Page 92 of Curses and Cures

"So the lesson you learned was that bad things happen to good people?" he asks me.

"Yes. I learnt that at a very young age, and was reminded of it.” I reply. "But more importantly, I learnt that in order to honour the people I've loved and lost, I have tolive."

"And you want to do that with these men?”

I smile at each of them in turn, my heart swelling with love. "Yes. I do. Arden, Lorcan and Carrick found a way to reach me when I was lost to grief and guilt. Without them, I wouldn't have survived Faith's death. Their love saved me, and for a little while my mother's love saved my father."

"His love was a curse," Tom argues.

"No.Theirlove was the cure. It just never got the chance to fully bloom into its full potential."

“He had her for five years. How long does it take?”

“There’s no time limit on healing, or how fast someone should fall in love. My father was a complicated man. I never understood him. But my mother saw something in him that no one else did. She loved him, and her love was enough. Itwas.”

Tom thinks for a moment, mulling over everything I've said. "So you’re asking me to forgive and forget what the O'Farrell's have done to the O'Brien's over the years? Is that it?"

"No, I'm not asking you to forgive my father."

"Then what are you asking?"

"I'm asking you to understand thatnothingis straightforward, not the road we walk, not the hand fate plays us, and especially not what we do for love. You’re entitled to be angry, but you’re not entitled to make a decision for me. That is my right alone."

Tom releases a long breath. “If you want to stay with the Deana-dhe, I won’t stand in your way. This is your life, Cynthia. I respect your decision.”

“Thank you.”

"But what about your father? He might not be so accepting."

“He's dying.”

“Fuck,” Beast exclaims, blowing out a breath. “Sorry, Cyn.”

“I think he's been dying a little bit everyday since my mother was killed.”

“What are you going to do?” Tom asks me.

“I’m going to ask some old friends to accompany me home this one last time.”

25

Cyn

“Ipromise to be careful,” I say into my phone two days later, Arden’s worried voice throbbing in my ear. “But you don’t need to worry, I’m with The Masks, they’ll take care of me. You know they will.”

“Cyn, if you don’t call me within the hour then we’re coming for you. This helicopter will get us to you in twenty minutes,” Arden replies, putting the phone on loudspeaker so Carrick and Lorcan can hear.

“It’s going to be okay. You shouldn’t have wasted a debt on a fancy helicopter. It’s veryMission Impossibleof you,” I joke, trying to ease the tension.

“This isn’t a joke, Cyn,” Carrick adds, grit in his voice. I can just imagine the scowl on his face too, and something about that makes me feel soloved. He cares enough to worry about my well-being. I’ve never felt more loved than I have with these three men.

“I know it isn’t. But we know it’s going to work out, right? We have the drawing,” I remind them. “There’s a point in our future where we’re safe, happy. I have to trust in that.”

“If you feel threatened at any point, you leave with Jakub. Let Leon and Konrad deal with your family like we discussed, okay?” Lorcan adds, reminding me of our plan.

“Okay. I promise,” I reply. “Now I’ve really got to go. I love you.”

“Love you too,” the three reply in unison before I click off the phone.

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