“You will not kill another member of my family on my church grounds.” His voice is ice. Pure power.
The Irish freeze.
“She chose my son,” my father continues. “We came to you in respect. But you came with blood. So now you’ll drown in it. Today you lost your brother. Tomorrow, you’ll lose more. Walk away, Liam, while you still can. We spare your family and keep away from each other.”
Liam’s face is stone. Fury. Hatred. But even he knows, this is the beginning. The spark that will burn everything down.
He lifts his hands, and a few of the men come closer and pick up Aoife’s father and take him away.
Conor locks eyes with me, and I smile, he won’t win this fight and he knows it. Without a word, without looking at Aoife, he walks away.
Liam’s still standing in front of me, then his eyes cut to Aoife, hollow, cold. “You should’ve died before you left.” Now he pisses me off, and he can fucking talk to me, not her.
I step in front of her, blocking his view of her, placing my body between them. “She was reborn the second she did.” I take a step closer to him. “She’s one of us now, touch her, I’ll burn you.”
One of the Irish men pulls Liam away from me, knowing they’ve lost, as he walks away Aoife stands in front of me, and wraps her arms around me.
I kiss the top of her head and hold her tight in my arms. “I will always protect you,” I whisper to her, and I feel her body relax with my words.
“The war never ends. But at least now, I know who I’d die for.”
Epilogue 2
We’re back.
Two weeks since my father was shot, and no one from my side of the family has spoken to me. My mother hasn't tried to get in touch either. I knew she wouldn’t. I’m in bed with the family who killed her husband. The funeral was today, Matteo asked if I wanted to go, we could stand in the back no one would know we were there. I told him no, I don’t belong there anymore, there is no place there for me.
Blackstone’s ancient stones rise like teeth in the fog, silent and waiting. The halls smell like smoke and secrets, just like they always have. But now? I walk them with something else in my chest.
Not fear.
Not shame.
Power.
I slip through the corridors like I belong. Because maybe… maybe now I do.
The night air is sharp as I push the roof door open. The sea wind punches into me, strong enough to peel the breath from mylungs. I walk barefoot to the ledge. The stone’s cold beneath my feet. Familiar.
I sit in the same place I nearly died. My legs dangle off the edge.
I close my eyes.
I remember how it felt that night when I was ready to fall. When everything inside me screamed and no one could hear.
But tonight?
I feelalive.
“Storm’s coming,” Matteo’s voice says behind me.
I don’t flinch. I don’t turn.
“Let it come,” I reply.
A beat of silence. Then, his body lowers beside mine. His warmth leans into my shoulder, but he doesn’t speak. We just sit, breathing with the wind.
This is our space, this is our place, and I love being here with him.
