Chapter 77

• RONAN’S POV
• I carried Ewan up the stairs to one of the unused rooms assigned to us when we first arrived at the Byrne Estate, each step sending sharp jolts of pain through my fractured hand. He was burning up, his skin hot against my good arm, but at least he was breathing steadily. I laid him down on his bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. His face looked so young in the dim light filtering through the window. Too young to be carrying all the weight Mother kept piling on his shoulders.
• I wet a cloth in the bathroom and pressed it to his forehead. The fever made his cheeks flush red, and every few minutes he'd mumble something I couldn't make out. His body would twitch like he was trying to run from something even in sleep.