My words are like a bomb, causing several people to jump to their feet.
“Wait, what?” Rachel shouts as she tries to march over to where we are. Her partner, Tamsin, grabs her shoulder and stops her before she can.
“Rhys, what the fuck is going on?” Tobias demands at the same time. He’s being held back by a sympathetic-looking Theo.
Ollie is curled up in Alex’s arms, her small body trembling as she sobs into his bare chest. My heart breaks at the sight. All I want to do is go to her and press myself against her back while murmuring soothing words in her ear. But I can’t. Alex is more than capable of comforting her, and I don’t know if she’ll want me anywhere near her considering I’m the one potentially condemning Andy to death.
A few people—security mostly—look over at Andy with sympathy, clearly understanding what’s going on. Everyone else just looks confused.
Andy turns, his expression still carefully blank, but there’s a tremor in his hands that exposes his emotions. “Do you mind if I say goodbye to my daughter first?” he asks, his voice cracking slightly.
I swallow around the lump in my throat and nod. “Of course. There’s a storage room through that door if you’d like privacy.” I point to the door just behind him.
Andy nods. “Thank you.” He claps me on the shoulder before walking over to Rachel. He leans down and bundles her into his arms while whispering something in her ear.
Tears cascade down her cheeks and she shakes her head fervently as the two of them head to the storage and disappear inside.
Tense silence blankets the room.
And then Rachel’s screams of anguish and rage echo around the room from the storage room. Tamsin covers her mouth with her hands as tears drip down her face while Tobias stands there, looking sickly pale as he stares at the closed door. Ollie is sobbing louder into Alex’s chest. Hearing this, Theo releases Tobias and moves to sandwich her between the two of them.
This entire situation only feeds the swirling mixture of rage, grief and guilt swirling inside me. A feeling of uselessness washes over me, only adding to my anger because Ihatefeeling like this. I hate how I’m unable to do anything to stop the train wreck happening right in front of us.
My shaking hands clench into fists, and I have to grit my teeth to stop myself from unleashing my fury on the supply team that started this whole mess. The only person missing from this gathering is the idiotic fucker who opened the gate.
I’ll be flaying him later.
Finally, Rachel’s agonised cries reduce to sobs, and the two of them emerge from the storage room. She looks wrecked; her face blotchy from tears and her eyes red and puffy. She clings to her father, who’s leading her towards Tamsin, a resigned expression on his face. He deposits his daughter into the arms of her partner and turns to Tobias to whisper something into the other man’s ear before clapping his shoulder.
Tobias’s entire face crumples and tears streak his cheeks, but he doesn’t say a word, just nods and throws his arms around the other man. They hug for a moment before Andy steps back and makes his way to Ollie.
She’s still sandwiched between Alex and Theo, and while she’s no longer sobbing, tears are still running down her cheeks. The older manplaces a hand on her shoulder and murmurs something, but I can only pick up a few words likenot your faultanddon’t blame yourself.
Fuck. Is she blaming herself for what happened to Andy?
Ollie sucks in a sobbing breath and shakes her head.
“Yes,” Andy orders, his voice louder. “You will. And don’t forget that arrows are for shooting, not stabbing.” He squeezes her shoulder and walks back over to me as Ollie crumples and is quickly enveloped by Alex and Theo. “Do you have to come with me, or are you trusting me to make my way over there?”
“I’m not about to insult you. You’re free to leave whenever and I’ll be over in a few hours to make sure you’re settling in,” I tell him. There’s no way a man like him would put his family and friends in danger by disobeying my order and not isolating himself.
He nods. “Hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to grab a towel. It’s a bit nippy out there and I’d prefer to have all of my appendages. Easier burial.” He winks.
I huff a small laugh at his dark humour and motion for him to do whatever he has to do.
While he wraps himself in a towel, I stride over to where Rachel is sobbing into Tamsin’s neck. “If you’d like to go with him to the medical centre, you can,” I tell them gently. “You don’t need to be here for when I rip these idiots new assholes for what they’ve done.”
Rachel doesn’t respond. She’s too overwhelmed with her grief. Tamsin nods and murmurs a quiet thanks before she leads Rachel over to her father while murmuring to her. Once there, Tamsin wraps Rachel in a blanket before doing the same for herself.
I offer Tobias the same, but he refuses, instead saying that he’s going to go find his wife. I squeeze his shoulder in silent support before he, along with Rachel, Tamsin and Andy, walk out. Then I move to Ollie. She’s still squeezed between Alex and Theo, although she’s stopped crying. Now there’s just a desolate expression on her face that cuts me to the core.
“You can go home if you’d like, princess,” I murmur to her, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her. “You don’t need to be here for this.”
She blinks up at me. “For what?” she asks in a dead voice.
Both Alex and Theo wince at her tone, and I’m right there with them.
Fuck it. I reach out and gently brush strands of her chestnut hair from her face before cupping her cheek. “I’m going to make damn sure that everyone who played a part in aiding this clusterfuck tonight will understand just how fucking unacceptable it was. They’ll be lucky if I don’t kick them out of Haven. I don’t care what the Council will think; these people don’t deserve to live in safety when they’ve torn that away from others.”
