Chapter 195

[Ella’s POV]

Today was the day in which the hospital finally cleared Liam to leave.

He was allowed to return to campus and resume his usual schedule while keeping his physical activity limited. He still needed to be mindful of certain things like carrying too much weight and overextending himself.

I should have been grateful—hell, I should have been overjoyed by the fact that he was safe and on the clear road to fully recovering. But these last couple of days, my mind has been locked in a never-ending cycle of worries and questions.

I couldn’t forget about what Aaron had told us, regarding Cecilia. The woman was indeed ruthless and would not accept the defeat of Arthur pulling out of the trials so easily.

Her very thought process was what was truly concerning me.

She figured that if she couldn’t force Arthur to bond with me, she was simply going to eliminate the competition. She had no respect or acknowledgment that Liam was Aaron’s other son. I bet she didn’t even care.

Knowing that she failed in her attempt to get Liam permanently out of the picture, what was she planning to do next?

The mere thought made me sick with worry. I forced my feelings down as Arthur and I focused on getting Liam back to campus.

“Liam, are you sure you wouldn’t rather stay home for a couple more days?” I suggested, warily.

Liam shook his head in refusal. “No way. If I went home, there’s a very likely chance that my parents would never let me come back to Eastwood, knowing what happened.”

That’s right. If Aaron hadn’t shown up when he did, the hospital would very likely have called Liam’s parents. God only knew what Liam’s mother would have said or done.

The woman resented me for lesser reasons...Almost having her son get killed because of me would have surely landed me a higher position on her shit list.

Liam reached forward to capture my hand and hold it tightly as a means to comfort me. No doubt, he was able to sense the distress that I was practically permeating.

“I’m going to stay with you and Arthur,” he said.

“Okay.”

For this, I felt both relieved and guilty.

All that should have mattered was that Liam was going to be alright. I should have been focusing on the positive things rather than dwelling on the negative what-ifs. We all spoke very little until we made it back on campus.

I grabbed our bags while Arthur mainly focused on helping Liam get out of the car. The three of us headed into our dormitory where we made sure Liam was brought up to his room safely.

For some reason, the moment I got out of the car and stepped back on campus, my mind was flooded with a series of devastating clips.

The hunter...The attack. Watching the dagger dig into Liam’s abdomen...The horrible sounds and screams that filled my ears...The feeling of nearly losing a part of me...

No, it was too much. I was so concerned about whether or not Liam felt comfortable coming back here but the truth of the matter was—I wasn’t.

Coming back here felt like we were giving Cecilia another opportunity to achieve what she failed to do the first time.

Arthur guided Liam over toward his bed and gently helped him get settled. I noticed the front of his shirt cling a bit to his chest, causing his various stitches and bandages to become visible.

My heart jumped into my throat and my stomach churned in knots.

I knew Liam was still very sore. The doctors had said that it was going to take a handful of weeks for him to be back to normal.

“You’re very lucky, Mr. Gravens. Had that blade been any higher you wouldn’t be with us, right now.”

I glared at the doctor and nurse who were busy checking Liam out of the hospital. Was it seriously necessary to say something so morbid right as we were about to leave?

Those awful words echoed through my head. I didn’t want to think about what could have happened. The whole point was that it didn’t kill him and Liam was still with us!

My chest tightened to the point where my lungs felt like they were being harshly compressed. I couldn’t get enough oxygen in, causing my muscles to tense and nerves to coil.

What if he hadn’t made it?

The terrible question bounced around my head.

What if that blade had made it through his chest—through his heart?

My fingers curled into fists, my nails biting painfully into my palms.

What if a blood transfusion wouldn’t have been enough?

The corners of my eyes started to flood with tears while an overwhelming burning sensation spread frantically through my chest. My knees shook and buckled, causing me to fall back into the door with a low thump.

Arthur and Liam turned their heads to see me sinking lower toward the floor.

“Ella?!”

Arthur rushed over to me and grabbed me by my arms. He carefully pulled me to my feet and brought me in for a tight hug. I tucked my head in the crook of his neck and tried to regulate my breathing.

I felt him rub small circles into my back. “It’s alright,” he soothed.

“S-Sorry,” I mumbled weakly.

This wasn’t the time to be falling apart. For crying out loud, Liam was sitting just a few feet away from me and still my panic attack had managed to get the better of me.

Liam held out his hand, silently calling for Arthur to lead me over to him. I silently slid down next to him.

“Ella, I promise that I’m alright and that everything is okay now,” he said.

I kept my gaze on the floor and shook my head.

It terrified me beyond words. I discovered that there was something more frightening than having my life being threatened—it was when someone I loved was nearly taken from me.

...

Over the next few hours, Arthur and I caught Liam up on everything he’d missed since he was attacked. He was surprised to find out that the hunter was sent after him and not me for once.

“But why?” he asked.

We then went on to explain to him that it was Cecilia who was basically the one controlling everything. He was shocked very much like the rest of us were.

“When I last confronted her, she told me that she’s been using hunters for decades to keep all threats away from the family,” Arthur said. “She claimed to not even know that Ella was one of the targets. She preferred not to know the names of the victims the hunters had gone after in the past.”

It was a lot to process. But I think talking it all out was actually helping my nerves calm down a bit.

“I can’t believe you pulled out of the trials,” Liam said to Arthur.

Arthur shook his head. “Cecilia is unhinged and can’t be trusted.”

I deeply felt as though I’d somehow made it to a crossroads within my mind. Something needed to be done in order to keep us safe from Cecilia and anyone else who would try to come after us.

“I think we should bond,” I told them.