by Sophie Davis
Asher’s expression was blank, and I knew. “I’m so sorry, Raven,” he said softly. “Even if I was able to control or suppress all of the egos, you—Lark—wouldn’t be whole. Not like you mean. You don’t repair cracked glass, you replace it. I’m sorry, really I am. With regular therapy and—”
“I don’t want you to bandage me—her—whatever. I want…I want….” Tears sprang to my eyes. My mission, my purpose in life was to make Lark whole. Both she and Lila said it had to be me—that only I was capable of the task. Because I was the pure one. But if Asher couldn’t help me, then I had failed. And as I worried as I’d been about my fate, it was Lark’s that concerned me now.
“It’s okay. This isn’t the end,” Blake assured me, squeezing my hand. “We’ll find David. We’ll this out.”
For several long minutes, Asher and I stared at each other silently. There was nothing left to say. He couldn’t help me, and I couldn’t bring myself to thank him for doing the right thing in the end. Maybe one day, but not any time soon.
“We need to go, Asher,” Agent X said finally, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Go? Go where?” I demanded.
Asher, Blake, and Agent X exchanged glances. “Part of my deal with the FBI includes witness protection,” Asher said. “This will be the last time we see each other.”
Blake cleared his throat. “And I should probably tell you the Kingsleys are also entering WITSEC.”
“They are being relocated as we speak,” Agent X confirmed.
I let out a shaky breath as the front door opened behind me. I didn’t bother looking over my shoulder. “What happens to me? Am I…free?”
No one responded. At least, no one standing in my immediate vicinity.
“That depends on you, Lark.” The voice was deep and male, and one I recognized. Well, one Lark recognized anyhow.
I turned toward the door, where Senator Ridell stood with Adam. The Senator smiled at me, and then gave Agent X a curt nod. “The marshalls are outside. They’re ready whenever you are.”
Agent X gave Asher a gentle nudge. “We should go.”
“Yeah, of course.” Asher looked down at me as he passed. “I know you don’t believe me, but I do care about you. All of you. I only ever wanted to help—help you, help others like my mother. Try to remember that.”
I said nothing as he let Agent X guide him toward the door and out of my life forever.
“Lark, sweetheart,” Senator Ridell began, moving closer to me and farther from the door. “As soon as Adam asked me about Montauk….” He shook his head regretfully. “I should have come to you right away, but I wanted to check on some things first.”
“So you have heard of Montauk?” I asked for clarification.
“Yes. For decades it has been the site of—well, that’s classified. What I can tell you is that Dr. David XXXXX was hired to help soldiers returning from war deal with the horrors they witnessed. Montauk was unoccupied at the time, so we allowed to conduct his research on the base.” The Senator met my gaze, and politician or not, I believed him when he said, “We did not know he was experimenting on civilians. When Adam told me you were a patient there…If I had acted then, maybe we would have caught the good doctor before he could run.”
“It’s not your fault,” I started to say, but the Senator kept on talking.
“We will catch him, Lark. I swear to you, I will not fail you twice. But I need your help to do that.”
Blake pulled me closer, determined to protect me at any costs.
“You know more than you might think,” the Senator continued. “I would like for you to stay with me, here in D.C. of course, where you can be close to your boyfriend and Adam. But also where I can protect you, keep you safe.”
“Do I have a choice?” I asked, because it sort of didn’t sound like it.
“You do. You are free to do whatever you please. I am asking you to help us find Dr. David XXXX. I won’t lie and say that locating him has any benefit to you beyond the satisfaction of seeing him behind bars and knowing he can never hurt another innocent such as yourself.”
It didn’t take me long to make a decision. Truthfully, there wasn’t a decision to make. I held out my hand to Senator Ridell. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”