To ruin an Omega

Chapter 333: Cactus love

ALDRIC

I slapped the door behind me hard enough to feel the impact travel up my arm. The sound was sharp and final and exactly what I needed. I stood there for a second, breathing, my palm still flat against the wood.

Then I pulled my phone out and dialed Madeline again.

It rang. It kept ringing. Then it went to voicemail. Again.

“You think this is a game?” I said into the phone. My voice was low. Controlled. I was good at that. “You think you can just walk away from me? From this? You know what happens when people try to make moves without my express permission. You know exactly what happens. So pick up the fucking phone. Pick it up now. Or I will make you regret every single breath you take from this moment forward.”

I ended the call.

My hand was shaking. I looked at it. I made it stop.

I dialed again.

Same thing. Ring. Ring. Ring. Voicemail.

“Madeline.” I kept my tone even this time. Almost pleasant. “I am calling your father next. And when I do, I am going to tell him exactly how his daughter has decided to become a liability. You know what that means. You know what I will do to him. So whatever little fantasy you are living in right now, whatever you think this is, end it. Call me back. You have minutes. Not hours. Minutes.”

I hung up.

I looked at the phone in my hand and I wanted to throw it. I wanted to watch it shatter against the wall and hear the crack of the screen splitting apart. But I needed it. I fucking needed it.

I scrolled to Valentine’s name then and immediately hit call.

It rang twice. Then a third time. Then I heard a click and his voice came through, thick with sleep and irritation.

“Oh,” he said. “I wonder what threat this is about now.”

“It seems your daughter has grown wings,” I said. My voice was sharp, yet it still.manged to sound clipped. “Or maybe she is just now tired of it all and decided becoming unfaithful is the way to go. Because she has disappeared from here.”

There was a pause. Then Valentine laughed.

It was not a polite laugh. It was the kind of laugh that said he thought I was fucking with him. That he thought this was some kind of joke.

“Is that a joke?” he said.

“You think I make jokes? You should know me better than that warlock.”

The laughter stopped.

“If she is with you or heading towards you,” I continued, “call her back now. Or I will not waste time punishing you.”

“Do not be rash.” His voice had shifted. It was awake now. Focused. “She is not here.”

“Then where the fuck is she?”

“I do not know. But Madeline knows what is at stake. She would never pull something so stupid.”

“I do not think she does,” I said. I turned and paced toward the window. The light was too bright. It hurt my eyes. “I do not think she does at all. Because if she did, she wouldn’t have a made a move so stupid and reckless against me. No fucking way!”

“I will call her,” Valentine said quickly. “I will speak sense into her.”

“You better. You have an hour. I want responses. Stat. Or else. Well… you know what else.”

“Now come on, man. Do not be rash and—”

I cut the call.

I stood there staring at the phone. My chest felt tight. I dialed Madeline again.

It rang. It went to voicemail.

I pulled the phone back and looked at it. My arm tensed. I could throw it. I could send it straight into the wall and let it break into a hundred pieces. But I needed it. I still fucking needed it.

I lowered my arm. I shoved the phone into my pocket and pressed both palms flat against the desk. I leaned into it. I made myself breathe.

Something had to have happened. That was the only way this made any sense. Something had moved her out of reach and no one at that fucking table had acted like it mattered. No one except me.

The door opened.

I turned fast.

Ronan stepped inside. His face was drawn with concern and he moved toward me without hesitation.

“Are you alright, Father?”

My eyes widened. “Are you insane?” I crossed the room toward him in three strides. “Why would you come in here in broad daylight? And why would you call me that here?”

He stopped. His expression shifted. “I… I was… I was just worried.”

“You think I need you barging in here at the start of the fucking day? You think that is smart? Get out. Leave. Now.”

His face changed. The concern drained out of it and something else took its place. Something wounded. Something I did not have time for.

But I was supposed to. Because apparently, it was the fatherly thing to do. And I knew a thing or two about vindictive wounded kids.

