by J Bree
Harley is a snarling, enraged asshole to everyone, and I have to remind him that he needs to do well in these exams too. It doesn’t mellow him out at all and I make a note to get Avery to check his scores before they post.
There’s no way I’m dealing with his sulky ass if he gets shitty scores, I’d rather we change them.
I sit for lunch and do my best to eat at least half of my plate. It’s hard to do, I can’t take full breaths, only shallow panting, and when he notices Ash shoves some aspirin in my hand.
“That won’t get you high but at least it’ll be something in your system.”
I grimace but take it, it really does hurt that much.
“Shouldn’t it be healing by now? This feels like it’s taking for-fucking-ever.” Blaise mutters, and Avery shoots him a glacial look.
“It’s been a week. How about you stop acting like a spoiled toddler and join the real world. She has three stab wounds, a broken nose, and gravel burn. I think she’s allowed to be in pain, asshole.”
Blaise’s eyes turn to slits and I nudge his foot with mine under the table to remind him to keep his cool. The dark circles under Avery’s eyes are so pronounced that even her massive amount of beauty supplies can’t hide them. She looks tired, brittle, sort of fragile in a way she never has before, and if he snaps at her I’ll be pissed.
Even if she is being a little harsh.
“I’m worried about her, Floss. I’m worried she has an infection or something that’s slowing down the healing. I’m worried about her, not myself.” He grits out as gently as you can when you’re talking between your teeth.
Avery’s eyes snap to mine. “Is it red? Puffy? Do you have a fever? Why does Morrison think it’s infected? Ash, we’re taking her into the hospital, grab the car.”
I grab her hand under the table and give it a squeeze. “It’s fine. You’re all just on edge because something extra shitty happened. I’m fine. Just stop getting on each other about me, wait until I’m back at a hundred percent before you start your snarking.”
Harley snorts at me, filling my juice up and sniffing the glass a little before handing it over because we’re all paranoid like that now. “You need to be at a hundred percent to ignore us all over lunch like you normally do, babe?”
I grin. “Yeah, takes a whole lotta energy to block you lot out.”
Ash tucks Avery under his arm and murmurs in her ear when her eyes stay glued on me, assessing and critical, “I checked her out in the shower this morning, I promise you they’re fine.”
Avery shoves him away. “Gross. Harley was in there with her, I don’t need to hear about your group sex. In fact, I’m banning you all from showering together in my bathroom the second Lips can stand in there on her own.”
I squeeze my eyes shut the second I see the smug grin start on all three of my guys’ faces because nope, I’m too wounded to deal with this. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
After our finals are over for the day I tuck my arm into Avery’s as we head back to our room together, slowly and steady in our steps. When we get back, Avery triple checks all of the locks are in place and then gets me set up on the couch, fussing over me like I’m the freaking queen and not just her injured friend.
I feel guilty as fuck.
She ignores me when I say that to her, just grabs us both ice cream and turns the TV on. I nudge her gently and she shakes her head at me.
“I was the one who let our family down, Lips. I knew you didn’t fully trust him, I knew he forced your hand. It’s my own fault I was taken and it’s my fault you’re hobbling around with fucking stab wounds.”
Ok, Avery swearing still sounds so freaking wrong. I shut my mouth but only until she takes a deep, shuddering breath.
“I’m only going to say this once Aves, so listen up. You did nothing wrong. Yeah, we now know that we need to have better plans in place for this shit, but you were supposed to be safe here. Atticus has a hundred men watching this school and yet Diarmuid walked right in. I was supposed to make sure only people we trust are allowed to get close to us and yet I let him manipulate his way into our family. I can’t change that, no matter how shitty I feel about it, but I’m not going to let it eat me up either. We’ve had a bad year. We’ve still got a ways to go before we’re out from under it all. But we’re doing it together and without any useless guilt because I swear to you Aves, not for one second have any of us blamed you for being snatched. Not for a single second. You’re my sister, closer than blood, and I won’t hear a word against you. Not even from you.”
From the corner of my eye, I see a single tear roll down her face and she hastily wipes it away. I don’t comment on it, we’re not the type to cry about shit and I know how exposed you feel when the tears fucking happen. I just sit there, eating my ice cream and watching some stupid reality TV show with her as we both haven’t gone through hell.
Avery sleeps eight hours straight that night.
* * *
Seniors at Hannaford get a week off after our finals.
I take this time to catch up on sleep because my body just can’t get enough at the moment. Avery decides that a spring cleaning of both of our rooms is required and when Blaise tries to bitch her out about it she tells him she’ll burn all of his guitars if he doesn’t help.
I stay in bed.
After three days of this my skin is itching with the irritation of being stuck in one place with nothing to do, so I drag everyone into an emergency college meeting because we all seem to have forgotten we’re supposed to be going to freaking college next year.
I get the sweats thinking we’ve missed all of the cut off dates to apply.
Avery sets a plate of freshly baked cookies on the table and rolls her eyes at me. She’s going through a ‘homemaking’ phase as Harley and I are very secretly calling it and I swear to god I’m going to triple my weight by the time she’s done with it. These cookies are to freaking die for.
