Shattered Hearts (Irish Kings #1)

27. Riley

Chapter 27

Riley

Smoke fills the air. The pungent stench of burning metal and melting rubber choke me, but no matter how I cough, my lungs don’t clear. Still-smoldering fires, big and small, crackle around me.

The ringing in my ears has warped my hearing. Sharp sounds and turbulent background noise come in and out of earshot. In the distance, sirens wail.

What the hell just happened?

Seconds before the entire block burst into flames before me, Cian appeared from who knows where and threw me backward into an alleyway, diving over me like an Olympic swimmer, his giant body crushing mine to the rough pavement.

When I came to, I was alone, my back slumped against this brick wall.

I blink hard, my vision and hearing taking far too long to stabilize. Moving, hulking shapes come into focus before me. Is that Cian in a…street brawl?

Men I don’t recognize swarm the road, surrounding him.

Worry sways inside me. Even my emotions are dizzy.

When a loud gunshot pierces the air, I shove my hands over my eardrums. Gunfire breaks out from different directions, reaching a crescendo like a symphony of bullets. Cian hurls his fist into the face of a man I can’t see and elbows another in the nose before firing his gun between a third guy’s eyes.

Bodies litter the street in front of Blooms A to Z, falling like dominoes as Cian incapacities throngs of assailants about teen feet away from me.

I have no idea what’s happening. A wild, animalistic roar cuts through my confusion like a jagged knife. I’ve never heard such a tortured sound in all my life.

Before I can recover from the disturbance, Finn charges into my sight line. Incensed, he joins the fray like a force of nature. The veins in his arms and forehead bulge. His pupils are giant black orbs, blazing in his furious face.

He’s unhinged and dangerous.

Finn appears ready to rip a man in half with his bare hands as he stalks toward one of the last men standing. He smashes the guy’s face against a smoking car husk with such ferocity, the defunct car alarm blares.

He’s lost his mind. I’m sure of it. He thrusts his bloody fingers around the half-concussed soldier’s stocky neck and tightens his vice grip, choking the life out of the guy six feet from where I’m slumped.

Even when the man ceases to struggle, Finn doesn’t release him.

By chance, his demented, rabid eyes drift to mine. His concentration breaks.

Then, Finn spits blood.

It’s only now that I see it. The sun-glinted blade sticking out of his abdomen. A strangled cry tears from my mouth.

In my chest, an avalanche crushes my heart to dust as Finn clutches at the knife his assailant ran through him. The bastard with the knife stabs him two more times, killing both Finn and me a little more with each strike.

Frozen in a silent scream, I pray to God for an end to this nightmare.