Page 63 of Haven

She smirked, adjusting herself in her chair. “Please. Killin’ me means hurtin’ Rory… again.” Her smile darkened. “Look, you two can bicker all you want, but I don’t care. I just wanna see her.”

I looked at Vesper, my fist curling as I slammed it against the concrete wall, the thud echoing lowly in the room. “I don’t give a shit about what you want,” I growled, stepping closer to her. “You are the enemy. She never should’ve⁠—”

“Trusted me? Or fucked me?” Haven tilted her head to the side. That mouth on her was going to be a problem.

“Don’t you talk about her like that,” I hissed. It took everything in me not to wrap my hand around her neck.

“She is the only reason I am here. Fuck your feud.”

I analyzed her, but she gave nothing away. “You mean your father’s feud. He started this.”

“Is that my problem? No. I want to see Rory. You can’t keep her away from me as much as you can’t keep me here.”

“Widow.” Vesper’s surprisingly soft voice pulled me from my anger filled haze. “We don’t know what happened, and we can’t kill her just because.” I narrowed my eyes on her. “Look, we have other shit to deal with. Killing her won’t help find Cinder or the person trying to hurt Rory.”

“I want to see Rory,” Haven demanded again.

“Be quiet,” I hissed. “I am going to talk to the rest of the Vipers and tell them what is happening, then we’ll go to the hospital. Bring her. I want eyes on her at all times.”

I walked into church with all eyes on me. The Vipers knew something was wrong, but no one had a definite answer. Cinder was missing, Rory was injured, and we had a goddamn Devil on our territory in the fucking basement. The cherry on fucking top was her and Rory’s relationship. Mal was about to crumble under the pressure of being our de facto leader, and I didn’t want to deal with this shit. As Cinder's VP, the MC should be looking at them, not me.

“Listen,” I yelled, gaining everyone’s attention. “Someone has Cinder, and it’s the same person who wants Rory.”

There were murmurs around the room. We had every member, all forty Vipers, in the clubhouse. We always planned for large meetings in our war room, but we never had everyone here at once. I saw some of the older Vipers glancing at me from the front. They wanted me to be intimidated, but I wasn’t scared of them. I wanted to find out who hurt my girl. What I really wanted was to see her.

“Rory was in an accident, and the person who wanted to hurt her, took her. It’s how he led Cinder away. He took pictures after he…” I trailed off. They didn’t need the details; they could put two and two together. I caught Haven’s and Vesper’s rage mirroring each other. “He had her, but he let her go. We aren’t sure why, but I am guessing it's because of her injuries. I think he found her when she had her wreck and took her from the scene, but realized he couldn’t keep her alive and called 911.”

There was a mix of angry grumbles and sobs. I watched as the Vipers talked amongst themselves on what we were to do next. Cinder was our fearless leader, who kept us safe and now we needed to save her.

Fifty-Four

Hades

Widow was a fucking cunt. If I was a selfish bitch, I would find Rory, take her away to the woods, and live out a cottagecore lesbian fantasy. I didn’t understand how Rory was so fucking in love with her, but that wasn’t my concern right now. They threw me in the back of Vesper’s Escalade with my hands cuffed. Anger coiled tight in my chest, pushing my fear down. I was terrified and livid with the entire situation, but the moment Widow implied that this man touched Rory while she was unconscious, my rage skyrocketed.

They could all kiss my ass; I was staying in Briarwood. Everyone could kick rocks and bicker like children. My girl needed me, and I would be here for her. Rory was hurt, she’d been assaulted. If they tried to push me out or deny me access, I would cause a goddamn scene.

Vesper and Widow were conversing in the front, acting like I wasn’t here, but I’d rather gather whatever information I could in silence than argue with them. Right now, all I wanted was Rory. I needed to make sure she was safe, tucked into my chest as she listened to my heartbeat. When I found this asshole—and I would find him—he would regret ever coming back into Rory’s life. He would pray to his God for a merciful death, but I’d send him to the pits of hell in pieces.

When we pulled up to the hospital, they lingered in the vehicle longer than I liked. I wanted to get to my girl. They were talking about her room, though, so I paid close attention. Second floor. Widow had been the only one to see her since she was admitted into the facility. I needed to see her face and kiss her. She needed to know I was here, that I refused to leave her.

Vesper opened the door and grabbed my hands, pulling me out of the vehicle and pressing me against the car. If I wasn’t pissed off, I might get turned on. She took her time removing the cuffs, but once the metal was off, I bolted into the building. I heard Widow curse under her breath, but I was through the glass doors before they could process anything.

I beelined for the staircase, taking two at a time before I got to the second floor. My body was moving on pure adrenaline and desperation. I stopped at the nurses’ station, asking what room she was in before bolting towards the end of the hallway. My knuckles hit the door to give her a warning before I pushed it open. Rory’s face lit up when she saw me and attempted to scramble out of the bed, but she winced in pain.

I cautiously wrapped my arms around her as she squeezed me tight. Rory grabbed my face and slammed her lips to mine in a sweltering kiss before it was interrupted by Widow and Vesper. These two just loved pissing me off.

“How are you here?” Rory asked, out of breath.

“You didn’t show up and I got worried. So I came here to find you.”

She looked at the other two women she loved with a raised eyebrow. “They didn’t shoot you?” she asked with surprise.

I smirked, giving them a taunting look. Widow’s eyes narrowed in on me like a vulture waiting to devour my corpse, but Vesper was eyeing me…in a different way.

“I think they’re waiting for you to make the move.” I leaned down, my lips grazing her cheek. “They’re mad because you’re falling for the enemy, and there is nothing they can do about it.”

Widow shifted, her patience razor-thin. The tension radiating off her was thick. Vesper, on the other hand, was watching our interaction intensely, waiting for someone to do something. “Are you staying here?” Rory asked.