Page 134 of Devilish Ink

A wave of white-hot pain crashed over me. I let out a cry, curling over my belly.

“Something’swrong.”

LIAM

On the farm even at a young age, Rian and I would be tasked to herd the cows or roll hay bales together. We learned how to anticipate each other’s movements, weaving around each other in silence.

Even after all this time, Rian and I fell into working together like no time had passed. Like we were still brothers.

He pulled open the passenger door as I carried Ry out of the warehouse. I laid Ry down as gently as I could in the seat and he reappeared from the boot holding a blanket.

I took it from him and unfolded the blanket as he hurried around to the driver’s side to get the car started, switching on the headlines which illuminated the side of the warehouse through the late-night mist.

Something’s wrong with our baby.

Ry shook uncontrollably as I laid the blanket over her, her body burning up to the touch even as her teeth chattered. Shite. She was going into shock.

“It’s going to be okay, baby,” I whispered, pushing her hair from her clammy forehead. “It’s going to be okay.”

Was I trying to convince her? Or me?

The threads of the fury that had consumed me were still there on the periphery. But this was not the time to indulge them. I had to stay calm. Focused. I had to get Ryleigh safely to the hospital as quickly as possible. I had to get my family to the hospital.

Only this singular purpose kept the beast inside me in check.

I paused at the driver’s side. Rian had his arms crossed over his body, chin against his chest. We’d both seen what we couldn’t ever unsee.

The woman we loved naked and bound to a blood-soaked bed, her beautiful body marred with cuts. I didn’t know exactly what she had endured before we’d arrived. I didn’t know whether she’d be okay.

I could only hope.

The misty night air smelled like the coppery tang of blood as I inhaled deeply.

“Thisisn’t over,” I said to Rian.

He looked up, purpose renewed in his eyes, his features turning from grief to stone.

“I’ll…tidy up,” he said, his dark tone betraying his real meaning.

He turned to the warehouse but I grabbed his forearm.

“Leave him forme,” I said.

Rian nodded and clasped my forearm back, sealing our bloody pact.

“Meet us at the hospital,” I said before climbing into the driver’s seat.

In the rearview mirror, in a glow of red from the taillights, I saw him disappear into the warehouse and close the door behind him. I trusted Rian would do what needed to be done.

Up until tonight I would have called Rian the “good one”, me the “bad one”. But it seemed even my baby brother hadn’t escaped the reaches of our violent upbringing.

Perhaps we were all equally good and bad. Or perhaps we were all equally neither.

Evidence would need to be destroyed. Balor would need to be punished.

But right now, I had to get Ry and our baby to the hospital.

I accelerated, gravel kicking up into the mist behind me. Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, I reached across for Ry. She grabbed ahold of my hand with both of hers; they were crusted with dried blood.

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