Page 67 of Filthy Few

“Do I get a mask?” her question has laughter bursting out of me.

“Never.” I grab her hand and lead her out of the room. We meet the guys in the garage as they begin loading both cars. We’re taking my Challenger Demon and Hayze’s 350Z. Nova pulls free and begins helping Archer load shit into my trunk, my mom hates that we all own guns, but I’m not going to this meet unarmed.

We plan to arrive earlier and scout the area out to make sure that this isn’t an ambush and we have the best vantage point. All the shit we are taking are for traps in case shit goes sideways and he tries to run.

I didn’t say it before because I didn’t want to worry Nova, but I have the same feeling she does—something feels off and I’m not sure what it is, but I’ve always been taught to follow my instincts and tonight, I hope like fuck for the first time that they are wrong.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Nova

I’ve been standing next to Vox’s car for nearly an hour as he and the guys went off to lay traps. I'm nervous and scared out of my mind. My throat is dry so I make my way to the trunk and search through the mess to find the water. I push the shovels aside and shake my head at the sight of them. If he thinks I will help him bury a body, he is out of his fucking mind. I find the bottle of water, pop the cap and guzzle the liquid. I screw the cap back on and pull out my phone to check the time.

11:37pm

I exhale and toss the bottle back in the trunk and roll my shoulders just as the four guys emerge from the woods to my left, all of them are dressed head to toe in black and wear their masks. The sight of Vox in that mask has a shiver rolling through me. I knew there was something about him, a darkness thatclung to him when I first met him. His aura was pitch black but now it’s grayish.

“We need to move, the meet point is through there,” Ezekiel says, the voice distorter would confuse anyone to who is speaking but it’s the masks that make it easy for me to tell them apart.

Two horns has flecks of blue in his mask.

Right horn has gray through his mask.

No horns masks has darker brown coloring through his.

Left horn has green on his mask.

It’s only now that I realize that the colors running through each of their masks match their eye colors. Vox interlocks his fingers with mine and leads us through the woods so we enter the cemetery through the back. When we break through the brush my gaze automatically looks to the headstone with the head where I found out who theFilthy Fewreally was. I never expected to return here with them or even be… dating their leader?

Am I dating, Vox?

“Stay here, we’ll go look around,” Vox says to me, then he and the other’s take off. Suddenly I feel utterly alone, though the dim lighting of the moon allows me to see their silhouettes in the darkness. I dart my gaze around and feel trickles of fear thrumming through me, who the fuck thought meeting in a cemetery was a good idea?

I hear a noise behind me and whirl around, I squint my eyes trying to see better in the darkness but all I can see is the headstones. I move toward a wooden sign and pull my phone out, turning the flashlight on, my eyes widen as I read it.

Children.

Oh my God!

I look up again and see a figure standing in the middle. My breath lodges in my throat and I begin to shake when I feel theshadows eyes on me. I’m motionless, unable to move or utter a sound as the shadow makes its way toward me. I open my mouth to scream but no words come out. The closer the figure gets to me the more I begin to panic, feeling a cold sweat working its way down my spine.

My phone begins to ring in my hand and that’s all it takes to snap me out of my inner turmoil, I spin around and dart across the grass toward the lanterns where the guys are.

“Help!” The sound of my scream has the four of them whirling around. Vox rushes toward me and I leap into him. He catches me and wraps his arms around me protectively as the other three move in front of us, forming a blockade of sorts.

“I got you,” Vox growls in my ear, the voice distorter can’t mask the rage in his tone. Vox walks us backward and I chance a glance over my shoulder to see the three guys doing the same but it's the sight of the lone figure making its way toward us that has me burrowing my face in his neck. I know this is irrational but seeing a shadow in a cemetery isn’t exactly something any normal person would be okay with. Vox releases his hold on me and places me on my feet, then shields me with his body as he pulls a remote out of his pocket and flicks a switch. Instantly I’m blinded by the lights that they had set up earlier around here and I slam my eyes closed. I blink a couple of times to clear my vision, then dart my gaze around Vox to see the figure standing there with his hood up, covering his face.

“Who are you?” Hayze growls.

“The one person that can keep the five of you and Vivian alive.” His deep baritone has me shivering behind Vox who tenses at the mentions of his sister.

“I’ll ask you again, who the fuck are you?” Ezekiel snaps, he reaches behind him and grips the hilt of his gun that is tucked into his waistband. I gasp silently and pray that this doesn’t end in a shootout because I am not prepared for that.

The man stands tall and cocks his head to the side. “If I reveal who I am, all your lives will change. Are you ready for that, Ezekiel?” This time I do gasp out loud, he knows who they are! The man tilts his head toward Hayze and Archer. “Archer Malik, Hayze Draven.” He then stares directly at Vox as he continues. “Vox Hatchett.” Vox doesn’t flinch or even show an ounce of surprise, I move out from behind him and stand by his side. “Ah, my niece.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Ezekiel roars. I get the strange sense that this guy is worried about revealing who he is, not for himself but for… us.

“I warned you,” is all he says, then reaches up and pushes his hood back. A pained sound escapes Ez as he stumbles back a step and catches himself on one of the tombstones before he can fall to his ass.

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