Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Nova

I’ve been standing next to Vox’s car for nearly an hour as he and the guys went off to lay traps. I'm nervous and scared out of my mind. My throat is dry so I make my way to the trunk and search through the mess to find the water. I push the shovels aside and shake my head at the sight of them. If he thinks I will help him bury a body, he is out of his fucking mind. I find the bottle of water, pop the cap and guzzle the liquid. I screw the cap back on and pull out my phone to check the time.

11:37pm

I exhale and toss the bottle back in the trunk and roll my shoulders just as the four guys emerge from the woods to my left, all of them are dressed head to toe in black and wear their masks. The sight of Vox in that mask has a shiver rolling through me. I knew there was something about him, a darkness that clung to him when I first met him. His aura was pitch black but now it’s grayish.

“We need to move, the meet point is through there,” Ezekiel says, the voice distorter would confuse anyone to who is speaking but it’s the masks that make it easy for me to tell them apart.

Two horns has flecks of blue in his mask.

Right horn has gray through his mask.

No horns masks has darker brown coloring through his.

Left horn has green on his mask.

It’s only now that I realize that the colors running through each of their masks match their eye colors. Vox interlocks his fingers with mine and leads us through the woods so we enter the cemetery through the back. When we break through the brush my gaze automatically looks to the headstone with the head where I found out who the Filthy Few really was. I never expected to return here with them or even be… dating their leader?

Am I dating, Vox?

“Stay here, we’ll go look around,” Vox says to me, then he and the other’s take off. Suddenly I feel utterly alone, though the dim lighting of the moon allows me to see their silhouettes in the darkness. I dart my gaze around and feel trickles of fear thrumming through me, who the fuck thought meeting in a cemetery was a good idea?

I hear a noise behind me and whirl around, I squint my eyes trying to see better in the darkness but all I can see is the headstones. I move toward a wooden sign and pull my phone out, turning the flashlight on, my eyes widen as I read it.

Children.

Oh my God!

I look up again and see a figure standing in the middle. My breath lodges in my throat and I begin to shake when I feel the shadows eyes on me. I’m motionless, unable to move or utter a sound as the shadow makes its way toward me. I open my mouth to scream but no words come out. The closer the figure gets to me the more I begin to panic, feeling a cold sweat working its way down my spine.

My phone begins to ring in my hand and that’s all it takes to snap me out of my inner turmoil, I spin around and dart across the grass toward the lanterns where the guys are.

“Help!” The sound of my scream has the four of them whirling around. Vox rushes toward me and I leap into him. He catches me and wraps his arms around me protectively as the other three move in front of us, forming a blockade of sorts.

“I got you,” Vox growls in my ear, the voice distorter can’t mask the rage in his tone. Vox walks us backward and I chance a glance over my shoulder to see the three guys doing the same but it's the sight of the lone figure making its way toward us that has me burrowing my face in his neck. I know this is irrational but seeing a shadow in a cemetery isn’t exactly something any normal person would be okay with. Vox releases his hold on me and places me on my feet, then shields me with his body as he pulls a remote out of his pocket and flicks a switch. Instantly I’m blinded by the lights that they had set up earlier around here and I slam my eyes closed. I blink a couple of times to clear my vision, then dart my gaze around Vox to see the figure standing there with his hood up, covering his face.

“Who are you?” Hayze growls.

“The one person that can keep the five of you and Vivian alive.” His deep baritone has me shivering behind Vox who tenses at the mentions of his sister.

“I’ll ask you again, who the fuck are you?” Ezekiel snaps, he reaches behind him and grips the hilt of his gun that is tucked into his waistband. I gasp silently and pray that this doesn’t end in a shootout because I am not prepared for that.

The man stands tall and cocks his head to the side. “If I reveal who I am, all your lives will change. Are you ready for that, Ezekiel?” This time I do gasp out loud, he knows who they are! The man tilts his head toward Hayze and Archer. “Archer Malik, Hayze Draven.” He then stares directly at Vox as he continues. “Vox Hatchett.” Vox doesn’t flinch or even show an ounce of surprise, I move out from behind him and stand by his side. “Ah, my niece.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Ezekiel roars. I get the strange sense that this guy is worried about revealing who he is, not for himself but for… us.

“I warned you,” is all he says, then reaches up and pushes his hood back. A pained sound escapes Ez as he stumbles back a step and catches himself on one of the tombstones before he can fall to his ass.

“You know him?” Archer asks. Ezekiel says nothing as he turns to face me. His gaze bores into mine and I fight not to fidget under the intensity of it.

“ Taylor ?” Ez murmurs, I jerk back into Vox’s side shaking my head.

“I told you my identity would change everything,” the man says but his tone is filled with regret.

Vox shifts and pulls a gun from his waistband and points it at the man. “No more bullshit, who the fuck are you?” Vox snarls. I still can’t tear my gaze from Ezekiel, he reaches up and pulls his mask off. The guys protest and scream at him to put it back on but he ignores them as he stumbles toward me. Vox stiffens at my side and doesn’t move until Ez drops his mask at my feet and cups my face between his hands. Instantly Vox is there, shoving him back and using his body to block me from Ezekiel’s view.

“Get out of my way,” Ez screams as he pushes right into Vox.

“You stay the fuck away from her,” Vox seethes. “I told all of you she’s mine, none of you are touching her!” Vox’s declaration and the power in which he says that has heat unfurling inside me. Ezekiel snakes his arm out and smacks Vox’s mask off, drawing a shocked shriek from me. Ez gets right in Vox’s face, not even bothered by the gun in his friend's hand.

