To ruin an Omega

Chapter 297: Destiny’s teeth

FIA

I pulled back slightly, still wrapped in the warmth of his arms and the cooling water. My body felt languid, sated in a way that made me want to sink into him forever.

“So was someone really watching us?” I asked.

His jaw tightened slightly. “It felt that way. But not anymore.”

I glanced around the pool area. Everything looked peaceful and quiet. The sun had dipped lower now, casting long shadows across the deck.

“There seems to be nothing quite boring as us fucking like rabbits,” I said.

A laugh rumbled through his chest. The sound vibrated against my ear where it pressed to him.

“Do you think it has something to do with Ronan?” I asked. “Or maybe Aldric?”

“Possibly.”

“I think I’m holding up quite well.” I tilted my head to look up at him. “You must be acting suspicious then.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s it.”

His fingers traced lazy patterns on my lower back under the water. Each touch sent little aftershocks of pleasure through my oversensitized skin.

“I noticed it’s almost like Garrett disappeared,” he said. The lightness in his voice had vanished. “He’s avoiding me completely. Have you seen him today?”

I thought back through the morning. Through the breakfast I had with Morrigan and everything that came after.

“No. Not really.”

Then my heart started to panic. They wouldn’t… Right?

“Do you think something happened to him?”

Cian shook his head immediately. “They wouldn’t be that stupid.”

I thought so too. But with Aldric, you could never really know. The man was insane.

“Then what?”

“I think he’s avoiding us because he realizes the second he speaks to us, then Ronan will talk to me about the card after assuming the chance of him keeping the card’s presence under wraps has now become impossible.” His arms tightened around me. “I’m going on a limb here but I believe that’s why we’re being watched.”

The pieces clicked together in my mind. It did make sense.

“You think we have new traitors,” I said.

“Somehow, yes. Most likely new recruits after the deaths of the ones who retook the oaths and failed.”

A chill ran through me despite the warmth of his body. The water suddenly felt colder.

“Another oath taking could be done,” I suggested. “This time everybody could be made to participate.”

“That will indeed work.” He paused. I could practically hear the gears turning in his head. “But what if there are people that we haven’t realized aren’t our allies and aren’t present at the time?”

“Who else could have power and influence in the pack aside from your mother?”

“A few elders.”

I nodded against his chest. Of course.

“We should get dry,” Cian said.

He released me and I immediately missed his warmth. He dove under the water with practiced ease. I watched his form glide down to where our clothes had settled at the bottom. He gathered them in his arms and surfaced, water streaming from his hair.

He tossed the soaked bundle onto the deck. They landed with a series of wet slaps.

I swam to the edge and pulled myself out. My muscles protested slightly. A pleasant ache that reminded me exactly what we’d just done. I padded toward the pool house, leaving wet footprints on the concrete.

The pool house was small but well stocked. Towels lined shelves along one wall. I grabbed four fluffy white ones and headed back outside.

The late afternoon air kissed my wet skin. I wrapped one towel around my body and twisted another into my hair. The fabric was soft and warm. It smelled like lavender and the lingering heat that came from baking in the sun all day.

Cian was pulling himself out of the pool. Water cascaded down his back, following the valleys of muscle along his spine. His body moved with that easy grace that always made my breath catch.

He stood there in his naked glory. Water droplets clung to his skin. The sun caught them and turned them into tiny diamonds. His body was a work of art. All hard lines and sculpted muscle.

I held out one of the remaining towels.

He took it and wrapped it around his waist. The white terry cloth sat low on his hips. His v-line was still prominent. That sharp cut of muscle that disappeared beneath the towel made my mouth go dry all over again.

I stared. I couldn’t help it.

“Keep looking at me like that and we might do it again,” he said.

I dragged my gaze back up to his face and laughed. Heat bloomed in my cheeks.

“Come here,” I said.

He stepped closer. I took the second towel and reached up to dry his hair. My fingers worked through the wet strands. They were darker when wet. Almost vanta black instead of their usual black.

