Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nova
I forced Waylen to catch a red eye flight back home last night. He tried to fight me but I refused to bend. With Thomas and Nexus returning home today, I needed to make sure my best friend was away from here and safe, they already have my mom, the last thing I need is for them to get their filthy hands on him. I couldn’t sleep at all last night, every creak in the house had me bolting upright and my breath hitching. The one thing Waylen did help me with before he left was checking my room for bugs.
We found six!
I burst into tears, they may not have had microphones and been able to hear anything that was said but the fact that two of the cameras were in my bathroom, had me emptying the contents of my stomach in the toilet. They have seen everything. I am so angry and feel violated but there isn’t a fucking thing I can do about it without risking my mom. I need to find her and get her somewhere safe, away from these crazy bastards.
I feel so alone, not having my mom here or knowing where she is right now is killing me. Having to send Waylen home and not having him by my side hurts like a bitch. Waylen has been blowing up my phone since he landed but I’ve ignored his calls and messages. I told him to get as far away from me as he can but in true Waylen fashion he refused.
My phone pings with a text and the sight of Nexus’ name on the screen has my stomach dropping. I gingerly reach for it and open the message. There’s no text, just an image, me on my knees in my bathroom with Vox’s cock down my throat. Bile rushes up my throat but I swallow it down when Nexus begins calling me. I take a second to gather myself before I answer.
“Yes?”
“Oh, piggy, is that anyway to greet your big brother?” I grind my teeth and fist the comforter in my free hand.
“What do you want?” I force out.
“Do you think you could suck my dick as good as you sucked your Jason wannabes?” My brows draw in as I mull over his words.
“My friend?” I hedge.
“Well, that fucking mask wearing pussy isn’t a friend of mine.” I swallow my gasp and play along.
“He isn’t my friend.”
“So you just fuck anyone with a cock, is that it?”
I brush off his question with one of my own. “What’s the point of this call?”
“I’ll be home tonight. Dad is staying in the city and will join us tomorrow.”
“Okay…”
“Be ready to play when I get home, piggy.” His ominous threat sends a shiver of dread down my spine. When he disconnects the call I sit here and stare at the wall in front of me that holds all the pictures of my happiest memories.
They don’t know it was Vox in the mask.
I debate whether or not I should call but only having his number doesn’t leave me with much of a choice—if I had one of the others I would have called them. I take a deep breath and hit call on his number, it rings three times before he answers.
“What?” I look at the clock on my wall and cringe but then remember I don’t give a fuck about Vox or the fact I woke him up at six in the morning.
“Nexus called, he’s coming tonight.”
“Yeah?”
“Look, asshole, he doesn’t know it’s you in the videos only me.”
“ Videos ?” A whoosh of air escapes me.
“Yeah, he sent me a still shot of me… it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t know it’s you and that’s my point.”
“And what is your point exactly, witch?” I slam my eyes closed, hearing that name before sent a thrill through me but now I know that it was him the whole time it just fills me with disgust, knowing I allowed him to play me for a fool and let him fuck me however he wanted without protest.
“I hate you,” I breathe out as I fight back tears of shame.
“Yes, we have established that but what’s your point?” I can hear the anger that laces his words.
“Be his friend, let him think you guys are buddies and maybe he will open up to?—”
“Nova, we are the Filthy Few and we have ways to take down?—”
“If that were true then you wouldn’t have needed me to find this proof, Vox!” I shout.
“If you don’t admit that it was me in those videos with you, he is going to destroy you until you give him a name.” It almost sounds like he regrets that I am the one who is going to bear the brunt of the punishment for our crime.
“So what? I don’t care. Use your friendship with him to get me what I want and I will never tell him it was you.”
“You know what that means, right?” I sigh and nod even though he can’t see me.
“You and your band of bitches go back to making my life hell, well, good luck with that one, Voxy boy, because this time I’m fighting back and I’ll make sure I fucking leave a mark on all of you.”
“Game on, witch.”
I scoff. “Show me what ya got, dick bag.”
I’m sitting at the breakfast bench, spinning my phone round and round on the counter as I wait for Nexus. I haven’t left the house all day. I know they are watching me and I’m scared to step a single foot out of line in case they take it out on my mom. Just thinking of her and the image of her strapped to that bed has tears springing to my eyes.
