Page 83 of Steel Rain

Something possessed me to grab the knife from the hook by the door and strap it onto my belt. I tossed the jacket on and ran after Kieran, down the slushy, cold path as the winter rain beat down above us, freezing me to the fucking bone.

Whipping? A flogging? What bullshit was this?

O’Malley was running me down the path, back to where the Green men had their barracks hidden in the woods. The great clearing beneath a weeping willow was where they did their ridiculous ceremonies. It was where she had done her blood oath.

That was where they were all gathered now.

There she was, down to nothing but a bra, her arms tied out to her sides like she was on a cross. The ropes were tied to the sturdy willow branches, and I felt the strong urge to take off my jacket and wrap it around her. I watched as O’Malley joined their ranks, one of many rectangular groups of people, standing shoulder to shoulder, their eyes forward on the scene before them. But before his eyes locked in front, he gave me one last pleading glance. Then he became one of the great masses.

“I’m not bluffing,” I heard Eoghan say. “Tell me where she is, Shiny!”

The wind howled, as if protesting what Eoghan was about to do. Or maybe he was conjuring the wind up himself, and it was simply a manifestation of his demonic anger.

“No one will stand between me and her, not even you,little sister.”He spat the words out with such disdain. There was so much anger and malice in his expression that I had no doubt that he would break her in two.

“What are you doing, Eoghan?” I bellowed, coming down the center of the formation.

I felt the shifting of their feet as people tried to look at me without turning their heads.

I paced between the formations, my hand touching the knife that was on my hip. My thumb flicked against the karambit. I was itching to pull it out.

I wanted to cut her down. She shivered against the cold, steam coming off of her skin as the rain left froze her skin. She had very recently been a cold weather injury, almost freezing to death. That meant that she was more likely to suffer from hyperthermia again, and again. Once a weather injury, your chances of repeating it were exponentially higher.

Could I cut her down? Yes. Could I fight Eoghan and the hundreds of men around us? Probably not.

I started forming a plan in my mind.

I had to bargain. I had to save her. There was nothing more important in the world than to get Sinead down from that tree and take her in my arms. I wanted to fold her up in my jacket and protect her.

What the fuck was Eoghan doing? Why was he doing this? I wasn’t sure I cared. My only focus was on her.

“What the fuck is happening here?” I shouted. “Let her down, Eoghan!”

Sin’s tired eyes looked up at me, the steel gray of them seemed distant. She saw me, but she also lookedpastme. Her mind had drifted far, far away.

“Sinead?” I called, as I felt a random soldier’s arm try to hold me back. Faceless soldiers, each one tugging at me to prevent me from getting under that willow, where Eoghan had strung up my woman.

Mywoman. He had no right. Blood vows and ceremonies meant nothing against the natural order of things. Whatever powers of heaven and earth existed had declared that Sin was mine to love, mine to protect, and none of Eoghan Green’s cultish traditions could ever change that.

Chapter 39

Sin

“Youhavenofuckingties to us LeBlanc!” Eoghan’s deep, guttural voice sent a chill up my spine. “Know your place.”

“I know my place,” he said coming forward, his hands in fists at his side.

“You going to fight me, coach?” Eoghan sneered. “Is this how you’ll repay me for saving your fucking life!”

“No!” Ajax said.

My arms were tied by long, rough ropes, binding me to the lowest branches of the willow tree. My back was to the formation, and Eoghan was in front of me. But I knew what would happen – it had happened before! Eoghan would whip my back until I fell unconscious. Every strike would be seen by my comrades, and I’d be cast out as a warning to others.

I’d never get Sibby back now. But at least Dairo would look after her. She’d trust him.

“But I’ll make you a deal, Eoghan,” Ajax said from behind me. I could hear the scuffling as people were probably trying ot hold him back.

“Don’t get in the middle of this,” I said over my shoulder. “Just get out of the way. I’ll be fine.”

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