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CIARA SAT ON A KITCHEN chair. Mary had told her to lie down, but she refused to. She was already useless enough. Mary had assured she could handle tending to both Jenna and Henry after the blood transfer. But even so, Ciara longed to do something.
Her hands were shaky and her vision kept going blurry whenever she tried to get up. Nausea washed over her. At some point she rushed to the bathroom and tripped onto the floor. Despite being nauseous, she didn’t vomit.
She had drunk water and eaten biscuits like Mary had ordered her to. It didn’t make her feel much better.
She was going to be the worst back-up if someone needed help. And that terrified her.
Liam and Doherty had already been on their mission for over three hours, and Ciara was sick with worry. She was afraid something had happened.
At least the younger Rosslers were already at school, so they weren’t there to witness all the horror—witness Henry nearly die. It would have been too much for them.
Ray wasn’t home, either. He had gone with a couple of other members to search the attack scenes. He had been planning to join Doherty and Liam after, but Ciara didn’t know if he was with them.
Ciara had never been so powerless. Instead of helping, she was sitting on a freaking chair while others were fighting for their lives.
She should have been out there, too.
A thump from the hall alarmed her. She jumped up from the chair. Her vision blurred again. She stood still until she recovered. Then she walked out of the kitchen.
Liam and Ray were there. Liam’s arms and face had cuts all over them, and dried blood covered his skin. Dirt and dust blanketed his clothes and hair. His father looked the same, except there weren’t as many cuts on him.
Ciara let out a small sigh of relief. They were alive.
But then her eyes settled on what was behind the two. Lying on the floor was a body.
The sight was revolting. The wounds ran so deep she could see muscle tissue. The stench of iron slowly filled the room. The once red fluid had turned into a crimson coat on his skin. His eyes were lifeless, as if staring into endless nothing. The skin—like a canvas for the dried blood—was sickeningly pale, nearly white, with shades of blue and purple pushing through.
His chest wasn’t moving.
Ciara blinked, and her legs buckled underneath her. When her eyes opened, her knees hit the floor.
“Ciara!” Liam ran to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to his chest, trying to shield her from the sight. Her tears coated his shoulder, and her body shook under his touch.
“Take her upstairs,” Ray said. He didn’t bother to talk to Ciara. She wouldn’t have registered his words. Not in her state.
“I’m going to carry you, okay?” Liam whispered to Ciara. He didn’t get an answer, but he scooped her up into his arms and carried her away from the corpse that was seeping blood onto the floor.
Gregory Doherty was dead.
Ciara stared without seeing. Grief clouded her eyes. She clutched onto Liam’s jacket as if it was the only thing keeping her grounded.
Liam carried her to his old room and set her down on the bed. She sat there, staring into nothing. The tears still cascaded down her face, and her hands shook. In fact, her entire body was shaking, and she didn’t try to fight it.
Liam knelt in front of her and enveloped her hands in his. “Hey,” he breathed out, hoping to pull her away from whatever dark corner of her mind she was in.
“H-how?” she croaked.
Liam didn’t want to tell Ciara, because it would break her. She didn’t need to know the details.
“It was a trap,” he said, keeping his voice soft. “He insisted on going in alone. We couldn’t get to him before...before...”
Ciara stayed unmoving for a good minute. Once the words sunk in, she nodded. It was a small but noticeable movement.
“How’s Henry?” Liam’s voice became breathless. He would have preferred not to bring it up, especially with the state Ciara was in. But he had to know if he had lost his brother, and he didn’t want to leave her alone to go find out.
“Henry’s unconscious. He lost a lot of blood, but we gave him more. Your mother said he’ll make it.” Her voice was distant, and she talked monotonously, as if in a trance.
“He got more blood?” Liam furrowed his eyebrows. His mother’s blood type didn’t match Henry’s, and Mary wouldn’t have stolen blood from the hospital.
“I’m the same blood type.” Ciara’s voice reached barely above a whisper, but Liam heard her.
He froze, staring at her. “Thank you.” A simple thank you didn’t cut it. Not after she had saved his brother’s life. But he had nothing else to offer.
“There’s nothing to thank—”
“You might have saved his life.”
