28. Liam
Bullet after bullet goes flying through the air, meeting their mark. My ears continue to ring from the explosive that was detonated. The bodies are piling, and it seems never-ending. Blood coats every surface of the building but it’s not enough.
It will never be enough.
I want the blood of every person involved in tonight’s event to spill.
“Move! Move! Move!” I order as we make our way through the chaos. We kill every person in our way. Every one of them is vile and doesn’t deserve to draw in another breath.
Emily was fucking missing for months, and I didn’t know. I didn’t fucking know. I shouldn’t have given her the space she demanded. I shouldn’t have let her leave for Ireland. I shouldn’t have walked away.
Rage and desperation flow through my veins at an alarming rate. Every second that passes is another second that Emily is locked somewhere in this God-forsaken place.
Declan and Rhys assigned me to come through the front with Cormac’s men rather than accompanying them through the basement. I wanted to object but we would have lost precious time to get to her and I refuse to allow her to continue to suffer.
“There are women and children coming up through the halls, make sure you don’t shoot them!” Declan shouts through the comms. Moments later, the hallways are flooded with skeletal frames running in tattered clothes.
My heart drops at their appearances. Emily likely looks just as sickly and I’m struggling to stomach it.
“Make a path for them to run out,” I order and the men behind me follow suit.
I continue through the carnage, shooting with the precision I’m known for. I follow the path the women and children are running from. With my gun still raised, I walk down the long and dark staircase that leads to the lower levels.
I can’t hear anything but the sound of my heart pounding with each step I take. The temperature drops the lower I get and the smell of blood, sweat, piss, and sex begins to invade my sinuses.
At the end of the stairwell, I freeze. Cells upon cells make up the majority of the space along the walls. There are random holes in the ground with grates over them. Declan and Rhys are shouting for Emily and Paige.
In my peripheral, a man tries to barrel into me, but I quickly spin, raise my gun, and shoot him in between the eyes. He drops to the floor and slides until his dead body stops at my feet.
“Declan!” Emily’s shriek sends my body into motion and I’m running in Declan's direction. I don’t bother shooting at anyone since the rest of our men have now entered the basement.
I come to a screeching halt when I see Emily in Declan’s arms. Her cries of relief quickly turn into cries of agony and grief when Declan asks where Paige is.
“Declan!” Rhys shouts and we turn to see him carrying a limp Paige in his arms. Declan hands Emily over to me and I pull her into my arms.
She clings to me and sobs.
“Féileacán,” I murmur. Her frame is so small and frail, I’m afraid I’m going to break her.
I repeatedly stroke her matted hair and watch as Declan presses his forehead to Paige’s.
After a moment of him sitting like that, he lays Paige on the concrete floor and begins chest compressions.
I don’t register the conversation Rhys and Emily have as I watch him continue to alternate between chest compressions and breathing air into her lungs.
Emily is trembling in my arms, and I pull her in closer to try and warm her. She looks up at me and I clench my jaw at the sight of the swelling and bruises that litter her beautiful face.
“Oh, Emily…” I whisper and her lip trembles. Her eyes are no longer bright. Her skin is ashen. Her cheekbones and shoulder bones are frighteningly prominent.
“She’s alive!” Declan yells and Emily begins to sob into my chest.
“I’m here, Féileacán, I’m here.” I lay my cheek on her head and resume stroking her hair.
Declan stands with Paige’s body in his arms and leaves after ordering Rhys to bring any survivors to his cellar at the estate.
“Let’s get you out of here,” I say to Emily and scoop her into my arms. She’s so alarmingly light that I don’t know how much longer she would have survived before dying from starvation. She leans her head against my shoulder, and I carry her out of the basement.