Chapter 26

26

T halia’s feet caught in her skirts as she stumbled back from the altar, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Herbert, though fallen, managed to snake a hand around her ankle, dragging her back with a menacing hiss.

“Tsk tsk, cousin. Don’t make this harder,” he sneered as she tried to kick her way out of his iron grip.

“You will die tonight, swine,” Thalia spat out, kicking with desperation, but he was too quick. His hands wrapped tightly around her waist. There they were again, his blade at her throat, watching her brutish husband surge against her despicable uncle.

“You will watch this, Thalia.” His mouth was close to her ear and his hand gripped her chin so hard that she bit back a wince. His blade was just inches from her face.

She felt the trickle of blood land on her cheek from the wound that Finn had just given him. “Come now, Herbert. You think that wound on your face will be the end of it? These are your last breaths; surely, you don’t want to waste them on me.” She jerked around, trying to free herself, but his scrawny arms just tightened slowly, pressing the air from the bottom of her lungs.

She struggled, gasping for breath as his arm kept constricting around her ribs. Thalia’s eyes darted around the room frantically, searching for her sisters in the crowd of screaming guests.

There — she caught a glimpse of their yellow skirts just barely visible behind Brian and his two large sons as they ran from the chapel.

Thank God, they’re safe.

But her relief was short-lived. The clash of steel and ricocheting bullets drew her attention back to the fight where Finn, bloodied and furious, surged toward the altar. Arran stood right behind him, and all his brothers-in-arms were poised for the fight around him as well. Conor, a blur of motion to his side, swung his blades with deadly precision. Rhys and Kaiden were on his other side, pistol barrels smoking and cocked back, ready. Cillian was lying in wait in the shadows along the wall, aiming his pistol right at her uncle.

“Come on, Morrison!” her uncle jeered, his voice echoing through the blood-soaked chapel. “Show me the beast you are.”

She watched as Finn’s chest heaved with exertion. He charged; sword raised high — Arran took aim — but her uncle had anticipated it, as did his men. The Viscount sidestepped behind his guards with a cruel smirk.

Finn’s blade stuck the stone on the side of the altar like a death knell, and one of her uncle’s men reared back and punched him in the side of his face. He staggered forward, leaning against the stone.

Then she heard his gasp which made her blood run cold. Finn staggered, his chest heaving. Her eyes searched him quickly, and then she saw the blood spurt from the new wound in his side as her uncle dislodged his concealed blade.

“You are no match for me. Just a scarred monster, and now, you will die like one.”

Finn’s defiance remained as he chuckled before answering the taunt with a cool response, “That’s right bonny fightin’ from a man wit’ one hand,” Finn jeered, sizing up the two large men protecting him, and his brothers laughed along with him.

Her uncle’s lips curled into a twisted grin as he raised his blade toward her. “It’s a shame that you won’t be alive to watch what I do to your precious bride —”

Her uncle tilted his blade in her direction, and when Finn’s eyes connected with hers, she realized that he thought she had escaped successfully.

This is his greatest fear – He was forced to watch his family die in front of him, and now me.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed, and Finn’s glare could have burned the chapel to the grounds.

“Oh, you know what, actually — I’ve changed my mind, haven’t I?” her uncle started again, but Finn kept his eyes on her. “How about I just kill her now — Herbert!”

The corners of Finn’s eyes widened only slightly, and that was the only reaction Thalia saw before Herbert yanked her head back as he adjusted his grip on her and pointed the blade right at her throat. The tip bit into her tender skin, and his hand quivered as he hesitated.

“Do it!” Maximilian barked, his voice rising with fury.

“I… I can’t, father…” Herbert whispered, and it sounded as if he was overcome with emotion. “I’m sorry, Thalia… I —”

The apology was drowned out by the roar that tore from Finn’s throat. He lunged forward, faster than Thalia had ever seen him move. The next few moments were a blur — Finn’s blade slicing through the air, the sickening crunch of steel meeting bone, and Maximilian’s body crumpling to the ground, lifeless. His blade struck true through the gap between the viscount’s men. They stared at him agape as he dislodged his weapon and postured himself to face them next – they fled.

