Found (The Scions Book 2)

by Gemma Weir

  “Do you know what, Brit? I was happy to let you do your thing. I would have sat back and let you enjoy your reign or whatever you think was happening. Because the thing you just don’t seem to get, is that I don’t care if I’m popular. I don’t care if people like me. This is high school for God’s sake; in the grand scale of our lives this place means nothing.”

  She scoffs and straightens slightly. “I heard you that day, Nova,” she sneers. “Are they staring? Are they talking about me? Do they know who I am?” She mimics my voice and the words I’d said to my brother that day when I thought it was only me and him.

  I laugh and watch as her brow furrows. “I sound crazy, don’t I?” I wait for her to throw a barb, and when she doesn’t, I carry on. “You’re right, I lied. I do care what people think. Show me a single person who doesn’t and I’ll show you a liar. But do you want to know why I thought people were staring at me? It’s because I thought they’d figured out how much I was faking it.”

  Taking a moment, I let my eyes scan over the crowd that has amassed around us. “Hey, everyone, I’m a fake,” I say loudly, lifting my arms out to my sides and shrugging. “You see, I’m not really a cold, mean bitch,” I whisper-shout, then smile. “I don’t think I’m better than anyone. I just didn’t really know how to be the person that everyone here expected me to be without pretending. I see a shrink several times a week, I have anxiety, and I’m falling in love with the guy who was bullying and blackmailing me.”

  Looking over my shoulder at Valentine, I blow him a kiss, watching as his smile widens. Then I turn back to my ex-friend. “So that’s it, Brit; that’s all my shit laid bare. I’m a little bit crazy, I used to be fake pretty much all the time, and honestly, I don’t really understand why anyone would like me enough to make me popular. This is my family,” I say, gesturing to my brother, friends, and boyfriend behind me.

  “You told me on Monday that the princess was dead and that you were the new queen and you’re right. I don’t want to be her anymore. I don’t want to be fake or pretend. I found out the other day that people here call me and my family the Scions. As I didn’t know what it meant, I Googled it. A Scion is a descendant, and we,” I say gesturing to the others. “Are the Sinners Scions. We are the next generation of the Doomsday Sinners and we,” I gesture again. “Don’t take shit from whiny little wannabes like you. Girls like you end up as club sluts; the desperate girls who want to be someone, who want to be more, but who think to do that they need to lie and steal and take their clothes off to get what they want. In the end those girls are used up and forgotten.”

  Brit opens her mouth to speak, but I just smile and say. “Used up and forgotten before you even leave high school, Brit. Tsk, tsk. Don’t worry, I’m sure my Uncle Smoke can find a pole for you to swing around on in one of his clubs, or hey, maybe one of the other chapters has an opening for a new whore.”

  Brit splutters, her anger and outrage preventing her from speaking, but I just smile, turn to Valentine and curl myself into his side. “Goodbye, your majesty,” I say, and mockingly curtsey before the five of us turn and walk away.

  My girl is a badass!

  As we walk away from a still spluttering Brit, I turn and watch over my shoulder as every kid that had stopped to watch the showdown follows us. I doubt most of them even need to go in this direction, but Nova and the rest of the Scions are so magnetic, that the kids here want to be around them, even if that means walking the wrong way.

  I lock eyes with Brit and smirk. That bitch might think she’s something special but she’s nothing compared to my Princess and everyone here including Brit knows it. After that speaker started playing Nova and Zeke’s conversation, I’d expected my girl to fall apart, and for a minute she did. But she pulled her shit together and she proved to every single person here that she’s strong as fuck and real.

  She took everything Brit could use against her and turned it into a weapon. She admitted that she was a real person, with real feelings, and then she tore Brit apart piece by piece burning them as she went.

  “That was so fucking hot,” Griff says breaking the silence.

  I can’t help it. A laugh bubbles up from my throat and bursts out. Nova looks at me then laughs too and before long all of us are chuckling.

  “I’m getting us capes, that was some superhero standoff shit and we need fucking capes! I’m the Red Ranger guys, called it,” he shouts, his excitement infectious.

