19. Chapter 19 Finn
Chapter 19: Finn
I t was the settled bliss that should have alerted me to the fact that something was coming. It was only a few weeks later when raised voices, and the thud of running footsteps had me on my feet. It burst open to reveal a harried-looking Seamus, his shoulders tense.
"What's going on?" I demanded.
"It's the girl," Seamus said, his voice tight with an emotion I couldn't quite place. "Anatoly's daughter. She's here, at the gate. Asking for sanctuary."
I blinked, sure I must have heard him wrong. "I'm sorry, what? Anatoly's daughter is here? Alone?"
Seamus nodded, his jaw clenching. "Aye. And in a bad way, from the looks of it. Guards said she was beaten to hell, barely able to stand on her own two feet."
A cold knot formed in my gut, a sinking sense of dread. Anatoly's daughter. I remembered her from that tense meeting a few months ago. A little slip of a girl with big blue eyes and a shy smile. She'd clung to her father's side, young and innocent, untouched by the darkness that surrounded her.
"Take me to her," I said quietly, already moving towards the door. "And send someone to fetch Cara. She'll want to know about this."
Seamus fell into step beside me. I could feel the tension radiating off him. Seamus was a hard man, a ruthless one when the situation called for it, but he wasn't usually one to get worked up over an unexpected visitor, even one with ties to a former enemy.
"You seem on edge, my friend," I said. "Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Seamus's steps faltered, just for a second, before he caught himself and continued on. "I remember the girl, is all," he said gruffly, not quite meeting my gaze. "From the last time. She was... she didn't belong in this world of ours.” He hesitated. “Reminded me of Molly. My little sister.” Seamus did the sign of the cross. “She was the reason I become who I am today. She was a sacrifice that should never have happened.”
I clapped Seamus on his meaty shoulder. I knew his story and how he blames himself for his sister being taken and killed by some thugs working their way in the system. Something had died in him that day and a darkness had taken hold on him. One he couldn’t shake.
We reached the front gate in record time, Seamus practically vibrating with impatience as the guards hauled open the reinforced steel doors. And there, huddled on the ground with a blanket around her shaking shoulders was Anatoly's daughter.
My heart clenched at the sight of her, bile rising in my throat. She was a mess, her pretty face mottled with bruises, her lip split and swollen. She clutched the blanket tighter around herself as we approached, her eyes wide and glassy with shock.
"It's all right, lass," I said gently, crouching down to her level. "You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you here."
She stared at me for a long moment, tears welling up to spill down her cheeks. Then, to my utter shock, she launched herself into my arms, a broken sob tearing from her throat as she buried her face in my shoulder.
I froze, my arms hovering awkwardly in the air before coming to rest on her back. I could feel her trembling, could feel the hitch and shudder of her breathing as she cried into my shirt.
Over her head, I met Seamus's gaze. His hands flexed at his sides, like he was physically restraining himself from wanting to hit something. Anything.
"What's your name, sweetheart?" I asked quietly, rubbing a soothing hand down her back. "I'm Finn, and this is Seamus. We're going to help you, all right?"
She sniffled, raising her head to peer at me through a curtain of matted hair. "N-Natasha," she whispered, her voice hoarse and wavering. "My name is Natasha."
"Natasha," I repeated, offering her a small, reassuring smile. "That's a beautiful name. Can you tell me what happened, Natasha? How did you end up here, at our gates?"
Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, her lower lip trembling. “Piotr. He has killed my father, and told me I was to marry him now so he could become head of the family. And he..he..”
My blood ran cold, a sickening understanding dawning. "Natasha. Did he touch you?”
Natasha shook her head. “He tried but my aunt intervened. She stopped him and told me to run.” Natasha looked at Seamus. “Please. Please we have to save my aunt. They’ll kill her.”
Beside me, Seamus growled. I understood the feeling. Fifteen years old. Still a fucking child, and all for a position. A title. Fuck, the aunt must have balls of steel.
"You were right to come here," I told Natasha, gently pushing to my feet and bringing her with me. She swayed on unsteady legs, glancing uncertainly between myself and Seamus.
"The Emerald Queen... she’ll help my aunt wont she?" she asked tremulously, fresh fear flashing in her haunted eyes. "Please, I can’t leave her there.”
"Hush now, lass," Seamus cut in, his voice low and soothing. He took a careful step forward. "We’ll help where we can. And you’re safe here. No one will touch you here. Cara'll rip the balls off any man who tries, and I'll be first in line to help her."
Natasha blinked rapidly, her lips parting in surprise. I couldn't blame her. Seamus was a hard man to read at the best of times, but the gentle, careful way he was addressing her now, it was a side of him I'd never glimpsed before.
A door opened behind us, the click of heels on concrete snapping me out of my reverie. I turned to see Cara striding towards us. She took in the scene with a single sweeping glance, her eyes lingering on Natasha's battered face, on the way she huddled into my side like a frightened child.
"Who hurt this girl?" she asked, her voice steely calm even as her eyes flashed with a familiar, barely-restrained fury. "Finn? Seamus? Someone want to fill me in?"
I opened my mouth to respond, but Natasha beat me to it. She pulled away from me and stumbled towards Cara, fresh tears streaking her bruised cheeks.
"Please," she whispered brokenly, sinking to her knees at Cara's feet. "Please, I beg you... help my aunt. I'll do anything, be anything you want. Just please don’t leave her to that man.”
Cara's face softened, her eyes gleaming with a fierce, protective light that I knew all too well. She crouched down, her hands coming up to frame Natasha's face.
"Of course honey," she breathed, her thumb stroking over a livid bruise. "Get a room prepared for her," Cara said briskly, already guiding Natasha towards the compound. "And call the doctor. I want her injuries tended to immediately."
She helped Natasha to her feet, wrapping an arm around the shaking girl's shoulders. Her gaze found mine over Natasha's bowed head. We had been here before, Cara and I. Seen the scars men leave behind who saw softness as weakness and innocence as an invitation.
"We'll need to send a message. They have killed Anatoly, and Natasha was going to be made marry the fucker who did it. Her aunt saved her," I added, falling into step beside them.
"We'll send the message," I said evenly, holding Seamus's gaze until he gave a tight, jerky nod. "Natasha stays with us, for as long as she needs. And we go after the aunt now."
Cara agreed as she looked down at Natasha. "You’re one of us now. We protect our own.”
Natasha looked up at her, hope overtaking the pain and fear in her eyes. "You... you would do that? For me? But you don't even know me..."
Cara smiled, a small, sad thing that made my heart clench. "I don't have to, sweetie. I've been where you are. I've survived what you survived. And I'll be damned if I let anyone else endure that kind of hell, not when I have the power to stop it."
Cara stopped. “Get everyone together. We save the aunt and bring her back here.”
Cara was right. We protected our own. And now we prepare for war.