Chapter 26 Declan
DECLAN
Darkness. That's all there is. Like I'm sinking through heavy, black water. Everything around me is muffled and distant.
I hear voices, but I can't see anyone, I can't move. I try to speak, but my tongue is stone. My body burns. Not a sharp fire, more like a deep, throbbing heat that pulses from my ribs outward.
Heavy. So goddamn heavy.
Flashes come back in bursts. The alley. The ambush. Fire. The sting of the knife. "The Phantom King sends his regards." The business card. SHADOWHARBOR FOUNDATION. The black feathers. So many of them. Blood, my blood, and then, nothing.
I try to speak again, and I manage to groan. Or I think I do. The sound barely registers. But my throat feels like sandpaper.
I try to open my eyes and on the third attempt, I see it.
Light.
Just a flicker at first, but it's too bright. I blink, and the ceiling above me swims into focus.
Oh god, everything's burning. My side. My lungs. My fucking ribs.
I hear a woman's voice, soft, angry maybe. Is that Lyra? Did I make it home?
No, that's not Lyra.
I blink a few more times and slowly, the ceiling comes into focus. Crown molding around the edges. A crystal chandelier hanging overhead. I recognize it.
I'm home.
My head turns in slow motion and I see IV bags suspended from a coat rack someone's dragged next to me. I lift my head slightly, and see I'm lying on my dining room table, medical supplies, coated in red, litter the surface and floor.
"Jesus, you're awake," the familiar voice says, stepping forward. "Can you hear me?"
It's Keira.
She's got her red hair in a messy bun and worry is etched across her face.
I grunt and try to sit up, but pain shoots through my left side like I've been struck by lightning. "Fuck," I rasp, falling back.
"Don't fucking move too much." Keira appears above me and motions to my side. "She stitched you up."
I blink, trying to shake the fog from my brain. "What the hell happened?"
Keira grabs a nearby water bottle, opens it, and helps me sip. The coolness stings, but I drink it down.
"The short version, Dec, is that you almost died, and your little nurse friend saved your ass."
My chest tightens. "What? Where is she?" I look around the room, trying to spot Lyra, but only see Shane and another of my men standing by the door.
Keira comes closer, grabbing my hand in hers. "Hey, don't worry. She's all right." Her voice softens. "I guess she gave you too much blood and passed out. Some classic ride-or-die shit. They took her into a bedroom. She's resting. Callum's checking on her now."
In my mind, I want nothing more than to see her, to make sure she's safe. But the fear in Keira's eyes tells me she was terrified.
"I'm okay, Keira," I say, squeezing her hand.
"You better be." She wipes under her eye quickly. "You fucking scared me, asshole."
"Sorry," I say with a weak smile. "You're not rid of me yet, sis."
She scoffs and smiles. "Goddamn right I'm not." Her eyes glance back to the blood-stained gauze taped to my side. "So what the hell happened?"
I pause. The truth is right at the tip of my tongue. Shadowharbor. The Phantom King. The card. The feathers. The kill order that was meant for me.
But I can't tell her. Not yet.
"Was it those damn Albanians?" Keira asks, her eyes narrowing. "I told you to be careful about her."
"Yes," I lie. If she thinks it's them, I can regroup and go after this fucking Phantom King person and kill him with my bare hands. Let her not worry, let Callum play the Don role. It's too personal now. Shit, I mean, I almost fucking died.
"But," I wince, trying to move again, "it's not her fault. I think it's more to do with what I did to them after Joyce than her. That's why they came back."
"What do you mean 'came back'?" Keira asks.
"Their Don, uh, Amar."
"What about him?"
"He crawled out of whatever hole he was in and was trying to assemble a crew. I may have killed him."
"What?!" Keira hits my arm.
I wince, pain radiating from the impact. "Fuck, Keira."
"Shit, sorry." She pulls back. "You just can't go around killing mafia heads without talking to Dad, or, Callum now I guess."
"I know, it just happened. I was basically finishing what I started."
"Apparently not," Keira says, motioning at me from head to toe.
"Well, yeah..." I admit.
"Don't be mad, sis, and don't be mad at her."
"Declan," she sighs, rubbing her temples. "I love you more than anyone. We shared a fucking womb, okay? But if someone is bringing danger to you, even if you're screwing them or whatever it is you two are doing, I'm not gonna sit around and watch it happen."
