“Cavin.” Declan's voice cuts through the chaos. “We need him alive. We need information.”
“He tried to take her from me,” Cavin says, sounding barely human. Blood pours from his nose. His lip is split open. He wobbles on his feet but doesn't let go. He's a shark going in for the kill. “He tried to take my wife.”
For a moment, I think Cavin won't stop, that he'll squeeze until Donovan stops moving, until there's nothing left but a corpse. His grip tightens. Donovan’s struggles are weakening.
“Cavin, please,” I beg. “Don't. We need to know who else is involved. You don’t want his blood on your hands, not this way.”
Something in my voice reaches him.
“Cavin, it's not worth it. Not your cousin's blood on your hands, love. Cavin. Let them take him.”
His hands loosen just slightly, and Donovan gasps, sucking in air. Cavin hauls him up by the throat, dragging him toward the door.
“You're coming with us. And when I'm done with you, you'll wish I'd fucking killed you here.”
Around us, Donovan’s men are dead. The wooden floor is slick with blood. Seamus keeps a hand on my arm, steadying me.
Outside, the cold air hits us like a blessing. I'm shaking so hard my teeth chatter.
Cavin throws Donovan into the back of a van. The others pile in around him, keeping their weapons trained on the traitor.
Cavin turns to me, his face a mess of blood and bruises. “Are you hurt, love?” he asks, his hands hovering over me like he's afraid to touch me.
“I'm fine. You shouldn't be here. You should be in the hospital.”
“Don't fucking care,” he says roughly. “I thought I'd lost you. I thought they'd?—”
“I'm okay. I'm here.”
He kisses me hard and desperate. When he pulls away, he presses his forehead to mine.
“We're going to finish this,” he says. “All of it. No more secrets. No more tributes. I'm done playing by their fucking rules.”
Behind him, in the van, Donovan is screaming, begging. The sound is cut off abruptly, followed by the wet thud of fist meeting flesh.
“You fucking traitor,” Declan snarls from inside.
“Dr. Rosenberg?—”
“I know, love.”
Cavin's hand finds mine in the darkness and squeezes.
We're not safe yet. Not by a long shot.
But we're together.
And god help anyone who tries to take that away.
Cavin still holds his gun. “You’re wrecked, love,” I say.
“I know it,” he says, shaking his head. “I’ve had worse. We’re headed to your family’s house. Let’s see what we can find.”
When we reach my family’s home, the others file out of the van quickly. “Stand behind me. Careful, Erin,” Cavin says, slowly leading me to the front door. “We don’t know where anyone is.”
“Do you hear voices in the kitchen?”
By the time we get to the kitchen, my parents are surrounded by Seamus, Daire, and Ciarán.
