Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Six

Vox

Saturday…

The day is finally here.

We can put a face to the writer of the secret letters and find out what we need to take down these cunts. I can tell Nova is nervous, she has been quiet all morning and keeps gazing out the living room windows at her house with a pained look on her face. Ez has been quiet since he and the guys arrived this morning. I know that he’s been going out of his mind wondering why his family seal has been used for all the letters.

“Vox, can I have a word?” I turn away from Nova and face my mom who is standing in the kitchen looking… frightened. I step in front of her and grip her arms.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

She inhales sharply and blinks a couple of times as if she is trying not to cry. “Whatever you are planning to do tonight with your friends, don’t… please.” I release and take a step back eyeing her cautiously.

“Why?” I ask.

Her eyes harden as she stares up at me. “After Edmund died, your father thought he could take down the Saints and grant your sister freedom but he couldn’t. He died trying to accomplish a goal that was unreachable.”

Anger unfurls inside me. “No, he died trying to protect his family.” Her face slackens at the bite in my tone. “If my fate is to join him then so be it, because I would rather fucking die than ever see my sister blooded in!” I roar. When I hear a gasp behind, I spin around to see Vivian standing there with my boys standing protectively around her. “Fuck!” I grit out as I scrub a hand down my face.

“Take a walk, you need to calm the fuck down,” Ez snarls. I eye him for a second but the harsh look in his eyes tells me if I don’t fuck off and calm down, he and I will go a couple of a rounds and right now, I don’t need that shit.

“Fuck this,” I snarl as I storm out of the house and glare at Thomas’ place as I pass by. I nearly make it to the end of the street before I hear footsteps pounding the ground behind me. I peer over my shoulder to see Vivian coming toward me. “What are you doing here?” I ask when she falls into step beside me.

“You want to risk your life for me and I understand that, but you need to realize that I will do the same for you, Vox.”

“Like fuck you will?—”

“Shut up and listen to me!” I snap my mouth closed and turn to face her, sometimes I forget we are twins until moments like this. Her and I are similar in many ways but then in some we are polar opposites. “You have spent your whole life trying to protect me and I love you so much for that… but somewhere along the way you stopped being my brother and became a father to me when I didn’t want that.”

“I never tried to replace Dad.” I am horrified that she feels like I would ever try to do that to him.

She shakes her head and smiles timidly. “You never actively tried, it just kind of happened. I need you to be my brother right now and hear what I am about to say.” I nod curtly. “I will never be blooded in because I have a plan and if it does fall through, I know you, Ez, Arch and Hayze will be there to protect me. I’m not scared to die if it means you get to be free.”

“There is no way out from the Saints, Vivi, unless you are banished for crimes against The Brotherhood. No one has been banished since…” I try to think over everything I have learned about the Saints and I can’t recall when the last person was banished. “I don’t know if anyone has ever been banished before.”

“We’ll find a way out of this.” I move forward and cup her face between my hands. She grips my wrists in her hands and gazes up at me with hope in her eyes.

“Your optimism is admirable, sister, but this isn’t a movie. For years I couldn’t understand why Mom didn’t just pack us in the car and run, I was so mad at her. It wasn’t until I was inducted that I understood why she stayed.”

“Why?” she whispers.

“If she had run, the Saints would have hunted us down and not just killed me but you and her as well.”

A gasp tears from her. “We were kids.”

I nod. “I know but to them it doesn’t matter. We are minions that they mold into soldiers and force us into places of power so we can better line their pockets. This is nothing but a way for these fuckers to gain power and wealth. If we were caught trying to do what we are, they have grounds to kill us, Vivian.”

Tears cloud her eyes, her bottom lip trembles and she shakes her head. “I can’t lose you too,” she chokes out. I growl and wrap my arms around her, holding her close. Her arms lock around me in a vice-like hold. “Don’t leave me.”

“Never. I will never leave you, Vivian. I swear on Dad’s grave I will always be here for you.”

