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“ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT the flat?” Jesse asked when he and Ciara were cleaning the gym machines on Tuesday.
After they finished at the gym, they were going to see the flat.
She smiled. “I am. I like staying with Henry, but I’m pretty sure he and Jenna would prefer some privacy.”
Jesse chuckled. “I bet. Besides living alone has its benefits.”
Ciara dropped the wipe in her hands, startled by her phone ringing. She picked the wipe back up and placed it down before grabbing her phone that had been resting on top of the machine—because she didn’t have pockets in her gym tights.
“What is it?” Jesse asked.
“I need to take this,” Ciara said and headed to a quieter spot. Doherty was calling her. She picked up the call. “Ye—”
“It’s an emergency! Get to Rosslers’ immediately!” Doherty shouted into the phone before hanging up.
Ciara’s eyes widened. She ran back to where Jesse was. “Do you think the flat can wait? It’s an emergency.”
Jesse stopped cleaning, observing Ciara’s colourless face. “Of course.”
Ciara nodded. “I’m so sorry, but I need to go now.”
“Call if you need anything.”
Ciara forgot to say goodbye as she rushed to grab her bag. Gripping her phone and bag, she snapped her fingers and teleported to the Rosslers’ house.
She ran straight in, not bothering to knock. She dropped her gym bag near the front door and headed to the living room.
Liam walked out of the room, his jaw slackening, and stopped her midway. His hand brushed against her upper arm, and his wide eyes were fixed on her face, scanning every bit of her. “Can we talk outside?”
Ciara furrowed her eyebrows, glancing past Liam, but nodded. She let Liam lead her outside. They didn’t go far from the front porch, and Ciara kept eyeing the front door.
“What’s going on?”
“The witch hunters attacked a few of us,” Liam said, his eyes fixated on Ciara. “Mum and Iris are helping the injured, but some didn’t make it.”
Ciara squeezed her eyes shut as the thought of Theo’s death invaded her mind again. Who had died this time? Opening her eyes, she let out a shaky breath. “Why are we here then? What—”
“Once Doherty comes here, I need to go with him.”
Ciara turned her full focus on Liam, no longer wondering what was going on in the house. “I’ll come with you.”
“No.” His voice was stern, but panic shone through.
Ciara examined his face, taken aback by his odd behaviour. Worry was written all over his face. Worry for her.
“If it has you this worried, you’ll need help.”
Liam shook his head. “We’ll call for back-up if we need to.”
“But—”
“Please, stay here,” Liam pleaded, his eyes gazing deep into Ciara’s.
She had never stayed behind. She sighed, shaking her head. “Liam.”
“I’ve been thinking about you a lot,” Liam confessed.
Ciara looked straight into his eyes. Something about the look on his face was painfully familiar to her.
“I need to tell you something.”
“Liam—”
The front door flew open, revealing Doherty. “We need to go! Finish up!” he ordered and walked back inside.
Ciara stared at the front door for a few more seconds before turning back to face Liam. “You should go.”
“But Ciara—”
“You can tell me later,” she said seriously. She looked straight into his eyes. “Once you’re back from this...mission. Once you’re back in one piece, okay?”
“I need to tell you now, Ciara. I—” Liam was about to reach out to touch her face, but she stopped him mid-air. She held his hand in hers, giving it a light squeeze.
“Not now.”
Liam froze. He had no words.
“You need to go now,” Ciara said. Because if he didn’t leave soon, she wouldn’t let him go.
Liam nodded. His eyes didn’t leave Ciara’s for a second. “Yeah.”
“Be safe.”
“Of course.”
That was it. Ciara wanted to hug Liam, but she couldn’t.
With one last look at Ciara, Liam went inside. Once he was out of her sight, terror invaded her mind. If anything happened to him...
Ciara stayed outside in the windy weather. It helped clear her head a little.
She wasn’t sure what had happened between her and Liam. But her feelings were back. This time it was different, though. More painful.
This time she wouldn’t have him. Not in the end.
