Leather & Lark (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #2) (96)

“—fast falls the eventide—”

“It would fall a bit slower if you hadn’t drugged me,” Ethel says, her speech slurred.

“The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, help of the helpless, O abide with me.”

I slowly pull the bloodied handkerchief from Ethel’s clenched fist. It’s like a magic trick. It will be the only material evidence of our encounter that I will take from this room. A reminder that magic is an illusion. Death, an illusion. Life, a fleeting moment of time in God’s will.

My eyes lock with the old woman’s. Her rasping exhalations are desperate, but she shows no fear. Only defiance.

“Touch my Lark and he’ll kill you,” she whispers.

I smile as I fold my handkerchief and slip it into my pocket.

“I’m sure hoping he’ll try.”

And then I watch until the last breath leaves her lips like a final, unanswered prayer.





LAST DEFENSE




Lark


“I’m happy for you,” Rose says. My eyes lift from the two plates of pastry crumbs that sit between us and Rose’s grin widens beneath my scrutinous gaze. “I can tell things are different.”

“What do you mean?”

“With Lachlan. You just seem different from a couple of months ago. You looked like you wanted to murder him at Sloane’s wedding. And look at you now.” Rose’s arms spread wide and she nearly gut-punches a barista who strides past our table. “You were murdery before and now you’re all sexed-up and glowing.”

I cough around a sip of coffee. “Um … yeah. Thanks.”

“Is it good?”

“Is what good?”

“The sex. Duh.”

My cheeks heat as a memory from last night flashes through my mind: Lachlan’s face buried between my legs, my fist gripped tight in his hair as I pushed his sinful mouth against my pussy. It’s been just two weeks since our lives and desires finally aligned, and now each day we’re stitched closer together. Every night he fucks me until I’m ready to collapse, exhausted but sated. Every morning I wake up less able to imagine the days before Lachlan’s presence in my life and my bed. Sometimes his touch is all I can think about. His hands on my flesh. His kiss on my neck. His cock buried deep—

“That good that you can’t sit still, huh?” Rose asks as I shift on my seat. She grins as my blush grows hotter. “I’m happy for you, Lark. You deserve it.”

Though I give her my thanks, there’s an edge of sadness to my gratitude. I know I can’t say the same to Rose. And with the way we both look down at the table, she knows it too.

“How am I going to keep track of you?” I ask as Rose sips the last of her coffee and sets the empty mug down as she leans back to regard me with a melancholy smile.

“I do have a phone. Silveria Circus might have a nostalgic vibe, but it also has modern technology.”

“I know, but you’ll be all over the place. It’s going to be a little harder to meet up. But I’ll come see you as much as I can, whenever you’re nearby.”

“I’d love that. You and Sloane.” Rose shakes her head and swallows, her smile faltering. “You’re my girls. My bally broads.”

“I still have no idea what that means, but I kinda like it.” I smile and take a sip of my coffee. “How long before you meet up with Silveria?”

Rose glances down at her watch and gnaws at her lip. “About an hour.”

“And Fionn?”

“He’ll drop me off. And then I guess that’s that.” Rose shrugs. Sadness etches itself deeper into her features, even though she tries to hide it. I reach across the table and take her hand in mine. I know how it feels to try to maintain a mirage for someone else’s benefit while you crumble behind the illusion. But Rose wears her heart wide open for everyone to see, and it’s only a second or two before tears well in her eyes.

I don’t tell her it will be okay. I don’t know if that’s true, and I don’t want to pretend that comments like that are anything more than platitudes. Not anymore. Not for myself nor for anyone else. So instead, I hold Rose’s hand across the table and tell her what I really feel. “I’m going to miss you.”

Rose nods. “I’m going to miss you too,” she whispers. Her smile is brittle and my chest aches in reply. “You know what they say about the circus.”

“What, that the show must go on?”

“No,” she says. “That the show can’t begin until you jump.”

I’m caught in Rose’s words and her shimmering dark eyes when her phone vibrates with a text to break the spell between us. With a glance at the screen, she slides the device off the table and pockets it.

“Doc’s here. Guess I’ll see you around. Don’t be a stranger.”

We both stand and crush each other in a hug. The tremble in Rose’s shoulders cracks my heart and fills it with both pain and anger on her behalf. I know whatever is happening with Fionn is none of my business and she doesn’t seem willing to get into it in detail, but I can’t help but make a dig at him. “Maybe Lachlan wasn’t the asshat of the Kanes after all,” I whisper, and Rose laughs in my arms.