Ruinous Love Trilogy, #3
Scythe & Sparrow
by Brynne Weaver
Contents
Battlegrounds
Overview
Fionn treats Bentley’s wound, then races to a Portsmouth bakery where Lark is found and Rose lies critically stabbed. He stabilizes Rose and rides with her to the hospital for emergency surgery. Amid the crisis, Fionn and Lachlan share confessions about their father’s death. Leander reasserts control, forcing Fionn to make a rescheduled flight.
Summary
Fionn reels from Rose’s unexpected declaration of love and sends Lachlan after her while he sutures Bentley’s arterial bleed with makeshift tools. After dropping Bentley at his regular vet, Fionn discovers Rose’s tarot cards ominously showing the Knight, Four of Swords, and Death, when Leander pressures him by phone to make a flight. Leander begrudgingly rebooks Fionn for later that night.
Fionn speeds to Montague Muffins in Portsmouth, where he finds Lark alive and bloody, a gunman dead, and Rose unconscious with a stab wound under her right ribs. Recognizing probable liver injury and internal bleeding, Fionn directs Lark to call 911, packs the wound, elevates Rose’s legs, and prepares for EMS.
While waiting, Fionn and Lachlan exchange raw confessions: Fionn admits alerting the Mayes family and stabbing their father, believing he caused his death; Lachlan counters he delivered the killing blows and absolves Fionn, urging him to keep Rose alive. Their fraught blame shifts toward reconciliation as they focus on Rose’s survival.
Paramedics arrive; Fionn transfers Rose to the gurney, rides in the ambulance, coordinates oxygen, IV tranexamic acid, warming, and repacking the wound with the medic, Jessica. Rose clings to life as they reach the hospital, where she is rushed to surgery and separated from Fionn.
In the ER, Leander texts a threat, tying Rose’s fate to Fionn’s compliance. Fionn agrees to meet the driver at 6 PM to make the rebooked flight, resolving to do whatever it takes to save Rose while submitting, for now, to Leander’s deadline.
Who Appears
- Fionn KaneNarrator; treats Bentley, stabilizes Rose, confesses about his father, defies then yields to Leander’s rescheduled flight.
- Rose EvansConfessed her love earlier; found critically stabbed with suspected liver injury; rushed to emergency surgery.
- Lachlan KaneHelps at the scene, admits to killing their father, urges Fionn to save Rose, coordinates with Leander.
- LarkRescued and bloodied; calls 911, assists Fionn, ensures ambulance reaches them quickly.
- Leander MayesApplies pressure by phone, rebooks Fionn’s flight, threatens exposure, demands updates on Lark.
- JessicaParamedic who works with Fionn in the ambulance to stabilize Rose en route.
- BentleyInjured dog; Fionn ligates an artery and rushes him to his regular vet.