“I’ve been having more PTSD symptoms than I’ve done helping. I’ve hardly saved anyone,” Ciara argued.
“You’ve done plenty.”
“I should have come with you. I—”
“No!” Liam squeezed her hands. “Someone could have killed you out there.”
“What if I could have saved him?” Ciara said, her voice breaking.
Liam gripped onto her hands, dying to take the pain away. Looking into her eyes, he said, “I wouldn’t have let you put yourself in that kind of danger.”
Ciara looked at him through her tears, processing the words.
Liam let go of her left hand and reached his hand up to wipe away her tears. “Are you okay?”
It was a stupid thing to ask, but he needed her to talk to him.
She looked down at her lap. “I just...I thought enough people had died and now...”
The pain was all over her face. It was as if she was radiating pain, and Liam was dying to take it away. If only there had been a way.
“He was like family. I don’t...I just...” she choked out.
Liam stroked the back of her hand. “Everything will be okay.”
He moved to sit beside Ciara, still holding her hand. They stayed like that in silence.
Ciara clenched her jaw as if fighting the pain. She was trying to hold back the tears, struggling with the grief. Her eyes were glossy, but no tears had formed again.
The shaking didn’t stop, but it eased. Her breathing remained uneven.
Liam wanted to end her pain. She didn’t deserve any of it.
Ray walked in, interrupting the silence. At first, Liam was about to tell him to go away, but then Ray told the good news. “Jenna is awake.”
Ciara whipped her head to look at Ray. “I need to see her.” She stood up fast, having forgotten she had donated a lot of blood. Her knees nearly gave out, but Liam rushed to steady her just in time.
“I’ll help you,” he offered.
She nodded.
Ray walked ahead while Liam ended up carrying Ciara downstairs.
When they made it to the first floor, Liam set Ciara down. Despite her dizziness, she rushed to the bedroom. Running to Jenna, she pulled her into a hug. “It’s so good to see you awake,” Ciara said and burst into tears again.
“Ciara!” Jenna’s voice filled with surprise, and she threw her arms around Ciara.
Henry wasn’t in the room anymore. Ray told them Mary had taken Henry to his old room. Henry was still unconscious, even if his condition was stable, and Mary was keeping an eye on him.
“I was so worried,” Ciara said, still clinging onto Jenna.
Ciara wasn’t the type to talk about her feelings lightly, so hearing those words meant a lot.
“I’m fine,” Jenna said and smiled. “According to Mary, you were a big help.”
***
CIARA HAD FALLEN ASLEEP on Mary and Ray’s bed with Jenna. They were both asleep when Liam checked on them.
His mother was still up with his father. They were keeping an eye on Henry in case there were any complications.
Liam sat alone in the living room.
It had been a crazy day.
When he had heard about the attack at Henry’s flat, he had thought first about Ciara. He had assumed she was there, too. Even though the worry for his little brother and Jenna had left him feeling sick to his core, he had been relieved to see Ciara alive and fine.
More relieved than he should have been.
At first the members had suspected the witch hunters had kidnapped Ciara or even killed her. When Liam had heard that, he had nearly lost his mind. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing Ciara.
It was wrong for him to care so much. He was about to marry another woman.
Liam didn’t even know if Iris was home or not. He hadn’t heard from her after she had gone to tend to the other injured members. He had told her he wouldn’t be home until morning.
He sat alone with those thoughts for a long while before he made his way upstairs to his brother’s old room. He opened the door, and his parents turned to face him.
“How is he?” Liam asked, turning to look at his pale, unconscious little brother lying on the bed. Henry was breathing, but other than that, he wasn’t moving.
“He’ll be fine,” Mary said. Her eyes barely stayed open, but some colour had returned to her cheeks.
“Will he wake up soon?”
“Probably tomorrow.”
“We’ll let you know right away,” Ray said. “Go home and get some rest.”
Liam nodded. “Ciara is asleep with Jenna.”
“Let them get some sleep. They need it,” Mary said. She had already heard about Doherty and everything that had happened. She knew what Ciara had been through.
“Sure.” Liam nodded and turned to look at his brother again. “Call me when Henry wakes up, okay?”
“Of course,” Mary said, nodding. “Try to get some sleep.”