Chapter 40

Chapter Forty

Vox

“If you had stayed away from me, then Waylen would be here. I hate you and everything you stand for. I’ll kill Thomas and Nexus, then I’m coming for the Filthy Few. Your deaths will all be by my hands and I will be Forever Filthy.”

Her words have haunted me for days. I can’t stop them from replaying over and over again in my head. The look on her face that night shredded something inside me. I thought her taking off with Nikoa would be the worst of it but I was dead fucking wrong. Our problems are only beginning, we had no choice but to pack what we could and run. Nexus and Thomas knew what we were planning and I couldn’t risk them or the Saints coming after my mom and Vivian, so we left. The guys alerted their families and all of them ran with us.

Vivian is refusing to speak to anyone, my mom is a mess. Hayze and Archer’s moms are scared out of their minds because unlike their fathers and mine and Ez’s moms, they have no idea about the Saints. I can tell keeping their mothers in the dark is weighing on Arch and Hayze, but with the shit storm we created it’s safer if they don’t know.

“My dad, Shane and Olivia are gone.” I turn from the fire pit and peer over my shoulder at Archer, he looks like shit. None of us have slept much. We’ve given ourselves time to sort through our own shit and come to terms with the fact that our lives are forever changed. I feel responsible for all of this. Arch makes his way over to me, drops down on the log beside me and stares into the flames.

We may have had to flee our homes but it's not like we didn’t run away to a fucking mansion that is big enough to house all of us and our families. This place has been in Hayze’s family for generations and is secluded from everyone and everything. The only way to get here is by boat and there is no chance of anyone sneaking onto this little island paradise with all the security measures his father has put in place.

“Where did they go?” I ask him, breaking the silence. Archer shakes his head as if clearing it of his thoughts and sighs. The way his shoulders hunch and how he hangs his head makes me feel apprehensive and I start to tense, knowing that his answer is going to set me off.

“They went to see Nikoa and… Nova.” Instantly I spring to my feet and glare down at him.

“The fuck do you mean they went to see her?” I snarl.

Archer releases a whoosh of air and lifts his head, the defeated look in his eyes has guilt gnawing inside me. “What other choice did they have? We need her to step up and take her place, Vox. Without Nova claiming her birthright we have no chance in hell of ever going home.”

“That isn’t our home!” I roar.

“It is to us!” he shouts as he climbs to his feet and gets right in my face. “Hollow Hills is our home. None of us can return until she takes over and removes the deserter tag from our names. Nova is our only hope right now. If she hates you enough to not remove the bounty on our heads, then we will spend the rest of our lives on the run from the Saints, always looking over our shoulders. I don’t want that life for our parents and I know you sure as fuck don’t want that for Vivian.”

The mention of my sister has my anger fleeing and my fists unclenching. Vivian has hidden out in her room since we arrived here that night. She took one look at me and when she didn’t see Nova in the car her eyes blazed with anger and I couldn’t blame her. The one friend she had and I went and fucked it all up for her.

“I’m not trying to be a dick, Vox.” I nod, knowing he’s right, he’s just saying what everyone else is thinking. “Hayze isn’t liking being locked on this island but Ezekiel is the one I’m most worried about.”

My brows furrow. “What’s up with, Ez?”

Arch shoots me a deadpan look and shakes his head, motioning for me to take a seat so I do. He follows my lead and stares at the flames of the fire. “He won’t speak to his mom and I can tell learning that Taylor—Nova is alive and has been this whole fucking time is fucking with his head.”

“I forgot all about her being his sister,” I admit.

“Yeah, well, that must be nice for you because that shit has been plaguing him and I can tell he is beating himself up badly. Taylor was his fucking world, he cherished her. I mean her room is still like a fucking shrine in their house, man.”

I know what he is refusing to say so I say it for him. “And then Nova turned up and I declared her fair game for the Filthy Few making him do some fucked up shit to her, only for her to be his sister.”

Archer grunts. “Yeah and the fact he knew you were fucking her like an animal isn’t helping him not wanting to kill you.” I cringe. Everyone knows that my sister is off limits and anyone who has dared tried to touch her or even ask her out has wound up with broken bones, and here I was fucking his sister hard and rough like she meant nothing to me. “You need to give him time, Vox.”

I scrub a hand down my face. “He is never going to get over this or forgive me.” I can hear the regret in my own tone.

“Answer me this, if you knew who she was would you still have gone after her?” I open my mouth to answer but my denial doesn’t come out, instead I find the words stuck in my throat. Archer faces me and pins me with a look, urging me not to lie to him.

I grind my teeth and tug on the strands of my hair. “What the fuck do you want me to say, Arch?”

“That you would never have touched her and stayed the fuck away like everyone else has Vivian.” My jaw locks as I stare at him.

“What the fuck do you mean everyone else?” I snarl in a cold tone. Archer’s eyes widen and his mouth pops open but it’s too fucking late, I see it in his eyes.

“You both need to come inside now!” Archer and I both turn at the sound of Hayze’s panicked voice, our impending fight is put on hold as we both dart across the lawn and race after Hayze into the house.

“Touch me again and I’ll kill you,” Vivian snarls at Ez who is standing in front of her. I spot the suitcase on the ground beside Vi and narrow my eyes. The front door behind her opens and Shane and Henry enter the house, standing behind my sister. I spot our moms out of the corner of my eye, standing off to the side. The tears trailing down my mom’s cheeks as Olivia and Mary hold her back has warning bells ringing in my head.

“I won’t let you go,” Ezekiel grits out.

