45. Roseland
Roseland
Isee the tiny figures in bird masks, and I want to cry.
“Enough, little birds,” I murmur.
I pull out a whistle that I’d hoped I would never have to use, and I blow into it. Raven had taught me the calls and trained me until I knew them back to front. She said I had to keep the whistle with me always. The Nightingales turn towards me.
Four small figures of various sizes, but nothing adult-sized. The smallest is sitting on the ground, her tiny bird skull mask pointed in my direction.
I walk over to them, keeping an eye on Merle, who is facing off with one of the figures who isn’t obeying the call.
Trust her.
It’s hard. Everything in me wants to go and save her, but she was trained. She is trained.
A hand grabs mine and squeezes tight. I look into the bird skull mask, surprised. “Are you Rose?”
“I am.”
She sobs and throws herself against my leg.
Holy crap, Raven made sure these kids knew who I was.
“Get the kids!” a voice shouts at me, one of the Flock.
Thirty men suddenly turn towards us, their faces fierce in the moonlight.
I look up and find Blaze dancing past me, slamming into a disciple who tries to shoot one of the kids in the head.
I grab the smallest kid and gesture to the others. “Come on, hurry.”
In the dark, it’s hard to move around the warehouse with any speed, especially with the place crawling with the Flock. They hunt us relentlessly. Every time we get close to an exit, they cut us off. My frustration mounts as I urge them to move faster.
A giant comes at the girls, and they react, laying him flat in seconds.
I forgot how dangerous they were.
Tiny, little, deadly birds.
They deserve homes and safety and all the things I’m going to make sure that Merle and her alters have.
I get the girls near the front of the warehouse when they stop dead, pulling back against me.
“Come on, let’s go,” I urge.
“No, you need to go back and save her. She will need you,” the oldest girl says.
“I need to get you safe,” I insist.
“We are, and we aren’t defenseless. Go and save Merle.”
I hesitate for only a moment, but Desi and Meg appear out of nowhere.
“We can take them,” Desi says with a grin.
Meg smirks. “We will help protect these pint-sized killers from getting themselves happy on human juice.”
“Human juice is not something we should ever say again, Meg,” Desi protests.
“Well, what do you want to call it? Human sauce? Meat seepage? Liquid idiot?”
“You are adorable, but no to all of that. Blood. Blood works.”
“Blood is so boring.”
“Meg, I love you, but enough, please. My head. It aches.”
I decide that I can’t take anymore and turn and make my way back, but the sound echoes, and I end up lost in the maze of giant machinery. I run into dead end after dead end, getting more and more frantic.
Pix slams into me, a bullet bites into the metal where my head was.
“Baby,” I whisper. “You saved me.”
“Yeah, because I love you, dumbass.”
“I’m sorry I made you wait so long,” I say impulsively.
Pix turns his head, and in the dark, I can just make out the frown. “Are you all right, Aaron?”
“Daega, I love you. I have loved you since I met you. Since the moment we first spoke. Walking away from you tore me apart every time I did it. There wasn’t a single time it was easy. I didn’t intend to hurt you.”
Pix stands up, pressing his body to mine, slamming our mouths together. The kiss is desperate and full of all the things we haven’t spoken.
He pulls back. “Let’s save our omega. Then we will talk. You wear my bond, and I wear yours. That is everything; hold onto that in the dark, and you will find your way.”
“Daega,” I whisper, my eyes going wide. I startle, turning my head to face him in wonder. He’s right, the bonds are the answer. “I can feel her. This way.”
“I’m right behind you.”
I take off, but after a few minutes, I realise he’s not right behind me. He’s gone.
So, I do the only thing I can do. I go to Merle Kestrel, not knowing what I’m going to find, but knowing that she needs us, she needs me, and I will always come.
Just like I have since the day I met her.