To ruin an Omega Nov Chapter 415: To wear a man

Chapter 415: To wear a man

FIA

I watched Gabriel’s expression shift.

The conviction that had been there seconds ago when he pressed the fork toward his throat dissolved into sothing calr. Saner. His breathing evened out, and when he spoke again, his voice had lost that frantic edge.

"I’m sorry," he said, lowering his hand from where it had frozen mid-air. "I don’t know what ca over . I guess... My ntal health is still in a very bad place, I think."

The fork clattered against the table.

Morrigan moved closer, her hand hovering near his shoulder but not quite touching. "Gabriel, that was—"

"Terrifying," he finished for her. "I know. I’m sorry for scaring you both."

I studied his face.

His words before had been muddled. Panicked. Like soone drowning and trying to scream for help, with water already filling their lungs. But now he sounded reasonable. Almost clinical in the way he described his own ntal state.

Underneath it all, though, I felt sothing else.

A simring rage that pulsed just beneath the surface of his skin. It felt familiar in a way I couldn’t place, like a scent I’d caught once in passing and never quite forgotten.

I turned to Morrigan. She was nodding along with whatever Gabriel was saying now, her expression softening into sympathy.

"This feels wrong," I said.

Both of them looked at .

Gabriel put his head down, his elbows bracing against the table. "I know. I know it does."

He covered his face with his hands, and when he spoke again, his voice ca out muffled. "I still get haunted by my brother. I didn’t think it was that bad. But it is."

My chest tightened.

The unease didn’t lift. If anything, it dug deeper, settling into my bones like ice that wouldn’t lt no matter how much warmth I tried to pour over it.

"You knew about the delicate?" I asked.

His hands dropped slightly, just enough for

to see his eyes. They were red-rimd, tired, but sothing in them sharpened when I said the word.

"Yes," he said. "When I was in my cell, Aldric ntioned it. He talked about a lot of things while I was locked up. He planned to use the girl to figure you out... I believe."

I reached across the table before I could second-guess myself. My hand closed over his, and I squeezed gently.

It looked like an act of kindness. Comfort for a man who had been through hell and was still crawling his way out of it.

But inside, I prayed.

I prayed to the goddess with every fiber of my being to show

sothing. Anything. To alleviate this sickly feeling that had lodged itself in my chest the mont Gabriel looked directly at

and said you’re going to die.

I wanted a vision. Sure, it had only happened once. But I needed one.

Because I didn’t know why my heart and mind were suddenly turning against soone who should have been safe. Soone who was family.

Nothing ca.

No flash of insight. No sudden clarity.

Just the feel of his pulse beneath my fingers, steady and strong.

"What about the letters?" I asked, keeping my voice light. "What could that be about?"

He looked up, and for a split second, I saw sothing cross his face.

Death.

Cold and absolute and utterly devoid of rcy.

But then it was gone, smoothed over so quickly I almost convinced myself I’d imagined it.

"I don’t know," he said. "It just ca from so buried trauma, I think."

I rubbed my thumb over the back of his hand. "What triggered it? Just now, I an."

His gaze flicked to the fork still lying on the table.

"The knife and the fork, I believe," he said quietly. "I had self-harm thoughts while I was in his prison."

I looked down at his hands. At his wrists where the sleeves of his shirt had ridden up slightly.

There were no scars.

Not a single mark.

My fingers shifted, pressing more firmly against the inside of his wrist, feeling for his pulse again. It beat strongly and even beneath my touch, no irregularity, no sign of distress.

"And the people he killed too," I said.

His pulse spiked. then

It was brief but unmistakable. A sudden jump that made my own heart stutter in response.

"Who?" I pressed.

Grand Luna Morrigan’s voice cut in before he could answer. "Fia, maybe we should get him to the infirmary."

Gabriel’s head snapped toward her so fast it should have given him whiplash.

"I agree," he said imdiately. "I feel strange."

I hesitated.

Maybe I was overthinking this. He would have seen Aldric write letters, wouldn’t he? He’d been imprisoned by the man for years. He would have witnessed things. Heard things. Maybe even seen Aldric hurt people.