Taking a deep breath, she headed inside.
“Ciara, I need help!” Mary shouted from the main bedroom.
Ciara ran there, but she froze at the door. Covering her mouth, she stared at the two people lying on the bed—Henry and Jenna.
Had someone attacked Henry’s flat?
He wasn’t moving—other than his chest rising. A witch hunter had cut his stomach open. If it had been any deeper, Henry would have already been dead.
Jenna was struggling to stay conscious, blinking. Her clothes were bloody, and Ciara couldn’t pinpoint where all her injuries were. There was so much blood.
“Why aren’t they in hospital?”
“To keep the officials out of this. They would figure out our involvement, and we would all go to prison.” Mary cursed under her breath.
“What can I do?” Ciara’s voice was shaky, but she tried to keep her nerves in check.
“Try to clean Jenna’s wounds, please,” Mary said, her voice breaking while she was tending to her unconscious son’s wound.
If Mary could do that, Ciara could do her own part. She grabbed what she needed and started cleaning the wounds. She wasn’t a healer, but she wasn’t useless with cuts.
Jenna’s wounds weren’t as severe as Henry’s, but there were more of them, as if she had gone through a shedder.
Ciara shuddered but continued to tend to Jenna. For a while, she stayed focused on the small wounds covering her friend’s body, not letting anything distract her.
She made a mistake and looked at Henry. He looked pale, his lips a shade of bluish purple. It was unimaginable what Mary was going through. They were going to lose Henry if he lost much more blood. And if Henry survived, it would be thanks to his own mother.
Ciara forced her attention back to Jenna.
Everything was beginning to make sense. Liam had originally been worried that someone had attacked Ciara, too. He had been overwhelmed with worry—but not out of love. It had nothing to do with his feelings. He didn’t have those for Ciara.
However, it wasn’t the right time to think about Liam or the dangerous mission he was on. Ciara needed to focus on Jenna so Mary could save Henry.
Ciara couldn’t lose him.
***
CIARA HATED BLOOD. Especially when it was her friend’s blood, not her enemies’. It didn’t make her vomit or faint, but she hated how it felt on her skin and clothes. It turned sticky as it dried, and the smell of iron was nauseating.
The iron stench brought back so many memories. They were like flashbacks.
The worst was the memory of her holding Theo’s lifeless body as he bled out onto the floor. She had been dragged out of that place. She had been forced to leave his body.
The memory made nausea hit her.
Mary noticed it. “Take a break,” she said sternly.
“I-I’ll be back.” Ciara’s voice nearly gave out before she rushed out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. She turned on the tap and scrubbed her hands as if the blood covering them was toxic. The water turned red and splattered all over the sink.
She had to close her eyes to keep the memories away. It wasn’t the right time to suffer from post-traumatic stress symptoms. Mary needed her help. She should have been in the bedroom treating her friend.
She hadn’t even lasted two hours in that room. She had been tending to Jenna the entire time. Ciara had sewn shut the worst wounds, but only thanks to magic. She had been nowhere near finished with Jenna’s injuries when she had rushed out.
She turned off the running water and opened her eyes. A mix of blood and water smeared the edges of the sink, but Ciara left it there. She couldn’t bring herself to look at it any longer, so she walked out.
An ear-splitting scream filled the house.
Henry.
Ciara sprinted to the bedroom. It had been Henry’s scream, but he was unconscious when she ran in.
Jenna was unconscious, too, but she had passed out from the pain before Ciara had left.
However, Mary had turned sickly pale. Her hands moved unbelievably fast, tending to Henry.
Henry. Ciara’s eyes scanned over his body. His wound had reopened.
“He needs blood!” Ciara said. “I’m the same blood type.”
“Sit down.” An order, not a question.
Ciara sat down.
“You’ll feel dizzy after this,” Mary warned, working with needles and tubes so she could get blood from Ciara.
“I don’t care. It’ll help save Henry.” Her eyes were fixed on her best friend. Anything for him.