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“Let me help you there.” Aro leaned forward and placed a large hand over Sinclair’s nose and mouth. Sinclair’s arm flailed about one last time for the orange bottle.
“Oh, those won’t help you,” Aro said, calmly. “Since when does Ibuprofen prevent a heart attack?” Then he pushed Sinclair’s head back into the pillow, holding him down as his body jerked. “It’s been an adventure, old man,” he said, then clenched his teeth. “This one’s for Dax.” He pressed down on Sinclair’s face and held firm until the body stopped jerking and lay flat and lifeless.
Aro removed his hand and we stared at the greying face. Sinclair wore a scowl even in death. A loud thud turned both our heads to the door. Vivian had dropped to the floor, her legs and arms at crooked angles.
“Shit.” I rushed over, skidding to the floor on my knees, and held her head. “She’s passed out.”
“Well, she’s had a busy day,” Aro said, winning the award for understatement of the year. His phone buzzed and he swiped the screen. “Well, look at that,” he said, his face lighting up. “I’m a grandfather to a beautiful baby girl.”
My eyelids widened in both congratulation and surprise. He’d just killed his own brother and was behaving like it was any other day. Then again, I could talk. I’d just stood by and watched two men be killed in the space of two hours and burned down a multi-billion pound business. But none of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was this woman laid in my arms.
I bent over and blew the hair from her face.
The door to Sinclair’s suite banged open and seconds later, Hector was standing over me, his gaze darting from Vivian on the floor, to Aro smiling joyfully, to Sinclair’s dead body on the bed.
“What happened?” he whispered.
“He had a heart attack,” I said, dropping my gaze back to Vivian. “And Rose has had the baby.”
Hector walked to Aro and slapped him on the back. “Congrats, Unc.”
I looked up just as Aro grinned and wrapped an arm around Hector’s neck. “Thanks Hector.” Aro might not have been an uncle to us by blood, but he’d raised us like he was.
“Where’s Elspeth?” I asked.
“I took her back to her parents’ house. She won’t breathe a word. She’s as fucked off as we are about all the lies.”
“It’s likely the Consortium will be relieved that Sinclair did what he did,” Aro added.
“Why?” I demanded.
Aro slipped his phone into his sweatpants. “They were all afraid of my brother. And none of them wanted their kid to deputise for Ossian.”
A horrifying thought occurred to me. “I was a fucking sacrificial lamb.”
“Yeah.” Aro shrugged. “And just as cute as one too.”
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Hector raised a brow.
Aro grinned. “Yes, I do.” He nodded towards Vivian who was still out cold. “Get that woman into bed and when she wakes up, worship her. She’s given you a chance at a real life.” He turned and walked towards the door. “Go live it.”
“Do you need any help?” Hector asked as Aro left the room.
I shook my head and lifted Vivian. “She’s as light as a feather.”
Hector threw one more glance at Sinclair. “What do we do about him?”
“I guess one of us should call a doctor.”
“And Iris?”
I shrugged.
“I’ll do it,” Hector said. “You get some rest. We’ll meet for breakfast at ten.”
He stepped aside and I carried Vivian out of Sinclair’s suite, down the stairs and across the Hall to the West Tower where I laid her in my bed. I ran cold water over a cloth and pressed it to her forehead.
“Vivian,” I whispered, tapping her cheek. “Wake up. It’s okay now. You’re safe.”