Thalia gasped as Herbert released her, stumbling back with wide, panicked eyes. “I’m sorry,” he repeated again and again. His voice trembled, “I didn’t want to really hurt you. I was just trying to make him happy.”

Thalia noticed the slightest shift just beyond Finn’s shoulder. Cillian’s gun was now aimed directly at Herbert. She had but a moment to take in the changing room around her — Arran, Rhys, Conor, and Kaiden were all chasing out the rest of the Viscount’s armed men.

Her eyes just barely landed on Finn to watch as his ominous figure stormed toward them, his face twisted in fury, and for a moment, Thalia thought that he would kill Herbert right then and there. But as Finn looked down at the quivering boy, something shifted in his expression. Herbert was pathetic, and whatever ire Finn had in his veins, he wouldn’t punish the son for the father’s mistake.

“Get out,” Finn growled. “And never come back.”

Herbert nodded frantically, scurrying away like a rat.

Finn turned to Thalia, his breathing heavy, eyes searching her face. “Are ye hurt, lass?” he asked. His voice was rough with concern as his gaze landed on the thin streak of blood escaping from her throat.

She barely had time to shake her head before he pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. The warmth of his embrace, the steady thrum of his heartbeat against her cheek, was a balm to her frayed nerves.

“Thalia,” he whispered, his lips brushing her hair.

She tilted her head up, and without thinking, she kissed him. It was fierce, desperate — a kiss that spoke of survival.

The moment her lips touched his, something inside Finn shattered. It was a soft, delicate kiss — sweet and pure, as if she was trying to soothe the chaos that surrounded them. But that kiss, her tenderness, broke him in ways he hadn’t expected.

Finn held her tighter, his heart racing in his chest. He’d nearly lost her. The blood on her neck, the terror in her eyes when Herbert’s blade pressed against her skin — it had all been too close. He couldn’t shake the image from his mind, the horrifying thought that she might’ve slipped through his fingers before he could save her.

But she was here now, alive and in his arms. Her lips on his felt like both a blessing and a curse, stirring something deep within him that he’d long tried to bury. A fierce protectiveness, an overwhelming desire for her safety — feelings that had come on too strong, too fast.

He pulled back.

Brow furrowed he met her green eyes with a shaky breath. “Thalia…”

He had just killed a man, and yet the real battle seemed to be picking up inside him now. His hand cupped the side of her face gently, his thumb brushing across her cheek where blood had trickled down earlier. “Did ye get nicked here too?”

She shook her head, her voice soft as she reached up a hand and placed it on his. “No, I’m fine. That was Herbert’s from the cut you gave him.”

“Ach,” he managed to say as her finger curled into his shirt, and the way she clung to him made it all the harder to let her go. But he had to.

She doesn’t truly want this. She only did this to protect her sisters.

The reminder crashed into him like a wave, bitter and cold.

This was never her choice.

“You saved me,” she murmured, her voice trembling slightly as she glanced around the blood-streaked chapel. The bodies of her uncle’s men lay strewn about, lifeless, their blood soaking into the stone floors. “You saved all of us. I… I don’t even know how to thank you.”

Thank me?

Finn’s jaw tightened.

What did it matter when she hadn’t chosen this life?

Her next words hit him like a blade to his other side.

“I’m free now,” she whispered, almost as if she was trying to reassure both of them. “ We are free. My sisters and I — we don’t have to fear him anymore.”

Free…

The word echoed in Finn’s mind, rattling something deep inside him.

She’s free from him now. She doesnae need to marry me. That was the bargain.

A voice in the back of his mind — one he didn’t want to listen to — reminded him of the truth: She doesnae have to stay. She doesnae have to marry me at all.

