“Fiona, focus. Where are you now?”
“In a secure room, but I’m not allowed to leave. Brennan, I’m so scared that something has happened to him—” My voice breaks entirely, and I clamp a hand over my mouth as tears sting my eyes.
“I’m on my way. Just hold tight. He’s going to be fine.”
I shake my head. “You don’t know that.”
“I do because I know my brother. Whoever’s phone this is, I need you to keep hold of it, okay? In case I need to contact you again.”
I nod, even as my hands continue to shake.
“Please, hurry?—”
Suddenly, the door clicks open, and my heart lurches so violently I feel like it might burst.
The door swings open, and Cormac steps in.
He’s covered in blood, and there’s a nasty bruise blooming along his cheekbones, but he’s alive.
My knees almost give out.
I throw myself at him. “Cormac! Oh, my God, are you okay?”
He catches me and hugs me tightly, voice hoarse but steady. “I’m fine. It’s over. We’re okay.”
I pull back just enough to look at him, my hands brushing across a split lip and a cut on his forehead.
My chest tightens at the sight of his injuries. Every scrape, every bruise, is a reminder of what he’s faced while I was powerless to help.
“Fiona?Fiona!”
Cormac frowns at the sound of his brother's voice coming through the phone.
“Is that Brennan?”
“Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?”
In my relief at seeing Cormac alive and breathing, I had momentarily forgotten that Brennan was on the phone.
I hand the phone to Cormac. “Here.”
“Brennan?”
I keep my hands on Cormac’s chest as he talks to his brother, needing to feel the warmth of his body beneath my fingertips.
“Everything is fine, Brennan,” Cormac says calmly, though the bruises speak otherwise. “No need to worry. We’re heading back now.”
I exhale shakily, letting a little of the tension slip, though my mind continues to spin.
Who did this to him? Was it Freddy? Or worse, did Lorcan get wind that we were coming here and decide to call in a favor?
The questions seem endless, but honestly, they can wait. Right now, all that matters is that Cormac is alive.
After he ends the call, Cormac takes my face in his hands and moves to rest his forehead against mine.
I press a hand to his chest, feeling the rapid rise and fall of his breathing.
“I’m just… I’m so glad you’re alive.” The raw words spill out of me.
