Page 59 of Forever Filthy

Four guys are strung up from chains, they are bloody, beaten, naked and look like they are at the stage where they would welcome death. I look around the room. Alexander stands just behind the four strung up with his gaze laser focused on us. Omen stands off to the side with his hood up, concealing hisface. Three other guys stand off to the side dressed similar to Omen, each of them have their faces concealed and it's then I begin to understand. We wear masks to hide our identity but these guys use their hoods and clothes that blend in so no one would bat an eye at someone who dresses like they are homeless.

It’s the perfect fucking cover.

“Want to tell me why we are here?” Vox’s tone is filled with venom. If he notices it Alexander doesn’t show it.

“You’re here because it seems the four of you little fucks can’t stay out of things that don’t concern you.” My hackles raise and I shoot Alexander a cold look that he ignores. This fucker is like a statue, he gives nothing away and makes it seem like nothing bothers him.

“Anything to do with Vivian concerns us and if you can’t get that through your fucking head, I’m down to beat it into you.” The pure fucking violence in Hayze’s tone shocks the three of us. Vox even stares at him like he has no idea who the fuck is standing beside him.

Alexander smirks but it’s condescending. When one of the guys who is strung up makes a sound, the smirk vanishes and the look of a cold blooded killer overtakes him. It’s fucking chilling to witness the immediate change in him. Last night the killer before me was nowhere to be seen when he was hanging out with my girl. I’ll be honest, he doesn’t look like I thought he would. I had expected him to be deranged and Hannibal Lector type of crazy but not… this. He seems so fucking normal.

Alex glides toward the guy and the instant he feels The Butcher at his back, the guy begins to sob. Alex flicks his gaze to us as he leans in and whispers something in the guy's ear that has him clamping his mouth closed and silencing himself. Tears still cascade down his cheeks and the terrified look in his eyes will plague me. When we were the one dishing out the tortureand slicing people it was different, felt different even but being on the other side of it just feels wrong.

“Do you know who they are?” Alex asks as he walks around the men, each of them flinch away from him as he walks by. Two of them seem familiar to me but the two older guys on the end, I can’t recall ever seeing them before in my life.

“Should we?” Archer volleys back. I snap my head to the side when I see Omen move in closer. I tighten my hold on my gun at my side ready to strike if I have to.

“Considering they were in your—no,herbrotherhood, I had hoped you might recognize them but it seems I was wrong.” I keep the shock from splaying across my face, these four guys are members of the Haven Saints. “Don’t feel bad for them, you should have heard what they had planned for sweet Vivian,” he coos as he draws a blade from his side and runs the point along their backs as he circles them again. All of them arch forward and try to escape his torture but its futile, they can’t break those fucking chains and even if they could, they would never make it out of here.

“Stop playing fucking games and tell me why the fuck we are here,” I snarl. I’m fucking fed up with his bullshit. I don’t give a shit if he is known for butchering people, I’ll sink a bullet in his skull before he gets to me. Alexander stops moving and faces us, the bloodlust I see in his eyes is fucking off the charts. He loves what he does to his victims and the fact Vivian helped him get out of prison doesn’t sit right with me.

“You’re here because he has been watching you and won’t make a move until the four of you are out of the way.”

“Who the fuck has been watching us?” Vox snaps.

“Thomas Valerian.” At the mention of him we all inhale sharply. “Before you idiots start denying it, I’ve been tracking him and he’s in town but it turns out your girl’s Saints are still loyal to their former lord.”

“That fucking cunt, he was the one who killed Kelly,” Vox grits out, then starts pacing in front of us.

“Wait, what fucking move is he about to make?” Archer asks with a hint of worry in his tone.

Before Alexander can answer I do. “He’s taken us off the board so Thomas can get to Vivian, this cocksucker wants it to happen in the hopes Thomas will draw Nexus out of hiding.” A dark smirk crosses Alex’s face.

“You motherfucker!” Hayze roars.

“I’ll kill you before I let that cunt touch my girl,” Archer vows.

“You make a move against him and you will be the next four we string up,” Omen promises.

“Fuck this, let’s go.” Hayze turns to leave but the exit is suddenly blocked by three other guys holding machine guns.

“I can’t let you leave.” I whirl around and glare at the son of a bitch.

“She fucking trusted you!” I roar.

A flicker of remorse crosses Alexander’s face before he masks it. “I’m following her wishes.” I stare at him open-mouthed and rendered speechless.

“My sister wants this?” Vox sounds panicked.

Alex nods. “She trusts me enough to know I won’t kill you four. She is the one who struck this deal with me the night I left you all. She named her terms, I agreed to them all in exchange for Nexus-fucking-Valerian.”

“You just offered my fucking sister up to the fucking devil! If anything happens to her or my girl, I’ll fucking slaughter you all,” Vox booms.

“He’ll kill her,” Archer yells.

“Get the fuck out of my way, now!” Hayze bellows, he has a gun pointed at one of the guys carrying a machine gun behind us. I look around the barn and there is only one exit point which is now blocked by those fucks with guns. Panic is takingroot inside me and the need to get to Vivian is starting to cloud my rational thought. If he gets her… I shut down that train of thought, refusing to even think about what he might do to my girl.

I close my eyes and take some deep breaths ignoring the arguing going on around me. She did all of this to save us, she knows Thomas is coming for her and instead of running she went right to him to end this so we would all be truly free. We all knew that Thomas wouldn’t stop when she banished him but we were so caught up in being broken hearted that we never went on the offensive, now we are stuck playing defense.

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