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Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ezekiel

“Was that my wife?” Alexander just stares at me which fuels my anger to new heights. Waking up this morning I expected to get lost inside her again but she was gone. The instant we heard Vox calling for Nova we knew that it had something to do with them speaking in code last night. The only way we thought to find them was causing a scene here. Vivian loves this place and we knew someone would call her or David.

“You four can stay here or come with me,” Alexander says, then turns and stalks out without another word. We all exchange a look before deciding to follow the fucker. He seems to be the only one who can contact Vi which means all we need to do is get his phone, then we can track her. They were smart to ditch their phones, it was the first thing we tried to track this morning. When we get outside, Alexander climbs into the passenger seat of a car then takes off.

“Motherfucker!” Vox snarls.

“Get in.” The four of us swing our gazes to the left to see a guy who looks like he lives on the streets standing next to a blacked out Escalade. “You have three fucking seconds then I’m driving off without you idiots.” I grit my teeth and storm toward him with the others following after me. Archer rides shotgun while the rest of us climb into the back. I look in the back to make sure no one is hiding in there and that this isn’t an ambush. As soon as fuck face climbs behind the wheel, Archer pulls his gun out and rests it on his lap.

“Who the fuck are you?” Arch hisses.

The guy doesn’t look at him as he continues to drive, the fact he seems so at ease with four strangers who are clearly strapped in his car doesn’t settle my nerves.

“My name is Omen and believe me when I tell you that you will need more than that little Glock to scare me, asshole, so you may as well put it away.”

“Why the fuck would I listen to you?” Arch fires back.

The guy just shrugs. “You need a gun to intimidate, all I need is my name. You and I come from two different worlds. You were born with privilege, I fought for it and mark my words, Archer , if I wanted you dead I wouldn’t need a gun to do it.” He knows who we are and that puts us a step behind them. Whoever the fuck this guy is he is clearly with Alexander which means…

“You’re a part of the Denver Kings.” It’s not a question, just a statement. We’ve all heard stories about them but much like their leader no one has ever seen pictures of them. They have no gang insignia or tattoos to tell you who they are, they operate like they are ghosts.

“No idea what you’re talking about, we’re a long way from Denver.” His blatant brush off just pisses me off. The remainder of the drive is spent in silence. Archer still won’t stow his gun. When we finally slow down, I peer out the window to see we are out of Hollow Hills now and somewhere up in the mountains. A barn comes into view and instantly I go on high alert, if this fucker thinks we will go down without a fight he has another fucking thing coming.

“I’ll blow your brains out before you can blink if you try anything,” Archer promises when Omen puts the car in park. The fucker just smiles and tugs the hood of his hoodie up before climbing out of the car and walking toward the barn. The car Alexander left in is parked next to ours. I look around and can’t spot anyone, the only light out here is coming from inside the barn.

“What’s our move?” Hayze asks.

“We go in, keep our guard up and get answers, then we leave,” Vox says.

“This was a bad fucking idea,” Archer echoes my thoughts. The four of us climb out. We all draw our guns and move in a line toward the barn. It feels weird not having our masks on as whenever we have gone into situations like this we have always worn them. Tonight, we’re not hiding. Vox is the first to slip through the door followed by Archer and Hayze. I take one last look behind us to make sure no one can sneak up on us before following them inside.

“Jesus Christ,” Hayze spits out. I stand here stunned and chilled to the fucking bone at the sight before me. When we followed Omen inside I thought we would walk into an ambush or something but not… this!

Four guys are strung up from chains, they are bloody, beaten, naked and look like they are at the stage where they would welcome death. I look around the room. Alexander stands just behind the four strung up with his gaze laser focused on us. Omen stands off to the side with his hood up, concealing his face. Three other guys stand off to the side dressed similar to Omen, each of them have their faces concealed and it's then I begin to understand. We wear masks to hide our identity but these guys use their hoods and clothes that blend in so no one would bat an eye at someone who dresses like they are homeless.

It’s the perfect fucking cover.

“Want to tell me why we are here?” Vox’s tone is filled with venom. If he notices it Alexander doesn’t show it.

“You’re here because it seems the four of you little fucks can’t stay out of things that don’t concern you.” My hackles raise and I shoot Alexander a cold look that he ignores. This fucker is like a statue, he gives nothing away and makes it seem like nothing bothers him.

“Anything to do with Vivian concerns us and if you can’t get that through your fucking head, I’m down to beat it into you.” The pure fucking violence in Hayze’s tone shocks the three of us. Vox even stares at him like he has no idea who the fuck is standing beside him.

Alexander smirks but it’s condescending. When one of the guys who is strung up makes a sound, the smirk vanishes and the look of a cold blooded killer overtakes him. It’s fucking chilling to witness the immediate change in him. Last night the killer before me was nowhere to be seen when he was hanging out with my girl. I’ll be honest, he doesn’t look like I thought he would. I had expected him to be deranged and Hannibal Lector type of crazy but not… this. He seems so fucking normal.

Alex glides toward the guy and the instant he feels The Butcher at his back, the guy begins to sob. Alex flicks his gaze to us as he leans in and whispers something in the guy's ear that has him clamping his mouth closed and silencing himself. Tears still cascade down his cheeks and the terrified look in his eyes will plague me. When we were the one dishing out the torture and slicing people it was different, felt different even but being on the other side of it just feels wrong.

“Do you know who they are?” Alex asks as he walks around the men, each of them flinch away from him as he walks by. Two of them seem familiar to me but the two older guys on the end, I can’t recall ever seeing them before in my life.

“Should we?” Archer volleys back. I snap my head to the side when I see Omen move in closer. I tighten my hold on my gun at my side ready to strike if I have to.