“I’m not your problem,” Vivian snaps back.

“Are you sure about that?” The cocky tone of Ezekiel’s voice has me tensing, there is something going on here and I’m starting to get really fucking pissed off at not knowing every detail these bastards are hiding from me.

“What the fuck is going on?” Hayze asks, interrupting their little dispute. Vivian turns her head toward us while Ez keeps his hardened glare pointed at my sister.

“I’m leaving.” Her words have me stumbling back a step.

“What the fuck do you mean, you’re leaving ?” I grit out through clenched teeth.

My sister’s eyes narrow but I see the fire swirling in her eyes. “Because I refuse to stay here and hide out, away from my friend who was put in danger all because you wanted her to ask a fucking favor so she owed you a debt.” The way she is looking at me and the venom in her tone shows me how angry she really is right now. I had no idea she was harboring this much anger toward me for what happened with Nova.

“You know why I had to do it, Vivian. I was trying to save you?—-”

“From what, Vox?” she screams. “You never gave me the courtesy of asking what I wanted, you just assumed you knew like you always do!” The bite in her tone tells me she is raging and whenever Vivian gets like this it never ends well for her opponent. A part of me is happy to see this side of her again after so long, but another part is pissed the fuck off that her rage is directed toward me!

“What the fuck would you have wanted, Vi?” I don’t give her a chance to answer as I stalk toward her. “Did you want to walk the fucking line like our father and Ezekiel’s who were beaten within an inch of their life?” I stop beside Ez and don’t miss the way he tenses having me this close to him. “Or, how about the new rule those cocksuckers implemented, where the new lordess must be tested out by the former lord?”

Disgust splays across her features as my meaning sinks in. “Thomas can try to fuck me,” she snarls with venom in her tone.

“I’d kill the cunt before he ever had a chance.” I peer over my shoulder at Hayze, his gaze is focused on my sister.

“I’m not your concern, Hayze,” Vivian grits out.

“You are and will always be our concern, Vivian, which is why your ass is staying here with us!” Archer declares as he comes forward to stand on my other side just as Henry and Shane enter the room again, looking at each of us.

“Vivian, the boat is ready,” Shane says quietly.

“She isn’t going anywhere, Dad, her ass is staying right fucking here,” Hayze says with a hint of dominance in his tone that rubs me the wrong fucking way, especially when its directed at my sister.

“Hayze, that isn’t your call to make, Son,” Shane defends.

“Technically, she is the superior, I’m afraid, and as members of the Saints, we are bound by law to obey the orders of the superior.” Henry’s declaration has my eyes widening and my fists clenching at my sides, I bare my teeth at both of them.

“She is not the fucking lordess and never will be!” I roar. When Shane and Henry both cut their gazes to Vivian briefly, I pause. I’m not fucking stupid and can read a room and I sure as fuck know when people are hiding shit from me, like they are now. “What the fuck did you do, Vi?”

She lifts her gaze but doesn’t look at me, instead she turns to Ez with a smug look on her face. “I’m gonna let you answer that question while I go help my best friend save her mother. When you all finish killing each other, then call me.” Vivian doesn’t wait for an answer, she grabs her bags and heads for the door but pauses to glance at our mom once more. “I’m sorry. If there was another way I would do it but I will not let you bury another loved one.” My mom chokes out a sob, her knees give out but Olivia and Mary are there to hold her before she can hit the ground. Vivian turns to leave with Shane and Henry, but Archer and Ez both step forward. Archer grabs her arm, halting her escape.

“Please, I am begging you,” Arch says barely above a whisper but the weight of his words hang in the air between them.

Vi’s face softens slightly but the instant Ez reaches for her she yanks free of Archer’s hold and glares at Ezekiel. “You’ve done enough,” she forces out before turning back to Archer. “Years. Fucking years have passed and you choose now to finally speak up? It’s too late, Archer.” My best friend stumbles back a step and drops his chin to his chest. Ezekiel looks furious as he stands there but it’s Hayze who tries to save the day and cuts in between the two of them. When he grabs my sister's face between his hands, I move forward ready to rip him off her but Ez smacks a hand against my chest, forcing me to a stop.

“Vivi, baby, if you leave and do what I think you are about to, we won’t be able to save you or Nova. We can’t save the both of you,” Hayze pleads.

Vivian reaches up and grips his arms. “I was never any of yours to save. This is my destiny and I will lead the Haven Saints and finally bring all those corrupt fuckers to justice and restore that town to the glory it once was. If there is a choice, Hayze, you save Nova, not me.”

“Like fuck!” I shout.

“And his pigheadedness is what is going to get us both killed,” she mutters before pulling free and walking out the door and away from me. The second Shane closes the door behind them, my mom breaks down and the three guys all turn to me, the looks on each of their faces actually gives me pause.

“If anything happens to her because of you, I will kill you!” Archer snarls as he shoulders past me and escapes out the back.

“She may be your sister but she is… more to us.” Hayze’s cryptic words have me studying him for a beat before he follows after Archer, leaving me here to face off against Ezekiel.

“Come on then, let me have it,” I taunt him.

Ez shakes his head and scoffs in disgust. “ A favor is a debt owed. ” I jerk in surprise at his words. “You owe me a favor, you son of a bitch.”

“And what favor is that?” I growl.

“You’re going to help me save my sister and bring Vivian back.”

“And why the fuck would I help you?” I snarl as I step into him, bringing us chest to chest.

“Because I’m the reason Vivian has the power to rule the Saints and overturn my father’s decree.”