanted."

She stepped closer.

"I will help you take this girl, and you will give me the recipe to ensure I keep living and you have to promise me I will have freedom as well. What do you say?"

I looked at her for a long moment.

Number Four had always been the most promising of my failures. She had survived in ways that the others had not. She had adapted. Evolved. Found ways around the bindings I had placed on her.

She was clever.

And she was right. All I wanted was to study the girl. To understand what made her different. What made her special.

If Number Four could help me get that, then the rest did not matter.

I smiled.

"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."

I crossed the room and pulled her into a hug.

She went stiff at first. Then, slowly relaxed.

"But are you up for it?" I asked quietly.

She nodded against my chest.

"I have felt resistance three times now. With you. With Pauline. And with that girl."

She pulled back and looked up at me.

"It makes sense now. She is like me, is she not?"

I smiled wider.

"She is better. My first success, probably."

Number Four’s eyes widened slightly. Then something shifted in her expression. Understanding. Maybe even excitement.

"I will help you get what you want if it gets me out of this hell."

I reached out and cupped her face in both hands and tilted her head up so she had to look directly at me.

"Good girl."

She held my gaze without flinching.

We stood there for a moment. The room was quiet except for the faint sound of people still working in the hall below.

Then I let go and stepped back.

"We need to be careful," I said. "Her mate, the Alpha, is in a sensitive state right now. He might not be like his counterparts... But he will not hesitate to move against me if he thinks I am a threat. And Madeline has already given him the tools to do it."

Number Four nodded.

"What do you need me to do?"

"I am not good at spying, and I do not want to tick off the Alpha, so you will do it in my place. You will watch the girl. Learn her patterns. Where she goes. Who she sees. When she is alone."

I paused.

"But do not touch her yet. Not until I say. We need to wait for the right moment. When the pack is distracted. When Cian is focused elsewhere."

"And Pauline?"

"Let her think you are still following her orders. Let her believe you are watching me to kill me when I make my move."

Number Four frowned slightly.

"She will know something is wrong eventually."

"Maybe. But by then it will be too late."

I walked toward the door and stopped with my hand on the handle.

"You made the right choice," I said without looking back. "Pauline would have thrown you away the moment you stopped being useful. I will not do that. As long as you help me, you will have everything you need to survive."

"And my freedom?"

I looked back at her.

"When this is over, when I have what I want, you will be free. I promise."

She nodded slowly.

I pulled the door open and stepped out into the hallway.