I’ll make this right, Mom, I vow to her silently.
I won’t let these assholes take her from me, I just need to buy myself some time to figure out what it is that they want from me. The instant I hear his car pull into the driveway, I force myself to remain calm and appear relaxed as I start scrolling through my phone. I know they can check the cameras but I’m doing this more for my satisfaction than his. When the front door opens, I brace myself and wait for the dreaded encounter.
“Aww, what a good piggy, waiting to greet me.” I grit my teeth and don’t acknowledge him until I feel him stand behind me. I stop scrolling and wait for the bastard to make his next move. I shudder in revulsion when he brushes my back, exposing the side of my neck. He rests his chin on my shoulder and wraps his arms around my waist. My breaths are coming in rapid pants, it may be irrational but I feel fear surging inside me and my flight or fight instincts are kicking in. “You want to get off, piggy, you find me hot not that mask-wearing bitch.” I jerk out of his hold and climb to my feet facing him, the sinister look in his eyes and the cruel smile sends dread pooling inside me.
“I may not be able to do anything to you?—”
“That’s right, you are mine to do with as I please. You fuck up and all it would take to end that bitch is a single phone call.” My bottom lip begins to tremble but I refuse to allow him to see me cry. “When I call, you come. When I tell you to kneel, you fucking kneel!”
I stare at him in disgust, I knew he was a bastard but I never thought him or Thomas would be cold-blooded killers. I feel tears burning the backs of my eyes as the weight of the whole situation crashes down on me—I’m living with killers and they have my mom as a hostage!
“Ahhhh, now you’re starting to get it,” he coos smugly.
“Get what?” I force out.
“That you are nothing, you are worthless and nothing more than a toy I get to play with until Dad calls you into action. Two more months, Nova, and then you will be mine to do with as I please. In my world your pussy makes you weak. You will learn to live beneath me and under me.” Bile rushes up my throat at his insinuation.
“What happens in two months?”
“Well, your birthday of course, piggy!”
“I’m not a toy!” I scream at him. I tense when he stalks toward me, smiling. I grind my teeth when he grips the back of my neck and pulls me in close.
“You have no idea who the fuck you are and by the time you figure it out, it will be too late.” Before either of us can say more, the front door opens and I hear footfalls enter the kitchen behind us. The second the hairs on the back of my neck prickle with awareness I know exactly who it is. Nexus flicks his gaze over my head and I see his upper lip twitch in a snarl before he quickly masks his features and plasters a smile on his face, then spins me around so my back is to his chest. Vox, Ezekiel, Hayze and Archer all stand there staring at us with masks of indifference in place. “What’s up guys?”
Try as he might, Vox can’t hide his loathing for my stepbrother. I never noticed it before but I see it now in the way his eyes darken as he stares at Nexus.
“Nothing, bro, just saw your car and thought we’d come say what’s up and see how your trip went?” Hayze says easily as he strolls into the kitchen and helps himself to the fruit bowl on the counter like nothing is amiss. Archer and Ezekiel follow his lead but Vox doesn’t budge from his spot or take his eyes off me and Nexus.
Worried he will give us away and destroy my only chance of getting my mom back, I play along. “I'll leave you idiots to it then, I have shit to catch up on,” I say in a bored tone. As I attempt to free myself from Nexus’ hold, he places a kiss to the side of my head that sends disgust surging inside me.
“I’ll see you soon, piggy,” he says as I snatch my phone off the counter and brush past Vox without sparing him a second glance. Once I’m safely inside the confines of my room I finally breathe a little easier, until I see the black envelope on my bed. My heart pounds in my chest as I grab it and turn it over to see the same seal with a T in gold. I sigh and pull the letter out hoping that it will offer some form of help, if not this long lost uncle is as useless as tits on a bull.
Nova-Scotia,
You should have run!
Bring the masked men and meet at the same spot you met them.
I will be there at the stroke of midnight on Saturday night.
Conform to their rules, Thomas is hunting me so I can’t get to you sooner.
Be strong, do whatever it takes to survive.
Trust no one!
Well, that letter doesn’t help me with shit but I guess at least I will finally be able to put a face to my secret letter writer. But something that doesn’t sit right with me is the fact he knows about the Filthy Few … How?