“I’m not—”
“A helpless woman then. A damsel in fucking distress.”
“Hey now, don’t make this about gender,” I say. “I’ve always been a feminist.”
“Then why—”
“The future is female.”
“But you—”
“Girls run the world.”
“Cillian!” she yells in exasperation. But she doesn’t quite manage to suppress the laugh on her lips either.
I stop and give her a wide grin. Then I lean in and kiss her softly on the forehead. “I just want you to be safe.”
“I’m with you,” she says softly. “Of course I’ll be safe.”
Her trust humbles me and I curl my arms around her body.
“But it’s my choice to be here,” she continues. “So I’d appreciate it if you just accept that. And respect my right to choose where I go and what I do.”
I don’t like it. Not at all.
But I recognize the plea in her eyes.
She trusts me. And now she’s asking for the same thing in return.
She’s been with a man who has controlled every aspect of her life for the last thirteen years. She doesn’t need more of the same.
“Okay,” I reply heavily. “Let’s go down. I’ll teach you to shoot out in the courtyard.”
With a triumphant smile, she grabs my hand and we walk down together.
* * *
Kian is by the massive main doors with a few of the staff. He looks much better, but there’s no way he’s ready for a fight.
“Well, well, well,” Kian says, eyeing Saoirse and me suggestively. “What a pretty pair the two of you make.”
Saoirse blushes slightly, but she doesn’t let go of my hand.
The table behind him is heavy with all the weaponry we could find. Some of these guns look like they haven’t been fired since electricity was discovered.
But a gun is a gun. I’ll take anything I can get right now.
I can see Saoirse eyeing them pointedly.
“So…” Kian says, glancing at her and then at me. “Saoirse’s come down to wish us good luck?”
Her eyes flit to him and she narrows them dangerously. “Actually, I thought that’s why you came down here. To wish us good luck.”
He laughs. But when she doesn’t even crack a smile, he stops abruptly.
“Wait,” he says, looking at me in shock. “You’re letting her fight?”
“Letting me?” Saoirse repeats. “I’d revise that word choice, pal.”