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Lark shakes her head. “Mom never came, and she isn’t answering her phone. It’s not like her.”
“Wanna go to your house?” Arrow asks.
I’m a little jealous that he’s met Lark’s mom, and I want to meet her myself. “Yeah, we’ll all come with.”
Lark smiles. “Okay, but I’m worried.” She looks down at her hands and I notice the ring on her finger.
“What’s that?”
“I found it in my mother’s jewelry box before the show. It’s the one I saw in my vision.”
I narrow my brows. “Should you be wearing it?”
Always confident, Sawyer slings an arm around her shoulder. “I’m sure it’s fine. It’s just a ring.”
“A ring that’s significant for reasons we don’t understand.”
“Well if your Mother Earth would ever show up and talk, that might help,” Lark says, rolling her eyes.
It’s been strange, the way Gaia ditched us. After sending us to the desert a few months ago, she’s been MIA. Brecken and Vaughn left during one of our rare days off to look for her, but no one has caught sight of her.
“You weren’t yourself tonight, Lark,” I say. She frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know what I mean … even now, you seem lighter than air.”
She bristles at this. “It’s nothing. And you’re right, I’m sure my mom’s fine. We can order takeout or something. It’ll be chill. Which we need, since tomorrow is opening night.”
We draw a collective breath, still a little surprised that it’s already here.
As we’re leaving the theater, Mark rushes up to us.
Two police officers are with him and we all immediately brace ourselves for something bad.
“Lark,” he says, his face grim, his eyes filled with tears. “There’s been an accident.”
She shakes her head, and I reach for her hand, sensing that she needs something to hold onto. “No, there can’t have been.”
Mark presses his fist to his mouth. “I’m so sorry Lark. Your mom, she didn’t–”
Lark cuts him off. “No. Don’t say it.” Her eyes are wild and lost and she digs her fingertips into my hand.
“Lark, there was a freak lightning and rain storm, and she was leaving the house, getting in her car, probably to come here. And she was struck down. She died immediately.”
“It’s not even raining,” Arrow points out.
The police officers nod in agreement. One of them speaks up, “It was a storm that came out of nowhere and left just as fast. We’re so sorry for your loss, Lark.”
“Sorry?” she cries. “Take it back,” she says, shaking, tears spilling across her cheek. “The words, the story, all of it. Please, this can’t be happening.”
Mark reaches for her and pulls her into a hug. “I know,” he repeats over and over again until her sobs subside. The five of us men step back, giving them space, but we can’t go far. If her mother is gone, then the protection spells she has placed around Lark are gone too, leaving her more vulnerable.
“She can’t be dead,” Lark sobs, shaking her head. “We can go see her body,” Mark tells her.
Lark nods. “Yes, let’s go. Now. I have to see it to believe it.”
* * *
AN HOUR later we’re standing outside the morgue. Lark is inside, identifying the body.
“It’s so heartbreaking to watch,” Arrow says. “I’ve never seen someone cry so much.”
“I can’t imagine losing my best friend,” Brecken says. Then he shrugs, shaking his head. “If I lost one of you guys, I’d be a wreck.”
His sincerity surprises me. And what surprises me, even more, is that I’m getting choked up at the thought.
“You okay?” Sawyer asks me.
I use my palm to wipe away a tear. “Allergies,” I mumble. Vaughn calls me out. “Bullshit, you love us, admit it.”
I run a hand over my jaw. “Maybe you sons of bitches have been growing on me.”
“We won’t hold it against you,” Brecken says. His words mean a lot, considering I’ve given him hell for far too long.
The moment seems to catch us all by surprise and Sawyer speaks up, “Hey, uh, I’d be pretty pissed if anything happened to you guys too.”
Vaughn claps him on the shoulder. “We’re family, we stick together.”
Arrow nods. “Through thick and thin, right?”
“Lark is going to need us now more than ever,” I say. “And without Gaia around to help give us guidance, we need to trust one another.”
Lark comes out then, her face red and blotchy, her eyes swollen. “Thanks for staying,” she says, letting us wrap her in a hug right there on the sidewalk.
I’m not a sentimental guy. Usually, I rely on my gut over my heart but damn, Lark looks so fragile and wounded right now, I’d give anything to make her tears go away. For this to hurt a little less.
“We’re not going anywhere,” I tell her, kissing the top of her head.
“I can’t believe she’s gone.” Lark’s shoulders hitch up and I know more tears are coming. “She was my everything. Without her ”