  “The Power Rangers didn’t have capes, idiot, they had spandex suits,” Zeke teases.

  “I would look fucking amazing in a red spandex suit,” Griffin taunts back.

  When we reach our homeroom, Griff and Emmy wave and head to their own class, leaving me, Nova, and Zeke to walk in together. Ignoring my usual seat behind Nova, I take the seat next to her, the one Brit used to sit in. Then I shuffle closer to my girl, leaning in and nipping at her neck with my teeth.

  She laughs, and as her face lights up, I’m reminded of how different she looked the first day I’d walked into this room. She’s no less beautiful. She was stunning then and she’s even more beautiful now. But there’s a lightness in her now; her laugh is loud and free, and she looks relaxed.

  I’m not the only one that notices, every guy and most of the girls can’t help but look at her and I get it, I really do. When Brit walks in a few minutes later there are a smattering of sniggers and amused glances that follow her as she takes a seat with a group of girls on the other side of the room. But where at the start of the week the girls were united, when she sits down now, they all seem to lean away, excluding her.

  By lunchtime, Nova’s name and the argument between her and Brit is all anyone can talk about. I think Zeke, Nova, Griffin, and Emmy are the only ones who don’t care and our group chat is full of talk about superheroes and group Halloween costumes.

  Just like the last couple of days, we walk into the cafeteria as a group and Nova heads for the new table we’ve claimed as ours, but I reach out and stop her. “Do you want to sit there, or do you want to reclaim your old table?”

  Her brow raises and she smirks. “Let’s take our old table back. I’m up for pissing her off a little more today.”

  I nod and follow as she makes a beeline for the table at the back overlooking the football fields. Nova sits and I drop a kiss on her temple, heading for the food counter to grab something to eat. By the time I return half of the long table is full of football players and instead of finding my own seat, I lift Nova up and sit down in hers, lowering her into my lap. More people join us and I recognize some of the girls as the ones who had been sat with Brit only the day before. When Brit walks through the cafeteria doors a few minutes later she looks at our table and a scowl twists into place.

  Her heels clack loudly as she stomps across the room, slowing to a stop a foot from the table, her hands propped on her hips. “You guys are not welcome,” she hisses.

  Nova looks at Brit, then dismisses her, turning her head to me and asking for a kiss. I give her what she wants, lowering my lips to hers and kissing her. For a moment I lose myself in my girl, until Brit’s disgusted groan pulls my attention away and I look up, snarling.

  “What the fuck is your problem?” I ask.

  “She’s my problem,” she says pointing. “Neither she, nor any of you,” she points at me, then Emmy, Zeke, and Griffin in turn. “Are welcome at my table, so move.”

  I look to the others and catch Zeke and Griffin’s eyes. “Do you guys feel unwelcome?” I ask.

  They both smile brightly. Griffin leans back in his chair, his arms folded behind his head, his feet on the table. “I certainly don’t feel unwelcome; why would I? These are our friends. Do you feel unwelcome, Zeke?”

  Zeke rises from his chair and leaps onto the table. He walks up and down, drawing everyone’s attention. “Hey, guys. Brit seems to think that the Scions aren’t welcome at this table. Love the nickname by the way, very regal,” he says, amusement lacing each word. He jumps down, landing in front of Br
it. “Do you feel unwelcome, Emmy?”

  Emmy lowers her Kindle to the table—that girl really does read a lot—and stands, moving to Zeke’s side. “My dad’s the president of the Doomsday Sinners, I’m never unwelcome,” she deadpans and I have to stifle a laugh, because that kind of response couldn’t be any less sweet, quiet Emmy if she tried. “What about you, Valentine? You’re the newest Scion, do you feel unwelcome?” she asks.

  I look up at Brit, sliding my arm tighter around Nova’s waist and lean forward resting my chin against her shoulder. “I’ve never felt less unwelcome in my life.”

