Lawless

Chapter Seventeen

A gravel road leads a path up to the house and the garden is non-existent except for a tree or bush here or there. The house is surrounded by the forest.

"What- who's house is this?" I question. Sage looks back at me and then gazes at the house.

"Serge's" he says, looking at me as if I should know who Serge is. His brows pull closer together the longer he looks at me, before he finally realises I have no idea who Serge is.

I say nothing as he shakes his head to himself.  We reach the front door quickly. Sage doesn't bother knocking before he pushes it open. In an instant, two little girls no older than three run up to Sage grabbing at his legs.

"Sage!" they gurgle, the sound coming out muttered and almost incomprehensible.

I wince and wait for Sage to kick them off. He shocks me when instead he picks them both up, one in each arm and walks further into the house.

I follow behind Sage. The two girls look over his shoulders at me, their fingers in their mouths. When I smile back at them they giggle and hide their faces in Sage's shoulders. Sage turns his head slightly to make sure I'm following and then picks up his pace.

The house is much more warm and homey than Sage's place. The walls of the hallway are lined with men and womens self-portraits. I recognised no one until we get to the end where Sage, Hunter, Gunner, Gabe and Ryder's portraits are visible. They look a few years old. Sage looks much younger, with shorter hair and he's missing the prominent scar across his chin.

"Hey, Rage what are you doing here?" a burly looking man with a long beard appears once we enter the kitchen. He looks much older than Sage, probably in his late forties.

"What's happening with the Tom shit?" Sage ignores the previous question. He places the two girls on the ground as they run past the older man and into the next room.

"Lily, Rose, don't run" the man says to them. They pay no mind and keep running. Once the girls are out of ear shot, he turns to Sage and continues his previous conversation. "Those fucking idiots, why would they do that" he exclaims while shaking his head, running a hand over his face.

Sage says nothing before he pulls out a cigarette. The older mans attention moves to me as Sage moves out from in front of me.

He eyes me wearily. "Who's this?" he asks Sage. His eyes take in my appearance, I pray that nothing about me gives away that I'm from Class.

Sage turns and does the same, eyeing my jean covered legs. "Dove, this is Serge" Sage says as he cups his hands around the end of the cigarette, lighting it.

Serge looks at me in suspicion, his eyes untrusting. "Where are you from, Dove?" he questions.

My heart begins to pound in my chest. I look frantically towards Sage in helplessness.

"Over on the east side" Sage answers. He looks into Serge's eyes, doing his best to convince him of the lie. I do my best to put on a neutral face and nod along in agreement, the lie feeling wrong.

Serge nods while stroking his beard, his eyes not buying into the lie but choosing to trust Sage. 

Just then the sound of feet walking through the hallway behind us has us all turning our heads.

"Dove?" it's Ivy. She's dressed in simple leggings and a jumper; her bare feet pad along the floor. Her hair is in curls swept away from her face, heavy makeup surrounds her eyes.

"You know her, Ivy?" Serge nods towards me.

"Yeah, she's cool" Ivy responds with a smile. The similarities between Serge and Ivy don't go unnoticed by me, they must be related somehow.

The warmth of Sage's body closes in on my back before a hand is placed at the bottom of my spine, nudging me along.

"I'll find you in a few" Sage says to Serge. Sage steers me back down the hallway thats covered in portraits and up a staircase, we take a right at the top and down a hall. No one is in sight but noises could be heard behind the doors off to each side. At the end of the hall are two floor to ceiling, wooden doors. I look behind me and past Sage noticing that to the left of the stairwell also had a hallway with doors off of it and wooden double doors at the end too.

I jump at the noise of something being slammed in a room we're passing. Sage gives my waist a squeeze to continue until we reach the big wooden doors. Sage reaches past me and opens the doors, pushing it open. Behind the doors shows a dark room, the walls a dark grey and the massive bed in the middle of the room is black. There are two doors off to the right, I'm assuming a bathroom and closet. The dark curtains cover the window and blow in the room, allowing fresh air in.

Sage moves past me as I stand in the doorway. He opens one of the doors that lead to a closet and puts my bag on a drawer that sits inside.

"W-whose bedroom is this?" I question. Sage turns around and watches me take in the sight of the room.

"Mine" he replies back. He stands in the closet entry, hands grabbing the doorway above his head.

My mouth drools as he so effortlessly looks so alluring. Oh he has multiple houses? "Where do I go?" I ask. Is he going to make me sleep on the floor or is there another room?

Sage looks at me for a while, his eyes darkening before walking closer "you want to go back to Class?" his voice is hushed as he asks, no doubt to make sure nobody overhears our conversation. The question shocks me and takes me by surprise.

"N-no, I want to stay here" Sage doesn't show it but I can see it in his eyes that the answer satisfies him. Sage takes a few more steps closer before he's only a step away, his breath hitting my forehead. The intoxicating smell of mint and cigarette fills my lungs and engulfs my brain.

"Don't want to marry prince cunt?" Sage mumbles. He takes the opportunity to play around with Jace's last name, Hunt. Sage's language shocks me; it's rare for anyone to ever swear in Class. The only time I'd heard it was in my own home, as it would put my family to shame if anyone outside of the household heard it.

I shake my head no. Where were these questions coming from? I had told Sage the reason I left Class and I thought I made it clear I never want to go back.

The only thing heard are Sage's slow breathes in and out before he finally nods and accepts my answer. "Good" he grumbles, moving past me and out the bedroom door.