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His words filter through the rage haze just enough to make me pause and stop fighting his hold, my beast craving more blood on our hands, regardless of whose it is. “He called her a bitch,” I state between clenched teeth.
“I’ll call her much fucking worse for what she’s done to us!” Knox roars, pointing a finger in our Nightingale’s direction. Glancing over, I see she’s trembling, arms clutching around her naked body while tears track down her beautiful cheeks, one of which is already bruised from her father’s blow earlier. I go to step towards him again, my teeth bared in a hiss, but the sound of my Nightingale weeping makes me stop.
Taking a deep inhale, I dismiss Knox, knowing that we’re all just riled up from the situation more than angry at each other. I turn towards the bars, my brow furrowing when I see my Nightingale has sunk to the floor, her arms wrapped around her knees and her head bowed as her shoulders shake with sobs. My chest tightens at the sight, and the others fade away as I take in her defeated position.
“Hey, Nightingale,” I say softly, going over to our bars and crouching low until I’m opposite her. I desperately need to take her in my arms and tell her that everything will be okay, but I fucking can’t, and that’s reason enough to skin the Soldiers alive and dance in their blood. “Look at me, little broken bird.”
She sobs harder but does as I ask, and I must admit she looks so fucking beautiful when she cries, her blue eyes sparkling like diamonds. But I, we, should be the only causes of her tears, not those dead men.
“I–I’m so fucking sorry, Baby Devil,” she says, her voice stuttering and cracked. Blood still drips down the side of her face from the cut that bastard Soldier caused when he threw her into the bars, and I have to tamper my rage at the ever-darkening bruise on her cheek from when her cunt of a father hit her earlier.
“I know, Nightingale.” I don’t know what else to say, Knox is right, she betrayed us, but I have to believe there was a reason. No other option would make sense. I know she feels the way I do about her. The way we all do about her. She’s our missing piece just as we are hers. “Can you tell us why?”
The tears drip faster down her cheeks, and I want to lick them all off, kiss away the pain and replace it with only painful pleasure. Seems her duplicity hasn’t dampened my need for her. My obsession with her.
“W–when my mother was shot, as she lay dying in my arms, she made me promise to do whatever it took to get Rook and I away from my father. Whatever it took.” Her eyes beg me to understand, her body still folded in on itself, and I do. I know how fucked up our world is, and a death promise is sacred.
“And then what, Dove?” Aeron asks, and I turn to see he is crouched down next to me, staring at her. He knows more than most what this life takes from you. He’ll understand too.
“A–and so I told my father that if I let you catch me, maybe we’d have a good chance to set the Tailors up. Even better if I could convince the Tailors to come to our HQ where he could get rid of you once and for all.”
I watch as the words fall from her swollen lips, my heart dropping to my stomach at her words.
“So, it was all a fucking lie then?” Knox barks, and even I can hear the pain lacing his angry tone.
“No! None of it with you all was a lie,” she replies, uncurling and wincing as she grabs hold of the bars, the dripping blood at her side looks to have slowed, but the wound is still there, untended. I grit my teeth as her eyes dart between all of us. “From the first moment you walked into that fucking cell, I knew my plan was fucked because you made me feel something other than numbness for the first time in ten years.” Fresh tears fall down her face then, and I glance at Knox who has come up beside me to see his hands flexing on the bars, his brow furrowed as he watches her.
“And why didn’t you just tell us, Dove? Why not just confess to my father in the first place? And why hold out with us if you planned to run the whole time, anyway? Why couldn’t you trust us?” Aeron asks, a hint of hurt in his voice. Her eyes lock on him, more tears spilling and each one is like a shard of glass burying itself in my heart as they slowly fucking kill me.
“I–I had to stick to the plan. Well, the new plan that I came up with while I was with you all. It’s the only way for this all to end.”
“What’s the new plan,Eshgham?” Tarl asks in a measured tone, and when I look over to him, his intense, mismatched stare is on her. He trusts her, it’s clear in his lack of anger, there's no censure there. I glance back at my darling Nightingale, needing to see her face as she gives us this answer.
“Before we left, I sent your father a message from Aeron’s phone with the details of where Soldier HQ is and how to get in through the coal chute. We just have to wait for him and the rest of the Tailors to arrive and let them fight it out, hopefully killing Rufus and any Soldiers in the process. He may have the numbers now, but the Tailors have always had more skill.” Her chin is high, a gleam of pride in her eyes even as she nibbles her lip and she holds Tarl’s stare. His lips tilt up in a half smile, and I see the way she slumps a little, her eyes closing for the briefest of moments.
“Clever little bird,” I praise, a warmth blooming in my chest at her compliment to us. My whole fucking world lights up when she looks at me and gives me a barely-there smile.
“I–I wasn’t sure about the running part, I…” She pauses, licking her lips, and I want her tongue on me too, soothing me as only she can. “I was hoping there would be a way I wouldn’t have to run, not without you all. But I had to save Rook, I promised, Devil Man. I swore on my mother’s blood that I would get him away.”
Aeron’s jaw grinds back and forth, but he gives her a nod, understanding softening his harsh features. “And how do you know my dad will arrive in time? That the Soldiers won’t kill us first?” he asks, and I see a flash of uncertainty cross her beautiful face before she shuts it down. Such a brave girl.
“My father always said that if he ever got one of you guys, he would use you to blackmail Adam, to help him take over the city. He may be a fucking cunt, but he’s not stupid enough to kill any of you knowing the hell it would bring down on his head if he did.” Her voice sounds stronger towards the end of her little speech, and I give her a smile and thumbs up when she looks my way. A small huff of laughter leaves her mouth and I want to die to that sound. Well fucking done me for making her laugh and smile. I deserve a medal or some shit.
“So, what, we just fucking wait and hope for the best? That’s your grand fucking plan?” Knox asks, his upper lip drawn as he patronizes her. I watch Nightingale flinch as though he’s hit her, and my blood heats once more.
“Cool it, Knox!” Aeron snaps, and my hands tighten on the bars in a bid to stop myself from launching at the bastard again. And they say I have no self-control.
“Listen here, Knox! I did the best I could given the fucking shitty circumstances of my life, okay? And you guys just have to sit there and fucking wait. They won’t hurt you too badly, not if your dad is as clever as he seems.” She’s fucking glorious in her rage, leaping to her feet like she’s ready to take the big bastard on, her nakedness covered in blood. If only it were the blood of our enemies and not hers, well, not unless we had caused the wounds.
Knox stands there, his cheeks flushed, and I know that it’s not just anger at our Nightingale. He’s as fucking terrified as the rest of us because we can’t protect her while she’s in that cage and we’re trapped in here.
“And what about you,Azizam?”Tarl asks quietly, and I watch as her shoulders round, her hands falling to her sides.
“What about her?” I ask, my heartbeat picking up as a horrible idea claws at the edges of my mind. Tarl looks away from her, his mismatched gaze on me and all I see is pity in their depths as his forehead creases. My heart gives a painful thud in my chest.
“Did you not see how many new recruits there were, Brat?”
“Yes, so what?” I refuse to give the dark thought purchase. I look at Nightingale, and her stare is distant, her shoulders caving as she hugs her middle. “No. I won’t let any of them touch you, Nightingale. You’re ours.”
