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Then I pull the trigger.
Lark
“Silence” by Marshmello
We emerge into the early morning chill covered in the blood of our enemies, dust, and other things. The sun has yet to rise, which I’m grateful for as I’m not sure I could handle daylight after the past seven days of darkness. Aeron keeps hold of my hand as we step into the semidarkness, and he tugs me closer as a figure barrels towards us. My heart thuds painfully in my chest, my stomach dropping like when you come down the other side of a rollercoaster as the man comes closer. The figure pauses, and as the clouds shift, the pale light of the almost rising sun highlights his familiar face; It’s just Rook.
“Sorry,” he apologizes, looking sheepish as he takes the final few steps towards us when Aeron relaxes his grip. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“No worries, dude,” Knox assures him, striding towards my brother and clapping him on the back. I have to hold in a giggle when Rook winces and wobbles slightly from the force. “Just try not to make any sudden movements or Tarl might whip his knife out. He tends to cut first and ask questions later.”
“Noted,” my brother answers, giving Tarl a wary look. He then looks at me, his brows dipping at the blood no doubt. “Lark? You okay?”
“Never better, little bro,” I tell him, letting go of Aeron and wrapping my arms around Rook’s waist. Fucker got tall in the past couple of months. He pulls me in close, giving me a tight hug in the pre-dawn light. After a few moments, I pull back and look up at him, my arms still around him. “Are you?” He killed our father tonight and the rest of the inner circle of the Dead Soldiers. He’s the last Soldier left. I feel his sigh and then see the grim determination on his youthful face.
“I will be. Adam is going to help me build the Soldiers into what we should have been all along; a family.” His voice is firm, and pride swells my chest. Rufus didn’t poison my brother like many of the others, and I have no doubt that he will grow into a powerful man who doesn’t target the weak and vulnerable. The complete opposite to Rufus.
“If anyone can do it, you can, Rook,” I encourage him, leaning up and placing a kiss on his cheek. “You were always much stronger than he gave you credit for.”
His own chest grows as he takes a deep inhale, looking away from me and up at the rapidly lightening sky.
“I hope so, Lark.”
I feel him at my back even before his hand skates down my spine. “Let’s get you home, Dove.” Aeron’s deep voice washes over me, and I shiver, but not from the cold air that surrounds us.
“Where are you staying?” I ask Rook as I let him go, Aeron immediately pulling me into his side, as if he can’t bear to be away from me for even the couple of minutes my reunion with Rook took.
“Adam says I can stay at the big house until we get things figured out,” he tells me as he glances back down at me, and I know like me, he doesn’t want to go back to our family house. There’s too many terrible memories there for both of us, and if it were up to me, I’d firebomb the fucking place. Guess it belongs to Rook now. I know Rufus planned on leaving everything to his son anyways because heaven forbid his daughter get a cent upon his death.
“That sounds like a great idea,” I reply, looking past Rook to see Adam and some of the other Tailors talking further down the alley, toward the main road. “Why don’t we meet up in a few days?”
“I’d like that.” He rubs the back of his neck with his palm and looks away from me for a moment. “I know that you always said you’d help me get out, Lark. You took so much shit when you could have run at any moment. I–I can never repay you for everything you’ve done, but I want to try somehow.”
“Oh, Rook,” I whisper, tears filling my eyes as I step out of Aeron’s grip once more and rush to Rook, wrapping him in another hug. “We’re family. There’s no need to repay me. You would have done the same, and more, if you could have.”
“But I didn’t,” he confesses between clenched teeth, his body taut beneath my embrace even as his arms circle back around me. “I didn’t do a fucking thing to help you, Lark. So I owe you more than I can ever repay.”
“You made a start by eradicating all the Soldier scum from this earth,” Aeron states darkly behind me, and I spin around, Rook’s arms falling from around me.
“What the fuck, Devil Man?” I yell, anger making my pulse hum underneath my skin and helping to chase the exhaustion away. “He doesn’t need to make a start!”
“Yes, he does, Little Bird,” Knox tells me, coming up next to Aeron and looking at Rook with what looks like respect shining in his hazel eyes.
“It’s not just Tailors who recognize and pay their debts, Nightingale,” Jude adds, coming to stand right in front of me and taking my hands in his. “You know you would feel the same. Let him prove to himself he’s worthy of the title of leader.”
My mouth opens, then closes as I think over their words. Jude is right, I would feel the same, like I owed Rook something, and for years I’d felt like I’d failed him by not being able to get us out from under Rufus’s boot. Like I’d failed my mom. Taking a deep inhale, I give Jude’s hands a squeeze, letting them go to face Rook. Reaching up, I place my hands either side of his face, bringing his stormy gaze to mine.
“As far as I’m concerned, Rook, there is no debt to be paid and nothing to forgive,” I inform him softly, rushing to continue as his mouth opens in protest. “But, if you want to honor our mother and her memory, you make sure that no woman is ever hurt by a Soldier again. Swear it.”
His eyes are blue fire as he brings his hands up and copies my move. His palms are warm, they always were, although now there are calluses that didn’t used to be there.
“I swear to you on our mother’s soul that no woman will ever be harmed by another Soldier while I live and lead them. Anyone who is found to be harming women will be dealt with swiftly and brutally, regretting the day they were born. This I promise to you, Lark.” He presses a soft kiss on my forehead before stepping away and both of our hands drop. My vision wavers as I stare at him in the pre-dawn light, looking so fierce, exactly as a leader should.
He gives me and the guys a nod then turns around and walks towards Adam and the remaining Tailors. Adam casts a look our way, giving us a wave and then placing his hand on Rook’s shoulder before leading him out of the alley.
Strong arms wrap around me from behind, followed by the spicy scent of cardamom surrounding me.
“Adam is the best man I’ve ever met. He saved me from a life that wasn’t worth living and gave me a chance to become the man I was always meant to be. He will take care of Rook,Eshgham, and guide him down his rightful path.”