Finn’s grip on her loosened, and he took a chillingly stiff step back. The warmth of her body left him, and the cold air rushed in to fill the space between them. It felt wrong — everything about it felt so incredibly wrong.

“I…” he started to say.

He had wanted to protect her. That had been his only goal when it had all started. Now there was something else, something he didn’t want to name. He had started to want her — not just as a wife in name, not just to fulfill the vow to his father, but for her .

This is dangerous.

She remained silent as he searched his mind for his next words. “I — I should have never put ye in this situation, Thalia.”

His voice was cold and unfeeling, strained as he ran a hand through his blood-matted hair. “Ye never wanted this marriage. Ye only agreed because of your sisters, and now that ye are free…”

Thalia’s brows furrowed, confusion flashing across her face. “Finn, what are you talking about?”

He looked away, his jaw clenching so hard that it started to make his temples throb. “Ye daenae have to go through with it,” he forced out. “Ye daenae have to marry me.”

Because you don’t want me in return.

Her lips parted in surprise, and for a long, painful moment, she said nothing. Finn felt the silence stretch between them like a chasm, widening with every heartbeat.

Finally, she shook her head. “I made a choice,” she said softly. “Yes, it was to protect my sisters, but I still made it. And even still, it was you who agreed to marry me. Because I believe your side of the deal was that I was to give you a child.” She crossed her arms matter-of-factly.

He frowned, not accepting her response. “Thalia, ye were trapped. Ye had nay other option but me.”

Her green eyes locked with his, and there was a firmness in them that rivaled the look she had in them during their first meeting in Crawford wood. “No, I had a choice,” she insisted, stepping closer to him again. “I could have refused. I could have tried to run, but I didn’t. I chose to trust you.”

He stared at her, unable to form words. She was standing too close now, the warmth of her body mixing with his thoughts, and her presence was both grounding and confusing.

“Trust. Me?” he echoed, his voice hoarse. “How can ye say that after all I’ve done? After everything that has happened?”

“Because you protected me,” she said simply, her voice steady. “And not just me. You protected my sisters, my family. You kept your word, even when you didn’t have to. I’ve seen the kind of man you are, Finn. You’re not a monster.”

He let out a sharp, bitter laugh, shaking his head. “I’ve killed innocent men, Thalia. I’ve fought in wars, done things ye daenae even want to ken. That’s the man I am. Ye have nae ever seen the real me. Ye daenae ken anything, do ye?”

“I don’t care about that. I care about the man standing in front of me right now. The man who saved my life, who has been nothing but honorable, even when he didn’t have to be…”

Images of her by the waterfall and her in his study — the memory of her moans and how she tasted swirled behind his eyes.

What is she doing? She’s daft. She’s battle crazy.

Finn swallowed hard, “Lass, ye have nay clue what ye are saying. Battle changes folk, and ye have been crazed by what ye have seen today.”

I could take her right here… she might enjoy that. Her adrenaline is up and look at that flush spread across her cheeks… Christ.

“No! I have not!” Her protests echoed in the empty chapel and then flashed up at him with need, and his eyes darkened uncontrollably.

“Thalia…” he started to say, almost giving in, but every instinct told him to push her away before she gets even more hurt. “Ye deserve better than me — than this.” He waved his hand around the carnage.

“Let me decide that” she said stubbornly, her eyes never leaving his. “Let me decide what I want and what I do.”

Finn felt the world tilt beneath him, as if everything he thought he knew was suddenly shifting. This is nae how things were supposed to go. She wasn’t supposed to be looking at me like that.

Thalia was warm, understanding, and soft. She was beautiful, and he was disgusting. He had trapped her, and she didn’t have a choice but to agree to his terms. And yet, she remained, unmoving and unflinching, looking up at him with something that felt dangerously close to true affection.

Nay, if she willnae go, then I will have to. I must. She isnae in her right mind. This is wrong. She is free.

Not fully knowing what to do, he left.

He left her standing at the altar, the white wedding dress soaked in blood.

He left, and she didn’t say a word.