The Starling Saviour

Chapter 61

'I was vulnerable when the Count took me, and I was still upset when Vanch abducted me,' I blurted out, before realising what I had told Oliver.

What would I tell him? That I had found out Isaac's death was because of me on a spaceship with a future version of Sara? He would never believe me.

'Why?' He wondered, looking like he didn't know what to expect.

'I found out... Things,' I started, not knowing what else to say. 'Things about my past I would rather forget. Isaac, he... He died because of me, and I can never change that, no matter what I do. I should've been the one who died, not him.'

'Aria,' Oliver outstretched his arms to take me into a hug, but I stiffened up, stepping back from him very obviously.

'No, Oliver,' I shook my head, closing my eyes to try and somehow wake up from this nightmare I was living. 'Stop. Go and be with McKenna. I don't want your pity.'

'Aria-'

But I left before I could hear any more of Oliver's pleas. I was determined to show him that I didn't need to rely on anyone else, especially The Hood.

---

As I downed a glass of whiskey back at Leyla's hideout, I heard a knock on the door. It startled me; no one ever turned up to this place, not even her old clients after she had told them not to return.

My visitor was Tommy Merlyn.

'This is not the time,' I went to shut the door straight away, not caring for pleasantries.

I had forgotten I had sent him my address when I had gotten myself drunk after getting away from the Count.

'I heard what happened, Aria,' Tommy said bluntly.

'Let me guess,' I remarked. 'Oliver told you, didn't he?'

Tommy merely nodded.

'Can I... Come in?' He requested. 'It's a bit cold out here.'

'Why not,' I murmured, showing Tommy inside. 'I'm just so popular tonight, aren't I?'

'Have you been drinking?' He interrogated me lightly, before seeing the half-finished bottle on a table nearby. 'Whiskey, really?'

'You know me,' I winked sarcastically. 'I'm really classy.'

'Whatever happened out there tonight, Aria, you need to know that it's fixable,' Tommy tried to make me feel better, but he was unsuccessful.

'You can't resurrect someone, Tommy,' I spouted irritably. 'I committed murder. I should be locked up and on my way to Iron Heights.'

'No,' Tommy shook his head, looking me straight in the eye. 'It wasn't your fault, okay. I know you, and I know you would never kill someone on purpose. Oliver told me an officer tried to take the gun off of you, and he set it off, not you.'

'Oliver said that?' I uttered in a drawl of some bitter realisation. 'He just blatantly accused me when he saw me at the precinct!'

'And he was wrong,' Tommy apologised for his friend. 'You know Oliver, he's always quick to judge. And, he was on that island four more years after you left, I think it made him go crazy.'