Page 43 of Victorious: Part I

My mother needs help.

Haven rolls her shoulders, turning back to Loki’s computer. “You have quick access to those classified files we stole from The Nest?”

Loki and I both furrow our brows at her change in direction, but Loki lets out a small snort. “Of course I do. Why?”

She scratches at her chin, then sits back down on the edge of his desk. “I have an idea. I don’t know if it’s a good one, but it’s the only one I have right now.”

Loki spins in his chair to face her, resting his hands on his knees. “I know that look, Haven. What are you hiding?”

She lets out a small groan, rolling her head to try to ease the tension in her neck. It does absolutely nothing to help the tension in mine.

“Haven!” Loki snaps, and she straightens up, staring straight at him.

“Okay, okay, when we got back from the hospital, I wanted to let Alpha rest. He’s been through a lot—”

“Haven!” Loki snaps at her again.

She exhales, slumping her shoulders. “Remember when we came to see you in the hospital?” Loki nods. “Just before Livvy and I talked about how when I was with Javier, he had a bird with him?” Loki nods cautiously, letting her continue, “What I didn’t tell you and Alpha is that Nighthawk,” Haven says before taking a deep breath. “She’s the one who hurt Livvy, but only under Javier’s instructions!” she says the last part defensively.

Huffing, I fold my arms over my chest in annoyance. “Where are you going with this, Haven?”

Her eyes meet mine kindly. “While I understand that Livvy is gone because of the injuries she sustained, I know that Nighthawk only carried out those blows because that was her assignment. When I was a bird, if they asked me to do the same thing, I would have. Without hesitation. Becausethatis our training—”

“So, you’re defending this woman for killing Livvy?” I snap.

Haven shakes her head. “No. Not at all. What Iamsaying is that she had no choice. It was the mission…” She pauses. “I don’t expect you guys to understand. You’ve never been through the rigorous training that we had to endure.” She exhales almost defeatedly, then continues, “The thing is, Montana,Itrained her. I know her moves inside and out. So, I could see when she realized that helping me was more vital than completing her mission.”

Loki sits back in his chair, moving his hands behind his head, letting out a small chuckle. “You want me to find her,don’t you?”

I snap my head to him, my eyes wide. “What?” I blurt out.

Haven sighs and simply nods once. “I think we can use her to our advantage in this situation with your mother.”

Groaning in annoyance, I have to walk off my frustration. “So, you’re telling me to help my mom from being attacked by the birds in the prison, that you want to bring in the bird whomurderedLivvy as ouronlyoption?” I let out an obnoxious laugh, shaking my head. “Jesus-fucking-Christ, should I start planning my mother’s funeral now, or—”

“Okay, I hear how crazy this sounds, but Montana…” Haven slides off the desk, taking three strides toward me, her hands gripping my shoulders, forcing me to look at her. “Do you trust me?”

Staring into the First Lady of the club’s eyes, I see the honesty and sincerity shining back at me. Haven has never done me wrong. If anything, she’s been one of my biggest supporters, even when I was continuously fucking up.

Letting out a frustrated growl, I slump my shoulders. “There’s never any doubt in that, Haven. I trust you implicitly.”

“Then let me prove to you and everyone else that if Nighthawk made it out of that meat packing facility, then she’s on our side and waiting for me to reach out with instructions. I trained her.Everythingshe knows came from me. We lived the same life. Grew up in The Nest. I was just there a few years earlier and then became, I guess, her mentor. That’s why Iknowshewillstand with us because birds flock together.Surely,you can see that with the bond Poppy and I have? And she was only in training for a short time. Nighthawk and I spenteighteen yearstogether,” she urges somehow convincingly.

I glance across to Loki, a small shrug telling me what I have I got to lose. Turning back to Haven, I huff. “Do you even know who she is? Or was, before she was taken?”

Haven shakes her head. “No, none of us do. I didn’t know who I was until I found the files when I thought I had taken down The Nest. I remembered my first name because I was abducted later than other girls, but other than that, I knew nothing. It was all erased from me.”

Spinning to Loki, I crane my neck to the side. “Those files we stole from the Cartel, they had all the files on the birds from The Nest, right?”

The corner of Loki’s lips turns up as he begins typing into his keyboard. “They sure as shit did. Give me just a second to type in the keyword, Nighthawk,” he states, pressing his enter key with added emphasis as her file spreads across multiple screens. “Aaandbam!”

We all stare at the images opening up. Her kill files. Her missions. Every single detail of each duty that was carried out as a bird for the Cartel, including graphic pictures that make even my stomach churn.

Clearing my throat, I lean past Loki, pointing to what looks like her intake file. “Can you bring up this one for me and get rid of all this other shit.”

Loki glances over his shoulder at Haven, raising his brow. “You do this kind of stuff?” he asks Haven.

She shrugs, waving her hand through the air. “A typical Sunday afternoon.”

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