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It was him. It was Carrick who killed Soren. Who fought his way through the Skulls to get to me. Who carried me to her broken and bloody body so I could hold her hand whilst she died. He looks as haggard as I feel, his coal-black eyes pitted with sorrow. My chest heaves, another broken sob parting my lips as more tears cascade down my cheeks.
“I'm sorry we couldn't save her too,” he says, reaching for me, his thumbs pressing against my pulse, measuring my heart rate.
Doesn’t he understand? It doesn’t matter if my heart is still beating, it's already shattered. My head drops, my hair falling over my face as I cry silently.
I couldn't save her.
“It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault,” Arden says, trying in vain to comfort me.
I see him look over to Lorcan, a silent conversation occurring between them as a heavy weight hangs in the air. It's oppressive, suffocating. It isn't just me who feels it. It's them too. I blink up at them trying to convey with my eyes what I need to know, mouthing the words when they don't answer right away.
Tell me they're all dead.
“They’re all dead,” Carrick replies, meeting my gaze unflinchingly. “We killed every last one of them.”
But instead of giving me some form of comfort I just feel overwhelmingly sad and my body starts to tremble, my teeth clacking with the force of it.
"Here, take this. It will help you sleep," Arden says, holding up a pill to my lips.
I open my mouth automatically, the bitter taste of man-made drugs sits heavy on my tongue, but my need to sink into oblivion is too strong to spit it out. When Arden places a bottle of water against my lips, I swallow.
“Rest, Cyn. We’ll be here when you wake up,” Arden says, his voice thick with emotion as he sits down in the seat beside my bed.
I settle under the covers as a sudden overwhelming exhaustion washes over me.
“You’re never leaving our side again,” Carrick reassures me, his brown hair falling over his forehead, his dark eyes filled with concern as he lays down on the bed next to me.
“Sleep now,” Lorcan says, his weight compressing the mattress behind me. “When you wake up, we'll be home."
Home, I mouth before exhaustion drags me under.
17
Arden
“Right now, I don’t give a fuck about the O’Briens," I say, my voice rising with every word, furious that it’s even a suggestion that Connall takes Cyn back to his family home to recuperate.
Fuck that."Cyn will not be a pawn between two warring families!”
“She’smyniece. She’smyblood, Arden. She doesn’t belong to you!” Connall retorts angrily.
“Listen, lads, no need to start a war in my fucking living room,” Beast says, a warning in his voice as he grips Connall’s shoulder, preventing him from taking a step towards me.
Behind me Lorcan and Carrick get to their feet, ready to fight. The O’Briens might be old family friends, but when it comes to Cyn we’re not fucking budging.
“She’s ours. We fought our way to get her back from those cunts. She’s coming home with us,” Carrick grinds out, brooking no arguments.
“I think you’ll find that Cyn very much belongs to herself,” Grim says, folding her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes at us as she watches this all play out. Next to her Christy and The Masks sit quietly, taking it all in.
“You heard what Joey said, she needs rest, recuperation, love and care,” I continue. “She doesn’t need to be a victim of another fucking war. You've done enough damage as it is.”
Connall snorts. “Love and care? By all accounts you’ve made her life hell in the past. What makes you think you’re capable of looking after her any better now? Why would she even want you to, after how you’ve treated her?”
I throw Beast an angry look and he holds his hands up. “Mate, you were cunts to her as kids. I’m not about to keep that from Connall. He needed the complete picture, so I gave it to him.”
Drawing in a ragged breath, my arm fucking hurting like a bitch from the eight inch slice to it that’s been patched up by Joey, I try my best to calm the fuck down. “Look, I know what we did in the past when we were kids was out of order,” I admit, some of the anger deflating a little at the truth. “But we made peace with that. Cyn forgave us. We were just starting to build our relationship before they took her from us.”
“She forgave you to givethemtime,” Connall cuts in, pointing at Christy and The Masks.
