"Reilan," I say carefully. "Thank you for staying with me last night. But William's right." The words taste bitter. "His security team is already here. They're prepared. It makes sense to go with them."
Reilan's eyes search my face. Looking for what? Confirmation that I'm okay? Permission to leave? I'm not sure.
"I'll call you as soon as I hear anything," I promise. "The second Father wakes up, you'll know."
He nods slowly. "Okay. But, Aoife…" He moves closer, voice dropping so only I can hear. "You don't have to do this. Any of this. If you want out, if you want to walk away from the Murphys and this whole mess, just say the word. I'll handle Father. I'll handle the Elders."
The offer is tempting. So tempting. But we both know it's impossible.
"There's no walking away from this," I tell him quietly. "Not anymore. Not after last night."
Something like grief crosses his face. Then he pulls me into a hug, holding tight for a long moment. "Be careful," he whispers against my hair. "Please."
"I will."
He releases me and steps back. Nods once to William, who returns the gesture. Some kind of masculine understanding I'm not privy to.
Then Reilan leaves, and I'm alone with William and the security team and my unconscious father.
I turn back to the bed. Lean down one more time. "I'll be back soon," I whisper. "I promise. Just...just keep fighting. Okay?"
Father's chest rises and falls with mechanical precision. He doesn't respond. Can't respond. But I pretend he hears me anyway.
I straighten, turning to William. "Let's go."
He nods once, then moves to the door. Opens it, checks the hallway. Security mobilizes around us as we leave Father's room.
The walk through the hospital is a blur. Corridors. Elevators. More corridors. People stare, but I don't care. Let them look. Let them see the blood and the exhaustion and the rage barely contained beneath my skin.
The SUV is waiting exactly where we left it last night. William opens the back door, and I slide in without comment. Hefollows, settling beside me with that same tense alertness he had on the drive here.
The door shuts. The engine starts.
And as we pull away from the hospital, I watch it disappear in the side mirror. Watch the building get smaller and smaller until it's just a shape in the distance.
My father is in there. Fighting. Surviving.
And I'm out here, being driven back to the Murphy house by the man I'm supposed to marry. The man whose family's enemies put my father in that hospital bed.
The man who just told me it's not a request.
I lean my head back against the seat and close my eyes. Not to sleep. Just to block out the world for a few minutes.
To pretend, for just a moment, that when I open them again, everything will be different.
But I know better.
This is my life now.
And there's no escape.
CHAPTER EIGHT
William
THE DRIVE BACK to my house is silent except for the hum of the engine and the occasional crackle of the security team's radios. Aoife sits beside me in the backseat, staring out the window at nothing. Her hands are folded in her lap, perfectly still. Too still.
She hasn't said a word since we left the hospital.