“Considering they were in your—no, her brotherhood, I had hoped you might recognize them but it seems I was wrong.” I keep the shock from splaying across my face, these four guys are members of the Haven Saints. “Don’t feel bad for them, you should have heard what they had planned for sweet Vivian,” he coos as he draws a blade from his side and runs the point along their backs as he circles them again. All of them arch forward and try to escape his torture but its futile, they can’t break those fucking chains and even if they could, they would never make it out of here.

“Stop playing fucking games and tell me why the fuck we are here,” I snarl. I’m fucking fed up with his bullshit. I don’t give a shit if he is known for butchering people, I’ll sink a bullet in his skull before he gets to me. Alexander stops moving and faces us, the bloodlust I see in his eyes is fucking off the charts. He loves what he does to his victims and the fact Vivian helped him get out of prison doesn’t sit right with me.

“You’re here because he has been watching you and won’t make a move until the four of you are out of the way.”

“Who the fuck has been watching us?” Vox snaps.

“Thomas Valerian.” At the mention of him we all inhale sharply. “Before you idiots start denying it, I’ve been tracking him and he’s in town but it turns out your girl’s Saints are still loyal to their former lord.”

“That fucking cunt, he was the one who killed Kelly,” Vox grits out, then starts pacing in front of us.

“Wait, what fucking move is he about to make?” Archer asks with a hint of worry in his tone.

Before Alexander can answer I do. “He’s taken us off the board so Thomas can get to Vivian, this cocksucker wants it to happen in the hopes Thomas will draw Nexus out of hiding.” A dark smirk crosses Alex’s face.

“You motherfucker!” Hayze roars.

“I’ll kill you before I let that cunt touch my girl,” Archer vows.

“You make a move against him and you will be the next four we string up,” Omen promises.

“Fuck this, let’s go.” Hayze turns to leave but the exit is suddenly blocked by three other guys holding machine guns.

“I can’t let you leave.” I whirl around and glare at the son of a bitch.

“She fucking trusted you!” I roar.

A flicker of remorse crosses Alexander’s face before he masks it. “I’m following her wishes.” I stare at him open-mouthed and rendered speechless.

“My sister wants this?” Vox sounds panicked.

Alex nods. “She trusts me enough to know I won’t kill you four. She is the one who struck this deal with me the night I left you all. She named her terms, I agreed to them all in exchange for Nexus-fucking-Valerian.”

“You just offered my fucking sister up to the fucking devil! If anything happens to her or my girl, I’ll fucking slaughter you all,” Vox booms.

“He’ll kill her,” Archer yells.

“Get the fuck out of my way, now!” Hayze bellows, he has a gun pointed at one of the guys carrying a machine gun behind us. I look around the barn and there is only one exit point which is now blocked by those fucks with guns. Panic is taking root inside me and the need to get to Vivian is starting to cloud my rational thought. If he gets her… I shut down that train of thought, refusing to even think about what he might do to my girl.

I close my eyes and take some deep breaths ignoring the arguing going on around me. She did all of this to save us, she knows Thomas is coming for her and instead of running she went right to him to end this so we would all be truly free. We all knew that Thomas wouldn’t stop when she banished him but we were so caught up in being broken hearted that we never went on the offensive, now we are stuck playing defense.

“You lost your sister to a Valerian.” At my statement everyone grows silent, I lift my head to meet Alexander’s murderous scowl.

“Tread fucking carefully,” he warns as the three that have been hiding in shadows suddenly move until they flank their blood crazy boss.

“Are you really going to force us to watch as a Valerian takes someone we love from us? She is Vox’s sister, his fucking twin. Will you really make him suffer the same fate as you?” I’m begging him right now and I couldn’t give two fucks about it. If I have to get on my fucking knees and beg harder I will if it means I can get to my girl and save her.

Alexander just stands there staring at me with a blank look. “Please.” I swing my gaze to Vox, shocked he even knows that fucking word. “She’s my little sister. I know I have done a shitty job at trying to keep her safe and away from all of this but I can’t lose her. My girl is with her. I love them both and I won’t fucking survive losing either of them.”

“She made her terms clear,” he claps back.

“Fuck her terms,” Archer shouts. “I’m telling you to change those terms and let us go. If I have to shoot my way out of here, then so be it, but I’m not going down without fighting.”

“Have any of you bothered to stop and actually fucking think!” one of the hooded cunts behind him says.

“Vatican,” Alex warns.

“No. They want to play fucking hero then let them but this will never work for you miserable pieces of shit unless you let it play out the way she wants. Unlike you fuckers, she hasn’t let her emotions cloud her judgment. She isn’t going into this blind, nor is her friend. They both know what is about to happen and are ready, you go to them now and you will ruin everything Vivian has set into motion.”

“What exactly has she set into motion?” Hayze fires back.

“Nice try,” one of the other fucking hooded cunts says. I’m starting to understand why people hated our masks so much, its fucking frustrating arguing with someone you can’t fucking see.

“Stay a while and observe, you might even learn something,” Alexander says. “He won’t make a move tonight, she switched locations and he needs time to find her.”

“If you’re tracking him, why not just take the cunt out?” Vox asks.

“We’re tracking his associates, not him. That gutless bastard is smarter than we gave him credit for. But, we know he is working with high ranking members in The Brotherhood and they are the ones who are helping him, aren’t they?” Omen snarls as he yanks one of the guys who is chained up by his hair.

“Yes!” the guy cries out.

“Believe it or not, Vox,” Alex says, drawing Vox’s attention to him and this time I do see a flicker of emotion on the fuckers face. “I wouldn’t want anyone to suffer the loss of a sibling. Your sister will make it out of this alive , I will make sure of that. You have my word.” Call me fucking deluded but I actually believe the fucker and judging by the look on Vox’s face, he does as well.