“I need to know if it is her!” Ezekiel shouts, the pain that laces his words has me taking a step back and turning to the man who has gaze focused on me.

“Who does he think I am?” I ask. The man smiles sadly and takes two steps toward me, but pauses when Vox whirls around and points the gun at him again. Hayze and Archer move to stand at my back.

“My name is Nikoa… Tempest.” My eyes widen.

“You're a Tempest? ” I breathe out.

He nods. “Yes,” he answers. Vox turns his head toward me and the utter shock and devastation on his face floors me. He shakes his head.

“No, not you,” he murmurs. I stare at Vox as worry churns inside me. He’s never looked at me like this before, the pitying look in his eyes tears me to shreds. “I can’t save you both,” he mutters as he drops his arm back to his side.

“You can’t but I can,” Nikoa says, drawing all our attention back to him.

“How?” Archer presses. My mind begins to shut down as I process everything, the letters said he was my uncle, he told me my father died and that I had a… brother .

Oh, no!

I stumble backward and land on my ass. Vox still has a guilt stricken gaze on the ground in front of him but not Ezekiel, he stares at me with a broken look in his gray blue eyes.

This can’t be happening.

“I had you meet me here because neither of you would believe the truth separately. You needed to see the other’s reaction and process everything I have told you.” Nikoa’s voice sounds so far away as I continue to stare up at Ezekiel. So many emotions are running through me.

Confusion,

Fear,

Confusion,

Anger,

Confusion.

“This is why I couldn’t?—”

Ez cuts Nikoa off before he can continue. “Shut the fuck up… uncle .” A choked sob escapes me. Ezekiel drops to his knees in front of me. I flinch when he lifts his arm toward me, he instantly drops in and sighs. “How are you alive?” he whispers with regret in his tone.

I shake my head, Nikoa answers for me. “After your father made his decree, he never thought he would have children. When you were born, Ezekiel, he was elated and relieved that you were a boy but mere weeks after your birth your mother got pregnant again.” Nikoa looks at me as he continues to speak. “You were born premature, which is why there isn’t even a year between both of your births?—”

“No!” I rasp put as I stare up at the man with tears clouding my vision. “My mother is Kelly?—”

“Your mother is Olivia Tempest, Nova-Scotia,” he injects.

“Stop calling me that,” I scream as the first tear trails down my cheek. “My name is Nova Quinlin, my mother is Kelly Quinlin-Valerian. I was born in Washington DC?—”

“You were born in Hollow Hills as Taylor Tempest to Olivia and Edmund Tempest on the eighteenth of December 2006. You are the younger sister of Ezekiel Nikoa Tempest.” My bottom lip begins to tremble and I shake my head.

“No,” I choke out as I bury my face in my hands. When Ez reaches for me, I bat his hands away and climb to my feet. “Don’t touch me!”

“I thought you died, I fucking watched you die, Taylor!” he shouts. He scrubs a hand down his face and pushes to his feet. “You were my best friend, how is she alive?” he grits out as he slowly turns to face Nikoa. “And how are you alive?” I flinch in surprise.

Nikoa stabs a hand through his black hair and sighs. “Thomas and the others were coming for your father, they were elated that he had a daughter because it finally meant that the title of lord would be passed to another family. He tried to overrule his decree but the board wouldn't allow him to change it. A lord's decree cannot be overruled for twenty years. The only way to save his only daughter from certain death and having her forced into a marriage of convenience was to make her… disappear.” I gasp.

“I saw her body, I fucking held her!” Ezekiel screams as he pounds a fist against his chest.

“You saw a body,” Nikoa says with an edge. “Her death had to look real, if Thomas and the others caught wind she was alive they would have come for her. Your father made sure she was protected.”

“How?” I snap.

Nikoa smiles and his eyes soften as he gazes at me. “Nikoa Tempest died three days after his niece, his car was run off the road by a drunk driver.”

“Why?” Ez breathes out.

“Your father trusted no one with his daughter so I vowed to watch over her, find her a family that would love, cherish and raise her right. Kelly had struggled for years to conceive a child of her own, I watched her for months before I finally approached her and made a deal.”

“What fucking deal?” I scream.

“I hand you over and she sends me updates. I have watched you grow up from a distance all your life Nova-Scotia.”

“Why do you call me that?” I hiss.

“That was also a part of the agreement, she had to name you Nova. Our family originated from Nova Scotia and I thought it fitting that the future queen of our family be named after our homeland.”

“Does Thomas know about her?” Hayze asks. Nikoa’s shoulders hunch.

“I believe so. Kelly had no ties to this place or anyone in it. I have no idea who ratted us out. My informant has been trying to figure that out for me.”

“You have a rat in the Saints?” Archer hisses.

“I will neither confirm nor deny that,” Nikoa cockily answers.

“If she is a Tempest then that means she is the rightful lordess of the Saints,” Vox says, speaking for the first time since my world imploded.

“No,” Nikoa says.

“She’s a fucking Tempest!” Vox spits.

“Yes, she is, but that doesn’t mean anything. Your father was the lord after Edmund. The one with the stronger claim to the throne is your sister,” Nikoa answers.

“If that was true, why the fuck would Thomas be going after her?” Archer bites out.

“Because he wants the decree overturned and the only one who can do that is a Tempest. He wants Nexus and Nova to be married. She didn’t need to know the truth of her origins, Nexus just had to supply her birth records to the board and they would have ruled in his favor. If they succeed in doing this, they will banish all of you.”

“Good!” Archer spits.

“No, you fucking fool, if you are banished it doesn’t mean you walk free. The lord has the right to execute your entire family and tell me, Archer, do you think Nexus Valerian would spare any of you and your families?”