37. Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Brixon
N oah pulls away from the curb, turning the music off quickly.
“No, leave it on. Evie loved her music. She would blast it and not let anyone talk until there was a pause between songs.” I say, wanting to feel her in some way.
“She used to drive us crazy with that as kids. Do y’all remember when she downloaded Stevie Nicks greatest hits and made us listen to it on repeat for months?” Noah laughs.
“Hey, Emily loves that I know all the words to all of her favorite songs. Pipsqueak loved her music.” Liam gives a sad smile realizing he said loved. Past tense.
I don’t know how to keep going. I am still waiting to wake up from this nightmare. She told me exactly how it was going to happen. I never should have left her alone. It’s all my fault.
I wanted to believe that we had beaten this. That we were going to have it all. Now I have nothing. Why did it have to be her? I would gladly give my life to give hers back to her. She deserves to live.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, I pull it out, opening the screen to a text.
Nadia: It took! We are going to be parents!
I look up to see Liam looking at his phone. He snaps his eyes up to mine. We both nod in understanding that everything we had planned is now in motion.
There is no going back now.
One life taken, two given.
I guess in the ancestor’s eyes, they see that the curse just won again. Nothing was broken except my heart. Evie took my soul with her. I have nothing left.
Noah pulls up to the Devereaux compound, putting the SUV in park, he looks back at me, “You got this or are we allowed our pound of flesh?”
“You both were Evie’s brothers, you get your pound of flesh, just leave some for her gators to.” I reply, letting them know that they have just as much right as I do to do whatever the fuck we want to do to these pricks.”
We all exit the SUV and head towards the brick tunnel, not knowing what we are walking into.
Sin greets me at the gate with an emotional hug.
Not exactly what I was expecting, but I see the torment in his eyes and crumble, holding onto him for dear life letting the emotion surface again.
“I’m so sorry I failed her.” The words fall out as I let go and brace myself for impact.
“I know this was not your fault or anyone else’s besides the two fuckers we have in the caves. Take it out on the ones who deserve your wrath. I’ve seen the surveillance video, there was nothing that you could have done that wouldn’t have ended the exact same way. You did everything you could.” He pulls back from our hug as he attempts to show me mercy that I don’t deserve, keeping his hand on my shoulder.
“I can’t stop watching it happen over and over again, trying to see what I could have done differently. Thank you for saying that, but you don’t understand. It was all my fault. I’m the reason she was in that store, and I wasn’t there. If I had just let her do her thing this morning, we would be in bed together right now. She would still be alive in my arms. No matter how it went down or who pulled the trigger, it doesn’t matter, it’s my fault. So, please don’t try and make me feel better. Nothing anyone says can change it.” I explain, breaking again, admitting out loud what I know to be true.
“Brixon, you can’t put the blame on yourself. I did that for years. When I lost Lottie, my first love, on our wedding day, I lost who I was. I worked, cracked skulls when needed and kept my head down. I shut everyone out and vowed to avenge her death one day. My day took years man. You get yours now. Take it out on them, I already started their punishment. The fuckers have already told us everything we want to know; you can end them the way you want.”
I realize now how much about Sin I missed when I was getting intel on him. I was always so focused only on the man he had become since finding out he was a Saint, not just him as a man. I had to make sure he wasn’t a threat to Evie.
“There is only one way I’m going to take these fuckers out. How do you feel about gators?” I ask, knowing exactly how this has to be done.
“I like to eat them, not the other way around.” he replies, eyes going a little wider.
“You’ll be safe. Do you have a vehicle big enough to transport the bastards out to the bayou?”
“I think I can manage. How do we want to do this? Include everyone or keep it between us?” Sin asks, looking back at the gate where Noah and Liam stand with their heads down.
“Her body will be delivered to the crematory at six, it’s about four now, that gives the four of us two hours to fuck up the pricks and let me watch the tapes. Noah and Liam were her brothers too, they get to be there. We will give her the parade she deserves, before we take her, and them to the bayou. The girls can consecrate her body the way that she wanted. Would it be okay to put some of her ashes out here in the courtyard? She loved it here.” I explain, letting him know that Liam and Noah will take part, along with the rest of her family.
“I would be honored to have part of my sister here with me, thank you. Let’s go have a drink before we get started.” Sin motions for us to follow him through the house back to the library again.
I sit on one of the plush high-back barstools. Liam and Noah sit on either side of me while we wait as Sin pours us all a rocks glass of bourbon.
“There is nothing like a good bourbon before handing out a little torture in the caves. We can take our drinks down with us.” He says as he places the tumblers in front of us.
I down mine, place it back on the bar, and stand from my barstool, “Let’s go.”
