Page 69 of Serpent King's Revenge

Chapter Thirty-One: Nathan

Ileaned against the cool wall of the safehouse, my heart eager to see Lily and Justin again. But I stayed put, listening to Abby’s voice float down from the second floor. Her words were muffled, but the tone wasn't.

She was holding her own against Owen.

I listened as she defended herself…as I heard her get choked up. I wanted to be here when she got off the phone with her father, well aware he might be upset.

He’d devoted his whole life to the law.

And she’d fallen in love with the worst kind of criminal.

She got through the conversation, seemed to come to a conclusion…and then I realized they were talking about me. More specifically, Owen’s visit to jail.

That’s why she’d thought I knew about the pregnancy.

“Why didn’t you tell Nathan I was pregnant?” she was saying.

My fists bunched up at my sides. I could feel the anger bubbling up, ready to boil over. Rage flushed hot across my face. I almost took the stairs two at a time to rip into him, even if it was just over the phone—

A shadow flickered at the edge of my vision, and for a moment, I could have sworn it was her—Ma. But Ma was long gone, buried with all the secrets she'd carried to her grave. Yet, here in the darkened passage of the safehouse, the ghost of her presence was a sharp jab to the gut, reminding me of what parents are meant to do—protect their kids at all costs.

That's what I had to do now, for Abby, for our kid.

Owen was trying to protect his daughter; I had to protect mine.

The creak of the stairs pulled me from my thoughts. Abby came down a moment later, her hand sliding along the railing, her eyes wide when they landed on me. Surprise etched her face, and it hit me how rare it was for her to be caught off guard.

“You waited,” she said, stepping onto the last stair.

I stepped forward, closing the distance between us, and took her hand. "I'll always wait for you," I told her, meaning every word.

Her fingers squeezed mine, and something in her eyes softened. Maybe it was relief, maybe something more, but right then, it didn't matter. All that mattered was us, here, now, together.

Knuckles waited for us at the end of a long, dim hallway. His bulk barely fit in the shadows, but his eyes gleamed, alert and watchful. Abby's grip on my hand tightened as we approached him. Without a word, he turned and led us to a heavy steel door that looked like it could take a battering ram without a dent.

He pulled open the door with a grunt, and the scene behind it hit me like a punch to the gut. It was a hive of activity. People huddled in makeshift tents, hands moving fast over stacks of cash. Tables lined with white powder, scales, and baggies. The scent of money and drugs hung thick in the air.

I knew this setup—our setup, a mirror of what we’d done underneath San Francisco.

The Vipers had been stealing my father’s business…one deal at a time.

"Jesus," Abby muttered under her breath, echoing my thoughts.

Knuckles didn't give us time to soak it in. "People wanna see you," he said, his voice low and serious.

The words sent a jolt through me. My siblings. They had to be here. Excitement clawed through me, tinged with the sharp edge of nerves. All these weeks apart, the distance between us a chasm filled with blood and betrayal. Now, just a few steps away. I hadn’t seen a single one of them since our mother died.

Hadn’t had time to process, to grieve.

Did Ma’s spirit want vengeance…or just rest?

"Let's go then," I said, more to convince myself than anyone else. Abby nodded, her face set in a determined line that told me she was ready for anything. We followed Knuckles deeper into the belly of the beast, each step heavier than the last.

Knuckles pushed open the door and light spilled into the dim corridor. Dust danced in the beam like it had no place being that dirty. We stepped into a room that looked nothing like the criminal enterprise we'd just walked through. Old couches formed a circle, worn fabric telling stories of better days. My heart did a weird flip as I saw them—my family, sitting there like some kind of messed up reunion.

Lily was on an ugly brown sofa that might've been nice once, her eyes already shiny with tears as she met my eyes. She looked small, almost lost in the vastness of it all. Justin and Derek were beside her, both looking like they'd seen too much of life's ugly side. Bao, their cat, curled up at their feet, a spot of normal in a world gone mad.

In the corner, Alex leaned back with Neon and Javi, trying to play it cool but failing. And there was Jack Kensington, his presence like a heavy weight in the room.

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