“Moya lyubov’,” I whisper as I approach her, my steps slow and calculated. She smiles up at me, but something about it doesn’t sit right. Her eyes are lazy and unfocused, skin pale. She repeats the words I say drunkenly, and then she is out. Ava’s eyes roll back in her head, and she slumps against the wall behind her.
My heart stutters.
Don’t let her be dead.
I rush forward, two fingers going for her carotid. Her pulse is weak, but it is there, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Motherfuckers,” Liam hisses at the sight of his daughter. Dirt and blood mar her skin and hair. The usual bright ginger locks are wet and cling to her fevered brow. She is chained to the wall by her wrists. The skin beneath the manacles is shredded and raw. Pride swells in my chest despite the pain of seeing her injured. Those wounds tell me she fought to get free.
My little psycho.
“Seamus,” Liam shouts to his son. “Search the guard for keys.”
The youngest of the twins stands rooted to his spot in the doorway, eyes round as saucers, mouth gaping in horror as he stares at his sister. He doesn’t move, not until Kiernan approaches him from behind and whispers something in his ear.
The kid looks wrecked at the scene before him. Meanwhile, Kiernan shoves it all down, his eyes empty and cold. The pair are perfect copies of one another in every way except personality. Seamus wears his emotions like a shield, carrying it all on his sleeve, while Kiernan represses until it explodes.
A blanket lies over her chest, barely covering her. It is soaked in blood. I shuck it aside, hissing angrily at the sight of her. Pain reverberates through me deeper than the slices through her skin.
I’m so sorry, my love.
I prayed to find my wife, and it was answered.
I only wish it was sooner.
Every inch of her is covered in cuts. Some shallow, others so deep they will need stitches. Her face is bloodied, but I can make out the bruising beneath the caked blood. Her ribs are marred black and blue.
If I ever get my hands on the person who does this to her, they will beg for death by the time I am through with them, and I still won’t let them die. I will make them suffer as they made her suffer. Cut them up piece by piece until there is nothing left.
Seamus rushes back into the room, fumbling with a set of keys. Liam makes quick work of the manacles. Ava doesn’t move as he removes them. The right first, then the left.
She is too fucking still.
“Please, Red.” I gently take her in my arms, cradling her to my chest. “Please don’t leave me.”
Fuck, she is cold. Too cold.
“Let’s get this on her.” Liam pulls a small container of Quick Clot from his bag. Opening the top, he slowly pours the powder over her wounds, his gaze traveling to her face every fewseconds, making sure he isn’t causing her any pain. Once he is done coating her in the powder, he removes his jacket, his sons following suit, and covers her naked body in them. It isn’t much, but it will help conserve any heat she has left.
“Let’s get her the fuck out of here,” Liam growls, his eyes lighting up like a raging inferno as he stares down at his daughter. “We don’t have much time before the shock becomes irreversible.”
Nodding in agreement, I hoist her further into my arms, careful not to jostle her too much. Her body is listless against mine, and my heart fucking shatters into a million pieces as regret just as palpable as the rage courses through me.
What if I never see her open those beautiful emerald eyes again? I still haven’t apologized or made my amends. All I want to do is tell her I love her. That I need her, and that the months we spent apart were agony.
This is my fault. I was blind and selfish. I was the one who pushed her away time after time because I was too afraid to face my fears. To face the truth.
That she is mine and I am hers.
Ava owns me.
Heart and soul.
I know that from the moment she cast her fearful eyes on me in Elias’s office over a year ago. I was just too blind and stupid to see it.
And now it might be too late.
“Don’t leave me,Krasnyy,” I whisper desperately into her hair as we make our way back into the main house. The minute we step out of the doorway, the comm signal registers our movement.