The moment my skin touched his, everything changed.

An electric shock consumed me. It wasn’t painful exactly. More like every nerve in my body fired at once. The world went white. Completely, blindingly white.

Then I saw it.

A scene unfolded before my eyes like a movie playing in fast forward. The place was blurred around the edges. Out of focus. But there were two people in the middle and the only one whose face I could recognize was Cian.

He was coughing blood. It poured from his mouth in thick rivulets. His nose was bleeding too. And his eyes. Oh goddess, even his eyes were bleeding.

Someone held him in a headlock. He struggled to get free. His hands clawed at the arm around his throat. His legs kicked out but found no purchase.

The person holding him had their face blurred. Completely obscured like someone had smudged it out of the picture. But I recognized the voice when it spoke.

“Long live the King.”

The words were cold and just as final.

Then the blurred figure twisted. I heard the crack. I saw the way Cian’s body went limp. I watched in horror as the figure ripped his head clean off his body.

The vision went white again. That same blinding nothingness.

Then I was back.

Back in my body. Back at the pool area with the towel still in my hands and Cian standing in front of me.

My hands were frozen in mid-air. The towel hung limply from my fingers. My heart was beating so loud I could hear it in my ears. Each beat felt like a drum pounding against my ribcage.

I immediately shielded the bond between us. I threw up those walls so fast so he couldn’t feel the terror coursing through me. So he couldn’t sense the way my hands wanted to shake. So he couldn’t hear the scream building in my throat.

“Is something wrong?” Cian asked.

His voice sounded far away. Muffled like I was hearing it through water.

I blinked once then twice. Trying to clear the image from my mind. Trying to push away the sight of his blood. His broken body. His severed head.

“Fia?”

His hand came up to touch my arm. I flinched. I couldn’t help it.

Concern flooded his features. His brows drew together. His eyes searched my face.

“What happened?”

I opened my mouth but no words came out. How could I tell him? How could I explain what I’d just seen?

My hands were still frozen in the air. Still holding that damn towel. I forced them to move. Lowered them slowly.

“I…” My voice cracked. “I don’t know.”

That was a lie. I knew exactly what had happened. I’d had a vision. Some sort of prophetic nightmare playing out in broad daylight while I was wide awake.

“You’re pale,” Cian said.

He took the towel from my numb fingers and tossed it aside. Both his hands came up to cup my face. His palms were warm against my cheeks.

“Talk to me.”

I couldn’t meet his eyes. If I looked at him I’d see it again. I’d see the blood. See his body going limp. See his head being torn from his shoulders.

“Fia.” His voice was firmer now. Demanding. “What is wrong?”

I swallowed hard and forced air into my lungs. My chest felt tight, like the world had suddenly shrunk around me.

“I just…” My voice came out thin. Fragile. “I just had a really vivid flashback of the accident.”

The lie tasted bitter on my tongue. It settled heavy in my stomach.

Cian’s expression softened at once. The tension left his shoulders as his thumbs brushed gently over my cheeks.

“That’s long gone, Fia,” he said quietly.

I shook my head before I could stop myself. “It didn’t feel that way.”

The images still burned behind my eyes. Blood. His blood. That voice echoing in my skull like a curse that refused to fade.

“It felt real,” I whispered. “Like I was back there. Like my body remembered before my mind did. First the phantom pains and now image flashbacks… I don’t think I’m over it.”

His hand slid down to find mine. Warm fingers threaded through mine, grounding me before I could drift too far into the horror still clawing at my thoughts.

“It’s alright,” he murmured.

His grip tightened gently, reassuring, steady. He pulled me closer until my forehead rested against his chest. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat thumped beneath my ear. It was strong. He was alive and whole.

But…

I lifted my gaze slowly. My throat bobbed as I swallowed.

Because even as I stared at him, safe and breathing and real in front of me, the vision refused to leave.

I could still see the blood.

I could still hear the voice.

And it had unmistakably been Aldric’s.