34. Maeve
MAEVE
The following night, with Killian at my side, I close my door and stalk into the woods beside the Board’s rented cabin. Far into the woods of Maine, and therefore supposedly safe, they’re hiding in this monstrous home, waiting for Doyle’s confirmation of a successful kill.
They’re going to have to wait a long time. After ripping his heart from his chest, Killian brought it home and put it in a jar. It sits proudly on his desk—a symbol of my commitment to him and his to me.
We’re not normal. We’ve never been. I should have known, being society’s normal was unattainable for someone who could cut someone’s heart out and not think twice. There is no guilt—no shame. Only a peacefulness that comes from giving into the darkness and succumbing to it.
I was forged from these terrible acts—I won’t be ashamed of it any longer.
Rounding the trunk, three more vehicles pull up behind us. Most are blacked-out SUVs, with one Aston Martin with a throaty engine.
“Who’s that?” I ask, glancing at the Reaper. He pulls aside a few blankets, grabs a semi-automatic gun, and then cocks it. Holding it to his chest, he sighs, as if asking for patience.
“You’ll see.”
Out of the first vehicle, Lex slides out. Dressed in a dark sweater and jeans, he looks like one of us—boots, black gloves, and a gun on his hip. After what went down in his club, I wasn’t sure he’d be on our side.
Until I see the back door open and Nico limps out.
Cold fear wedges into my gut. Rushing to him, I stop short of touching him.
“What are you doing here?” Why did the doctors not tell me he was getting out?
Nico waves me away, hobbling closer on his cane. In a simple suit, I worry about the cold agitating his wounds. Bandages still wrap around his body, poking up under his shirt.
Gulping, I cross my arms to keep from hugging him.
“You thought I wouldn’t come to this?”
“You’re supposed to be in a hospital.”
Lex scoffs. “I said the same. He snuck out against medical advice. They weren’t too pleased with him.”
He tsks. “The Board is sticking its nose into business that doesn’t concern it.” He turns toward me, his dark eyes heavy. “They’re coming after my family. They took my Maria.” The pain in his voice causes a lump to form in my throat. “I will not stay back and let them get away with it.”
“Nico—”
“No,” he interrupts. Standing before me, he sighs, scanning my face.
He takes in the worry—the fear—that I try to hide and gently taps my cheek affectionately.
Lex’s eyes widen in the shadows. “When I found you as a child, I told you that you were safe with me. And when we made our deals, I knew what would happen should we be found out. Maria knew—and still, we chose to stand by you.”
My throat tightens, but I don’t dare look away—blink. I can’t.
“You are our family, Ace,” he murmurs. “Family is not always blood, piccola. It’s who will be here when you need it most.”
He taps my cheek again—three times—before lifting my knuckles to kiss them demurely. Killian steps behind me, and if not for his hand on my hip, I would’ve fallen into a pile of tears, emotions be damned.
All I wanted was to be seen—to be loved. Killian gave me that, and now Nico has too.
Blinking rapidly, I clear my throat, avoiding the remaining men who surround us. Some are my trusted clansmen, and others are Lex’s men, vetted by Briar.
Once this is over, I’ll have to clean house. But that’s a tomorrow problem.
Handing me my Eagle, I exhale as the last car’s door opens. Through the darkness, I squint, waiting for the person to cut through the lights. I need to get this moving before the element of surprise is taken from us.
The crunch of footsteps in the iced-over snow claws at my ears. I know those steps—the heavy heels, the clunk of boots. I helped him learn those steps.
“Briar?”
My baby brother stops before me, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets. A dark sweatshirt covers his body, the hood up, covering his head, but I see his eyes. Like the rest of the O’Brien siblings, his emerald green eyes cut through the darkness and land squarely on me.
“Hey, sis.”
Grabbing him by the collar, I swing him around, throwing him into the back of my G-class. His huff of pain doesn’t break the haze of fucking terror coursing through me.
He’s supposed to be in hiding. What the hell–
“You’re not supposed to be here,” I snarl. “We had a fucking deal, kid. You stay hidden, and I keep you covered. What the fuck?—”
“And what?” He tugs his shirt down, rubbing his neck. He towers over me, but we both know I’l beat his ass if he dares to make a move. “Let the Board—those dipshits—kill you?” He lowers his face into mine, daring me to smack him. “I won’t let you die because you’re too stubborn to ask for help.”
“I have help.” My eyes cut to Killian. “And I have this covered. You being here paints a target on your back. If someone here talks–”
My blood runs cold. There are too many variables. If someone talks, my brother is dead.