"Keira. I promise. She had nothing to do with it."
I can see Keira looking at me, eyes guarded, thinking. I know it's not judgment. It's fear. For me, but I can't reveal everything just yet.
"Can you do me a favor please?" I ask. "Can you go check on her? Make sure she's okay?"
She studies me for a moment, then nods slowly.
"Yeah," she says. "Yeah, okay. I'll be right back."
She gives my hand one last squeeze and walks away.
Before she disappears, I call out to her, "And remember Keira, she saved my life."
When she's gone, I let my head fall back against the table, my muscles trembling.
I try to shift my position again. The pain is excruciating, but I need to see the damage. I lift my head slightly and look down at my torso. Lyra bandaged me up, but blood has already seeped through in places.
Shane approaches the table. "Boss, you really shouldn't move. You lost a lot of blood. If it weren't for your girl..." He trails off, shaking his head.
"How bad was it?" I ask.
"Bad. Knife went deep. She stitched you up right here on the table. Fucking craziest thing ever, man. When you passed out in the car, I thought that was it."
"Is she okay?"
Shane's eyes widen. "You're not going to believe this. She used her own blood. Stuck a needle in her arm and filled a bag. Direct transfusion. Said she's a universal donor. We had no fucking clue. She just knew what to do."
The thought of Lyra giving me her blood, her life force flowing into my veins, sends a strange warmth through me. She didn't just save me, she gave a part of herself to do it.
"And then she passed out?" I ask.
"Yeah, right after the transfusion. She was holding the bag up, trying to get the blood into you faster, then she just dropped. I caught her before she hit the floor."
I try to swallow, but my throat's dry as sandpaper.
"The card," I say suddenly. "From the attacker's pocket. Where is it?"
Shane reaches into his jacket and pulls out the business card, slightly bloodstained at the corner. "Shadowharbor Foundation. Never heard of it."
"And the feathers?"
"Got those too in the car," he said, nodding to my driveway. "Same as the ones we found with Knox and at the warehouse. What the fuck is going on, boss?"
"I don't know yet. But we're going to find out."
Callum walks in, his face grim. He's dressed impeccably as always, not a hair out of place, but his eyes betray his concern.
"You look like shit," he says, approaching the table.
"Thanks," I reply. "How's Lyra?"
"Your medic? She's fine. Just exhausted. Keira's going to bring her in now." He glances at the bandages. "She did good work. Saved your life, huh?"
"She did," I confirm.
Callum's jaw tightens. "Shane told me what happened. An ambush at Frank's gym?"
I nod. "They were waiting for us. Had men on the roof, both ends of the alley. Professional hit."
"Albanians?" Callum asks, raising an eyebrow.
I hesitate. Callum's always been able to tell when I'm lying. But I need time, time to heal, time to investigate, time to plan my revenge without family interference.
"Yeah," I say finally. "Payback for what I did to Amar and his crew."
Callum studies me for a long moment, his eyes boring into mine. "And that's all?"
"That's all," I lie.
He doesn't believe me, I can see it in his face, but he doesn't push. Instead, he sighs. "We'll discuss this more when you're stronger. For now, don't kill heads of mafia families, okay?"
"Deal," I say.
"And when the time's right, brother, let's move you to a bed, have one of your doctors come and check things over."
"Okay."
"Actually, sir, if you want, we can move him now?" Shane asks.
Callum looks down at me. "Yeah, good idea," he says and calls in a few other men and they and Shane crowded around me.
"I made a room up for him down the hall, I'll show you," Nina says somewhere out of view.
As they prepare to move me, my thoughts drift to this Phantom King, whoever the fuck he is, and that he's going to pay dearly for this. But first, I need to heal. And I need to make sure Lyra is okay and thank her, because she didn't just save my life. She gave me a reason to keep living.
Shane and the others position themselves on either side of me. "On three," Callum instructs. "One, two, three."
They lift me, and pain tears through my side like a hot poker. Black spots dance in my vision, and I struggle to remain conscious as they carry me from the dining room.
I catch a glimpse of the bloody table as we leave, evidence of how close I came to death, and of the woman who pulled me back from the edge.