She smooths down her skirt as she sits so everything is just so. “Whatever college you want to go to Lips, they’ll take you. Between your GPA and finals scores, and the cash we’ll throw at them, we’re in anywhere. Just pick and I’ll make some phone calls.”
Blaise pops the cap off of his beer and clears his throat. “Can we talk about taking a gap year? I’ve been talking to Finn about doing a tour and now that Lips is insisting I actually go to college with you lot… it’ll clash. Plus I think we need to take some time and actually breathe for a minute now we’re not being… you know, actively hunted like deer or whatever.”
It’s the weirdest little speech but I also feel like a tight fist in my chest loosens off a bit. Like maybe we do need a minute. Maybe I need a minute.
Harley watches my face closely and then nods to Blaise. “Yeah, that’s what we’re doing. She needs this.”
I snag another cookie and shove half of it straight into my mouth, talking around it like a savage, “We’re going to live at the ranch, right? Like tour on a bus or whatever but our home is the ranch still? I want to unpack my bags and know that they’re staying like that for… a while.”
Avery clears her throat and pegs me with a gentle but stern look. “Wherever I live, you live, Lips. Us leaving Hannaford doesn’t mean you need to get your own place… or decide how the hell the four of you are going to go about a plural relationship outside of school. You live with me until you want to live somewhere else. That’s how we work.”
Harley groans. “Are you going to get jumpy and weird about this shit now because school is ending? Can we just have fucking normal for five minutes?”
I honestly don’t know how to do normal, but I nod my head anyway, just to keep him happy.
And we do get normal for a little while. We go back to Avery dancing and snarking us all out when she can. We get Blaise drinking a little too much at all times and singing at random times to piss Harley off. Harley goes to swim practice and the gym everyday and kisses me sweetly overnight when he crawls into my bed to
hold me desperately like he can still see the blood on me when he closes his eyes.
Ash acts as though he didn’t tear a man apart with his bare hands and a few small swipes of my knife. He spends a lot of time either at the gym with Harley or out picking fights in the halls with unsuspecting students. He sleeps in Avery’s bed every night, even though her nightmares have stopped, because she’s better but she’s still not okay.
We let ourselves forget that the Jackal was only a third of our issues, right up until our week off comes to an abrupt end.
I’m sitting on the couch in Ash’s lap when he gets the text message.
We’re watching some shitty thriller movie with the family, Blaise sprawled out on the floor and Avery tucked into Harley’s side, helping him find parts online for his ’Stang. I feel the phone buzz in Ash’s pocket but I ignore it, content to just soak Ash in. I miss waking up with him, not that I’d ever say that to anyone because the twins need each other right now, but I’m enjoying this while I have it.
Ash stares down at his phone, his body rigid under mine and I curse viciously under my breath. “What now?”
He stares at me for a second and then hits play on a voicemail and Senior’s void-like drawl fills the room. I get freaking chills from the sound of it.
“I’ve spent the evening looking over your work on the Jackal. I had an old friend send me through the files on it. Well done, son. I thought I’d lost all chances of having a legacy when your slut killed Junior. I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands and I’m calling you home to me. Something has gone wrong in your upbringing, that you can only torture men, but now that Morningstar has arrived to take your sister, we can get you back on the right track. Say your good-byes now, Alexander. Your pathetic little family will be taken care of, your sister will be owned by the Devil and you… you’re coming home.”
Morningstar has gone back on his word.
Fuck.
Sweet merciful lord, fuck.
He never did call me back; whatever Senior has offered him must be big. My eyes snap shut and I take a second to breathe. Can’t I catch a fucking break? I just wanted my family safe and left the hell alone and now this.
“We’ve survived the Jackal, only to be taken out by some dickhead called the Devil? Fuck this.” Blaise snaps, stomping off to the fridge to find the beer.
Avery’s hands have a fine tremble in them as she picks up her phone. “Should I call Atticus? Do we call the Boar? I need you to tell me what to do, Lips.”
I know what we need to do, and none of them will like it. “Don’t worry about it, Aves. Let’s just get through graduation on Monday and then I’ll deal with it. I’ve already made some calls, I have some things in place. Don’t think about it until then.”
Harley eyes me, aware of just how bad Morningstar really is, but I keep my face so fucking blank he’ll never see through it. Finally he nods, and I don’t let my relief show either.
* * *
I know then that there’s nothing I can do to stop Senior, without driving myself up to the Manor and killing him myself. I don’t even really know if that will stop Morningstar from finding us, but it’ll get one thing off of our plate. All of our caution and careful planning goes out the fucking window because I’m not letting Avery get hurt again. I’m not letting anything happen to Ash, I’m not having Harley lose more family or Blaise lose his best friends. It’s just not fucking happening. Maybe the Jackal hit something vital but not life threatening inside me when he stabbed me because I feel reckless but also I’m just fucking done.
I’m not in a state to go, not at all, but there’s no way I can take the guys with me and Illi is still dealing with the fallout of the Jackal. The streets of the Bay have never been so dangerous, so chaotic and lawless. Now is the best time to go and deal with this man by myself.
