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She sighs, using a gentle tone that I fucking loathe. “You won’t be able to stop them, Jude. The Soldiers want their Darling back.”
LARK
“Nothin but a Monster” by ari hicks
An animalistic roar from their cage shatters the silence, and I whip my head away from Jude to see Knox punching the bars, trying to use his bare hands to rip them apart. Blood splatters across the bars and walkway as his skin parts across his knuckles, but he doesn’t pause, doesn’t even flinch.
“Knox! Knox, stop!” I yell, clutching at my own bars, barely feeling the cold metal of them and watching the blood drip down from his split knuckles. He’ll fucking break something if he keeps this up. “Please, there’s no way you can break through these!”
He stops, his chest heaving as the other guys stand around him. They don’t touch him, just surround him with their unwavering strength, and the sight makes my chest tight.
“I may be fucking pissed at you, but I can’t let them touch you, Little Bird,” he breathes out, and my breath stutters out of my chest at his confession. He may still be mad, but if his barely suppressed rage and words are any sign, his feelings for me haven’t changed.
“It’ll be okay, Daddy,” I reply softly, watching as he swallows hard and his jaw clenches. His head comes up, his hazel eyes dull and not bright like they usually are, and my soul twinges with guilt. I took away his sparkling eyes, leaving them almost lifeless.
“Nothing about this is fucking okay, princess. Nothing.”
“I know, but there’s nothing else we can do now but wait.”
Wait.
It feels like I’ve been waiting for the past ten years and now I’m impatient for this all to be over. I just hope that Adam Taylor will come through and bring in the big guns because I need my father dead for this to work, for Rook and I to finally gain our freedom.
Shit, Rook. I still don’t know how I’ll keep him safe in all this, especially if the Tailors come in here guns blazing. What if he gets caught in the crossfire? I hadn’t banked on being trapped in here with the guys. I’ll have to find some way to get a message to him or something.
“What’s wrong, Dove?” Aeron’s deep voice infiltrates my thoughts, and I blink as I look up at him. His brow is deeply furrowed, his blue eyes like a stormy sea.
“I was just thinking about Rook, and how, now that I’m stuck in here, I can’t make sure he’s safe when your father comes,” I respond as I nibble my lower lip.
“Don’t worry, Nightingale, Aeron gave you his word we’d keep him safe,” Jude says, and I glance towards him with a small smile. In some ways, he’s so naïve. I don’t miss the look Aeron and Tarl share, my stomach dropping when Aeron won’t look at me. “Won’t you, Aeron? You’ll make sure Rook is safe, right?”
Aeron glances at me, then turns his attention back to Jude.
“I’ll do what I can for him.”
I guess that’s better than a kick in the teeth, and the most I can hope for, for now anyway. At least the Tailors will have to pass this way before entering the main complex, and I told Adam that Friday was the best day because of the weekly meeting. So once he hears of his boys’ capture, he should be here next week. I hope.
Seven days to survive. Just seven days. That’s all I need to get through before help arrives.
Although, there’s no telling if I’ll be allowed to live once Adam arrives. I just have to pray that the guys have enough sway to persuade him to keep me alive.
The bare bulb is suddenly switched off, plunging us into darkness and I gasp as a cruel laugh echoes throughout the long space just before the outer door slams, making me jump, then hiss as it pulls my ribs. Fucking Soldier cunts.
Shivers take over my still naked body, the darkness smothering me in its inky embrace and I can no longer see my guys. Bad things happen in the dark, terrible monsters that hurt you until you can’t scream anymore, and I can feel the panic as it makes me breathe faster, stealing my air.
“It’s okay, Dove,” Aeron’s voice floats towards me, and like a soothing balm on a wound, it pushes some of the shadows away. “We’re right here.”
Jude sings, and I recognize it as the same Disney song he sang to me in their dungeon; “I See the Light” from Tangled. Moisture fills my eyes as, once again, I sink down to the cold, unforgiving, concrete floor. I let Jude’s voice wash over me, wrapping it around myself like my arms around my knees as I try to fight the dark memories which try to drag me under. The pain from my stab wound barely registers as the terror of the dark threatens to drown me.
“I’m scared,” I murmur into the blackness once the last note of the song disappears. My voice is small and sounds too broken for my liking. I can feel myself reverting to that girl who lived here before. The abused girl who was just biding her time, hoping that something better would arrive soon. I don’t want to be her again and refuse to be a victim once more, even if it’s just in my head.
“I know, Dove, but you just have to be brave for a little while longer. My dad will help to get us out of this.” Aeron sounds so sure, so confident of his father coming to our rescue. It gives me a small ray of hope and also makes my heart ache something fierce. I’ve never had that kind of support, the unshakable knowledge that someone is coming to my rescue. Not until the guys anyway.
“Are you mad?” I don’t want to know the answer, yet at the same time, I’m desperate for it, my heart ricocheting in my chest at the thought that I may not have lost them. Or perhaps I have. I just don’t know. Aeron sighs and even the sound of his frustration has me leaning towards their side of the room.
“I’m fucking furious, Dove.” My breath catches, my heart sinking to my stomach at his truth. My arms flex around me, my grip tightening to the point of pain but it’s nothing compared to the way my heart aches.
“Aeron!” Jude admonishes, and I can hear movement across the walkway.
