Chapter 41

Chapter Forty-One

Nova

This is my last night before I need to get back to Nexus and save my mom. The thought of being around him again has a sickening feeling stirring in my gut. Just thinking about him has my skin crawling, he is the epitome of revulsion.

“Nova?” I roll my eyes at the sound of Nikoa’s voice and ignore him. I refuse to go inside. I’m quite happy sitting out here on the back porch, staring out at the creek that is illuminated by the soft glow of the moon and thinking about the memories I shared with my best friend. I hear the back door open behind me, but don’t bother to look. I hear him come closer and drop down onto the step beside me. I peer out of the corner of my eye and the sight has me turning fully and staring with an open mouth.

“Hey, girl,” Vivian says quietly with a sad smile on her face.

“What are you doing here?” I breathe out.

She shrugs. “I’m here to help, Nova.”

My anger surges and I narrow my eyes before turning back to the creek and ignoring her. “I don’t need your help,” I snap.

I hear her exhale beside me. “I know you think that?—”

“I don’t need or want your fucking help, Vivian. You and your family have done enough.” She flinches but doesn’t say anything. “Just go home.”

“We can’t.”

I turn my head and study her for a moment, she doesn’t cower or recoil from the pressure of my gaze. “Why?”

“The night that everything… happened. We all had to flee. The Saints are hunting us. I’m here to help you and help my family at the same time.”

I scoff. “What? Your brother too much of a bitch to fight his own battles?” I sneer with hatred dripping from my words.

I expect her to defend Vox and have a go at me but what I didn’t expect was for her to laugh. “No one and I mean no one has ever accused Vox of being a bitch before.”

I shrug. “Guess they don’t know him well enough then because he is for sure a bitch.” Vivian shoots me a wink and I can’t help the smile that stretches across my face. When I realize what I’m doing, I snuff the smile out and face the creek again.

“Nova—”

“Don’t, Vivian, I don’t want to hear it.” I rest my arms across the tops of my thighs and drop my gaze to my lap.

“Tough, because I need to say it.” I grind my teeth and interlock my fingers, digging my nails into the tops of my hands to use the pain as a distraction.

“Say whatever the fuck it is you need to, then go.”

“Nova, I’m not going anywhere and I plan to be by your side when you return to Hollow Hills.”

“Why the fuck would you do that?” I ask.

“Because they can’t touch me until I’m twenty-four. Unlike my brother and the others, I am not a member of the Saints, therefore there is nothing they can do to me until I am inducted into their bullshit secret society.”

“How the fuck can you be so sure?”

She smiles and waggles her brows. “I have a backup plan. If they try to make a move against me, I will turn their world upside down in a heartbeat.” I scrunch my face in confusion, she waves me off and continues on. “Look, I know you have to return back to your house tomorrow and I am here today to help you.”

“How exactly are you going to do that?” I push.

“I’m going back to school with you and I am going to help you get your mom out of that house and taken to safety with my mom and the others.” I instantly stiffen.

“I won’t send my mom to the same place Ezekiel’s mother is.”

Vivian reaches out and places her hand on mine but I pull away from her touch. A flicker of anguish shines in her eyes before she masks it. “I can only imagine how you must be feeling right now. I can’t understand it because I have never been through something like this but I need you to know something.”

“What?”

“That the safest place for Kelly to be is on the island with the rest of our moms. She will be used against you. With us all fleeing, we have painted a target on our families backs and they will be the first people they use to ambush us like they did with…” She lets her sentence trail off and I appreciate her not saying his name. If she did, I would have lost my shit because right now isn’t the time or place for her to say his name, not with how my anger is stewing inside me over his death.

“I’ll take that into consideration,” I bite out, but we both know I’m full of shit and never going to think about it. The truth, it’s still too fucking hard for me to wrap my head around everything!

“Can I ask you something?”

A whoosh of air escapes me. “Yeah, why not,” I snark.

“Bitch, that tone is as sour as your face.” Without consent, laughter bursts out of me, I can’t stop it now that it’s started. Before long, Vivian joins me and then suddenly my laughter changes to sobs. Tears trek down my cheeks and I’m wrapping my arms around myself as if hoping to hold the broken pieces inside me together. “Ohh, Nova.” Vivian wraps her arms around me and pulls me in close as I break down. All the pain I have pushed down inside me has finally broken free and I can’t stop it from pouring out. The pain is unbearable, I can’t breathe properly because it’s consuming me whole and I don’t know how to pull myself out of this rut.

“Move.” I hear someone say before Vivian tries to extract herself from my hold. I refuse to release her until my hands are pried free from another. I snap my gaze to the right and the sight of that fucking mask sends my rage toppling over. I scream out as I shove him down the stairs. I run purely on instinct as I jump on top of him and begin wailing on him, my hands scream in protest as I punch his fucking stupid mask and chest but he never once raises a hand to stop me.

“Fuck you!” I land another hit to the side of the mask and cry out when my knuckles split, only then does he lift his hands to grip my wrists. “I fucking hate you!” I try to fight to free myself of his hold but he doesn’t budge. “You ruined everything! You should have left me the fuck alone, you piece of shit, then none of them would be gone!” When I fall back and land between his legs he releases my arms and sits up, staring at me. We look like a tangled mess but I don’t care.

I hate him!

This is all his fault.

“Nova—”

“Get the fuck out of here, two-horns, and don’t ever come back or next time, I’ll kill you,” I snarl. I may not be able to see his face but I can see his eyes and the pain etched into them does nothing to thaw my anger or hatred toward him. I push to my feet and glance down at him once more before I turn on my heel, only to freeze at the sight of the other three masked fucks standing on my back porch. “All of you need to get the fuck out of here now and stay the fuck away from me.”

