Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Vox

Vivian glares at Nex, I don’t interfere, my boys know Vivi is off limits to any of our games, and if they so much as make her shed a tear, I will break their fucking necks. Everyone in this town knows she is not to be fucked with or touched by any cunt. Every guy here knows if they so much as look at her for longer than a second or utter her name in a way I don’t like, they will end up with broken fucking bones. Like Chase, he is sporting a broken nose because he thought he was a tough cunt and said he wanted to ask her to Homecoming. He learned real fucking fast why everyone stays the fuck away from Vivian.

“The only pig I see here is you ,” Vi bites back. Nexus opens his mouth to argue, but Vivian turns her focus to us. “Meet my new friend…” She looks to the girl at her side waiting for her to say her name, the raven-haired girl sighs and meets our stare with a bored look.

“Nova,” she says, her voice is raspy and holds an edge of annoyance. I run my gaze over her and take note of her style. Unlike most of the girls around town, she doesn’t seem to give a fuck what anyone thinks about her. She’s dressed for comfort tonight, not for attention.

Nexus steps in front of me, blocking the girl from my view. “Anyone who touches my new sister, they will have me to deal with.” His declaration lacks heat. I scan the crowd to see half of the guys fighting back smirks. Nexus doesn't have the balls to back up his threat like I do. He doesn’t like to get his hands dirty like the rest of us. Unfortunately for him, he needs to learn how to get down and dirty real fucking fast, or we will all go down together.

“You aren’t my anything, asshole!” Nova grits out as she pulls her arm free of Vi’s hold and steps into Nexus. I see his shoulders tense. Hayze and Archer both shift forward discreetly, ready to intervene if they need to. “You don’t own me.”

Nexus chuckles, but there is no humor in it. He reaches out and grips a strand of her hair, allowing it to slip through his fingers. “Correction, piggy, I do fucking own you. You’re in my world now. Look around you, little sis. They are all here for us.” He opens his arms wide and everyone around us begins to whoop and holler like a herd of fucking sheep following their shepherds lead.

Nova doesn’t seem deterred or even put off by the fact that Nexus has the entire school body at his back.

“You think because you have all these fools falling for your bullshit that I’ll bow down and take whatever you dish out?”

“That’s exactly what I know you will do,” he clips out.

She laughs humorlessly. She eliminates the sliver of space between them until her chest brushes against his. She reaches out and rests her forearm on the top of his shoulder in a bold as fuck move that has my brows raising in intrigue.

“Oh, Nexy boy, challenge a-fucking-ccepted. You have no idea how petty I can be. We could have been friends, but now you have just made an enemy out of the wrong bitch. Game on, rich boy,” she spits out as she turns and saunters away. The crowd parts for her. We all watch her walk away, but I can’t help but stare at her perfect ass.

“You can find your own way home, piggy!” Nexus shouts, her only reply is shooting him the middle finger over her shoulder, which has me chuckling. This girl has balls of steel. Nexus whirls around and scowls at me. We may be friends but it wasn’t by choice. We are stuck together until I figure out a way to get us out of this shit.

“Something fucking funny?” he snarls, his tone has my lip twitching. I take a step forward but I’m stopped when Vivi cuts in the middle, giving Nex her back as she stares up at me with a pleading look.

“Vox, please.” I grind my teeth in irritation, knowing exactly what she is asking. I want to finish what I started with Nexus, but I know it will ruin everything if I smash his smug fucking face in.

“Let’s go,” I grit out as I snag her hand and drag her toward my car. I can tell the guys are following behind me. I don’t need to look back to know Nexus is staying where he is. Without me, Ez, Hayze, and Archer at the party, he’ll have every piece of pussy at his beck and call. I pull my keys from my pocket and click the beeper. My Dodge Hellcat’s lights flash as the locks disengage. I release Vivi’s hand so she can climb in as I get behind the wheel, Hayze, Ez, and Archer climb in the back.

They never question my reasons or motives, these guys are my brothers, and we have proven that time and again that we are loyal. When one of us fights we all fight, no questions asked. We never leave a brother behind, it’s always been our code even before we were inducted.

