CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“OZONE” BY CHASE ATLANTIC
AERON
Fuck.
FUCK!
My mind spins and whirls as I try to figure out what the ever-loving fuck we’re going to do. How do we protect her?
The call ends, and for just a moment, one small millisecond, I close my eyes and breathe, my fists clenching and unclenching by my sides.
“Please,” I rasp, my pained whisper loud in the quiet. “Please, Dove, tell us where the Dead Soldier’s HQ is.”
I open my eyes, my heart sinking when I see her trembling body, but the fire in her eyes tells me she won’t give us what we need to keep her safe. Not yet.
“You know my price, Devil Man,” she says back, and fuck, I fall harder at her stupid fucking strength that underlines every word, even if I know that she’s terrified.
“Rook,” I answer, heaving a great sigh. “I can’t promise his safety, Dove. Anything else I might be able to do, but to leave the heir to your father’s kingdom alive is fucking foolish. Signing our death warrants.”
She straightens her spine, letting go of my brother’s and Knox’s hands as she steps away from them. I can see Knox shut down, his face going hard, but he can’t hide the agony in his eyes. As our punisher, this will be worse for him than the rest of us. Tarl too. Jude looks fucking devastated, his shoulders curling as she walks around the island towards me. She whips Knox’s shirt over her head and lets it drop to the ground, leaving her beautiful body naked and exposed.
“Then we understand each other perfectly.” Her voice is barely above a whisper, and it takes everything inside me not to drop to my knees and fucking beg her not to make us do this. Not to make us hurt her. We stare at each other, my jaw working as my breaths claw in through my nose, my brain fucking failing to give me any other options. “It’s okay, Devil Man. It was a beautiful dream, but people like us don’t get to live in dreamland for too long,” she says quietly, reaching out to cup my cheek in her soft palm, and I clench my teeth so hard that I feel my jaw crack.
She’s too good for us, and how she ended up being so astounding living under Rufus fucking Jackson’s roof is beyond me.
A knock sounds in the warehouse, making her flinch, and my body instinctively moves as if to protect her. A fucking joke considering it’s us she needs protection from.
“Tarl, Knox, take her downstairs,” I order, my tone strained and the words hurting as they pass my lips.
“But—” Knox starts, and I snap my gaze to him, daring him to argue. He bares his teeth, the skin around his eyes tightening ashe glares at me. I’ll welcome his anger later. For now, I just need him to do as I fucking tell him. I can’t deal with mutiny now.
“Come,Koshgelam,” Tarl says, swallowing visibly as he comes to take hold of Dove’s bicep.
She leans forward, pressing a soft kiss on my lips before she allows him to lead her away, towards the basement, Knox following them. The ghost of her lips burns, and a raging inferno swirls inside me, my fucking soul at war with itself.
“Brother” Jude begs, and the glisten of unshed tears makes his eyes truly look as deep as the ocean.
“She’s made her decision,” I tell him, another loud knock at the front door sounding like a death knell. I take a deep inhale, turn my back on him, and head to the door, my steps feeling like the thud of nails going into a coffin.
I just wonder who's going to be buried.
“RUNNING UP THAT HILL (A DEAL WITH GOD)” BYLOVELESS
LARK
The cold of the basement causes goosebumps to pebble on my skin, my nipples hardening despite the fact that I feel no arousal. Fear makes my body tremble and quake, but I try to remain calm, knowing that nothing can change the impasse we’ve come to.
“Little Bird,” Knox says as we step into the room, my glass coffin still in one corner, the cross in the other. There are more shapes and dark shadows under cloths that line the room, andI ponder which they will use on me first. “Lark! Fucking look at me!”
A strong hand wraps around my upper arm, tearing me away from Tarl and suddenly Knox’s beautiful ruggedness fills my vision, his motor oil, cloves, and leather scent enveloping me. His eyes are wild, the whites showing around the hazel irises, bright with panic.
“Please, baby. Just tell us what we need to know, and we can go back upstairs.”
My body softens in his hold, and the need to sink into his warmth, to give him what he’s asking is so strong that I have to take a deep, steadying breath.
“What would you do to keep Tarl safe?” I ask in reply, his brows furrowing. “To keep Jude alive? Aeron?” I watch as his lips press together in a hard line, his mouth opening only to close a second later. “That is why I can’t just tell you, Knox. I need a guarantee of Rook’s safety. I can’t settle for any less. He’s all I have left.”
