Page 145 of Devilish Ink

“Please,” I croaked.

Eithne took my hand. “Still in ICU.”

She looked to the other two girls as if to check if it had been the right thing to tell me. It was clear from their silence that neither of them knew any more than she did.

I wanted to scream. At them. At the fucking world.

But it wasn’t their fault.

I felt myself drowning. I held onto Eithne’s hand like it was a lifeline. Her hand was small and cool and while comforting, I longed to hold the hand that dwarfed mine, scraped my delicate skin with calluses, and burned with a deep, dark heat.

“Where’s Liam?” I asked.

The silence in the room became stiff and hot. Mason and Conor glanced at each other, something unspoken passing between them.

Mason turned to me, rubbing the back of his neck. “Liam had to…sort something out.”

Conor just nodded and let out a grunt.

“He went after Balor,” I guessed, panic making my voice jump several octaves.

What if Balor managed to get the upper hand? What if he had an army of reinforcements coming to get him? What if they hurt him? What if they—

“Ry,” Aurnia said as the beeping on my heart rate monitor jumped. “Ry, please, stay calm.”

What if Liam did something stupid and got caught by the police? What if our baby survived only for Liam to never be there to watch it grow up? What if our baby didn’t and I was all alone and—

“Should we call a nurse?” Eithne asked, her palm growing sweaty in mine.

Conor’s voice cut through the noise of the mounting chaos in the room.

“Rian is with him.”

The gentle giant spoke so little, but I was reminded that when he did, it was for a reason.

Rian was with Liam.

If Rian was with Liam, he would be alright. I believed this. I trusted this.

Conor and I held each other’s gaze for a moment. I hoped he saw “Thank you” in my eyes even though I wasn’t yetcapable of speaking it aloud. I thought his curt nod meant that he had.

“He asked us to look after you until he gets back,” Eithne said, resuming the gentle circles of her thumb over my hand.

“We’ll be here by your side until he comes back,” Rachel added.

A silence fell over the dimly lit room as the girls laid their hands over me and the boys continued to stand diligently at the door.

I let my eyes close, my breathing slowly returning to a steady, even pace. None of us felt the need to say anything more. We’d already said all there was to say without speaking a word of it.

That’s what family did.

Whether I wanted sleep or not, it came for me. I don’t know if I fought it and it won. Or if I begged for it and it withheld its hand till it had me on my knees. All I knew was that I was dragged under.

It was only Liam’s hand in mine that brought me back to the surface.

I drew in a breath and it was filled with his scent. There it was, air. Life. My love.

“Liam,” I whispered.

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