Second Chances [Sweet Pea x OC]

Chapter 15

"Abigail, can I–"

"Not now, Jones," Sweet Pea growled, his arm around my shoulders tightening protectively.

Jughead hesitated a moment before turning away. It didn't matter what he had to say, apology or not, now wasn't the time for it. Feeling eyes on me, I saw FP look between his son and I but didn't say a word. When the time came, we all crept closer silently, watching and listening.

Fangs walked towards the fire, looking around at the Gargoyles standing on either side of the tall figure. This was the first time I'd actually seen the Gargoyle King and I could see now why Betty was so terrified by him, with an animal skull for a mask and branches extending like wings.

"Fangs Fogarty, kneel before your king!," the leader commanded. Sweet Pea looked down at me as I squeezed his hand. There was something familiar about that voice, but the skull and distance distorted it just enough that I couldn't identify who it was.

"To enter his kingdom, you must bear his mark," a Gargoyle said, pulling a metal rod from the fire as Fangs knelt before him and the Gargoyle King. "The Mark of the Gargoyle."

"Now!" Jughead shouted. I'd been so focused on Fangs that I hadn't seen him and FP knock out the guards. The Serpents ran forward, grabbing what Gargoyles they could.

"It's the Serpents," the Gargoyle King shouted. "Scatter!"

I circled the fire, grabbing Fangs's arm, tugging him away from the gargoyle holding the branding iron. Stumbling to his feet, we retreated to the other side of the fire, watching as Jughead and FP took hold of the slow-moving Gargoyle King.

"Hey, you okay?" Fangs asked as I hugged him back weakly, not taking my eyes off the kneeling figure.

"I know who it is," I said softly. "All of us were wrong."

"Who is it?" Sweet Pea asked, coming to stand on my other side. "Abigail?"

FP leaned down, pulling the mask off to reveal the smirking face beneath. "Tall Boy?"

"What the hell?" Jughead questioned, pulling back slightly.

FP kept a tight hold on Tall Boy, looking around at the Serpents around us. "Round up the Gargoyles. You know what to do with them," he said. "You three, with us," he added, eyes resting on Sweet Pea, Fangs, and I. We circled the fire, Sweet Pea taking hold of one of Tall Boy's arms while FP took the other. "We'll take him to the bunker, deal with him there."

"How did you know?" Fangs asked as we started walking.

Jughead spun around angrily. "You knew it was Tall Boy? Why didn't you tell us?"

"She didn't," Sweet Pea snapped. "Not until we crashed the party."

"There's no way she knew. Babygirl always did think she was smarter than she really is," Tall Boy chuckled before grunting as Sweet Pea wrenched his arm back further.

"So?" Fangs prompted me again.

"His voice," I answered. "I knew it sounded familiar, but he knew it was the Serpents before we'd even gotten close."

Tall Boy growled but no one said anything as we reached the entrance to the bunker. Jughead and Fangs went down first before Tall Boy was pushed to the entrance with a warning from FP not to try anything before he followed. Sweet Pea motioned for me to go next, keeping watch for any Gargoyles who may have followed us.

At the bottom of the ladder, I followed him more slowly, watching carefully as Tall Boy fought against being tied to the chair. It took all four of them to get the job done, and if Sweet Pea hadn't closed the hatch as he climbed down, everyone would have known where we were with Tall Boy's shouting.