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“Then you call him.”
“Arden, I can’t do that.”
“And I can’t risk losing you to them.”
“They’re my family,” I argue.
“And you think that makes a difference? I will not lose you again.”
“I agree with Arden,” Carrick adds. “It’s too risky.”
“This isn’t your decision. It’s mine. Ihaveto go.”
“For a man who doesn’t love you?” Carrick says, his words hurting me even though he’s right.
“I know he doesn’t love me, but my mother loved him. She loved him and she never got to say goodbye, Carrick,” I say, my eyes brewing with tears my father doesn’t deserve as I fold my arms around my chest, hugging myself. “I can do that for her. I can do that for her memory.”
Arden crosses the room, cupping my face in his hands. “We can’t lose you. It would destroy us, Cyn.”
“Arden, we’ve got a problem,” Lorcan says, striding into the room.
“We know, Niall O’Farrell,” Carrick says, cutting him a look.
Lorcan frowns with confusion, looking from his phone back up to us. “No. Connall and Tom are almost here. Beast couldn’t hold them off any longer. He’s with them now.”
“How long do we have?” Arden asks, dropping his hands from my face and drawing me into his side.
“About twenty minutes, they’re crossing from the mainland now.”
“Fuck! Nice of Beast to give us a head’s up!” Carrick exclaims testily. “I’ll grab the guns.”
“Guns?!” I shake my head. “No. No guns.”
“Cyn, it’s just for protection,” Arden says as I step out of his arms, scowling at him.
“They’re not here to hurt me,” I say. "And I will not stand any more bloodshed. Do you understand?"
“Of course they're not here to hurt you, but I’m pretty sure Tom won’t have any problems loading a bullet into our heads,” he retorts with a wry smile.
“They’re with Beast, he won’t let that happen. I won't let that happen,” I argue. “No. Guns.”
“Fine. No guns. But you bet your arse we’re serving them some of your calming tea. Tom has a temper on him and it might chill him out enough not to do something stupid," Lorcan says, trying to lighten the mood.
"I'll get it prepared," I say tersely, chewing on my lip as worry churns my stomach. It's been so peaceful these last couple of days since we made love. Why now? Why couldn't we have a little more time with each other before danger found us again?
As I move to walk away, Arden reaches for me, his fingers curling around my wrist as he says, "Family or not, I will load a bullet in Tom's skull if he tries to take you from us.”
"Then I'll just have to convince him not to," I reply, before slipping past Lorcan and into the hallway beyond.
* * *
"It's been a while," Tom says as he steps into the parlour with Connall, surveying Arden, Lorcan and Carrick with caution before resting his gaze on me. His dark blue eyes, that are so like my mother's, soften in recognition before he clears his throat. "You’re the image of Aoife."
"Thank you–"
My reply is cut short as Beast strides into the room looking more than a little green.
"Fuck that crossing. I think I lost half my guts on the way over. At one point I thought it was gonna come out the other end too," he says, flopping onto the sofa opposite. "Remind me to never step on a boat again."