“Right this way.” Sin nods, turning from the bar, pulling a book from the large bookshelf about halfway out.
I hear a lock click and the bookcase opens up from the wall.
“Nice,” I nod, making my way around the bar and down into the cave like stairway.
“Savvy found it with her friends shortly after they moved in. The girls gave us a good idea and we ran with it. The guys and I have made good use of it since, with the Saint’s help of course. I’m sure y’all already knew that.” Sin looks at all three of us.
“We came down here before with Alec, he brought us in through the back, from the courtyard entrance.” I say, letting him know that we have in fact been down here before.
“Alec already informed me that he had brought the higher ups in. I also know he gave you all the information we gathered from the busts we made on the queen and her men.” He replies as we hit the bottom of the stairs.
The familiar sting of bleach hits my nose when I spot the two from the market as I descend the stairs. They are both tied up, naked, and suspended mid-air on the web. They look like they are going mad with their heads thrashing from side to side, with red ball gags muffling their screams. I smirk when they both see me, and it registers who I am.
I’m loving the fact that they are in agony. I watch them thrashing and realize that they have the look of pure torture on their faces. It’s what I’m feeling.
Pure torture.
“What exactly are you doing to them?” Noah asks the question we all want to know.
“Moths,” Sin deadpans, and continues when we all just wait for him to finish, “I put moths in their ears. It’s one of the worst things you can do to a person, so I have figured out.”
“What in the hell made you think to actually do that to a person?” Liam asks, eyes wide, looking at Sin in a new way, almost appalled, but impressed.
“My wife.” He replies simply, smirking as he walks towards the corded wire webs.
“What are their matching tattoos? I’ve never seen one like them. New gang?” I ask, not recognizing the snakes forming a fleur-de-lis similar to our Saint crest.” I ask, taking a closer look.
“From what our intel and they have told us, there is a new voodoo queen in town, who works with the rebel Saints, now known as the Saints of Eden. Eden being the new queen.” Sin looks down, knowing what this means.
“You have started a war within the Saint’s, and the witches took notice. They have joined in; everyone seems to be taking a side.” A woman’s voice startles me from behind us.
I turn to see mama Rosie. She is giving me a look of pure sadness. Rosie always worked with my father when we were kids. Her and her husband would have dinners with our families and Evie’s at least once a week growing up.
“I’m so sorry this happened Brixon. We all loved Evie. I tried to protect her from a far as much as I could while still keeping her and Cami apart. I promised her mother that I would help keep her safe. I’m sorry we failed you both.” Tears fall from her eyes as she speaks.
“You didn’t fail her, I did.” I say simply, letting her know that there is no one to blame except me.
“We will follow exactly what you explained to your friends. Liam, let us know your wishes. Genevieve loves that swamp more than anything. I will help along with the witches that we have banned together. We want to see them pay; they chose the wrong side. Witches who decided to leave the coven have decided to take a stand, starting with the Men of Eden. We just ask to have some space to perform our rituals.” She explains.
“Evie loves you and would love for you to help with her consecration. Thank you, Rosie. Now give us just a little bit of time to get some aggression out before I have to bury my wife. I would prefer you to not think of me as the barbarian I’m about to become.” I try to tell her nicely to leave so I can cut their tongues out without fear of scaring the shit out of a sweet lady.
“Brixon, I have seen my fair share over the years, but thank you for having respect for a lady. You always were a good boy.” She gives me a soft smile before retreating back up the stairs to the library.
Once she is out of earshot, I look over the tools at my disposal, remembering the remotes when I see the red lights on their matching black collars, shining like a beacon for me to use.
“Let’s save their blood for the gators, Evie always said they like it better fresh. We can shock the shit out of them until they pass out, after you both cut their tongues out. Remove the gags please. Sounds like you got all the information we need from them.” I say, catching the guy’s off guard, except Sin.
“We can cauterize their tongues when you’re done. I have a nice branding iron.” Sin smirks, moving over to the long table of torture toys, picking up a long metal rod with a metal feather on the end.
“Why exactly are we cutting their tongues out?” Noah asks, giving me a perplexed look.
“You both wanted your pound of flesh. Plus, if they were Saints, and it looks like they were. Look at their new tattoos. They are cover ups that don’t completely cover. They ratted out the new queen bee pretty quickly to be such rebels. I’m sure they even begged Sin for their lives at one point. They have been beaten, tortured, hell they are still being tortured, but that’s not going to be good enough. They killed my wife, became traitors to the brotherhood, and deserve the worst possible execution. But first, I want to make sure that they can’t talk anymore. Their tongues will be a nice gift to give to the new coven to deliver to their queen. Don’t y’all agree?”