Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Vox

The instant the witch steps foot outside her front door and she sees my car idling in her driveway I smirk. Her upper lip pulls back in a snarl, then she squares her shoulders as if she is ready to go into battle. She takes a few steps toward the car but pauses when Nexus brushes past her, causing her brows to draw in at the sight of her stepbrother. He spins around and walks backward toward us as he shouts.

“Catch the bus, Piggy , we got shit to do.” She doesn’t answer him with words, instead she flips him the bird and marches back inside the house, something tells me she is about to fuck shit up for Nexus. He climbs in the back beside Hayze who sits between Nexus and Archer. Ez is riding shotgun with me. “Why the fucking rush man?” he asks as I peel out of his driveway and plant my foot.

“We’ve all been summoned,” I say in response as I head across town, not even Nex seems happy about being summoned by The Brotherhood. We all try to avoid attending any of these things as much as we can—well, except for Nexus. He loves attending the galas and all the parties they throw at the surf and golf club. Unlike the four of us, he loves the limelight and being paraded around by his daddy. The music playing through the speakers becomes white noise as I get lost in my head. Since being inducted at eighteen, we have had no choice but to adhere to all the rules and make sure the school we attend conforms to the rules we set.

Never draw any attention to The Brotherhood.

All those inducted must remain in high standing with the community.

All school aged persons maintain an A average.

Only Ivy League colleges must be attended.

When the age of twenty-five is met, all must be called to serve.

None of us really know what we are expected to do once we reach twenty-five but all we know for sure is that The Brotherhood owns this place and most of the people in it. Politicians are a part of The Brotherhood and as decreed twenty years ago by Ezekiel’s father, the next leader to be chosen for our generation would be a woman. As the Lord of The Brotherhood at the time, he wasn’t able to be overruled.

Ez’s dad was killed a couple of years after he was born, at the time we thought it was just a car accident but when my dad died in a similar situation, we began digging into everything our father’s did and that is how we found out about The Brotherhood and the law Ez’s dad passed. We made sure we did everything to get inducted. From the inside we plan to find a way to find out who killed our fathers and change the law so my sister doesn’t ever have to be a part of this scum-infested society.

Every person has a part to play. We all have to pull together to ensure the survival of The Brotherhood and keep money rolling in to line the pockets of those before us. With mine and Ez’s dad out of the picture, Thomas is now the Lord of the Haven Saints, aka The Brotherhood. I know for a fact Thomas has been trying to get Vivian and Nexus together for years, even when we were all kids he would say and hint at them being cute together. No woman knows about The Brotherhood. Vivian is the only female in our family line and therefore the oldest so she will be called to serve when she is twenty-five. The past four lords, sans Thomas, have been murdered. I will not allow my sister to suffer the same fate. Being a woman she will become a target, every money hungry, power wanting bastard will come for her. Not only that, if the Haven Saints have a job for you, any job, and you are assigned it, you must complete it. If you disobey a direct order from the elders or the lord, the punishment is your life.

I put the car in park in front of the town hall. To the outside world it looks like a normal hall, one that can be hired out for functions and host kids birthday parties, but beneath the building is where everything takes place. The five of us make our way inside and head toward the back. Archer pulls the side door open for us and we continue down the hallway until we reach the last door on the left. Nexus pulls the key from his pocket and unlocks both locks. Before opening it, he looks around and makes sure no one is following before heading inside and going down the stairs.

For a pack of rich schmucks, they should have just sprung for a new location. At the bottom of the stairs everything changes. Gone is the peeling wallpaper from the hallways and in its place is freshly painted walls and wooden flooring with chandeliers that light your pathway. Pictures of members line the walls as you make your way toward the grand room. I never look at them because I hate seeing mine and my dad’s faces up there.

Hayze pushes the double wooden doors open and we all walk in—all eyes turn to us. The room is set up like a panel, a long table that spans the back of the room, each elder sits behind that table with Thomas Valerian sitting in the middle. He looks pissed off and annoyed about something when Nexus shifts so he is in the middle and standing a foot in front of us when we stop before them. I don’t protest.

“We have a problem,” Thomas spits out, the frown lines that mar his forehead tell me whatever this problem is he isn’t happy about it.

“What is it?’ Nexus asks, taking another step forward as if to show he stands on his own rather than with us. I refrain from shaking my head, this fucker went from being one of us to a suit-wearing fucking pussy as soon as his daddy took over as the Lord of Haven Saints.

“Someone has been blacklisting us and canceling our permits. We have the Governor's election coming up and our candidate is being stonewalled at every fucking turn.”

“How is that possible?” Hayze mutters, drawing Thomas’ attention to him.

“Find out! That’s why the five of you are here. Figure out who the fuck is trying to sabotage us and take the fucker out with whatever means necessary.” What Thomas means is kill the fucker. The five of us aren’t the first to deliver this type of punishment and we won’t be the last if this lot has anything to say about it. Unlike Nexus, the four of us are trying to find a way to shut The Brotherhood down or find a replacement for Vivian. The last time I put the idea of a replacement to Thomas, I was made to stand in the pit while the elders delivered their brand of punishment.

“Consider it taken care of,” Nexus says cockily. With a bow of his head, he turns ready to flee but I see an opportunity I can’t ignore.

“If this person is targeting our weak spots, then I request access to the Haven Saints records.” Thomas’ eyes blaze, he does a shit job of hiding his hatred for me. A lord is to be unbiased and fair to all his brothers but this cunt isn’t. He hates that I best his son in everything and does his fucking best to make my life a living hell. He’ll find a way to keep his precious son’s hands clean of the killing of whoever the fuck is behind this.

“You have no need for those records?—”

“Whoever is behind this clearly has knowledge of The Brotherhood and combing through those records may help us narrow down our search and be able to put this mess behind us faster, Lord .” Ezekiel spits the last word like it burned his tongue. Before Thomas can answer, Elder Jamie speaks—his right hand man.

“Access granted, no book may leave the archives and no photos are to be taken.” I nod my head and charge out of the room before Thomas can find some bullshit ass excuse as to why we can’t access those records. He has been cagey about them for months and always finds an excuse to not grant us permission. The fact Jamie has allowed us entry means this problem The Brotherhood is facing is bigger than Thomas let on.

Once inside the car, Nexus turns to me with a sour look on his face. “I am not scouring through those dusty ass fucking books for hours, hoping to find a needle in a hay stack!” he snarls.

“Well, lucky for you, no one asked you to.”

“Stay the fuck out of this, Archer,” Nexus grits out.

“Fuck you, go find some poor innocent girl to date rape, you cock head,” Archer claps back.

“Suck my nut sack, you cunt, take me back to my car, now!” I don’t argue with the little bitch. The second I reach his driveway, he leaps from the car and marches toward the garage to get his Audi. I wait for Ezekiel to climb into the front seat before I back out and head to school.

“When do we start?” Hayze asks.

“Tonight. I need to find a way out for my sister. I won’t let them blood her into this fucking bullshit.” A shudder rolls through me at the thought of Vivi having to be blooded into The Brotherhood.

“They won’t touch her,” Archer says, trying to reassure me.

“Damn fucking right, because we are going to find a way to take them down and get rid of Thomas-fucking-Valerian once and for all,” I vow.