Page 88 of Victorious: Part 3

“Don’t,” Nighthawk warns softly. “Switch it off, Blue Jay.”

That was the reminder I needed.

Right now, I need to be a bird.

I can’t let Haven in at all.

Not even a little bit.

Because if I do, if I let my emotion win, I will do something I regret. And Ican’tmess this up. That is what Javier will try to play on. My weaknesses. That’s what men like him do.

Mind games.

Javier bursts out laughing, throwing his hands in the air as he turns to me. “Oh yes, the emotion switch. Shut it off, Blue Jay. Like a Vulcan fromStar Trek. Ageniusidea that my uncle came up with. The only thing Iwillgive him credit for, butI,on the other hand, have been able to manufacture a pharmaceutical way to make it happen easier, but you know… whatever works.”

Smirking, I take a tactical step forward, my gun still trained on him. “You know, Javier. You think you’re untouchable… but you’re not.”

He shrugs. “Is this where I beg for mercy?” he scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Please.You were trained better than that. You think you’re free ofme?I live in every scar. Every kill. Youareme.”

“No,” I growl, stepping closer again, barrel raised. “Weare the reckoning.”

He glances across at Nighthawk, an evil grin crossing his face.“The legendary Nighthawk,” he says, changing his focus from me, his voice carrying a slight Spanish accent. “My prodigal righthand returns home at last.”

Nighthawk stiffens beside me. “I’m not your slave anymore, Javier.”

“Oh, but you are. Youalwayswill be. Just as she…” he gestures toward me, “… will always be my greatest success. Look what I created. A killer so perfect that she believes herself to be redeemed.” He waves his hands through the air. “She thinks she issoremarkable that she freedallthose birds and even managed to get them to flock back to her to end me. Oh, by the way, it’s nice to see you again, ladies.” He tips his head toward Peacock, Kestrel, Magpie, Rosella, and Kite.

“Fuck off,” Peacock growls.

“Eat shit,” Magpie snaps.

“Pfft,” Kestrel huffs.

“Oh, you’resooo dead.” Rosella chuckles.

And Kite, always the quiet, stealthy one, simply picks up a knife and hurls it toward him. It slices his ear as it lands with precision into the wall behind him, swaying back and forth with the force of the hit. He hisses between his teeth, his hand shifting to his ear as blood pools between his fingers.

Nighthawk and I grin.

Rosella bursts out laughing, high-fiving a stoic Kite while she remains indifferent.

Furrowing my brows, I glare at the asshole. “You didn’t createanything, Javier,” I reply, my weapon still trained on his chest. “You broke children and called it training.”

“I gaveyoupurpose. Direction. Withoutme, without the Cartel, you would have been just another forgotten girl from the streets. Instead, you became art. I mean, look at the beauty you ladies have created here today?”

The conversation is a distraction, and I know it.

He’s buying time, looking for an opening, an opportunity to escape or to turn the tables. But I also know that Nighthawk needs this. She needs to face the man who shaped her into a weapon and prove to herself that she’s more than his creation.

More than what she did to Livvy.

“You want to know what your greatest success really thinks of you?” I ask, taking a step forward. “You’renothing!A petty tyrant who feeds on suffering because you’re too weak to create anything meaningful. The children upstairs? They’ll be free. Your network? We’re tearing it down tonight. Your legacy? Nothing but pain we’re going to heal.”

His face darkens, and I see the façade of civilized control slipping away. “You think you’re in control, Blue Jay? You haveno ideawhat I’ve built. The scope of what’s coming. This compound, these children, they’re only the beginning. I have allies ineverylevel of government. Operations in every major city. Youmightstop this, but you’llneverstop all of it.”

Nighthawk chuckles, stepping up beside me. “Oh… but we will. Because what you’re yet to realize is that while we’re distracting you, Defiance MC is taking downallyour operations, not just in LA, but in Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, Tampa, and Vegas. Other Defiance chapters all across the country are working through various prisons to get out the women you have captive below the prisons as prisoners and that you have beenbreedingfrom.”

His eyes widen in shock that we know, and the rush of having the upper hand ignites something wild inside me.