I start the engine and smirk at the sound of the 6.2L Hemi SRT Demon V8 engine—the Hellcat and my Challenger Demon are my most favorite cars. The Demon is faster, but I only bring that bad bitch out on nights I want to fuck shit up. I spin the back tires as I plant my foot, making sure that I have everyone’s attention as we peel out of the lot just to fuck with Nexus.

“Okay, Vin Diesel, calm the hell down and look for Nova.” I say nothing in reply to Vi. The only reason I am leaving the party is because Vivian never makes friends or even wants to. She’s afraid people are only using her to get closer to me and the guys, so the fact she cares enough to go after this girl means something to her, which is why I am now pulling over near where Nova is leaning against the bus stop with her phone in her hand. She snaps her head up when I roll to a stop beside her. Vi leans over me and pushes the button to slide the window down. I keep my gaze ahead not wanting to look at the little troublemaker.

“Get in, loser, you’re coming with us.” I see Nova shake her head out of the corner of my eye, then feel Vivian sag in disappointment. I grit my teeth and turn to the girl, her eyes dart to mine instantly.

“Get in the fucking car,” I growl, causing her brows to raise.

“Say please, and I’ll think about it.” My nostrils flare in anger.

“Please get in the car, we’ll take you home,” Vi says in a placating tone. I watch the witch’s shoulders sag as she nods. She moves to the back door, and the instant she pulls it open, Hayze doesn’t give her a chance to back out. He grips her waist and hoists her inside the car, ignoring her protests as he sits her on his lap while he yanks the door closed. She reaches for the handle to get out, so I push Vi back in her seat and plant my foot.

“I will break your fucking nose if you don’t get your hands off me!” she shouts. I flick my gaze to the rearview mirror, watching as Hayze lifts his hands as if surrendering. Ezekiel doesn’t look comfortable sitting in the middle, but doesn’t complain, he never does. Archer just looks like he’s trying not to laugh at this situation.

“Calm down, sugar, we aren’t going to hurt you,” Hayze says.

“Oh, right, so kidnapping is normal in this fucking town?” she bites back.

“I’m sorry, this was my idea. I didn't want you walking home alone,” Vivi says as she peers back at Nova. I white knuckle the steering wheel, hating the sound of uncertainty in her voice.

I hear the witch sigh in the backseat, the hard edges of her face begin to smooth out when she looks at Vi. “Thank you, that was… nice of you.” I can tell she doesn't mean a word she says and is saying that to be nice for Vivian’s sake.

“I swear we aren’t assholes like Nexus.” I shoot her a look, telling her without words to keep her mouth shut, she knows no one can know who we are, and outing Nexus means outing the rest of us. “Anyway, Nova meet Archer, Ezekiel and Hayze.” Nova looks at each of them but doesn’t so much as crack a smile. “This big angry asshole here,” Vi says, patting my arm, “is my twin brother, Vox.” Her brows raise in surprise.

“You’re twins?” She sounds surprised.

“Yeah, but obvs I am the better looking twin,” my sister says, earning a glare from me. The guys snicker in the back seat which has a smile spreading across Nova’s face.

“Of course,” the witch says, making my boys laugh. I growl and take the next turn hard so she slams into the door. “Dick.” I hear her mutter as she rights herself on Hayze’s lap, the sight of him placing his hands on her hips has me gripping the wheel tighter.

“So, I’m guessing you will be attending Haven Prep?” Vi asks her, the hopeful lilt in her tone has guilt swirling inside me.

“I guess so.” Nova sounds bitter about it.

“Hey, don’t worry you can hang out with us?—”

“No offense but I’ll pass.” I’m about to rip the bitch a new one when Vi’s face falls, but she pushes on. “I don’t want to hang out anywhere near my new asshole stepbrother but if you want to kick it somewhere else, I’m down,” she says with a shrug, making my sister’s face light up.

“Totally, having you at school is going to be so much fun, I can tell already.”

“What makes you say that?” Nova asks Vi.

“Call it intuition. I can tell you are going to shake things up around here, Nova, and I am totally fucking here for it!”