Page 205 of Brutal Savage

Muffled cries fill the air while Isaac curses, swearing to kill him. Though that’s laughable, really. He won’t get away.

“Load them all in the trunks. We’re bringing them to the barn.”

“I’d be more than happy to dispose of them for you,” Konstantin offers. “My pigs get very hungry.” His vicious sneer makes me shiver.

His pigs? He feeds them human remains? Is that what he meant?

I’m gonna be sick.

“I may take you up on it.” Tynan isn’t even fazed.

I forget that Gran is here for a moment…until she tries to sneak away, backing up slowly, planning her escape. Our eyes connect, and the part of me that still loves her wants her to get away. But the other part, the one that can’t reconcile the fact that she was the reason Mom died? Well, that part wants her dead.

“Now, where do you think you’re going, Gran?” Iseult grabs her arm just as Tynan zeroes his attention on her too. Iseult points a weapon at her chest. “You’re coming with us.”

Gran grunts, knowing she has no other choice.

Fionn and Cillian grab Jerry and Rogue, pulling them up and dragging them out the door, while Konstantin removes Isaac.

“What were you thinking, coming without me?” Tynan turns to me, his brows knitted. “I could’ve lost you.”

His eyes, they swim with pain. So much of it, I ache.

Tears pierce my vision, and I sniffle back, everything hitting me at once. That I could’ve died. That Gran betrayed me. That Mom died because of her.

“I’m sorry.” I throw my arms around him, holding on to him with every fiber of my being.

He inhales deep, his palm gripping the back of my head. “It’s okay, baby. Don’t cry. It breaks my heart when you cry.”

He lets me anyway, holding me as I do. And for a moment, all that worry and fear slips away. Because he’s here and he’s got me. But when he perches back, the look of vengeance in his gaze returns.

“I wanna get you home.”

“What are you gonna do with them? With her…” I whisper, needing Jerry and Isaac dead.

I need that closure. Need to know they’ll never come after me again. But Gran? That hurts. I don’t think I can watch him do that.

“I’m gonna do what I promised. I’m gonna make them all suffer. Then I’m gonna kill them.”

Tears trace my cheeks.

“I’m an old woman,” Gran interrupts. “Are you really going to do that to me?”

Tynan’s breaths howl out of him. “You’re the worst of them. You were her family, and you betrayed her.”

He grabs my hand and squeezes it while I fall apart inside, knowing that I’m gonna lose another family member. Grandpa will be all I have left, and he doesn’t even know me.

Was he just as bad as her? Did he know about Gran ordering Mom’s death? He had to know. But how can I be mad at him now that he’s someone else? What would be the purpose?

“Get her out of here,” Tynan tells Iseult, and she grabs her arm, shuffling Gran out of the room until we’re alone. “Come on, babe. We’ve gotta go.”

I’m grateful to finally get out of here. Grateful that I’m alive.

He walks us out of the house.

Gran looks back at me, her expression pained. “Let me say goodbye to her. Please.”

His jaw clamps, and he looks at me as I nod, letting him know I need this. I need to let her go. I need closure, no matter how I get it.

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