Chapter 56

Chapter Fifty-Six

Nova

I can’t believe my eyes!

She stalks toward us with a swagger only her brother can match—the way she looks is breathtaking. Her hair is tied into a high ponytail, the lady suit she wears hugs her curves perfectly and the fact she doesn’t wear a shirt beneath her jacket allows the swell of her breasts to be seen. Men part and allow her past as if they are in a trance. I can see Vox and the other’s trying to get a look at who has entered but they don’t get a chance to see her until she steps around them. Their wide eyes and unhinged jaws tell me this wasn’t part of the plan.

Vivian steps onto the stage and comes to stand beside Thomas, who just stares at her in confusion. She smiles but it’s dark and deadly. She reaches into her jacket pocket and pulls out a piece of paper, then leans around Thomas and hands it to David. He unfolds the paper and reads the contents before looking back at Vivian with a stumped expression on his face.

My friend places her index finger against her lips and winks at him before turning back toward the guys. The moment her eyes land on Ezekiel, her features pull taut and I see her stiffen.

“This is not the time for your childish antics, if you have come to say goodbye to your brother then so be it.” Thomas sounds like an entitled prick but Vivian doesn’t react, she just tsks him and shakes her head.

“For years I lived in fear because I knew what you and your crooked son were capable of.” Thomas opens his mouth to argue as members try to flee the room, clearly worried that their privacy is at risk with Vivian being here but she speaks, forcing them all to a halt. “I wouldn’t open those doors if I were you!” she taunts, heads snap toward her.

“Why?” a man with a bald head says who I recognize, he’s the district attorney!

“Because my security team has orders to stop anyone from leaving this room until I say so.”

“Your team?” Thomas scoffs and some men begin to laugh along with their lord but Vivian doesn’t take the bait.

“Vivian, get the hell out of here now!” Vox forces out but his twin just shoots him a cold look. Hayze and Archer stare at her with longing in their eyes but not Ezekiel, he hasn’t lifted his head to look at her once.

“Yes, my team. Isn’t that right, David?” The red-haired man just opens and closes his mouth without being able to utter a single word. “He’s clearly in shock given the new information he was given.”

“What information? This isn’t the time or place for games, little girl?—”

“Shut the fuck up, Thomas,” Vivian says in a tone I have never heard her use before. “You have had your time and now, you murdering son of a bitch, it’s time you paid for your crimes. Thomas Valerian is to be stripped of his title?—”

“You have no right to speak here!” Daniels, the stupid asshole, calls out. A few yeah’s and that’s right follow his speech.

“Well, it appears we have a few members to remove, David.” The man just gapes at Vivian.

Thomas reaches for Vi but she sidesteps him. “Touch her and I’ll fucking slaughter you!” Ezekiel roars. Vox darts his gaze between his sister and best friend a few times, a deep groove appears on his face as he tries to piece together what I already knows.

“She is not a member, remove these traitors so we may deal with this security breach,” Thomas says, but before the men can touch Vox and the others, Vivian cuts in.

“You are ordered to release them and stand the fuck down,” she shouts. Laughter breaks out but my girl doesn’t falter.

“Silence!” David screams, finally finding his tongue. “Release them,” he barks.

“What?” Thomas shrieks.

“Oh, was it not clear?” Vivian taunts. “You are no longer the lord.”

Thomas’ eyes narrow to slits. “Those cunts couldn’t prove shit, you little bitch.”

“Oh, I know that, silly, but you see…” She leans in closer to Thomas and stage whispers. “I can.”

“You… what?” Vivi ignores Thomas as she addresses the room.

“My name is Vivian Tempest…” At the mention of her last name shock ripples through the room. “I am the daughter of your former lord and the daughter-in-law of Edmund Tempest.” I watch as Vox turns to Ez, who has his shoulders hunched and head down. Archer and Hayze can’t take their eyes off Vivian but the range of emotions on their faces spears me, the dominant one is pain. All the noise around us begins to fade to nothing as I stare at Vox, his features are etched in betrayal as he stares up at his sister.

“Why?” his quietly whispered word holds so much weight to it.

“Because, Brother, you tried to play dad when I begged you not to. I told you I needed my brother to trust me and you didn’t. You chose to keep me in the dark and left me with no choice but to take matters into my own hands.”

“By marrying my best-fucking-friend, Vivian?” he roars.

“Yes, Vox! I married Ezekiel because I am the one with a greater claim to be lordess than your girlfriend. I am the one who is willing to sacrifice what I need to in order to rule over this brotherhood and grant you the freedom you never granted me!” my friend screams.

“There is no proof of this?—”

David cuts Thomas off. “I have the proof right here,” he says and holds up the marriage license for all to see. Hayze and Archer both turn away, refusing to see the proof. My heart aches for them. Vox may not want to admit it to himself, but his three best friends are in love with his sister and this stunt she pulled to save us all will put a huge divide between the four of them.

Thomas snatches the paper from David and reads it over, and the moment it sinks in you see it. His face pales and he darts his gaze around the room, looking for the support of his peers but they seem to find their shoes more interesting. “She hasn't even been blooded in.” He’s grasping now.

