The Dark (DEVON) // ✔️ // [NEWADULT]

|| Chapter Thirty-Six - Moving Day ||

"Why don't you just fucking run?" Jodie snapped, "If-if you run..." her words trailed off as Harrison placed a hand on her shoulder. She slumped into him and closed her eyes. Defeated.
"I don't get it." She mumbled, "Why don't we just find her mom? Isaac is none-the-wiser than we are about where Victoria could be! How do we even know - and no offence to you-" she directed at me, "-that it's going to be worth it in the end! What if she's dead? What if your mother is dead and you..."

I zoned out. Blocking out Jodie's raving. I didn't want to conceive of such a possibility. It would do me no good to think like that - especially if I'm spending however long with Isaac. I need all the positive thinking I can get.

"That's enough." Devon said softly, coming around the corner with my packed bags in his hands, "I'm not an idiot Jodie. You really think I'd let her stay with Isaac if there was a way around it?" He continued, "For Isaac, this isn't about Aria's Mom - it's about Aria." Devon grunted as he hauled the bags on the steel kitchen countertops.

"Then how can you trust that he'll find her mom! If he has Aria... he-he won't try!" Tears were lining her eyes as she spoke, Harrison dragged his thumbs along her cheeks when they fell and held her quivering body close to his.
Jodie was scared. She was terrified. A girl who had seen more bad than good in her life - was this scared for my safety. The thought was unsettling.

"He will try." Devon muttered, "he will try because if he doesn't he knows there'll be hell to pay." The words seemed so simple.

"We won't know..." Jodie whispered, "how will we even know, Isaac won't let her communicate with us whilst she's under his roof that's too reckless." She had a point.

   I didn't miss the small smirk that lined Devon's lips momentarily, "You're right, we wont get information from the inside... from Aria anyway." I frowned and swivelled on my seat to get a good look at him - what was he up to?

   Footsteps echoed from down the hallway, Devon began hauling my bags back off the counter one by one and handed them to Meghan and Parker. I bristled at his presence - but in all honesty I was still grateful he was alive.
   They were trailed by Ace and Joe who kitted both of them out with - what I dubbed - "inconspicuous tech" that was virtually invisible to the naked eye.

   "What's going on?" Jodie's voice travelled around the steel room monotonously.
   Devon sighed and placed his arm over Meghan's  shoulder, a smug expression was plastered on her face, "I had a think about how we could keep eyes on the inside - liberating the house and finding two members to blackmail wouldn't work, Isaac knows his goons." He shrugged, "So I figured, why not send in two of my people who have never come into contact with Kingsley before." Harrison didn't look too convinced.

   "Just how the fuck are you gonna pull that one off Dev?" His words were edged with an emotion I couldn't quite decipher - but it was far from positive.

   Meghan sighed and stepped forward, "Listen, Harrison, I know this is a lot for your one-track mind to take in - but Isaac Kingsley and his band of posh twats that follow him around with their dicks tucked between their ballsacks have never seen me and Parker before. Plus - We are the only ones who don't have a serpent tattoo inked on us somewhere. They have NO proof of who we are and who we work for." Meghan looked me up and down and grimaced, "on top of that... if in any circumstances they try to hurt her. Neither me nor Parker are gonna exactly rush to her defence, considering this dude-" she crooked a thumb at Parker, "already tried to smother her." Her voice wavered slightly as if she was trying to hold in a laugh.
"We will blend in just fine." Her smile was sinister.

Devon took a deep breath and nodded, "on top of those two, if things get bad enough - and I've stated word for word what situation is classified under 'bad enough' - we have a secret weapon in our arsenal, who is willing to break down the door and open fire at any given moment." Devon walked over to me slowly and grabbed my arms softly, tracing them lightly with his thumbs, "You'll be fine, Aria."

   Devon had said the same thing when he'd taken my bloods earlier in the day, he never explained why, but just in case... he'd made sure to take enough to test my blood type - I had no clue what I was. He didn't say but, it was because he didn't know if I'd come back with as much blood as I was leaving with.
   And that was scary.

Meghan huffed and sashayed from the room with one of my bags in tow, Parker followed silently with his head bowed down.
Jodie and Harrison left soon after leaving only me and Devon in the room.

"Are you sure they aren't going to clock on?" I whispered, "what's their story?" I asked.

Devon shook his head once and gently kissed my forehead, "Don't concern yourself with them, they can hold their own. I chose them both for a reason. Even Parker - despite his massive flaws - has his becoming attributes." He smiled down at me.

Without hesitation, I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my face on his shoulder, I was conscious that I was shaking slightly, but I ignored the feeling and instead focused on Devon's hands that were caressing the small of my back in lazy circles.

"You've got to go." He whispered, his voice cracked as he pushed me away.
"Listen to me, they can't hurt you. Isaac can't hurt you. You aren't his to hurt anymore. I'm not trying to sound possessive - it's just the mentality men like him have. There's a way about how you hold yourself now that is different to how you did before we-" I blushed and looked at my feet, Devon chuckled, "yeah you get it. You're a different woman. You're my woman and I-" my eyes shot up to his.

"I really care about you Aria." He said stiffly, clearing his throat, "now, let's get you in the car." He turned on his heel and grabbed the remaining bags, storming ahead to where Reuben was probably waiting.

When I reached the courtyard, I realised that it wasn't Reuben's car at all. It wasn't even Reuben. The car had a matte black finish with tinted windows and subtle gold detailing dancing around the windows and door handles.
This was Isaac's driver.

I straightened up and said my final goodbyes, Jodie wrapped her arms around me tightly and whispered, "You be a Serpent babe, you stay strong." I nodded and squeezed her once more before moving on to everyone else.
Devon - to my shock - simply diverted me towards the car, "it's foolish of me to show you affection in front of that man." He said simply, but still grazed his hand along my back as I stepped into the car.
He couldn't see me through the glass, but I could see him. I could see the pain, fear, sadness lining his features.

A pit opened up in my stomach.

Parker and Meghan joined me, Parker kept his distance at the far end of the car and looked out his window. No words. Nothing.
Meghan stretched out across the seats and knocked the pane separating us and driver twice, just like that - we were off.

However, despite my "protection".

I couldn't be certain I would ever come back.

Alive, anyway.

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Hehehe, I'm really getting back into this story again, I re-read the whole thing, found all my plans in my notepad and I'm back on track!

Exciting stuff to come!!!

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