  “Move,” Brit screams, the sound pulsing through the air and pulling the attention of every single person in the room. “Move,” she screeches again. “This is my table, this is my school, and I don’t want any of you here,” she cries.

  Nobody speaks, then Nova pulls out of my arms and stands up. “Okay, we’ll move,” she says, a bright smile etched across her face. She reaches back for my hand and I entwine my fingers with her and grab my tray of food. When she pauses, I pause too and watch as she looks down the length of the table. “We’re gonna go sit over there, you guys are more than welcome to join us,” she says sweetly.

  One by one chairs are pushed back and trays are scraped across the table, then as a group the five of us move to the table we sat at yesterday and sit down, watching as every single person follows suit until the other table is empty and the only person left is Brit, standing alone.

  As she sinks into a chair at the empty table, I feel a moment of sympathy for her, but it disappears when I turn and find Nova staring at her with glassy eyes. “She started all of this,” I assure her.

  “I know, I’m just sad.”

  Pulling her face toward me, I lean forward and kiss her. All thoughts of Brit dissolve into mist and evaporate and all that’s left is me and Nova.

  The rest of the day is uneventful and when Zeke pulls up outside Brandi and Sleaze’s, I pull Nova out of the car with me, waving goodbye to the others as I lead her into the house. “Hey, I’m back,” I yell as I head for the stairs, eager to get Nova into my room.

  “Valentine,” Brandi calls, rushing into the hall, her expression changing from pained to pleasant when she spots Nova.

  “What’s up?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing. I just had a call from Tricia today, but we can talk about it later,” Brandi says dismissively.

  “What did she say?”

  Brandi’s eyes flick to Nova.

  “It’s okay, she knows my mom wants to see me. Just tell me what she said.”

  “I can go,” Nova says quietly, pulling away from me.

  But I don’t want her to go. I want her here with me, I need her. “No,” I say, reeling her in and holding her to my side. She must feel the tension in my muscles, because her hand snakes around my waist and she melts into me.

  I relax a little and inhale slowly, waiting for Brandi to speak.

  “Can we sit?” She asks, her expression tormented.

  “Fuck, she lawyered up, didn’t she? Is she going to force me to go back? Is that what this is about?” My voice sounds shrill, even to my own ears and I cringe.

  “Let’s just sit and I’ll tell you everything I know, okay?”

  I nod and follow Brandi as she leads us out to the patio table where Sleaze is sat watching the kids as they splash around in the pool.

  “Kid, Princess,” Sleaze says in greeting.

  “Hey, Uncle Sleaze,” Nova says, her voice quiet.

  Once we’re all sat, Brandi leans over and reaches for Sleaze’s hand. Fuck, the fact that she feels like she needs support scares the shit out of me.

  “After we talked about your mom and you decided that you didn’t want any contact with her, I called and told Tricia what we discussed. I explained that you were eighteen and that this was your life and your decision. She agreed to pass that along to your mom. Today she called me back to say that your mom has engaged a lawyer.”

  “Fuck,” I hiss, letting my head fall back onto my neck and staring up at the cloudless sky above me.

  “Valentine.” Brandi calls my name cautiously, and I lift my head up and look at her.

  “She wrote you a letter and her lawyers are insisting that it be given to you. I advised Tricia that I would pass that letter to you, but if you choose to rip it up and never read what’s inside it, that’s your choice.”

  I stare as she pushes a cardboard courier envelope across the table toward me. My fingers shake as I reach out and pull it the rest of the way across the table. I rip the tab and pull out the envelope. It’s heavy and the paper stock is thick and expensive. Valentine is written in swirling cursive across the front and I recognize the handwriting.

  “I’m gonna…” I point upstairs, incapable of getting any more words out. Brandi nods, her eyes sad and full of regret.

  I push up from the table, gripping the envelope in one hand and reaching for Nova’s hand with the other. Brandi rises quickly too, her hand covering mine where I’m holding the envelope so tightly my fingers have gone white.

  “I wish I could make this go away, but I can’t. Just remember that whatever it says or doesn’t say in that envelope, this is your home now. You can choose to stay forever or leave tomorrow, but we’re your family and we will always be family no matter what happens.”

