Villain Hiring: Help! Author Wants Me Dead-Chapter 209: A Deadly Plot

I had no time to think.

The moment Venus moved, the kindness in his face vanished.

His hand sliced through the air, and the force behind it wasn't human, it wasn't even fair.

I could barely lift my hands, my reaction speed far lower than him as I tried to shield myself, his clash slamming into me like a speeding train.

The impact sent me flying.

I hit the stone wall of the vault entrance so hard that the air ripped out of my lungs.

My back screamed with pain, and I slid down to the floor, coughing, trembling and barely holding myself together.

My body felt heavier than before, bones too sharp under my own skin.

Venus's shadow fell over me, and for a moment, I thought this was it, this was how I would die.

But something deep inside me screamed louder than the pain.

I didn't want to die.

Not like this.

Not when I hadn't even told him...told Noah, what I really felt, what I really was.

My chest burned, not from Venus's strike, but from the thought of never seeing him again.

My legs moved before I could think.

I staggered to my feet, holding my bleeding chest tight as I ran.

As fast as I possibly could.

Through the halls, past the echoing silence of the estate, I pushed myself forward, my body breaking apart with every step.

My vision blurred, red and black flashing in my eyes, but I didn't stop. The one place I could think of...the one, and only person I needed right now....was, Noah.

By the time I reached the Romero family's training hall, I could barely breathe. My throat felt dry, my skin as tight as binds to my own joints.

And then I saw him.

Noah was standing there, his hands raised in the air as he tried to practice one of his skills, sweat running down his forehead from practice.

His dark eyes lifted at the sound of my footsteps. Relief swelled in me at the sight of him, at the safety his presence gave me.

I stumbled forward. "Noah…" My voice cracked, desperate and broken. "I want to tell you something..."

But the words froze in my throat.

Because the look on the only person I had come to love wasn't of relief.

It was horror.

He looked at me as if I was a stranger. No, worse, as if I was a monster that had just crawled out of the dark.

The dumb boy's lips moved, but no words came out, only a sharp breath of disbelief.

Confused, I raised my hand instinctively… and froze.

My fingers were cracked and dry, skin pale and flaking like the husk of a corpse.

And when I reached towards my head, I felt them...the sharp, hard curves of horns jutting out, slick with blood where they had torn through my skull.

That's when I realised something.

A monster.

That's what I looked like.

Not the cute little girl who he'd cared about.

"Noah… please, atleast listen to me." My knees couldn't take it anymore, as I stood there wobbly.

Waiting for him to say something...anything.

But no matter how I looked at him, the boy could just not seem to be able to make words form inside his mouth.

I couldn't stand anymore. I knelt on the training floor, my hands trembling as I tried to hide my face, hide what I had become. "I didn't…I didn't choose this."

But Noah wasn't moving to help, to ask if I was okay.

He was frozen, wide-eyed, his chest heaving as though the world had just been ripped away from him.

And in a way, it had.

Because I wasn't Pixie anymore.

Not the girl who used to laugh at his jokes, not the girl who used to stand at his side, teasing him when he trained. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

I was something else now, something unholy.

Guilt twisted in my stomach like knives.

I had wanted to run to him because I thought he would protect me.

But now, seeing his face, I realized the truth. I wasn't bringing him safety. I was dragging him into my curse, into my nightmare.

Tears blurred my eyes, but even my tears felt wrong, hot, thick, mixed with blood as they slid down my cheeks.

"Noah," I whispered again, forcing myself to meet his gaze, "I don't want this…I don't want to hurt you. I just…I didn't know where else to go."

But he still didn't move.

His lips finally parted, but his voice cracked, filled with despair. "Pixie…what happened to you?"

Hearing his voice broke me. The one person who always looked at me with warmth now looked as if I had shattered his entire world.

Before I could answer, before I could even explain, the air shifted.

A heavy aura took over the entire place as I felt a pressure pressing me down on my hands and knees.

Venus stepped into the hall.

His black robe dragged against the floor, the faint shine of crimson stones embedded in his rings catching the dim light.

His eyes weren't kind anymore. They weren't gentle. They were sharp, calculating, sorrowful in a way that made them even crueler.

Noah turned toward him instantly, anger and confusion twisting his features. "What did you do to her?!" His voice shook, not with fear, but with rage.

For the first time, Noah looked ready to kill.

Everyone had seen his naiveness, his desperation, people had seen his arrogance, seen him go into depression, but this was the first time I'd seen this twisted expression on his face.

As if everything had been taken away from him.

I wanted to rush forward, hold him tight in my arms like when he couldn't sleep at nights, tell him that nothing had been taken away from him.

...that I was still his kitty.

Meanwhile, Venus, the old bastard didn't flinch. He only sighed, crossing his arms as if he was carrying the weight of centuries on his shoulders.

"This was the only way," he said softly. "The only way to give myself reason to end her."

His words sliced Noah deeper than any blade.

My chest tightened as the meaning settled. He had known. From the very start, he had known this would happen, that the earrings weren't kindness, but a key. A trigger to awaken the monster inside me.

And now he stood there, calm, as if killing me was simply…inevitable.

My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach.

I looked at Noah again, his trembling body caught between despair and fury as I realised something.

I had ruined him.

The one person who had cared for me was now staring at the corpse of the girl he once knew.

My lips trembled. "Noah…I'm sorry."

Sorry for hiding the truth. Sorry for being weak. Sorry for becoming this…thing.

Venus's robe shifted as he stepped closer, his presence filling the hall like death itself. His eyes locked onto me, sorrow in them, but no hesitation.

"This is where your story ends, child," he said.

I could barely breathe, my body broken, my mind torn. Fear swallowed me whole, guilt gnawed at every thought, and all I could think as the world closed in was...

I didn't want to die.

Not here. Not like this.

Not in front of him.

***