I stand in my bedroom changing my clothes as we get ready to head to the cemetery. All afternoon Nova has kept quiet and not uttered a single word. Vivian has been gnawing on her nails like they are fucking chocolate. She wanted to come with us but I flat out refused, she may know about us and what we do and have done but I won’t allow her to get herself into harm's way. My sister is pissed but I have no time for antics, I’d rather her focus her wrath on me and be safe then put herself in danger trying to help us.

“Hey.” I turn around to find Nova standing in the doorway, she looks like she hasn’t slept. The jeans she wears clings to her perfectly but she hides her curves beneath one of my hoodies. I won’t lie, the sight of her in my clothes makes me hard.

“You good?” I ask.

She rolls her lips over her teeth and shrugs. “No… Yes…” Her shoulders deflate.

“Come here.” She stalks across the room and comes to a halt before me. I reach out and grip her face, tilting her head back until she meets my gaze. Those green eyes look tortured and full of fear—I wish I could keep her out of this. From the first moment I learned she was coming here and who she was to Nexus, I had planned to torture her, break her until there was nothing left, but somehow… things changed. “Say the word and we call this thing off.”

Surprise ripples across her face. “You’d do that?”

I inhale sharply and nod. “Yeah, I guess I would.”

“Why?” she whispers.

I bend at the knees so we are eye level. “Because getting what I want doesn’t seem so important anymore if it means breaking you in the process.” I see my words have shocked her but I don’t take them back. She presses forward and seals her lips to mine. I don’t pull away or stop, instead I shift my hold on her face and grip the back of her head, deepening the kiss. I slide my tongue across hers and groan into her mouth, fuck, a simple kiss from her has me wanting to say fuck it to the world, locking her in my room and getting lost inside her until I can figure out what spell this witch has cast on me.

“It’s time.” Nova and I break apart. I pull her against me, holding her close as I flick my gaze to Archer and nod. He looks from me to Nova and sighs, he can tell shit is hitting her hard and I know just like me the guys don’t want her to come tonight either, but if she doesn’t, we lose the only lead we have on this uncle of hers.

“Vox?” I step back and peer down at her, the sight of unshed tears in her eyes has me frowning.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have this feeling in the pit of my gut and it feels like whatever is gonna happen tonight is going to turn our worlds upside down.”

“Nothing will happen to you.” I growl.

“So much has already changed.”

“Like what?” I push.

“Waylen doesn’t even answer my calls, he won’t say the words back. My mom is gone and the man she married is the leader of a crazy secret society. My stepbrother keeps blowing up my phone and I’m too much of a coward to check his messages or listen to the voicemails. Since moving here, I’ve changed?—”

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down,” I say, trying to ease some of her stress. “We get your mom back tonight. We find the intel we need on Thomas and take him and Nexus down, then we work on that Waylen fucker.” She glares at me.

“He’s important to me,” she defends.

“So, killing him isn’t an option?”

She balks at me. “Touch him and I’ll murder you.” The fire in her eyes has me smiling.

“There she is,” I murmur as I place another kiss to her lips, then snatch my mask off the dresser.

“Do I get a mask?” her question has laughter bursting out of me.

“Never.” I grab her hand and lead her out of the room. We meet the guys in the garage as they begin loading both cars. We’re taking my Challenger Demon and Hayze’s 350Z. Nova pulls free and begins helping Archer load shit into my trunk, my mom hates that we all own guns, but I’m not going to this meet unarmed.

We plan to arrive earlier and scout the area out to make sure that this isn’t an ambush and we have the best vantage point. All the shit we are taking are for traps in case shit goes sideways and he tries to run.

I didn’t say it before because I didn’t want to worry Nova, but I have the same feeling she does—something feels off and I’m not sure what it is, but I’ve always been taught to follow my instincts and tonight, I hope like fuck for the first time that they are wrong.