“Where are you?” he asks, and I can tell he’s barely containing his concern for me.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” I tell him. I lower my voice so no one overhears. “And I can’t bloody see my guard.”
“Are you fucking joking?”
I shake my head, but of course he doesn’t see me. “No,” I whisper. “I’m not.” I yawn widely. “And I’m so tired.”
“Where are you right this very minute?”
“Downtown Boston, not far from the campus.”
“Where’s Aisling?”
“Went off with a guy.”
He curses.
“And Tiernan?”
“Had a job to do. Left me with my guard, I suppose.” They’re doing a good enough job staying in the background. I’ve not seen them, though I feel keen eyes watching me.
“Alright, lass,” he says, sliding into that role of protector, and it feels good again, like slipping on a pair of comfortable, familiar shoes. “Pull up your GPS and let’s get you back to the campus.”
“You’re up very late,” I tell him.
He sighs. “Couldn’t sleep,” he admits. “I miss you.”
I swallow and sniff. “It’s easier to admit the truth when we’ve an ocean between us, isn’t it?”
His low, manly chuckle makes me shiver in a good way. “Aye, Fiona. It is. We should always hop on a plane and go to another continent when we argue, shouldn’t we?”
I grin. I hear voices behind me and look over my shoulder.
“What’s that?” he says.
“Don’t know,” I whisper.
He curses under his breath. It’s killing him to be this far away from me, I know it.
“Fiona, I want you to follow the GPS back to your campus,” he says. “I’m calling your guard and Tiernan. Alright?”
I nod. “Aye.”
I wish he was here. I wish I wasn’t alone. But I survived Stone City and can handle myself just fucking fine. I’ve got this.
I lift my shoulders and plug the address into GPS.
“I’m not far,” I tell him. “Only a few blocks away. I’ll get myself straight there.”
“Good girl,” he says warmly. “Good girl.”
I bask in the warmth of his praise before he hangs up. I pull the GPS up on my phone and walk so quickly I’m practically running. I can’t shake the feeling I’m not alone, and it’s unsettling.
Ten minutes, my phone says. I step up my pace.Chapter 6LachlanI never should’ve bloody let her go. The entire fucking McCarthy family’s dead asleep, but I’ve been trying to track her since I got here. I’ve got her guard on speed dial.
I call the first one.
No answer.
I call the second.
No fucking answer.
Cursing, I call Tiernan, who answers on the second ring.
“Lachlan?”
“Aye.” I fill him in.
“Bloody hell,” he says. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
“Find her,” I grind out, clenching the phone so tightly I’m afraid I may break it. “Fucking find her.”
I make some calls and call her back. I don’t want her going back to campus, not tonight, without a guard. If someone’s following her, that’s exactly where they’ll go.
She answers on the first ring.
“Hello?”
“Listen, Fiona, you’re going into a hotel tonight, lass. Just for the night, alright?”
There’s a pause, then she whispers. “Alright.”
“Do exactly what I say.” I tell her where to go. When she arrives, she’ll be escorted straight to her room, and Tiernan won’t be far behind.
I’m catching the first goddamn plane to Boston, tracking down her motherfucking guard, and beating them fucking senseless before I. Kill. Them.
It’s five o’clock in the morning, but Keenan’s an early riser. I got back last night from my trip to Madrid, and couldn’t sleep knowing Fiona was off to Boston. I leave my flat and head downstairs to the workout room where I know Keenan will be, but I’m checking my phone the entire time.
Nothing from Fiona.
Nothing from Tiernan.
Nothing from her guard.
I shove open the door to the workout room to see Keenan on a bench, pressing heavy weights. He nearly drops it when I barge in.
“Lach,” he says, letting the bar fall on the floor. “Y’alright?”
Keenan’s been like an older brother to me, the paternal leader of our Clan, since I met him when I was just a teen. He took me under his wing, taught me to curb my temper, and demonstrated what true leadership was. When he looks at me with concern, I know he’ll hear me out. I know he’ll support me.
“No, it’s not alright.” I tell him everything. He curses and pulls out his cell phone, when my own beeps with a text.
Fiona.
I’m in my room.
I tap her name on the screen and call her. Keenan watches me. She picks up immediately.
“I’m here,” she says, panting. I close my eyes and let out a breath.
“Good girl. Any word from your guard?”
“No.”
I. Will. Kill. Them.
My body’s taut, my temper barely curbed, as I run her through a basic check to make sure her closets are empty, her bathroom’s vacant, and every lock’s in place.
“Tiernan’s on his way, lass,” I tell her. “I’m so sorry.”