Blaise and Harley sleep in my bed, and the twins sleep together in Avery’s bed like they have every other night since Avery was taken. I lay there, silent and still, until I’m sure they’re all asleep. Then I lay there a little longer just to be sure.
I slip out of bed, extra quiet, the way I had last year when the Jackal summoned me downstairs. I stare down at Ash for a second and I know, deep in my twisted and crookedly healed bones, that not only do I love him, but I’d die for him. Happily, and with such fucking conviction. He’ll hate me, he’ll fucking loathe me for leaving him again, but I have to. He can find someone else to love, they all can.
I could never live without them now.
I make it downstairs without any interruptions, then I boost the Cadillac exactly how Harley showed me. I hate driving, it’s not something I’m particularly good at, but I get onto the highway and start the journey to the end.
Whether it’s the end of Senior and the demons hunting us, or the end of me I don’t know.
But it’s the end.
I wait until there’s some distance between the school and me before I make the call.
The Boar picks up on the first ring, like he’s never too busy for little old me. It’s fucking weird. He’s obviously at his clubhouse, the noise is unmistakable and earsplitting.
“I need you to do something for me.” I say, and he growls out orders for silence. The din quiets and I go on. “I need you to approach my family if… if what I’m about to do kills me. I need my diamonds to go to my sister. You said shit was hard for her? I want her to be set up, to get out of whatever life her junkie mom has left her in. I have close to thirty million dollars worth. Put it in a trust or something so she’s taken care of. The combination to my safe is Harley’s birthday, get it off of him. Avery will square it with him.”
The Boar grunts at me again and growls, “Kid, where the fuck are you? Tell me so I can at least try to help. I have… someone nearby. Just tell me where you are.”
I laugh, a hollow sound but fuck it, I’ve always had a dark sense of humor. “I’m about to go have dinner with a serial killer. My life is crazy bad, but it’s all been worth it.”
Ok, so I’m being a little dramatic but fuck it, I kind of think I’ll be dead before help arrives so I think I should be given a pass.
Chapter Thirty-Three
I park the Cadillac up the street from the Beaumont manor. I get out immediately and grab my bag, slinging it over my shoulder gingerly. My wounds are better but still not fully healed. I’d taken some painkillers, nothing too strong, just to help me move for a few hours. Hopefully that’s all I’ll need.
My phone buzzes as I start to walk.
There’s no one on the streets, it’s the middle of the fucking night, so I don’t hesitate in answering it. If I’m going to be yelled at by one of the guys I need to give myself the time to clear my head before I go in.
What’s the chances that Senior will be asleep and I can gut him quietly?
Probably not great.
“Where the fuck are you?” Ash’s voice doesn’t sound like his usual ice, it’s fifty degrees colder than sub zero.
“I’m fixing the problem. Go back to bed.” I whisper but I can hear them all moving and slamming doors in the background.
“You promised me. You promised me last year you wouldn’t pull this shit again. Are you there already? Are you at his house?” Ash hisses, and I give myself thirty seconds to be weak and girlie and tear up. Then I’ll be hollow and carved out and nothing but the Wolf.
“I told you I wouldn’t choose.” Ash says in a flat, cold voice when I don’t answer. He knows where I am.
I wince but I can’t back out now. I look up at the Beaumont Manor, clutching the wound at my side. The drugs are only making it bearable to move, but by no means am I pain-free.
“I’m not making you choose, I’ve made the decision for us all. I’m the expendable one. I’m the one that can do this. I swear to you, Ash, he’s not getting out of tonight alive. No matter the cost, you and Avery will be safe. I’ve done this before, I can do it tonight.”
I hear car doors and yelling. I have two hours to get th
is done before they get here. It’s doable.
I hear the engine roar to life and Ash snarls at me, “You aren’t fucking expendable. You’re nonnegotiable. You’re everything I’ve ever fucking wanted and needed, and you’re trying to get yourself killed.”
I swipe my cheeks and clear my throat. “I love you, Ash. I love you and I won’t ever let this man touch you again. That’s the line I’m drawing. I can do this.”
I hear him groan, then he snaps, “I’m not saying it over the phone. You’ll stay alive so I can say it to your face.”
Arrogant until the end, but I hope he’s right.
“Tell Harley and Blaise I’m sorry too. Tell them I love them and tell Avery I love her too, that she’s the best fucking thing that ever happened to me. That being her friend has been the greatest fucking honor and if I die, she’s worth it. You all made this entire fucked up life of mine… worth it.” I rip the phone away from my ear before I can hear his reply, ending the call and shoving it in my pocket before I break down completely.
The first step is the hardest to take, but the second I do my feet don’t stop.
It ends tonight.
* * *
I’m expecting to have to take out a whole hoard of Senior’s thugs to find the serial killer himself but the closer I get to the house, the more I realize how alone I really am here. It’s as if he’s cleared the whole place out for me but I didn’t exactly call ahead and tell him I was on my way. The psycho probably thinks he’s enough to take me on by himself and, fuck, he might be. With the stitches still fresh in my gut, he just fucking might be.
My original plan is to scale the outer wall and catch the psycho fuck by surprise but the closer to the monstrosity that is the Beaumont Manor I get, the more I know that something is not right here.