Page 18 of Home Free

He leaned over the kitchen island, propping himself up on his elbows.

The door opened and shut behind him. He turned to face Declan.

Declan hesitated, his eyes piercing Finn’s through the silence.

“I’m not sorry,” Finn said.

Something like sympathy passed over Declan’s features in the moment before he spoke. “We need to call Ronan. Eudorus is dead.”

10

Elise paced the floor in the living room, her heart racing. The truth was, it hadn’t stopped racing since the night before when Ronan had gotten the call from Declan.

She’d wanted to go with Ronan to the mountain house, to be there for Finn, but Ronan had insisted she stay in the city. There was work to do, and Finn wouldn’t want Elise there for that work.

Trust me, Ronan had said, looking into her eyes.

So she had. She’d stayed in Boston, sitting on the couch with Julia through a sleepless night that reminded her of the days immediately after her rescue from Manifest, when nightmares had forced Elise awake in a cold sweat, her heart hammering so violently against her chest she was afraid it would beat right out of her.

She’d finally given up on sleeping when sunlight started leaking into the house. She’d taken a shower and carried her coffee to the courtyard as the sun rose higher in the sky, trying to center herself. For Finn. Trying to create a place of calm like her therapist had taught her, a place from which she would react calmly.

Finn was going to need that, was going to need her, even if he didn’t know it yet.

“They’re ten minutes out,” Julia said, entering the living room with JT on her hip.

Elise exhaled her relief. Morning had turned to afternoon and afternoon had turned to evening. It had been one of the longest days of her life.

She just wanted Finn home.

JT held out a chubby hand toward Elise. “Aunt Leese!”

She lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed his fleshy knuckles.

Julia walked to the kitchen and set him up in his highchair with some sliced strawberries, which he attacked with glee.

“You going to be okay?” Julia asked when she returned to the living room.

Elise nodded.

“Just… give him space when he comes in,” Julia said. “We have no way of knowing how he’s going to process all of this. Let him show you what he needs.”

Elise took another deep, calming breath. “I will.”

The details were fuzzy, but what they knew was that Eudorus was dead, that Finn had lost control and killed him. It was all Elise needed to know that Finn was going to be in a bad place. His hatred for Eudorus had burned brighter and brighter during the weeks he’d been captive in the mountain house, but Finn wasn’t a killer.

Shooting one of the men who’d picked up the sample from Doctor Osman had haunted Finn for weeks, and that man had been shooting at him, at Ronan. It had been a kill or be killed situation, and still Finn had struggled to reconcile the taking of a life.

How would he manage now, when he’d taken one in cold blood?

Julia hugged her. “He’ll be okay. It will take time, but he’ll be okay.”

Elise nodded. She could only hope Julia was right.

She made herself sit until she heard the courtyard gate open, then had to force herself not to run out to greet Finn.

Calm. Centered. That’s what she would be for Finn.

The kitchen door opened and Elise was struck by the silence. Usually when Finn and his brothers returned home, their arrival was accompanied by the sound of their deep voices, their laughter, the slightly insulting banter that was part and parcel of most sibling relationships.

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