Black Heart (Cursed Hearts #1)(95)

She was by no means an expert on injuries, but thanks to the summer first aid courses that Tom ran every year she knew enough to know that Tristan’s injury was very serious and definitely infected. They needed to get him to the hospital so that a doctor could have a look at the shoulder and fix it so that she could kill Tristan for scaring her like this.

“I’m verra sorry, lass,” Quinn sighed with a small shake of his head as he stepped back.

“You’re not the one that hurt him,” she pointed out as she pressed the back of her hand against Tristan’s damp forehead.

“That’s not what I’m sorry for.”

“Could you get my phone please?” He was definitely burning up. Maybe she should grab some ice packs and try to cool him down while they waited for help. She moved off the bed to go grab as much ice as she could carry when she remembered that she’d forgotten to make more earlier after she’d used the last ice cubes up.

Shit.

Wait, no this wasn’t a problem, she assured herself as she headed for the door. Beth always kept a couple of bags of ice in the chest freezer just in case they lost power. Hopefully Tom was home and could bring the ice over, because she didn’t like the idea of having to leave Tristan’s side right now. Before she did anything else she still needed to call 911, she realized when she saw that her phone still sitting on the top of the bureau.

“Lass,” Quinn said softly as he appeared in front of her. “There’s nothing that ye can do to stop this.”

“Of course there is,” she mumbled, only half listening as she reached around him to grab her phone as she debated whether she would be better off calling Tom first.

“There’s nothing to do now, but wait for the curse to finish.”

Chapter 37

“Everything’s going to be alright, Marty,” her father said, giving her a reassuring smile and for good reason.

He had absolutely no idea that Tristan was going to die.

“I know,” she lied, waiting for him to put the cruiser in park and shutdown the emergency lights before she opened her door and stepped out of the car as she tried to convince herself that this wasn’t the end.

It couldn’t be. Not for them and definitely not for Tristan. He was the most stubborn man that she’d ever known, but each time she reminded herself of that fact Quinn’s words would echo in her head, destroying what little hope she had left.

This had to be a dream, all of it.

Any second now she was going to wake up. She’d share this dream with Tristan when he asked her what was wrong. When she told him, he’d tease her and distract her with his wicked kisses until this dream was nothing more than a distant memory and all she could think about was the way that he felt when he moved against her.

All her hopes that this was a dream vanished when a man wearing a bloodied hospital gown stumbled through the brick wall of the hospital and headed her way. Numbly, she watched as Finn and Fergus suddenly appeared in front of the man. Seconds later the trio was engulfed in a beautiful white light that spread all around them. It didn’t quite reach her, which was probably the reason why she felt dread instead of any hope when she saw the ambulance transporting Tristan pull into the long driveway.

*-*-*-*

“Fuck! We need to get his fever down.”

“Did your mother have any more ice in the freezer?” Tom asked, trying to stay calm when Shayne could tell that the man was struggling to hold it together.

It was a familiar scene, one that he’d watched play out hundreds of times during his too long, f**ked up existence. He’d even experienced this scenario, twice. The first time when Tadgh had died in his arms and the second time when his own mate, Aileen had died the one and only time he’d allowed himself to be born and taken a stab at breaking the curse.

He’d failed miserably. He hadn’t been able to protect her, which was the reason why he’d never tried again. She was better off without him and this bloody curse that tainted everything that it touched.

The last time he’d seen her, she’d been covered in blood, his and hers, and cursing him out for being a bastard. He’d taken it, held her tightly in his arms as he swore that he would never bother her again and unlike Tadgh, he’d kept his word.

Keeping his word hadn’t been difficult for him and probably for a very simple reason. While Tadgh was truly in love with his soul mate, Shayne was not. In fact, not strangling the woman with his bare hands had taken every ounce of energy that he’d had every time he’d seen her during that one lifetime that he’d foolishly tried to set them free.

She didn’t mean anything other than a means to an end. He didn’t hate her, but he couldn’t honestly say that he cared about her. He’d never met her when he’d been alive, truly alive before this curse had trapped them and during that one and only attempt he hadn’t developed any feelings beyond annoyance for her. She wasn’t his responsibility and he didn’t owe her a damn thing, which was the reason that he’d been able to turn his back on her. Tadgh, on the other hand…..

Tadgh was his brother, his blood and his responsibility. He would never be able to turn his back on him no matter how much his brother pissed him off. He was also the best person that Shayne had ever known.

Christ, he could still remember those carefree smiles that made it so damn difficult to stay angry at the boy. He’d been such a kind boy and an even kinder man. Tadgh would have made such a wonderful father and if it hadn’t been for him, he would have had that chance.