To ruin an Omega

Chapter 229: Bandaid

CIAN

The trees blurred past the windows. Ronan’s hands gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles had gone white. I couldn’t stop staring at the road ahead, willing it to end, willing us to get there—wherever there even was—faster.

My chest still felt hollow. Empty. Like someone had reached inside and carved out something vital. I kept reaching for the bond anyway, over and over, hoping each time would be different. That maybe I’d been wrong. That maybe the connection was just weakened somehow.

But I got nothing. Every single time, there was nothing.

The speedometer climbed higher. The engine roared. None of it was fast enough.

Then I saw it.

A column of smoke rising into the night sky, illuminated by flames at its base. It cut through the darkness like a beacon.

“What the fuck is that?” The words came out strangled.

Ronan leaned forward, squinting through the windshield. “I think there’s a fire.”

My stomach dropped. No. No, no, no.

We weren’t even close yet when it happened.

Light exploded across the entire space ahead of us. Not orange or hungry red like the fire we just saw. This was a brilliant blinding blue that swallowed everything in its path. It expanded outward like a shockwave, racing toward us faster than anything I’d ever seen.

“Shit!” Ronan jerked the wheel.

The car swerved. Tires screamed against asphalt. My shoulder slammed into the door as we veered off the road. The world tilted sideways. Trees loomed in the headlights. Then we hit dirt and gravel, the car bouncing violently before Ronan wrestled it to a stop.

The blue light died just as quickly as it had come.

Silence crashed down around us. My ears rang. My heart hammered so hard I could feel it in my throat. Ronan’s breathing came in sharp gasps beside me.

Then I felt it.

The bond.

It flickered back to life like someone had lit a match in total darkness. Weak at first but there. Then it started burning through me with an intensity that nearly made me gasp. And underneath that burn was something else. Something vital and unmistakable.

She was alive. My Fia was fucking alive.

“What the fuck was that?” Ronan’s voice sounded distant, as it was muffled.

I didn’t care about the light. I didn’t care about what had just happened or why the car was half in a ditch. I turned to look at him and the words tumbled out before I could stop them.

“I can feel her again.” My voice cracked. “She’s close. Drive, man. Drive.”

Ronan didn’t hesitate. He threw the car into reverse. The engine growled as the tires spun, kicking up dirt and gravel before finding purchase. We lurched backward, then forward as he yanked us back onto the road.

The smoke grew thicker as we got closer. The smell hit next. Burning rubber, melted plastic as well as something so acrid that it made my eyes water. Then the wreckage came into view.

There were two cars. One was burned beyond recognition, caved in on itself like a crushed can. The other had crumpled badly, the front end twisted and mangled. Metal jutted out at wrong angles. Glass littered the road, catching the light from the flames.

Both cars were ours.

The realization hit like a physical blow. Those were Skollrend vehicles. This was an accident. Fia had been in an accident.

My eyes swept the scene frantically. Past the flames. Past the twisted metal. Then I saw them.

Garrett. On the ground. And beneath him, barely visible, was Fia.

I was out of the car before Ronan even brought it to a complete stop. My feet hit the pavement and I ran. Every second stretched into eternity. The distance between us felt impossible, like I was running through water, through concrete, through something that wanted to keep me from reaching her.

Then I was there, dropping to my knees beside them so hard I felt the impact jar through my bones.

“Fia.”

She lay motionless on the road. Garrett hovered over her, his hands pressed to something dark and soaked. His sentinel robe. He’d wadded it up and used it as a makeshift bandage. Blood covered it. So much blood.

But when I looked at Fia, really looked at her, there was nothing. There were no cuts. No bruises. Not even a scratch. Her skin was pale but unmarked. Like the blood covering Garrett’s hands belonged to someone else entirely.

I reached out with shaking fingers and pressed them beneath her nose. Warm breath ghosted across my skin. Relief hit so hard it nearly knocked me over.

I leaned down further, pressing my ear to her chest. Her heart beat was steady beneath my cheek. Slow but strong.