“I am sorry,” he said. His voice was flat. “I did not mean to offend you.”

He turned and started for the door.

“Wait.” The word came out harder than I meant it to. “Wait.”

He stopped. He did not turn around.

“I am sorry.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I am sorry. I am just…”

“I know. I was doing too much.” He then opened the door and walked out.

I took a step forward. “Ronan.”

But he was already halfway gone. The door swung shut behind him and I heard his footsteps recede down the hall. Then I heard them stop. I heard a soft exchange of voices. I heard the footsteps start again, faster this time, moving away.

I stood there.

Then the door opened again.

Elara stepped inside. Her face was tight with confusion and something else. Something I could not read.

“Did something happen?” she asked. “Beta Ronan looked sick.”

I swallowed. “He just came to tell me something.”

“He looked upset.”

“Goddess, just tell me why are you here?” I said.

She blinked. “I was worried. You seemed on edge at breakfast. I noticed.”

She took a brief pause and then made eye contact. It was so unsettling to see in real time. Reminded me of her mother.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“No.”

“Are you sure? Because—”

“I called Valentine,” I said. I turned away from her and moved back toward the desk. “He said Madeline is not home.”

Elara was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “She might have gone partying.”

I turned. “What?”

“I was just making a guess. We went clubbing a few times. She might have—”

“Are you even her friend?” The words came out sharp. Too sharp. “That makes no sense at all.”

I knew it would cut. But I didn’t have it in me to soften my words and stroke weak mental fortitude.

She flinched. “I was just making a guess.”

I closed my eyes. I was doing a lot of damage and quick. First, Ronan . Now her.

“Sorry. I am just off this morning.”

I moved toward her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Can you try calling her?”

“Of course.”

She pulled out her phone and dialed. She held it to her ear. I watched her face. I watched the seconds tick by. Then she lowered the phone.

“I guess she is busy.”

I moved around the room. I ran a hand through my hair. I did it again. I could not stand still. I could not think straight. Everything felt like it was slipping and I could not get a grip on any of it.

“Okay,” I said. “Thanks. You can go. I need some time alone.”

“Are you sure?” She took a step toward me. “You do not look very good, Father. Perhaps we should—”

“Fucking get out of my sight, you imbecile!”

The words came out like a whip. Sharp and loud and brutal. I had not meant to say them. I had not meant to say them like that. But they were out now and there was no taking them back.

Elara froze.

Her whole body went rigid. Her face crumpled. Her eyes filled with tears and she just stood there, shaking, staring at me like I had slapped her.

“Oh… I just wanted to comfort you.” Her voice broke. “I do not know why you are being mean.”

I opened my mouth. I did not know what to say. I did not know how to fix it.

“Mom did say to watch out for your temper. I never did see it before. This must be it. I guess she wasn’t as bad and bitter as you portrayed her.”

Before I could even counter that, she turned, like Ronan had, and she walked out. The door clicked shut behind her.

I stood in the middle of the room.

I looked at the desk. I looked at the walls. I looked at the window with the too bright light coming through it.

I pulled my phone out and dialed Madeline again.

It rang.

And rang.

And went to voicemail.

I held the phone in my hand. I stared at it. I felt something inside me crack. Just a little. Just enough.

I dialed again.

Same thing.

I dialed again.

Again.

I stopped counting after the fifth time. I just kept dialing. I kept listening to the rings. I kept hearing her voicemail. I kept leaving messages. Threats. Promises. Warnings. I did not know what I was saying anymore. I just kept talking. I kept calling.

She did not pick up.

That was when I had absolutely enough.

I threw the phone onto the desk. It skidded across the surface and stopped just before the edge.

I sat down.

I put my head in my hands.

I could not think. I could not piece it together. I could not figure out where it had gone wrong. Madeline did not just leave. She did not have the freedom. She did not have the means. I had made sure of that. I had locked every door. I had sealed every exit.

And yet she was gone.

No. I had to know for sure.

I had to see that room.