“Did they find them?”
“No, no,” Kian says quickly. “The safehouse was a stroke of genius. But the Kinahans are frustrated because of it. They started tailing the only person they did have eyes on.”
“You.”
Kian nods as we limp towards the castle. He tries to say something else, but words fail him.
“Easy, brother,” I soothe. “Save your breath for later.”
* * *
We manage to get him inside and into one of the bedrooms on the ground floor. The stone walls are an onyx white that makes the blood-red carpet look almost sinister.
The moment he’s in bed, Matilda and Mary appear with hot water, warm clothes, and a huge first aid kit. Saoirse and I stay in the back of the room while they clean Kian up and see to his wounds.
It’s not actually as bad as it seems. Half the damage was from the crash when his tires finally blew, not the Kinahan assault. His vehicle took the brunt of the gunfire. He did get his arm singed by a stray bullet, but it’s only a flesh wound.
All in all, it’s more the panic and chaos of the chase that has Kian so out of sorts.
“How bad is this, Cillian?” Saoirse asks.
“I don’t know yet,” I admit. “But it’s definitely not good. They’re desperate to keep the upper hand they gained when they managed to abduct my parents.”
“But now that they can’t find them, they’re coming after you and your brother,” she points out.
I place my hand on her shoulder. “I will protect you, Saoirse.”
She shakes my hand off. “I’m not worried about myself, Cillian.”
Then she moves to Kian’s bedside as Mary starts stripping off his dirty, bloodied clothing. I head over there as well, taking note of how much better Kian looks. There’s still little color in his face. And he looks weak, possibly just from sheer exhaustion.
But he’ll make it.
“How’re you feeling?” I ask.
“Is that a trick question?” Kian manages to quip.
“Physically,” I clarify.
He gives me a tight smile. “Better,” he replies. “Cillian, I’m sorry…”
“For what?”
“They came out of nowhere. They must’ve been watching the highways.”
“Where was your backup?” I demand.
“I wanted to keep the majority of our men at the manor,” Kian explains. “We can’t afford another breach. And I didn’t want to travel too deep in case it gave away the location of the safehouse. So after Mark and I got Ma and Da settled, we left.”
Kian shakes his head as though he memory is too painful to linger on.
“There were so many of them. We lost them for a time, or at least I thought we did. But then they caught up to us, and… Fuck, I tried. But they got Mark. Gunned him down like a dog in the road. And my leg is so fucked up that I couldn’t drive well. I couldn’t turn back to the manor on my own. Didn’t have the means or the manpower to get there. This was the only option I had left.”
I frown, realizing that there’s a specific reason for Kian’s apology.
“I was about four miles from here when the Kinahan jeep showed up again,” Kian admits. “I would never have come here if I had a choice, Cillian.”
Then it clicks.