Right horn lifts his masks and the sight of Ezekiel’s gray-blue eyes that are filled with anger, confusion and familiarity has pain exploding inside me again and robbing me of air.

“You want us gone for good, then help us and I swear to you I’ll help you bury Taylor Tempest for good, so you can carry on being Nova Quinlin as if Taylor never existed or came back from the dead.” My eyes widen at Ezekiel’s declaration. I can feel the others staring but I ignore them as I focus on him.

“Taylor Tempest never existed, she was someone you conjured up in your mind.”

His lips purse at my answer and I can see he wants to fight me on this, but he chooses to go with another option. “Fine.”

“Good,” I clap back, earning a glare from him.

“You want to know the plan or you gonna keep being a stubborn bitch?” Ezekiel’s words have me ready to fight but the instant I feel Vox at my back, I shutdown.

“Call her a bitch again,” The fucker behind me growls.

“That’s what she was to you though, wasn’t she? When you were fucking her like a whore just so you could get what you wanted?” Ezekiel volleys back, earning a gasp from Vivian. I choke on my own spit. Vox tries to cut around to go at him, but Nikoa chooses that moment to join us and forces everyone to stay where they are.

“I just got word that Kelly has been moved.” The mention of my mother has me darting forward and up the stairs to stand in front of Nikoa who looks… worried.

“Where have they taken my mother?” I ask.

“My guess is they are moving her to keep you in line, so they can continue to dangle her safety over your head,” he answers.

“Did your informant follow the car?” It grates on my fucking nerves that Vox asked the question I was about to. I can hear him and the guys behind me, pushing and shoving and a part of me loves that he is on the outs with his friends because if his ass had just stayed in his own lane none of this shit would have happened!

“He lost them on the interstate,” Nikoa grits out.

“How?” I ask.

“There were four other cars of the same make and model waiting and they played musical fucking cars, my guy followed the wrong one. I’m sorry, Nova.”

“Fuck!” I snap as I stab a hand through my hair and tug on the fucking roots. “Fuck, they knew we were watching them like they are probably watching us now and this dumb fuck had to blow it all,” I snarl as I turn and glare at Vox.

“You got something to say to me then fucking say it, little girl, because I’m done with your fucking mood swings.” The dirty fuck has the nerve to snap at me like that! When I turn to fully face him I see Hayze and Archer holding Ezekiel back. Vivian is smart enough to take a step back and not try to defend her asshole of a brother.

“You think you have the fucking right to show up here and act like you are a knight in shining fucking armor after what you did?” I scream.

“Tell me exactly what it is that I did, witch, because from where I’m standing you’re the one who knew exactly what you were doing. You spread those fucking legs and let the monster come inside that pretty little cunt of yours.” Chaos erupts around us. Ezekiel is trying to fight against the others to get to Vox but the instant Vivian steps before him he stops fighting instantly—interesting.

I smile darkly up at Vox. “You think throwing around the fact that I let you fuck me any way you wanted and however you wanted would embarrass me? Aww, that’s a bit cute, Voxy, considering never once was I the one at your mercy, you were at mine from the first fucking moment. You had a job to do and failed not only me but everyone else. Instead of doing what a leader should and thinking about his people, you thought with your mediocre cock and that is the reason my life is fucked and my best friend is dead, because you’re a selfish piece of shit who cares for no one but himself.” One minute he stands before me as two horns and then in the next he removes his mask and is the Vox I know and hate. His face is etched in hard lines and his eyes burn with disdain as he stares down at me.

“Touch her and I’ll fucking kill you, Vox, I swear it,” Ezekiel vows but we both ignore him as Vox steps into me. The heat radiating off him seeps into me and I fight my body’s reaction to having him this close. I hate that he can still bring this reaction out of me without even trying, even after everything he has done.

“I told you when you figured all of this shit out to be sure, you knew once you took the mask off that there would be no more blaming me for shit.” I balk up at him.

“That was before… before…” I can’t get the fucking words out and it’s pissing me off.

“Use your fucking words, witch. You want to argue and throw around your hate, then you need to speak.” His manipulation works and my vocal cords begin to work again.

“You got my best friend killed!” I scream. I hear the pain and anguish in my voice, I can’t find it within myself to care that they all have a front-row seat to my pain.

A shudder rolls through his eyes before he masks it. “I never meant for him to get hurt, Nova. I swear.” The truth in his words has my chest splitting open. I refuse to let go of my anger, it's the only thing getting me through this and if I let it go, I’ll be forced to face the pain head on and I’m not strong enough for that right now.

“Even if that was true, your actions still have consequences and Waylen paid the price for them. I can’t do this shit with you, Vox. Playing with my emotions before was different, I had no idea who you were and I let myself fall for a guy with a mask. I won’t make that mistake again.” His eyes widen at my declaration but I’m not done. “You and your friends need to go, you can’t be seen around me anymore. I’m going back to Nexus and Thomas and I won’t let the four of you fuck up my chances of getting my mom back.”

Before he can answer Nikoa speaks, “Actually, with what I have planned I am going to need them and they are going to need to play a part.”

I turn to my uncle and study him for a second, but the asshole is like a vault and gives nothing away. “What part?” I push.

Nikoa flicks his gaze to Vox as he answers. “The part where you keep your feelings for her in line and don’t fuck this up for all of us.”

“How am I going to do that?” Vox demands.

“You are returning to school and the four of you are going to get close to Nexus and help him make her life a living hell.”