By then people were spilling out of the pub. Caer swore silently. Whoever had attacked her had either run off or merged into the crowd.
The first person to reach her was Zach. Jorey was talking a mile a minute, trying to explain what had happened, but she barely heard him, because Zach was there. He was on his knees before her, his eyes naked for once, their pain and concern vivid as they met hers.
She could hear the roar of a siren; an ambulance was coming.
“Caer,” Zach said, his voice soft, concerned, a little desperate.
“What the hell happened?” It was Morrissey, shouting over the din. And then she was aware of the paramedics, insisting that she lie down on the stretcher so they could take her to the hospital. Aidan and Jeremy Flynn were there, and then Sean and the rest of the household pushed their way up front.
“I’m going in the ambulance,” Zach told his brothers, who nodded, and she realized that she was suddenly…jealous. They had a family; they were close. Brothers. When one of them needed something, the others were there. She ached terribly just thinking about it.
She wanted to be loved. To feel that bond of family. To know there was someone in the world who would move heaven or hell for her.
“I don’t need an ambulance,” she said, holding tight to Zach’s lapel. “I swear to you.”
But it was no good; she was being taken to the hospital.
They didn’t let him in with Caer, and Zach understood, so he paced the waiting room, trying to think. He had been afraid for Jorey, and he hadn’t been wrong. But Caer had stepped in front of a knife. The knife. They had to examine the knife. No, it was all right; the cops were still there, and so were his brothers.
He felt a chill sweep through him. They’d just been at a funeral.
And they had almost been required to hold another.
“Mr. Flynn?”
He spun around to see the E.R. nurse. “You can go in. Miss Cavannaugh is waiting to see you.”
“How bad is it? Is she going to be all right?”
“She’s already healing. It really was just a nick.” The woman smiled.
“There’s no internal damage? You’re certain?” Zach demanded anxiously.
“She’s fine. She thinks the knife was stopped by the underwire in her bra, and I suspect she’s right. Now go on in and see her.”
He walked into her cubicle and saw her lying on the bed, her eyes closed, her porcelain skin even paler than usual, her hair a raven-black frame around her features. Shaking, he sat at her side and took her hand.
Her eyes flew open and she smiled slowly, then asked anxiously, “Jorey is okay, right? I mean, nothing else happened? Did they catch who did it?”
“Are you kidding?” he replied in disgust. “There were a hundred people out there. But you…Caer, how the hell can you be all right? You must be the luckiest damned woman in the world. Even so, you shouldn’t go throwing yourself in front of knives.”
“I didn’t, really. And I’m all right, Zach. I really am all right.”
“Good, but you’re still staying here tonight. If you’re good, you can come home tomorrow.”
“But I’m fine.”
“They call it observation, and you’re staying for it.”
“There’s too much going on,” she said.
He smiled. “I’ll be here with you.”
“But…what about Sean?”
“You don’t need to be worried. My brothers are there.”
“You know how on TV the killer always makes a mistake?”
“Yes?”
“Well, he did. Jorey saw him, and he’s afraid of being recognized, even though he was wearing a costume, so he tried to kill Jorey, but Jorey is alive.”
“Hiding in plain sight,” Zach said thoughtfully.
“What?”
“I think the killer was there at the pub, enjoying the hospitality of the O’Rileys. I bet he stole that knife from the kitchen, then followed Jorey when he left.” He paused, looking at her. “Caer, I think my heart stopped. My God, there was so much blood….”
“The luck of the Irish,” she said lightly.
Her eyes were starting to close. They’d given her something, because no one would believe that she wasn’t in pain. His face was blurring in front of her.
“I told you, Zach. I’m a banshee,” she said. But the drug was getting to her. “All right. I’m part of a worldwide spy organization. No, just a branch of Irish nationals determined to watch over our brothers and sisters across the world. I’m…”
She never finished. Whatever they had given her, it kicked in fully then. She slept. And she dreamed.
And in those dreams, her future was bright.
They let Caer out the following afternoon. Zach had spent the night with her at the hospital, but the doctor had told him that he would need to be treated for a bad back before Caer had a problem. “She barely needed stitches, and the wound is practically healed. It’s amazing, a real miracle.”