‘From what I managed to get out of Ruaridh, it sounds like from the day he met you. Hasn’t had a moment's rest all winter.’
‘Oh.’
What does that mean? It doesn’t change my anxiety, in fact it makes my suspicion rise because why would he do something like that?
‘Isla, I will always support you in whatever you decide and want to do.’ Fauna grips my hand. ‘If you want to leave them all behind just say the words and I’ll pack us up and we will never look back.’
‘Thank you,’ I sniffle. ‘Can I have a minute?’
She nods, jumping up to walk to the door. ‘I’ve got your back no matter what. Chicks before dicks remember.’
I let out a watery giggle as she leaves. Eternally grateful for her loyalty.
Rubbing my belly I consider my future and how it’s rapidly changing.
I let my head fall back against the white-washed walls and groan.
What the fuck am I going to do?
Chapter eight
Isla
‘You’re right. We don’t know them and it goes against every warning we’ve ever told each other, but it could also solve every problem we have as well.’ Amelia solemnly looks in my direction, the unspoken problem being one that is housed by my womb.
Amelia, being one of the willing ones to join The Skulls in their fortress of a stadium, has been unexpected, and Luna’s silence besides me shows that she thinks so too. We both know that out of everyone she has every right to demand that we do not do this, and that strangers are not to be trusted. But the sad reality is that even people we know can’t be trusted. I know that from experience.
I haven’t let anyone as close as I’d let Stephanie get to me. And seeing the masked Skull — Liam, who these past months has distracted my thoughts and completely altered my future — has brought it all back, the suspicion and the doubt. These past few months I could allow myself to dream about having him, trusting him, because he couldn’t hurt me there, but now it is all too real. I will never let anyone hurt me like she did, like I know he will.
But I need to do what is right for my baby and this group.
‘Amelia is right,’ I clear my throat. ‘We have gained a few… curve balls along the way, and this changes everything. I can’t promise what the others will be like but I know Ru and Vish and they would never let any of the fucked up things we have seen and experienced…’ I pause as the others bristle. ‘They wouldn’t be apart of that, I know it.’
‘Ruaridh helped Faun whilst she was out there.’ Amelia averts my gaze as she adds, ‘Liam risked his life for her, too. Someone who he had never even met. Vishrut ran into here not knowing what type of danger he was sprinting into but did it without question.’
A few glances my way as they recall how attentive Vish had been. He hadn’t left my side the whole time I was unconscious, even when two of his guys were out there risking their lives. Then again when my emotions were at war with eachother over Liam’s arrival.
When the footsteps outside the nurse's office had finally fallen silent, I’d thought it meant that Liam had given up on me.
So when I’d decided to join any discussions about our options, I’d gladly opened the door, thinking I could face my quickly changing world without the threat of his presence.
But I was wrong.
Liam doesn’t give up so easily.
His face was the first thing I saw when I exited the room. He leaned back against the wall with his handsome face twisted into a look of pain. The sharp pinch between his brows and firm set of his jaw gave away his inner turmoil as his eyes fixated on the ground. He hadn’t realised I was there at first, giving me the opportunity to observe him. Despite his tortured features he was handsome in a way that I have only seen described in books. His face was so unfamiliar to me but his strong shoulders and muscled arms were imprinted into the deepest depths of my consciousness. Such a conundrum: to know and not know a person at the same time.
With the snick of the door closing, Liam glanced up, but the expression plastered on my face must have been warning enough for him because he didn’t try to speak to me, and for that, I am silently grateful.
‘We can’t keep travelling up north if what the Skull told Fauna is true,’ Liz states, her tone even and calculating as she interrupts my recollection. Liz is the most silent of the group, so when she speaks, we all listen.
Luna clears her throat. ‘We’ve been on the move for years now. Situations have changed, not just Isla’s pregnancy and family reunions but whatever relationship Fauna has found. It is rare enough to find friendship in this world. It’s unfair to expect either of them to walk away from this.’
We’ve all turned now, our full attention on the two as they advocate for Fauna and pride blooms in my chest because they are protecting Fauna from herself. As soon as she walks through that door, we each know she wouldn’t think twice about denying herself happiness if it meant doing what the others wanted, and despite my own feelings of wanting to run away, I won't let her either.
Nothing in me wants to join the group that the mysterious man is a part of. And I haven’t even begun to think of howI feel about living with Vish and my brother after all of these years. They both left me for dead, and I am not anywhere near forgiving them for it. And Liam… Liam I can’t think about, I won't let myself think about.
‘What if we’re walking into a trap?’ A few hums of agreement follow Eloise’s question.
