While some of her kind marry the sort of man who will allow them a career, it is rare. It is frowned upon within the clan, and usually, the people who allow it are lower-ranking men who are only supporting it because their family needs the extra dosh.
She’d had some notion that she’d be able to escape the clan system and live separately, become her own person. Those hopes were dashed early on when her parents had died unexpectedly and she’d been sent to live with her aunt, who was married to a member of Clan Maguire.
Instead of her dreams of getting a college degree and starting a career, perhaps leaving the clan life behind, she found herself being taught how to be a good and faithful Omega. As soon as she was of age, she’d been betrothed to Martin Cobain, one of the Alpha’s personal guards.
The thought of him saddened her, thinking about him trapped and dying beneath the castle, entombed there forever. Just as suddenly as she’d become his betrothed, she’d been freed. She should be glad, but she’d grown to appreciate his rough ways. She felt a sense of loss, but she was beginning to realize it might not be what she’d expected.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Ronan
“I’m sorry for your troubles, Mr. McNally. Let us know if we can be of service to you further,” the Gardai officer was telling him as he scowled at him from across the table.
He’d had no idea why he was being dragged in when they’d nabbed him outside the hotel, but it had quickly become clear during their questioning what they had on their minds.
“Am I free to go now?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Ronan stood up and waited while the custody sergeant opened the door for him. He was angry, not just at the Gardai, but at whoever had put other people in danger just to get to him.
“Here are your things,” a constable outside the door told him.
Ronan snatched the envelope with his wallet, keys, and phone and stormed out of the station, hailing a cab to take him back to his own car. On the way, he called Fergus to let him know what had happened.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m a sight bit better than a couple of dozen other people.”
“Dead?”
“A few. The rental car employee they sent to retrieve my car and a few that happened to be close to the car. It was parked near a front wall, so it blew that out and got some more folks on the sidewalk, but those are mostly superficial injuries from the debris.”
“I can’t believe they wired your car. You got lucky that you had it picked up rather than starting it up yourself.”
“Aye. If not for that call from Greyscales, I’d have been a goner.”
“You think he had anything to do with it?”
“No, I don’t think so. It’s not his style. Dragons do their dirty work directly. They’d have just caught me out at night and reduced me to ash. Besides, I don’t know what reason they would have to want me out. They seem to have our back.”
“Just don’t get too comfortable with them. You need to find someplace safe to be for now. Can you put the council stuff on hold?”
“Aye. I can, but I just flippin’ got here. How’s it going to look if I turn tail and run because someone tried to blow my arse up?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care. Maybe it was a mistake for us to send you in there alone. Maybe it was a mistake for us to try to regain our losses at all.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I would like to have a base here, but you might be right. It might be too fresh. I’ve done what I could to get the council in place, and I can turn that over to Andrew to handle.”
“You think he can handle it?”
“Aye. He’s not exactly a warmonger, but he’s probably a better man for the job. I don’t think whoever did this was after any of the clans. They were after me, in particular.”
“Let’s let things cool down then. Our land will still be there when we decide it’s right for us to take hold. Catch a flight and come home. I’d skip coming directly in here, though. Perhaps it might be better if you went up to the cabin for a bit.”
“Aye. That’s fair. I’ll talk to you when I get in.”
Ronan hung up the phone and drove back toward the mountains, hopeful to catch Andrew at home without having to call ahead. He wanted to get a feel for what he knew before he just let things go. Fergus liked to play it safe. He’d gotten too comfortable since settling into a life with his wife Eimear and their children.
“That was your car?” Andrew said.
It didn’t sound like he was faking his surprise. Ronan had no reason to believe he was involved in any of this, but he still had no idea who might have been.