War and his Queen (Carpe Noctem)

by Amo Jones

It’s impossible to get silence at these things, but at least I can hear his words. “Halen.” I swallow but my throat is dry. “Dad, I’m just out.” “Doing? You were supposed to be home. Preparing for the ritual this weekend. You can’t be out doing whatever you’re doing with your car friends.”

Halen thought we were still on Perdita, but between her ignoring our calls and Evie going live on TikTok long enough for us to figure out that they were all up to some shit, it warranted a flight straight home. They left Perdita in a hurry, with no text or call. We hadn’t spoken to any of them since showing them our extracurricular activities. Was she turned off? Hardly. She could pretend that she wasn’t as fucked up as the rest of us all she wanted, but the truth is, she’s just a better liar.

“How do we know they’ll come back here?” Vaden asks,

“Because I’ve made sure they do…” Priest murmurs, dodging a girl who has her hand on his shoulder from behind. He flicks it off like one would a piece of trash, before glaring at her coldly.

He knows every single thing that’s going through my head right now and all of them don’t put his sister in a very good position.

“You know that at the ritual, by oath, we shouldn’t hid...

“I k...

Vaden kicks my shin with his foot, and I tear my eyes away from the front door. I can be patient with my wrath. I don’t have to tear her apart out of rage, because I’ll fucking dismember her with a smirk. “So what is it with you and Halen?” Priest laughs coldl...

“She’s going to be a King after this weekend, War.” Prie...

“Which means she’s an equal. You can do whatever the fuck y...

The corner of his mouth twitches, just as the front door cracks open and I watch as River pauses at the threshold, her eyes finding mine instantly. Her face drains of color. Good. She’s fucking luc...

But then I notice the bloodstains on her clothes, splattered all over her white dress. She backs up, almost tripping on her feet as sh...

I fly up from my spot on the couch, without so much as telling Priest and Vaden, though by the sounds of their heavy fo...

I catch the door before River can shut it, just as Halen climbs out o...

“Um, what are you guys doing back?”

her eyes bouncing over the three of us with disbelief. The door opens from behind her and she closes her eyes in defeat, cussing beneath her breath.

“Why the fuck are you all covered in blood?” I point to all three of them. Halen blinks down at River’s dress. “I told you not to wear white—” Fuck my sister, I go straight for Halen and grab her by the chin to force her eyes up to mine. “I’m fucking done dancing aro...

“Someone died.” “Oh?” I raise my brows. “I gathered that. And?” Her mouth closes, so I slip my thumb between her lips. “Keep going, Halo.”

My jaw tightens to stop myself from doing something stupid like fucking yell at her. “I didn’t sign up to be your peace, Halen. You want peace, go to your daddy. What the fuck do you mean you killed someone?”

She reaches up to touch my arm, forcing my hand awa...

I need the distance from her before I lose it completely and we have two murd...

“We can’t go back there!” Her eyes widen with panic, but it does nothing to simmer my rage. If anything, it fuels it.

“We’ll follow you both out.” Priest snatches the keys from River as we ignore the protesting of the tantrum-throwing, bloodstained brat.

“Wait!” Halen...

She starts pacing up and down the leng...

“Halen…” River whispers. “This time, we need them.”

I’ll touch on the ‘this time’ another time. “What did you do?” Halen comes to a halt and the silence rings through my ears. We’ve always thought the girls lived somewhat of a normal life. They were sheltered from the majority of the shit that goes on. Well… we thought so, until recently. So this could mean anything.

I know she’s battling internally with whom to address. On one hand, she’s always had an unorthodox bond with her brother. Not the conventional kind because you can’t with someone like Priest, but Halen showered him with love. Affection. Everything. Priest took it, even...

“We need to take one car. An SUV. And this one needs to go to the cleaners.” I slam the door closed so hard she jumps. “How the fuck do you know about the cleaners?” She rolls her eyes, her hands flying out to her sides. “I’m a fucking Hayes, War! Shut the fuck up. Yes, you all may have protected us from the creepy high school boys, but I was born in this, and you need to not forget that!” My mouth closes because… Well. She’s right. It’s really as simple as that.

before looking to Priest. He holds my stare, his finger tapping his bottom lip. Can’t get shit from him on the best of days, let alone when he’s trying to figure out how they managed to off someone on a night they were out racing.

Vaden shoulders me in passing as Priest unlocks the blacked-out Range Rover. “You better fuck something that doesn’t break tonight.” My jaw clenches, fingers flexing in my fist.

“Vaden in the front!” I fling the back door open and slide in. River glares at me from the other side of the car, hesitating whether she wants to sit near me. Don’t blame her. I’m not the greatest person to be around when I’m pissed. “Get in the back, River.” She nods, jumping through the side to get to the very back. Stella doesn’t argue, following her.

Halen finally saddles in beside me,

“Where the fuck are we going?” I turn to her, ignoring the impulse to wrap my fingers around her delicate neck.

My knee continues to bounce as I rest my head back against the chair, squeezing my eyes closed.

“Where?” A simple word from someone like Vaden and she spills her guts.

“Highway 88.” My head snaps to her. “What the fuck! Why the fuck were you on Highway 88?” For whatever reason, we thought they were in the back streets of Ri...

Priest turns the ...

“Hale, you need to say something.” I don’t miss the perplexity in Stella’s tone ...

“Well, shit, someone better say fucki...

Leaning over, I unbuckle Halen’s belt and drag her over to the middle seat. It’d be my lap, but hand… throat… rage.

“War…” She quivers and just like that, all the wrath I’d felt build up over the past week diminishes. A little.

“I can’t—” “Something,” Stella urges quietly.

“You’re not so slick with the undertones, Stella.” I catch Halen’s chin with my thumb. “What is it?” When a tear falls on the top of my thumb, I slide my arm around her waist and pull her in closer.

“You’re going to be mad. All of you. This is bad—it’s so much.” “Yeah, well, I’m pretty fucking mad at you right n...

My fucking stomach drops because, what the fuck could she have possibly done? She swipes her tears and shakes off her sadness. “I did something.”

I catch Priest’s eyes in the rearview mirror, and he holds my stare for a second before going back to the road.

“Do you remember that one winter when everyone got snowed in, in Perdita so the jet couldn’t run? The mothers were in Milan.” “Yeah, you were fourteen.” I trace the curve of her jaw with my...

Dad would have failed at making Mom’s favorite pancakes, and then Unc Nate would have to come fix them. Then we’d have to listen to the banter between him and Mom as Aunty Tillie threw fruit at them both and Dad threatened their lives for the millionth time that year.

Dad said he didn’t want us to scare her when we got to our teen years.