“And she won’t be,” Ezekiel snarls as he pushes to his feet, this time no one stops him. He lifts his head and looks right at Thomas. “As the laws of the Saints state, since the new laws were bound into the old by Virgil Hatchett, the husband of the lordess may take any and all punishment or being blooded in for the wife.” Thomas’ features pull taut, he knows he’s losing and he can’t stomach it. “I choose to walk the line for my wife .” Hearing him call her that has me sucking in a ragged breath, when Vivian and I discussed her marrying Ez as a way out I never thought they would actually do it.

“As the lordess, I hereby agree to my husband's terms,” Vivian says but doesn’t even look at Ezekiel. “I know the rules of The Brotherhood better than most of you. I am no tyrant like Thomas Valerian.”

“They kidnapped my son!”

Vivian faces Thomas and stares at him with such hatred it robs me of air. “No, your son was set free right after I wrote a letter to Alexander Denver himself, letting him know what your son had done. Nexus’ days are numbered. But don’t worry, you will have plenty of time to find him and try to save his ass.” Vivian flicks her gaze to David. “I declare Thomas Valerian as a traitor to The Brotherhood and hereby banish him.” Thomas gasps and stumbles back a step.

“You can’t do that,” the former lord shouts.

“Actually, she can!” David says in a firm tone. “As the law states, you have twenty-four hours to leave town, in seventy-two hours The Brotherhood will begin to hunt you, should the lordess sanction it.”

Thomas looks around the room but no one comes to his aide. “Don’t worry Thomas, you won’t be on your own. Alec Daniels, you are now banished.” Principal Daniels gapes up at Vivian. Before he can even protest she swings her gaze back to her brother and the other three. “As the new lordess of the Haven Saints, I, Vivian Tempest, banish Archer Malik, Hayze Draven, Vox Hatchett and Ezekiel Tempest.” All the guys are on their feet now and shouting at Vivian to rescind her decree, but she ignores them and slowly turns to face me. “Unhand her.” The two guards release me and I rub my arms, trying to regain circulation in them as I stare into the eyes of my friend I once thought I knew.

“You can’t send them away,” I say quietly.

Her eyes soften as she comes closer to me. “Believe it or not, Nova. I’m doing this for them, this way they are free of the burden of the Saints. I’m not the monster you and them are thinking me to be, you can’t leave the Saints once you are in.”

My brows raise as it dawns on me. “You took over so you could have access to everything to end the Saints because they couldn’t find the proof, you knew by taking over you had the power to set them free.” A sad smile touches her lips but she doesn’t confirm or deny my claim.

She reaches out and pulls me into a hug. “They broke my heart, Nova. A woman’s scorn is worse than the depths of hell.” She then pulls back and turns to face David. “They are to be gone within twenty-fours, if they return to Hollow Hills they will be met with a traitor's death.”

“You gonna walk the line then wife since I am now banished?” Ezekiel sneers, Vivian still won’t look at him.

Instead she keeps her eyes on David as she speaks. “My husband will be blooded in tonight, if his injuries are life threatening then he will be airlifted to a Washington DC hospital where he can recover and be far, far away from here.” David nods his understanding as Vi turns to Vox. “Don’t ever come back here, you are no longer welcome in my town or my brotherhood.” Anger and pain war in his eyes but he keeps his mouth shut as she addresses the room. “Thomas and Alec are free to be hunted. Vox, Ezekiel, Hayze and Archer are not. Any member caught hunting them outside of Hollow Hills will be met with swift punishment. Uncuff them and set them free.”

I dart forward and grip Vivian’s arm. “Please, don’t do this, it will kill them all to leave you behind,” I beg.

“They all left me, Nova, they made their choice. I understood Vox wanting to protect you because he loves you.” I gasp but she pushes on. “The others had a chance to prove to me that I was their first choice, they chose wrong and they will live with that.”

“Vivian, they love you. I know they do but Vox is their best friend?—”

“If Waylen forced you to choose between him or Vox, who would you have chosen?” I drop my hand back to my side and snap my mouth closed. “Exactly. You love my brother and would have chosen him over Waylen. I’m not choosing any of them because for the first time in my life, I am choosing me and I am going to make the most of this situation. I’m not weak like they think I am. I’m smart and I have been playing this game behind their backs for years but they were too ignorant to see that.”

“Vivian.” She and I both turn toward Vox as he steps toward us. David and the two guards who held me back close in on her, the shock ripples across his face. For the first time ever his little sister no longer needs his protection and that shit is going to wage a war inside him.

“Go, brother. I won’t offer you a second chance,” she says firmly.

He may not be wearing his mask but I see how a shadow falls over him and he turns into the monster I first fell for. “This isn’t over,” is all he says before turning to me and holding out his hand. I hesitate looking between him and his sister.

“You loving him is what gave him the courage to break free of the prison he put himself in, don’t turn your back on him now when it counts the most,” Vivi says low enough for only me and three guys around her to hear.

“I won’t turn my back on you,” I promise.

She smiles and nods. “I’m counting on that.” I walk to Vox and place my hand in his. I expect him to wait for the others before leaving but I was wrong. As we walk out of the grand hall with Thomas’ pleas for the members to reconsider following us, I breathe and for the first time in months I feel like everything is going to be okay.