Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“SAY SOMETHING” BY PENTATONIX
LARK
My breath whooshes out of me a second later, and I cry out, pain radiating down my arm, my exhausted lungs cramping as I struggle to draw in a breath.
The boys pull me up, and every muscle protests as I try to curl in on myself, but they won’t let me.
The second hit to my other bicep is just as bad as the first, and I sag in the boy's grip as both arms go dead.
“I’ve seen you hit harder than that, Knoxy. You wouldn’t be pulling your punches, would you now?” Earl questions, glee in his tone as Knox heaves just as much as I am, his knuckles white with how hard he’s clenching his fists.
“Shut the fuck up, Earl,” Aeron snaps, and I glance over to see his own hands balled up tightly, his eyes a maelstrom of emotions.
With a roar, Knox kicks my upper thigh, the intense pain shooting through me like a bolt of lightning.
Tears fill my eyes, a gasp leaves my lips as my leg gives out completely, and Jude makes a sound as he continues to try to hold me upright.
Seconds later, Knox brings his knee up into my other thigh, rendering me immobile as I fall to a heap on the cold concrete, my hair falling over my face as my head bows.
Tears stream down my cheeks, and my entire body is one throb of anguish as I lie there, my heart hurting as much as my limbs. I know that there’s no choice, that I’m giving them no choice but to do this, but it still hurts my soul more than I expected.
A firm hand reaches through my tangled hair, strong fingers clamping behind my ear and the upper side of my nose.
A scream rips through my mouth as the most intense pain I’ve ever felt radiates through my head as I’m pulled upwards by the grip on my face.
I can’t think, only follow as it pulls me upwards, my broken cries echoing around the room.
“ENOUGH!”
The sharp pain immediately stops, and I fall back down on my knees as I’m released.
My entire body trembles, my exposed skin slick with sweat and water.
My eyes trace a crack in the concrete, my body wanting to curl in on itself and weep.
The physical blows are only part of my devastation, it’s the unseen blows to my heart and soul that hurt the worst.
Shiny, black shoes appear in my vision, then knees clad in navy blue slacks. A perfectly manicured hand appears next, stopping when I flinch. The fingers flex, as a deep, pained sigh leaves Aeron’s lips.
“I will keep Rook safe, you have my word.”
“You can’t fucking promise that!” Earl shouts, and my head snaps up to see him step away from the wall, his face an ugly shade of purple.
“Take another step and it will be your last, my father’s wrath be damned,” Aeron calmly answers. My gaze swings back to him, and a full-body shudder makes the pain in my limbs flare as I look into his eyes and see the deadness in them that I hadn’t realized had disappeared these past weeks.
“Y–y–you s–swear? W–whatever h–happens, y–you’ll k–keep h–him s–safe?” I ask, my voice all kinds of croaky and fucked up.
“On my life,” he answers, and my chest lightens as a breath puffs out of me.
“I’ll have to take you there, be with you when you go.
It’s full of booby traps that only a Soldier, or a Soldier’s Darling, would know,” I tell him, begging him to believe me even though the words add to the queasy feeling in my stomach, the tang of them bitter and taunting.
His jaw clenches and then he gives a single nod.
“Deal.”
“That’s it?! You’re going to believe the word of this fucking whore, just like that?!” Earl spits out, and even I glare daggers at him, fucking prick.
“Tell my father that we have the intel, and will come up with a plan,” Aeron states, not even bothering to look at the older man. “You’re dismissed.”
“Adam will hear of your insolent behavior, pup,” Earl threatens before storming towards the door.
He pauses, twirling around and I just know by the gleam in his eye that what he’s about to say next will hurt.
“And I knew bitches were stupid, but you must really be dumb to crawl into bed with the man who killed your mother.”
My breathing stops, the air rushing past my ears as I look away from his hateful face and back to Aeron. He’s frozen, still crouching down, but he’s not looking at me, instead, his eyes trace the same crack that moments ago held my undivided attention.
“Aeron?”
His head slowly lifts, as if it’s taking a gargantuan effort to do so.
“Oh, did you not know, girly?” Earl’s voice is a harsh, malicious sound, and I feel he’s moved closer, but I lock my stare with Aeron’s, to the unshed tears that are making his blue eyes shine and sparkle like sapphires.
“It was Aeron Taylor, heir to the Tailors, who pulled the trigger on your mom outside that diner. I was there and saw how she froze as the bullets hit home. Watched as she fell to the ground, your face a picture of confusion like you’d never heard a gun go off before. ”
“A–Aeron?” I ask again, begging him with my eyes to tell me that Earl is lying.
“Get him the fuck out of here,” Aeron grits out, not answering me, and it’s like one of Knox’s blows, but this time I feel it to my very core. The noise of Earl being forced out by someone fills the space, but I can’t take my stare off of Aeron.
“Did you murder my mom!” I shout, ignoring the flash of pain as I straighten up on my knees, adrenaline lending me the strength that I need to confront him.
“Yes.”
And just like a marionette puppet whose strings have been cut, I slump down as that one word echoes around my head.
Yes.
“Nightingale—” Jude starts, reaching out for me, but I hold up a hand, looking at his face.
“Did you know?” I ask, watching as his hand drops and his face crumples.
“Yes, but we didn’t know what happened afterwards, with your father and the–the others,” Jude stutters, his ocean eyes pleading with me to understand.
“You all knew.” It’s not a question, and I can see the confirmation as I look at Knox and Tarl, both with fresh anguish on their tight faces. Of course they all knew.
Nausea swims in my stomach, and movement has my gaze settling back onto Aeron, who’s now kneeling, his head bowed in supplication.
“I had no choice, Dove, but I beg your forgiveness and kneel before you like I vowed to do for no man when I passed my initiation into the Tailors.” His voice is stilted, his words formal, and a part of me knows he speaks the truth.
None of us have a choice in this gang life, it’s part of the reason I have to get Rook and I out. Whatever the cost.
Using the little strength that I have, I push up to my feet, swaying slightly when the room spins, but holding up my hand once more when Jude and Tarl rush forward.
Swallowing hard, I look down at Aeron, my soul feeling like they have torn it to shreds and broken me more effectively than anyone ever has before.
“You unleashed Hell on me that day, and because of your actions, they tore my innocence away, replacing it with pain and suffering for a decade. You took the only light I had, Aeron. The one person who protected me, who kept me safe. How am I meant to forgive that?”
His chest heaves, his shoulders rising and falling with what I suspect is a sob. I want to drop to my knees and cry with him, to scream at the injustice of a cruel world that would make me fall in love with the man, and men, who ruined my life.
Instead, I take a step away, then another, my stare locked on the open door. My arms wrap around my battered body, and although I can see them in my peripheral, none of the others reach out to help me. I’m not sure if I’m pleased or disappointed by that.
After what feels like a fucking age, I reach the door, resting against it for a moment, before stepping to the right, towards the cell I was first put in.
“Nightingale, you don't need to go down there. Stay in one of our rooms,” Jude says, his voice strained as he reaches out to grab me, then stops before he makes contact.
“It's where I belong, I'd forgotten for a time, but now I know.” My voice is hollow, just like my soul, and no one halts me as I move towards the cell, stepping inside, and shutting the door behind me.
I make it to the dirty mattress on the opposite side of the room before my knees buckle and I fall in a desperate heap. The sound of wailing fills the dark, dank space, and it takes a moment to register that it’s me making the noise of a wounded animal.
Giving over to the sobs, I let my agony flow through me as I think of my lost mom, my broken childhood, and the betrayal of the men that I know now I am irrevocably in love with.