The little bastard shrugs. Would it be wrong to stab him—just in the shoulder? It’d certainly make me feel better.
It doesn’t help that he’s a spitting image of Ferguson in his youth. I may resemble Ferguson–in rage, calculating mind, ruthlessness–but Briar could be his twin.
“Brother like sister, then,” he quips. Fucking Christ, I’m going to murder him. “Besides, you could use me.”
Holding up a little screen, my eyes snag on the images moving. In a grainy black-and-white video, I can clearly see the inside of the cabin, filmed for our viewing pleasure.
“You hacked their cameras?”
He gives me a bored look as if to say, “Duh.”
I forgot he and Sloane share the same attitude. Doesn’t make me want to kill him any less.
“See? You need me.”
“We don’t have time, Princess,” Killian barges in. “The Board is expecting Doyle to respond any minute now. We need to go on the attack.”
“Fine.” Giving my brother one final glare, I point to the car. “You stay here. Give us updates via communication.”
He has the balls to pout.
Lex passes out earpieces as the men ready their weapons.
Slipping my knives into my jeans, I toss my leather jacket into the car.
I take an extra gun from the trunk and slip extra ammunition into my pockets.
Killian does the same, checking the barrels of all our guns, as if it’s a compulsion.
It probably is—this is his way of caring for me.
He can’t keep me from fighting, but he can make sure I’m covered.
Nico nods at me, holding a gun. I give Lex a hard look, but he shrugs. Neither of us can make the old capo sit this out, and although my heart cracks at seeing him hurt again, he needs this. He wants revenge.
Fuck, I can appreciate that. I want the same.
“We go on your orders,” Lex says, cocking his gun. “It’s your vendetta.”
“How’d those words taste?”
“Like gasoline,” he mutters.
Gesturing to the men, I devise a plan to split up. Nico is slower, so he goes with the bigger group of men. Giving each of them a look, I make it known I will kill every single one of them if he ends up hurt again. I don’t care if he trips—their lives are forfeit.
Turning toward the front, Killian grabs my arm. Briar sits in the trunk, legs hanging as he clicks away at his computer, and Lex stalks to the front entrance, keeping hidden in the dark leaves of the bordering trees. Alone, he lowers his head.
“I need to say something.”
I pause, waiting a moment, before I wave my hands. “We don’t have time to fuck around?—”
“I love you.”
My mouth snaps shut. Taking in his black eyes—the kind that could fill me with unimaginable dread or fiery passion—to the small smirk lingering on his lips, I tilt my head.
“I know.” I roll my eyes. Honestly, this right now? “We’re about to walk into a gunfight, and you decided you needed to tell me this?”
He blinks and then chuckles, shaking his head. “I thought it was appropriate to tell you before possibly dying.”
Stepping close, I pat his chest—right over my mark. A permanent reminder of who owns him. “Pup, we both know I’m not allowed to die. You won’t let me.”
Crushing my hips in his hands, he presses his forehead to mine. “No. I won’t.”
It’s a dark promise, and Hell, if I don’t love it. I want to sink into his words, melt into his touch, and forget about the Board—all our problems—until it’s just him and me. Until the outside world blurs, and the nightmares disappear. But that’s not our life—not our fate.
I know, when the dust clears and the bullets stop, Killian will still be here. He won’t leave me again—not unless the Grim Reaper himself calls us home, and even then, he’ll haunt me for eternity.
There’s a comfort in that. I’ll never be alone again–not with him here. Gently, I kiss his lips and inhale his unique scent.
“Ready?” he asks, licking my mouth. One final taste.
“Obviously.” Grinning, I pull back and lead the way through the small path, boots crunching in the now. Killian follows closely, with Lex further back, covering us. The static in my ear turns off, and Briar’s voice floats through.
“If you all are done playing grab ass,” he says, smooth words irritating me, “we have a patrol coming through.”
I take the tree closest to the property line, and Lex leans against me. I see the two soldiers, carrying guns larger than my thigh. Tall, broad shoulders, they look intimidating—but I know better.
Lex leans down. “Where’s the Reaper?”
“Watch.”
This must be new for Lex. He’s used to being the heir—training alone, taking over the books, being hand-selected by Nico to run the entire family.
Killian and I were pitted against each other, then forced to work together and learn on our own.
He heard a patrol coming, and we slipped into old patterns.
Dropping down behind them from the low overhanging porch, he kicks one forward, slicing the other’s neck. He gurgles, tossed into the snow, before Killian turns back to the fallen man. Hovering over him, he braces one forearm against his neck and places his hands on his skull.