Maybe.

But he’d said killed soone. And he’d added his own before cutting himself off mid-sentence.

His own what?

I didn’t press.

"Right," I said slowly. "The infirmary."

I stood and moved around the table to help him up. Morrigan joined

on his other side, and together we guided him to his feet. He swayed slightly, and I put my hand on his back to steady him.

The mont my palm made contact with his spine, blue light erupted from my fingers.

It wasn’t gradual. It wasn’t gentle.

I did not feel that usual beat that ca before the flow of power.

This... It blazed bright and hot and imdiate, flooding through my hand and into him before I could even process what was happening.

Gabriel scread.

The sound tore from his throat, raw and agonized, and he collapsed forward. His knees hit the floor hard, and I barely managed to pull my hand back before he went down completely.

The panicked voice returned.

That sa desperate, drowning tone from before.

"It’s you," he gasped, his head jerking up to look at . "You’re the reason I still have any control over this body."

Morrigan and I both froze.

"What?" Morrigan breathed.

"Aldric has stolen this—"

He stopped.

Just stopped mid-sentence like soone had slamd a door shut on the words.

I watched his expression shift again. That calm, reasonable mask slid back into place even as his body stayed rigid on the floor.

Then I saw it.

Blood.

It seeped through the back of his shirt right where my hand had touched him, spreading in a dark stain that grew wider with each passing second.

I stepped back, my arm shooting out to push Morrigan behind .

"What’s going on?" she asked, her voice climbing higher.

I didn’t take my eyes off Gabriel.

"That’s no longer Uncle Gabriel," I said.

"What?"

I shifted my stance, keeping myself between her and him. "It’s Aldric in control now. Isn’t it?"

Gabriel’s head tilted.

Slowly. Deliberately.

No. This was not Gabriel.

Then he smiled.

It was wrong. Everything about it was wrong. The curve of his lips didn’t match the coldness in his eyes, and the way he looked at

made my skin crawl.

"You always ruin my plans," he said.

His voice was still Gabriel’s, but the cadence was different. Sharper. More controlled.

I recognized it. My accusation stood firm because I had been right.

He moved.

One second, he was on the floor, the next he was lunging toward us with a speed that shouldn’t have been possible for soone who’d just collapsed.

I shoved Morrigan hard to the side and threw myself in the opposite direction.

He missed us both by inches.

His body slamd into the table, and dishes went flying. The crash of porcelain shattering against the floor filled the room, but he didn’t seem to notice. He was already turning, already adjusting his trajectory toward .

I scrambled backward, my hands reaching for anything I could use as a weapon.

My fingers closed around a chair, and I swung it up just as he ca at

again.

It connected with his shoulder, knocking him off balance, but he recovered too quickly. His hand shot out and grabbed the chair, ripping it from my grip and throwing it aside like it weighed nothing.

"Fia, run!" Morrigan’s voice ca from sowhere behind .

I couldn’t.

If I ran, he’d go after her. She was closer to the door, and pregnant won weren’t supposed to be running from murderous souls wearing stolen bodies.

I planted my feet and raised my hands.

The goddess blessed , and blue light flickered at my fingertips.

He saw it and laughed.

The sound was harsh and grating, nothing like Gabriel’s warm chuckle.

"You think that will stop ?" he asked. "You couldn’t even finish the rune properly. All you did was make things harder for both of us."

I did think it would work again. Gabriel. The real Gabriel had given

sothing to work with. My healing touch did sothing to Aldric. It hurt him in a way.

He lunged again.

This ti, I was ready.

I drove my palm forward, aiming for his chest, and the mont I made contact, the blue light exploded outward.

He scread.

It was the sa agonized sound from before, but this ti, he didn’t collapse. He staggered back, clutching at his back, which was odd because that was not where my hand had touched. I saw smoke rising from beneath his fingers.

The sll of burning flesh hit

a second later.

"You bitch," he snarled.

I needed that shirt off. Sothing was going on under there that I needed to figure out.

That was, of course, if Cian and all the sentinels of the pack did not get here first.