“What happened?” I looked up at Garrett.

He stared at me. His eyes were wide, unfocused. If there was a word I could use, I would says he was shell shocked. Behind me, I heard Ronan approach. Garrett’s gaze shifted past me to where Ronan must have been standing.

“I’m not sure.” Garrett’s voice came out hoarse. “We were coming and she said she saw someone on the road. Someone I couldn’t see. She forced the wheel off the road and that was when the accident happened.”

I looked back at the totaled cars. At how far Fia was from the wreckage. At the way her body was positioned, roughly, like she has been tossed out of the car and somehow landed there. There was also Garrett’s condition. He was covered with bruises while she was not and perhaps the glaring ones; the blood that should have been hers but couldn’t be because she had not a wound on her and how the bond had disappeared for a long minute.

I’d felt her dying. Then that blue light had swallowed everything. And now she was here, breathing, her heart beating like nothing had happened at all.

Something had happened here. Something impossible. But I couldn’t think about that now. I wouldn’t think about it. Garrett would have a lot to answer for later. A lot of questions to face. But right now, the only thing that mattered was getting Fia home.

“Are there any other survivors?” Ronan’s voice came from behind me.

Garrett shook his head slowly. “No. They didn’t survive.” He paused. His eyes went back to Fia and stayed there. “How we did was even a miracle, I’m sure.”

I slid my arms beneath Fia carefully. One under her knees, one supporting her back. She weighed almost nothing. Or maybe the adrenaline made it feel that way. I stood, cradling her against my chest.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go.”

I carried her to the car. Ronan had already opened the back door. I slid inside, settling onto the seat with Fia in my arms. I shifted her carefully until her head rested in my lap. Her hair spilled across my thighs. I brushed it back from her face with trembling fingers.

Garrett climbed into the passenger seat. Ronan got behind the wheel and pulled out his phone. I heard him talking, giving instructions to others at Skollrend to come and retrieve the bodies, the cars and also clean up the scene. His voice sounded distant.

I couldn’t stop staring at Fia.

She looked like she was sleeping. Just sleeping. Her chest rose and fell in easy, peaceful breaths. Not labored. Not struggling. Like she hadn’t just been dying on the side of the road.

I took her hand in mine. It was warm. The bond hummed between us, stronger now.

I’d been so terrified. The feeling of her slipping away, of that connection severing, had been the worst thing I’d ever experienced. Worse than any physical pain. Worse than anything I could have imagined. The emptiness had threatened to swallow me whole.

But she was alive. She was here. Her heart was beating and she was breathing and that was what mattered.

I fixed her hair again, smoothing it back. Making sure nothing was in her face. Ronan started the car and pulled back onto the road, heading toward Skollrend.

That was when Fia’s eyes opened.

Slowly. Like it took effort. Her gaze was unfocused at first, wandering before finally landing on me.

“Cian?” Her voice came out hoarse. Barely a whisper. “Is that you?”

I nodded. My throat felt tight. I took her hand and brought it to my lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

“It’s me.”

She blinked. Still dazed. Still somewhere between consciousness and whatever place she’d been. “I’m sorry.” She paused and swallowed. “For almost dying.”

The words hit like a punch. My throat closed up completely. I tried to speak but nothing came out. I coughed, clearing it forcefully, only then could I manage to get the words out.

“No, don’t be. You’re fine. You’re safe and that’s what matters.”

Fia smiled. Small, tired but genuine all the same. “I met her, you know.”

My entire body went cold.

Her…. Was she was talking about her late mother? Had Fia been that close enough to death to see her on the other side?

“Well,” I said carefully, fighting to keep my voice steady. “I’m glad you didn’t choose to stay with her just yet.”

Fia’s smile widened slightly. “She told me she loved me.”

Then her eyes drifted closed. Her breathing evened out and she was back to that deep, peaceful sleep.

I stared down at her. At the peaceful expression on her face. At the way she looked so fragile and so unbreakable at the same time.

I couldn’t lose this woman.