34
Imay not like what I am seeing, it may make my gut churn and my heart squeeze painfully inside my chest, reminding me constantly of my time spent with Valentine, but I can’t stand back and watch it all from a sideline.
I need to be involved. I need to know I am doing something. Lex is right, I would be blind to it if it weren’t for him and if what he says is true and that information is to be believed, the Syndicate is bigger than even Lex can take on. The idea that they would continue to get away with exploiting girls the way they were didn’t sit easy but maybe, just maybe, this could be the start of their downfall.
They’ve been unchallenged for so long that us, the Silver’s pushing them back may make others realize that they aren’t so powerful after all.
I needed to be there, standing at his side, not for me, and not for Lex either, but for Rory and for all those girls down there in Valentine’s keep.
I wanted to see them suffer for their hand in it.
Lex wasn’t going to make it easy though and that pissed me off.
Have I not proven myself? Have I not shown what I am capable of?
I am not a weak little girl. I don’t shy away from the blood or the violence, even when it makes my skin crawl, I watched a life be taken, I’ve taken a life. I can do this.
Iwantto do this.
I step from him, looking up into those pensive grey eyes, unable to read exactly what it is he is thinking.
When I think he may say something he simply steps from me and heads for the bed, unbuttoning his pants as he goes. I sigh, drying myself off and then dropping the towel in the hamper by the door, following him into the bedroom.
He lays beneath the comforter, hands behind his head, watching me, but I am watching the city. Even at this hour it is still alive, the streets below thumping with activity, cars and revelers and whilst the noise is muffled this high in the clouds I can feel that energy.
This is what it is to stand on top of a kingdom. To have the ground at your feet and the people before you bowing down to your every whim. Most of the citizens of this city don’t even know that it is Lex that rules them, but should they step out of line, they will surely know who their king is.
I always knew there was darkness. Shadows. Demons.
I hadn’t expected the level of corruption I’d witnessed but I am hardly surprised.
I step out onto the balcony, a smaller, separate version to the one in the living room, the cool wash of the night breeze cooling my heated skin. My hands wrap around the railings and I watch it all. I feel the burn of Lex’s stare at my back but he makes no move to bring me back inside.
I stand for a little while longer, watching the world roll on by, realizing I’ll never be the same again. I’ll never have that innocence of believing the world was all sunshine and rainbows. I’ll never be able to walk these streets without wondering about what kind of monster lurked in the shadows, beneath the ground and in all the dark corners.
I am forever changed and for it, I will be stronger.
I’ll never be weak again.
I turn back to Lex, lounging on the bed, the muscles of his arms tense in the position he’s in, veins snaking around his forearms and further up. Bronzed skin, glowing in the low lighting of the room and in even more stark contrast compared to the pristine white bedding beneath him.
I narrow my eyes.
I head towards the drawers on the other side of the room, reaching in to withdraw a dagger I’d found in here previously. Surely, he couldn’t think I’d go long without exploring. The steel glints in the lighting, the sharp edge cutting into my skin as I run the pad of my finger across it.
“Wren,” Lex growls.
I watch the blood bead and roll down the length of my finger before I cross the room and put a knee on the bed.
“You think I cannot handle what this life will bring,” I say in a low voice, crawling up the bed, between his parted thighs where I then sit back on my heels, the blade held in front of me.
His eyes bounce from me to the knife, his brow cocking.
“And what do you think you’re doing right now, little bird?”
I cock my head, my lips tilting up into a smile, “Reminding you of the woman you took all those weeks ago.”
He smirks.