Her Titans by Genevieve Jasper
Maxton
34
“This is the second time you’re pointing a gun at my girl, and you’re sure as fuck going to regret it,” I murmur, my voice deathly quiet. He hears it, though. You could hear a pin drop as we all take in what’s happening. Madelaine looks stoic, but her arm can’t be comfortable so soon after her surgery, and she’s avoiding looking at any of us directly.
“Nice of you guys to join us,” Leighton spits sarcastically.
“You must know you have nowhere to go from here,” Atlas tells him.
“I know, but it's nice to finally have an audience, if nothing else. Please, come in. Shut the door.”
All four of us move towards them into the room, noticing Jeremy on the floor next to the bed.
“That’s far enough,” Leighton calls when we reach it. I crouch down to check Jeremy over, but I’m denied by Leighton, and we’ll all happily follow his instructions while he has hold of Madelaine.
“What are you doing?” Causus asks him disbelievingly.
“Oh, Caus, looks like the treaty is working out just fine in the end.”
“Seems that way, doesn’t it?”
Leighton laughs manically at Causus’s casual tone. “I did almost fall for your bullshit. But then I thought, how can they possibly think they deserve Madelaine when they leave her so available? Which is when I realised, you wouldn’t.”
We all have our guns concealed, but his head is only a foot above Madelaine’s and we can’t risk anything with his finger on the trigger and the gun under her chin.
“Who was the guy?” Quincy asks, referencing the man we’d all headed over to see who was just taking a stroll.
“Some random I paid to walk the halls dressed suspiciously. Worked, huh? I really am not appreciated enough in this life.”
“What are you here for?” Atlas asks, getting impatient with the stalemate.
“I came to get Madelaine, obviously, but I guess we all keep underestimating each other, don’t we?”
“Madelaine doesn’t belong to you,” I hiss, my anger simmering under the surface.
“But she does,” he replies simply. “Her father promised mine that I would have her. Now I’ve come to collect.”
“He would never do that,” Madelaine insists, the first time she’s spoken since we entered. Her eyes flick up to us all, her gaze unwavering. Her voice is quiet but adamant.
“He must’ve known we were meant to be,” Leighton replies, pulling her back to his chest and making her wince as he yanks on her arm.
“Stop pulling at her fucking arm, you’re hurting her.”
“I wouldn’t hurt her, she’s mine.”
“You left her dying in the basement,” Quince tells him, coldness seeping into his voice.
“An accident that was partly her fault. Anyway, I left the door open for you. Even you lot couldn’t miss that.”
Jeremy stirs but appears to be hidden from Leighton’s view by the bed.
“Why would Madelaine be yours?” Causus asks.
“I deserve her. My father said everyone could see that I was destined for big things in the Vipers and Madelaine would help me get there.”
“Who’s your father?” Causus asks but Leighton is mid-diatribe and ignores him completely.
“The Nobes twins were to be introduced to the Vipers when they turned 21, but stupid fucking Mackie couldn’t wait that long.”
“Mackie died,” Causus says with resentment.
“Who the fuck is Mackie?” Quince asks but Causus remains staring at Leighton, who answers for him.
“He was the son of our VP. Caus’s best friend.”
“He’s not our anything. Don’t you fucking dare think you’re anything to do with the Vipers anymore,” Causus snaps.
“What has he got to do with Lai?”
“It’s all got everything to do with everything. Madelaine, Mackie, Gia, Warren; the Vipers hierarchy.”
“Leighton, we need some fucking answers,” Causus roars, tolerance running thin.
“It’s irrelevant now.” He brushes it off, oblivious to the fury smouldering around the room. “If everyone had stuck to the plan for once, none of this would’ve happened. We’d be happy right now,” he directs at Madelaine. “Your dad would be here to give us his blessing.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” she repeats, voice weaker, and I notice red spotting through the bandage on her shoulder.
“My father wouldn’t lie,” Leighton bellows, jostling Madelaine, who sways.
The guys all stiffen as they notice her lightheaded state and the fresh blood.
Jeremy is awake now and shuffles onto his stomach, gun poised, but I shake my head minutely. I don’t know why; I trust Jeremy with our lives, but it’s hard to relinquish control in a high-pressure situation like this.
“What happened?” Quince asks Leighton, trying to distract him from seeing Jeremy too. Quince’s body stiffens taut like a bow, and I know he’s ready to snap into action.
“Now you all want to listen when it concerns you?”
“Gia found out their dad was promising them off and snapped?” Causus guesses, reeling Leighton back in. He rolls his eyes and sighs like we’re all so stupid, though.
“Gia would never do that,” Madelaine whispers.
“Who knew her well enough to know that?” Leighton asks cryptically.
“So they set her up,” Atlas declares.
“We wouldn’t,” Causus insists. “My dad was in charge even back then, he and Warren were thick as thieves.”
“How much do you actually know from three years ago?” Atlas asks Caus.
“It’s only fully involved me the last couple of years. Dad took a step back in private when Warren died. As I told you, he was practically his second.”
“This is supposed to be my show!” Leighton calls to us all, waving the gun around Madelaine’s head erratically to regain attention. She’s going more slack by the minute and he’s practically holding her up by her injured arm, putting a lot of pressure on her wound.
“You’re not surviving this, Leighton,” I promise him.
He directs his answer at Madelaine, as if we’re not even there anymore. He’s clearly done with the audience now that he’s left riddles for us all. “If we can’t be together in life, love, then we’ll be together in death.”
He’s still swinging his gun around and his mistake is moving the barrel away from Madelaine’s head for a split second. In that instance, Jeremy shoots his elbow from under the bed. Leighton’s gun goes off and glass showers down over him and Madelaine.
Everything moves in slow motion. Leighton’s grip remains around Madelaine’s arm as he looks down in horror at his elbow and her legs give out. Quince whips his gun from his waistband, getting a clean shot straight through Leighton’s temple. The force of the bullet tips Leighton backwards, his calves catching on the wall and his body falling backwards into thin air. Madelaine sways wildly but Causus and Atlas are there, grabbing her away from the open window as Leighton’s body thuds to the ground outside.