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“Not really. I kept to myself a lot. I was shy, plus I couldn’t afford to live on campus so I ended up missing the party years.”
I clear my throat. “Well, are you going to paint them or not?” I ask. She smiles and sits down next to me as I lift my feet up on the couch for her.
“Do you want me to trim the nails too?” she asks.
“Whatever you want to do to torture me, Princess,” I say with a playful wink. Sienna giggles and starts fussing over my feet.
Sunlight streams into the living room as we sit cross-legged on the couch, our identical grins reflecting the joy in this shared moment.
The doorbell rings just as she’s applying the first coat of lacquer, and she jumps up to answer it. “I ordered something online,” she calls out as she prances over to the door. “I wonder if it’s already arrived.”
When she opens the door though, she gasps and screams my name. I’m up in a flash, rushing to see what’s got her so upset.
The tension crackles in the air as I square my shoulders, jaw clenched, while Sienna's breath catches in her throat.
It’s one of the Serpents.
He’s wearing a patched-up leather jacket, and a worn bandana wrapped around his head. His posture is slightly hunched, hands tucked into his pockets. A Serpent pendant dangles around his scrawny neck and he reeks of cigarettes.
“The fuck are you here for?” I ask, pulling Sienna behind me, fury radiating through me that they would come to our door. I keep one hand on Sienna, needing to know she’s safe. Fear courses through me, wondering how they found us.
“Just came with a warning message from Diego,” the man says, giving me a lazy smirk. “You’ve woken the beast with that little stunt. Thought you should know that if you don’t back down, more of your precious people will suffer the consequences.”
“Get the fuck off my property before I grab my gun and shoot you,” I hiss at him, seething. He holds his hands up, sauntering away to his bike with a relaxed gait, as if unbothered by my threat.
I turn to Sienna, push her into the house, and lock the door behind us. “You’re not going anywhere without us ever again,” I mutter.
“I agree,” Sienna says, putting her hand on my arm. “Until this is resolved, I don’t relish the idea of becoming another walking target for those scumbags.”
I pull her close to me and wrap my arms around her. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this mess. If we could stash you away somewhere safe until it all blows over, we would.”
“I’m more worried about you,” she confesses, tracing a light pattern on my chest. “You and Bastian and Caleb. There’s only three of you guys and there seem to be so many Serpents.”
Leading her over to the couch, I sit us down and grab the bottle of polish that she picked out for herself. “You don’t need to worry about us. We can take care of things.”
Sienna’s eyes still hold anxiety. “But how will you guys defend yourselves if it comes down to a full-scale fight?”
“It wasn’t always like this,” I explain. “The Serpents didn’t have the numbers they do now.”
“What happened?”
“Once upon a time, the Serpents were just a small, petty gang of criminals. They made things rough for people in the neighborhood, but they weren’t a big threat. I was just a baby when this was going on. After Caleb was born, things started to get worse.” I explain, my mouth tightening.
She looks down at her hands. “That sounds terrible.”
“It was pretty bad,” I agree. “I have no real memories of it, but this place was turning into something out of an apocalypse movie. Criminals roamed the streets freely, busting up businesses and forcing them to pay for ‘protection.’ They harassed everyone and would make examples out of anyone who tried to stand up to them.”
Sienna goes silent as she takes in my words.
“We were lucky though, because a group of men stepped up to protect the members of the community. They fought back and ran the Serpents out of town.” My hands tremble as I continue.
“The original men called themselves the Crimson Blades, defenders of Caspian Springs. It was made up of the fathers, the uncles, and the grandfathers of the community. Some of those men died trying to protect us all.”
Sienna’s eyes narrow. “I can’t believe they had the nerve to just waltz back in all these years later.”
“We think Diego is related to the original leader of the Serpents,” I tell her. “A son or nephew, so he wasn’t around back then and doesn’t take our threats seriously. He doesn’t know how hard the Blades fought back in the day.” I pause, trying to hold back the emotion that threatens to erupt inside me.
My voice trembles as I continue, reliving the painful memories. “My parents got caught up in everything …” I trail off, unable to hide the anguish in my eyes. “Dad was part of the Blades back then and they targeted my mother. Planted a bomb in her car that went off when she was on her way home from the store one day.”
