Page 9 of Filthy Few

“We have a problem,” Thomas spits out, the frown lines that mar his forehead tell me whatever this problem is he isn’t happy about it.

“What is it?’ Nexus asks, taking another step forward as if to show he stands on his own rather than with us. I refrain from shaking my head, this fucker went from being one of us to a suit-wearing fucking pussy as soon as his daddy took over as the Lord of Haven Saints.

“Someone has been blacklisting us and canceling our permits. We have the Governor's election coming up and our candidate is being stonewalled at every fucking turn.”

“How is that possible?” Hayze mutters, drawing Thomas’ attention to him.

“Find out! That’s why the five of you are here. Figure out who the fuck is trying to sabotage us and take the fucker out with whatever means necessary.” What Thomas means is kill the fucker. The five of us aren’t the first to deliver this type of punishment and we won’t be the last if this lot has anything to say about it. Unlike Nexus, the four of us are trying to find a way to shut The Brotherhood down or find a replacement for Vivian. The last time I put the idea of a replacement to Thomas, I was made to stand in the pit while the elders delivered their brand of punishment.

“Consider it taken care of,” Nexus says cockily. With a bow of his head, he turns ready to flee but I see an opportunity I can’t ignore.

“If this person is targeting our weak spots, then I request access to the Haven Saints records.” Thomas’ eyes blaze, he does a shit job of hiding his hatred for me. A lord is to be unbiased and fair to all his brothers but this cunt isn’t. He hates that I best his son in everything and does his fucking best to make my life a living hell. He’ll find a way to keep his precious son’s hands clean of the killing of whoever the fuck is behind this.

“You have no need for those records?—”

“Whoever is behind this clearly has knowledge of The Brotherhood and combing through those records may help us narrow down our search and be able to put this mess behind us faster,Lord.” Ezekiel spits the last word like it burned his tongue. Before Thomas can answer, Elder Jamie speaks—his right hand man.

“Access granted, no book may leave the archives and no photos are to be taken.” I nod my head and charge out of the room before Thomas can find some bullshit ass excuse as to why we can’t access those records. He has been cagey about them for months and always finds an excuse to not grant us permission. The fact Jamie has allowed us entry means this problem The Brotherhood is facing is bigger than Thomas let on.

Once inside the car, Nexus turns to me with a sour look on his face. “I am not scouring through those dusty ass fucking books for hours, hoping to find a needle in a hay stack!” he snarls.

“Well, lucky for you, no one asked you to.”

“Stay the fuck out of this, Archer,” Nexus grits out.

“Fuck you, go find some poor innocent girl to date rape, you cock head,” Archer claps back.

“Suck my nut sack, you cunt, take me back to my car, now!” I don’t argue with the little bitch. The second I reach his driveway, he leaps from the car and marches toward the garage to get hisAudi. I wait for Ezekiel to climb into the front seat before I back out and head to school.

“When do we start?” Hayze asks.

“Tonight. I need to find a way out for my sister. I won’t let them blood her into this fucking bullshit.” A shudder rolls through me at the thought of Vivi having to be blooded into The Brotherhood.

“They won’t touch her,” Archer says, trying to reassure me.

“Damn fucking right, because we are going to find a way to take them down and get rid of Thomas-fucking-Valerian once and for all,” I vow.

Chapter Seven

Nova

I thought the day was off to a shit start when I saw Vox’s car in the driveway, but turns out he was there for Nexus not me. Vivian gave me a ride in her luxurious Range Rover. I have no idea what it is with these kids and all their expensive cars but I saw an opportunity for a selfie and took it. I snapped a pic of me by Vivi’s car and sent it to Waylen. Much like me, he didn’t see the point of wasting money on a lavish car, we would rather save and put that money toward our trip. The day went amazing, I didn’t have to endure Hayze or Archer’s presence in math and English. I make my way to the gym feeling good about the day. I stop by my locker to drop my books off and grab my gym bag but when I open it, a letter floats toward the ground. I look around the crowded hallway but don’t catch anyone watching me.

I pick up the black envelope and inhale sharply, praying it wasn’t from my unwanted guest last night. With shaky hands I turn it over to see it is sealed with an old school seal, it has a T in the middle of the gold stamp. I open it and find a note inside, I unfold the piece of faded parchment and read the contents.

Nova-Scotia

Trust no one, they are hunting me, so I can’t come to your aid yet.

Find a way to keep your head down. Your mother made a grave error marrying the slimy bastard. Never let your guard down around him or his vile son.

I will come to you when it is safe, I won’t risk putting you in danger.

I reread the contents of the letter, trying to decipher if this is some riddle like the fucking postcard from that asshole last night but something inside me is telling me this is different. The warning about Thomas and Nexus sends a shiver through me. I scan the hallways again trying to catch a glimpse of someone or anything really. The sound of the bell ringing pulls me from my thoughts, so I return the letter to the envelope, stash it back in my locker and hurry to my gym class. I change quickly and rush outside to the track where everyone is gathered. My eyes narrow at the sight of Ezekiel, though unlike the other three, he doesn’t stare at me or shoot me a dirty look in warning he just… ignores me.

The teacher begins explaining what is happening in this class but I can’t focus on a word he is saying, between my visitorlast night, the letter today and having Ezekiel in this class it is throwing me off.

“Hey.” I shake my head and look to my left to see a boy with rugged brown hair and kind brown eyes looking at me.

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