Page 170 of Claiming Pretty

Hers, too, had been an innocent life, but no one hadcome to save her. No pair of dark, possessive brothers with eyes as blue as the ocean had torn her from the darkness.

No one had fought for her.

I tried to block it out, but the ache rose in my chest regardless. Against my will, I pitied this woman who had hurt me so deeply. I saw the shadow of the person she could have been if someone had just reached her in time.

And worse—God, so much worse—I saw whoIcould have been if my life had taken just one different turn.

It hurt. It fucking hurt.

My throat tightened, but I forced the pity back down and lifted my chin.

“We’ll give you a head start…” I said. “You have twenty-four hours to leave Ireland.”

She blinked, stunned. “What?”

“Twenty-four hours,” I repeated, my voice hollow, my resolve absolute. One final mercy for the innocent girl she had been. “And then we come for you.”

Ciaran stepped closer, his hand a steadying weight on my shoulder. I didn’t glance at him, but his touch anchored me, gave me strength I wasn’t sure I possessed anymore.

I stared Ebony down, watching her unravel before me.

And for the first time, I felt a flicker of power in the ashes of everything she’d taken from me.

“And when we catch you,” I said, the words coming out like ice, “you’re dead.”

THE SHADOW

The dawn filtering through Darkmoor forest felt jarring, too bright for the weight of the moment. My every step was slower than hers, my body aching from more than just my injuries.

Ava glanced back at me again, concern flickering in her eyes, but I shook my head with a faint smile. She didn’t need to worry.

She thought my lagging pace was because of my swollen eye or the sharp pain in my ribs, but that wasn’t it. Not entirely.

I was holding back on purpose. I needed these few moments to watch her—to memorize the way she moved through the forest, her fingertips brushing moss on ancient trees, her face lifting toward the lace of branches and the sky beyond.

She looked so young, so light, so free. And I wanted to keep that image of her, to burn it into my memory before everything changed.

I stayed just behind her, letting the dewy leaves brushagainst me, grounding me in the moment. The birdsong rising in the distance felt like a cruel serenade.

Eventually, she reached the edge of the grove near the passagetomb entrance, her figure bathed in light as her fingertips left the last tree. She took a few steps into the clearing before she noticed my absence.

When she turned back, silhouetted by the sun, I almost forgot how to breathe.

She was radiant—stronger than I’d ever seen her. And somehow, I knew the frightened girl who had walked into Blackthorn all those years ago was gone. She stood in the light, fearless, her future ahead of her.

I could almost see the childlike shadow of her past lingering in the woods beside me, and I knew it would stay with me, not her.

She didn’t need it anymore. She didn’t need me.

“Ciaran?” Ava called, her voice gentle but questioning. “Are you alright?”

I couldn’t speak at first, my chest tightening with emotions I didn’t dare name.

When she moved to come back to me, I finally found my voice. “I’m fine, rabbit.”

But even as the words left my mouth, I felt a tremor run through me.

Ava stepped closer, peering into the shadows where I stood.

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