  I nod, blinking away tears and when she leans all the way across the table and pulls me toward her, I hug her back, clinging to her and hoping that what she just said is true.

  Nova clings to my hand as I silently walk back into the house, climbing the stairs and walking straight into my bedroom without another word. I sink down to the bed releasing her and she closes the door behind us then sinks down beside me.

  I wait for her to speak, but she doesn’t. She just crawls up the bed, gestures for me to follow suit and then plasters herself to my chest, her head rested over my heart. The envelope is still clutched in my hand and as much as I want to throw it away, to burn it and never think about it again, my fingers just won’t let go.

  I don’t know what’s inside, but even just the sight of my name in my mom’s handwriting is enough to make me want to bury my head in the sand. Knowing she wants me back or hearing she still doesn’t give a shit; I’m not sure which would be worse. Of course, it could be neither of those things, and I won’t know anything unless I open the goddamn envelope and read whatever it is she’s so desperate for me to hear.

  “Will you read it?” I ask. “I need to know what’s in there, but I can’t. I just can’t.”

  Nova lifts her head until our gazes lock and I can see the raw emotion in her eyes. “Are you sure?”

  I nod, offering the envelope to her. Her movements are slow as she takes it from me. When the letter is out of my grasp numbness starts to take over and I inhale deeply, making sure that I still remember how to breathe.

  Nova climbs over me, straddling my waist as she glances at me, then back to the cream-colored envelope. The paper rustles as she slides her finger under the flap, slowly breaking the seal. “Valentine.”

  “Please, Princess, please,” I beg.

  A single tear falls from her eyes and instead of pulling the letter free, she drops it to the bed and wraps her arms around me again, holding me tight. “Please don’t leave,” she whispers. “I don’t want you to go.”

  “I don’t want to go anywhere either,” I say into her neck, so quietly that I’m not sure she heard me.

  When her arms slide free, I want to pull her back to me, pretend that my mom’s words aren’t here, that there isn’t a letter beside me that could wreck my world all over again. But I can’t prolong the inevitable and as sure as I know that time will pass and people will live and die, there’s no way I cannot know what’s in that letter.

  Clearing her throat, she wipes the tears from her cheek and reaches for the envelope again. This time she doesn’t pause, pulling out a folded letter and opening it.

  When she starts to speak, I close my eye
s and instead of Nova talking I hear my mom, her words, her voice as if she was in the same room.

  * * *

  My Darling Valentine,

  There’s no way a letter could even begin to show you how sorry I am that we are not together right now. Words won’t make up for the pain I’ve caused you, nothing will ever excuse what I’ve done, but perhaps an explanation will start to give you some clarity on what happened three years ago.

  When your father died, I wanted to die too. I loved him more than anything else in the world and a place where he didn’t exist anymore wasn’t somewhere I thought I could survive. My first attempt to take my own life was a month after he was killed. I backed my car into the garage, closed the door, rolled down the windows and left the car running, hoping that I would fall asleep and never wake up. The gardener found me and when I told him I had fainted he believed me.

  The next time, I drank three bottles of wine and got into the bath hoping that I’d pass out and wake up reunited with your father. But when my drunk body sunk into the water, instead of oblivion I woke up coughing and spluttering and very much alive.

  The third time, I sat on the floor in mine and your father’s bedroom with a gun in my mouth ready to pull the trigger. That time Margarita found me and she told me that I was selfish, that I had you to think about; that if I killed myself you’d be left all alone. I think she hoped to scare me into getting help, but instead her words convinced me that I needed to send you away so I could die and you wouldn’t be affected.

  I know now how irrational my thoughts were, but at the time I just wanted to die, and I knew I had to send you away before I did it. When I contacted our family’s lawyers and explained that I needed to find you a home as you couldn’t live with me anymore, he told me that as we had no living relatives I would have to find someone to become your legal guardian, or ask the state to take over responsibility for your care. So that’s what I did.