Antichrist

What the fuck is going on?

Jogging up the stairs, I push open the doors and dip my fingers into the holy water, crossing myself. I pause when I notice how many people are seated on the pews. To one side are The Knights, Jer, Ari, Ma, and whoever else, and to the other are an older man I don’t recognize and a younger man with a thick, long beard, and behind him is another older man dressed in a suit and an older woman. She is interesting enough for my eyes to linger on, but not enough to distract me from the fact that this feels a little like an intervention. The two men standing at the entry of the pew with AKs strapped over their obviously expensive suits are painfully noticeable. They seem to be guarding the older man who sits with the woman more than the other in front of him.

“What’s happening?”

Of course Niko stands at the fucking altar wearing black jeans, black combat boots tied loosely on his feet, and a black T-shirt with his MC cut over top.

“You know you don’t have to wear the cut anymore, Nikolai.” I sneer, slowing my walk down the aisle as if I was marrying the man himself. Never.

His eyes are on mine, and if it wasn’t for the way his lip curls up into a half smirk, I’d say he’s thinking about one hundred different ways he could kill me right now. Nik terrifies me more than anyone. I know if it comes down to it, he won’t hesitate to put a bullet between my eyes.

“Why do I feel like I’ve just walked into an important meeting?” I lean against the pew that Ma is sitting on.

When she rests her hand on top of mine, a sense of confidence rolls through me. I know for a fact that Nik wouldn’t kill me with Ma sitting right there.

“You know about Ghost and the ones who get selected to take over as Catcher, Coder, and Weapon, but you don’t know that the final member is someone you know well.”

He turns to the right, and I follow his line of sight. Cece is standing at the side entrance, the afternoon sun burning so bright behind her I almost couldn’t make out who it was.

“Cece is the final member that was chosen. She’s been with you, working for me to watch you over the years.”

My blood begins to boil as Niko lowers himself to the floor.

“All along.”

“Mer, that’s not because—”

Nik’s eyes cut to Cece, silencing her instantly.

“No, no!” I storm closer to her until I’m a foot away.

Cece is bigger than me when it comes to height, but I have more muscle mass, and I’m pretty sure that won’t matter because I’m mad. Betrayal is lighter fluid to my simmering wrath, and now it has Cece’s scent all over it.

I shove her in her chest until she falls back slightly. “You are my friend, and I don’t care what all these fuckwits say or how badly they’ve played me over the years. I do not accept it to come from my fucking best friend!”

“I’m sorry, Meraki! But I was just as tied to this as they were, so if you’re going to be mad at me, then I sure as fuck hope you’re just as mad at them. Hmmm? But I’m going to go ahead and say no since you just fucked Niko in the fucking gallows with Luca’s corpse still warm beside you!”

I can’t stop it when my fist flies into her face. A loud crack rings out as my knuckles vibrate from the impact.

Ma grabs me with my other hand, pulling me back, but it’s no use because I’m already a tornado, ready to rip everyone and anyone apart in my path.

“No! You don’t get to use that because you were my fucking friend, Cece! Niko and I—you don’t get to use that and who’s to say I have forgiven him!” I don’t realize how loud I’m screaming until my throat aches.

“You!” Cece screams right back at me, and it’s the first time I notice Ari is behind her, holding her back.

“I’m going to fucking kill you!” I launch forward, but arms are around my waist and I’m being flipped until shoulders are stabbing into my stomach and the ceiling is upside down.

“Alright, that’s enough catfight shit,” Niko says calmly, lowering me to the floor at the altar.

I fly to my feet to run back toward Cece, but Niko’s hand is on my mouth with his other in my hair, holding me in place. He glares down at me, nostrils flaring and eyes dilated. He looks demonic from this angle, but his jaw is still fucking perfect.

“Sit your ass down and shut the fuck up. You and Cece can kill each other after you listen to the real reason why you’re here.”