Page 37 of Victorious: Part I

Lock lowers his head, resting it on Livvy’s stomach, his shoulders jerking with obvious sobs wracking through him. And like a sucker punch to the gut, my breathing kicks back in. I suck in a sharp, frantic breath, my chest tightening as air slips through my lungs too fast to hold, too shallow to calm. My pulse pounds, my thoughts splintering under the weight of each gasp. My chest squeezes so tight it’s like I’m barely breathing at all.

My hand shoots out to grip the end of Livvy’s bed to keep me upright before I topple over, realizing after I heard the heart monitor, something happened. All noise seemed to shut out. I had no clue what was happening, but as the sound slowly started to filter back in, Poppy’s screaming cries cause me to focus back on what I need to do. Jerking my head up, I spot Alpha fighting as hard as he can to keep Poppy in his arms as he struggles to stop Poppy from jumping onto the bed with Livvy.

Shaking off what I think was a panic attack, I rush over to Alpha as he battles to keep Poppy restrained, and I move in front of Poppy as she thrashes about.

My watering eyes meet hers.

One bird to another.

“Poppy, stop,” I urge.

But she continues.

Alpha is fighting to control her, so I try again.

“Poppy, I know this is difficult—”

“I want mymama!” she screams, continuing to wrestle against Alpha, scratching and clawing at him to let her go. Her nails dig into Alpha’s cheek, drawing blood.

“Fuck!” Alpha grumbles, his eyes watering, not from physical pain but from seeing his daughter suffering this badly.

Reaching up, I grab Poppy’s hands and restrain her. Her eyes glare at me, and I see it—the fight inside her. So, I use it to my advantage. “Hummingbird, stop!Right now!”

Poppy’s head jerks back like she’s shocked, her body going limp immediately. Her bottom lip trembles and tears continue to stream down her face while Alpha stares at me in disbelief.

Exhaling, I gesture for him to let her go.

He hesitates, but I know she needs this—she needs closure.

He tilts his head, then places Poppy on the floor, and I lean in. “Stand up, shoulders straight.” Poppy straightens her posture, moving straight back into her training. Alpha swallows hard, watching me as I take charge of his daughter.

He knew. He always knew.

But he’s never seen what happened in training.

How as birds, we focus as soon as we’re called to action.

No matter the circumstance.

Poppy may only be eight, and her being pulled into The Nest was fucking horrific, but right now, her training might be theonlything to usher her through her grief.

So, I’ll use it to our advantage.

“What’s rule number one?” I ask her.

She exhales, craning her neck to the side, even as the tears still flow down her face. “Never tell them your birth name.”

Alpha and Lock say nothing, though the confusion on their face says it all as I press my hand onto her back, edging her forward toward her mother. “C’mon, Hummingbird. Let’s go say goodbye.”

Poppy glances up at me, then softly nods. “Thank you, Blue Jay.”

Weakly smiling, I let out a long, understanding sigh. When we go through training as birds, they tap into our emotions. Try to get them to shut off. So in moments like this, after being set free from The Nest, feeling emotions is really fucking hard.

We feel them differently.

And for Poppy, who is so young, she won’t be able to process it the same way I do.

That’s why I am going to help her the best way I can.

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