Page 154 of Claiming Pretty

He nodded, his voice hollow and resigned. “Okay.”

“No!” The word ripped from me, raw and jagged, as my legs moved on instinct.

I barely made it two steps before a guard grabbed me from behind, his grip like iron bands locking me in place. I writhed and kicked, but his hold didn’t falter.

Ebony barely spared me a glance as she raised a finger at me to shush, a patronizing gesture that cut through me like a blade.

Her attention snapped back to the twins. “We have an agreement, then?”

“Yes,” Ciaran said immediately, his voice steady even as I saw his knuckles whiten at his sides.

I held my breath, clinging to the hope that Ty would refuse. That he wouldn’t let this happen.

But Ty didn’t meet my eyes. He kept his gaze locked on Ciaran, as if the rest of the room had ceased to exist.

“Ty,” Ciaran urged, his voice dropping, low and imploring.

Ty finally broke, his voice quiet and firm. “Deal.”

The word echoed in my mind, shattering everything inside me.

I stared at them both, my vision swimming with tears, unable to comprehend the betrayal I felt—by them, by the world, by the very air around us.

When Ebony clapped her hands together, the sharp sound snapped through the chamber, but I didn’t flinch. I was too numb, too stunned to react.

“Wonderful,” Ebony cooed, her voice dripping with satisfaction.

She turned to Ty, her expression as gleeful as a predator’s. “You have twenty-four hours to leave Ireland withAva. And you willneverreturn. Otherwise—and please don’t test me—I will kill your brother. Slowly and painfully. Understood?”

Ty inhaled deeply, his chest rising and falling as if to steady himself, and then said, “Yes.”

No.

This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.

Ebony waved her hand dismissively, and the guard holding me released me. My arms dropped to my sides, limp and useless, as Ty approached me.

His face was devoid of emotion, a blank mask that made him seem almost inhuman. He reached for me, his hands steady as if this wasn’t tearing him apart as much as it was me.

“No,” I sobbed, shaking my head as I swatted at him like a cornered animal. My tears blurred my vision, but I could still see the shadows of the guard’s weapons poised and ready to end everything.

“Go, Ava,” Ciaran said, his voice cracking as I saw the agony he tried so desperately to hide. His jaw was clenched so tightly I thought it might shatter, his lips pressed into a thin line.

His eyes—those brilliant blue eyes that had always burned with intensity—were dim now, veiled by a pain so raw it stole the air from my lungs.

He was crumbling, and I could see it, the cracks in his armor spreading with every breath he forced himself to take. I knew the weight of this moment was too much for anyone to carry, even him.

For all his attempts to stand strong, he couldn’t stop the truth from bleeding through—the unbearable grief of achoice he’d made to save me, to save his brother, the sacrifice he believed he had to make.

Because behind it all, there was love. Not just for me. But for his brother. A love so fierce it broke me all over again.

“Take care of her for me,” he said to Ty, his voice cracking.

“Ciaran!” I cried, his name catching in my throat.

Ty managed to get a grip on my upper arms, his hands like iron, and even though I clawed savagely at the backs of his fingers, digging my nails into his skin until I felt the warmth of his blood, he didn’t flinch.

He pulled me into his arms as if I weighed nothing at all, his grip unrelenting, his arm locked around my waist as he hoisted me over his shoulder like I was baggage.

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