Page 99 of Fallen Legacy

“Okay, Scar, I know you well enough to know you’ve brought me up here for a purpose. All the drive here, I could see the turmoil and angst imprinted all over that expressive face.”

Sighing, I turn in his arms so that I can look into his dark brown eyes. Here goes nothing. “Archer, what I have to tell you will not be an easy listen.” I’m just going to rip the plaster off and tell him. “Your mum didn’t jump off the roof of your house and kill herself. Your dad pushed her. Felicity just shared the awful truth. He’d found out she was leaving and lured her up to the rooftop. They got into an altercation, and he pushed her, and she went over.”

Archer doesn’t respond. He just swallows and looks out at the sea. I don’t like a quiet Archer. Quiet Archer unnerves me. I know what to do with a raging Archer. When he’s like this, I don’t know how to handle it.

“Say something,” I urge him, stroking my hands up and down his arms in comfort.

“I’m going to kill him,” he replies in a cold and calm voice. “I’m going to kill him, slowly and painfully.”

“No, you’re not,” I insist. “You won’t do it because you’re not like him.” I place my hand over his heart. “Once you cross that line, there’s no coming back from it.”

He looks down at me, towering over my tiny frame. “I’m no saint, Scar. Do you know the things I’ve done under the orders of our Elders? I’ve left people as good as dead. I’ve hurt and tortured people because I was told it was in the interests of our society. I’m more than capable of killing.”

I shake my head. “I’m under no illusions. I know you’ve done things that I probably wouldn’t like but loving someone means you take them with all their flaws and scars. Loving someone means you take the good and the bad. You love all of them without question.”

He smirks at me. “You have a way with words, Scar. That was almost poetic.” Archer sighs. “Phil doesn’t deserve to continue breathing. He’s almost taken everything I love away from me. He’s taken my mum and our unborn child.”

“I know. I feel it too. I hate what he has done to the both of us, but if we want to live and be free of him and his legacy, then we need to let go and move on.”

“I need to hear him admit to it. I need to look him in the eye and ask him,” he confides.

“Then let’s go.” I look at my watch. “Call the boys. They should be done by now. Have them meet us there.” I place my hand over his mouth when he goes to speak. “Don’t even dare suggest that I’m not coming, Archer Savage, because there’s no fucking way I’m letting you do this without me by your side.” I pause. “Plus, with me there, you won’t kill him.”

I wait for his response, and he surprises me when he leans down and kisses me. “God knows you were meant for me. You see my darkness and you meet it head-on. My fierce fiancée.”

Chuckling, I return his kiss, and for a minute or two we get lost in each other. Reality awaits us though. It would be nice to stay up here and ignore that the world has gone to shit around us, but it’s okay because we’ll get through it together.

ARCHER

Scar holds my hand throughout the drive to the old warehouse where we have been holding my father. She hums along to a song on the radio, and I just stare at her in awe. How did I get so lucky? I never thought I’d ever meet someone who would make me question everything. Someone who would be so perfect for me that sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure this is real. I love this girl with every breath in my body and I’d give her my last breath if it meant she survived.

I’m excited about the future for the first time in my life. I have spent my life full of bitterness, hating a family for something they weren’t responsible for. Phil had shaped and moulded me into his weapon. He didn’t protect me and love me. He used me to get what he wanted. I won’t kill him, but only because Scar’s asked me nicely not to. Once I’m coated in his blood, I’m going to strip her naked and fuck her until she doesn’t know her own name.

I turn off the engine and we silently climb out of the car. Meeting at the front, she slips her hand in mine. The boys are already here. Rafe’s car is parked beside mine. We head inside and down to the underground level. It’s cold and damp and with any luck, the fucker will have frozen to death.

My brothers are both waiting for us outside the door to the large open space where we’re holding him.

“You, okay?” Rafe asks me. Holding out his hand, I grip his firmly and we lean into each other.

“I’m good. He killed my mother, but I need to hear it from him.”

Seb lets out a long breath. “Fuck!” he exclaims his face going pale. “What do you need from us?”

There it is. That unwavering loyalty. My brothers will always have my back. Whatever I need from them, they’ll do it without question, and I know now they’d do the same for Scarlet. She’s one of us now. The five of us are the dawn of a new legacy in this town. Once I’m done with the scum in the next room, we’ll break away from this toxic life we’ve been bred into. We’ll be in control. We are done being at the beck and call of the Elders. Scar doesn’t know it yet, but we’ve been working to take power for the last few years now. We’ve grown tired of them being the ones to give out the orders and using us to do their dirty work while they stay clean, with no blood on their hands. We’re not there yet, but we’ve been slowly building a loyal following of those that want to see the Elders taken down. And we will take them down, one at a time. Eliza has weaved her spell over Edward, and he is slowly coming around to the idea that changes are needed in our society. With one elder on our side it will make the battle that is to come that bit easier.

“Just stop me if I go too far. You know how I get when the darkness gets its grip on me.”

They both nod. Seb squeezes my shoulder and we all file into the space where my father awaits us. He’s slumped in the chair he’s tied to, with his head resting on his chest. He’s bruised and bloodied and looks like he’s nothing left to give.

I kick the leg of his chair, making him jump awake. For a second, he looks bewildered and unsure where he is, and then his focus falls on me.

“Son,” he grins, “It’s been a while.” He looks over my shoulder and chuckles when he sees Scar standing there. “And you brought the whore as well.”

I break. I kick the chair so hard that it topples over and he cries out in pain. His arms that are tied behind him take the full brunt of the fall. Seb and Rafe step round me and they both grab my dad and put the chair back upright.

“Still can’t control that temper of yours, son. Have I taught you nothing all these years?”

“I’m not your son,” I growl. “Felicity’s been arrested.”

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