Page 154 of Conquered (Highgate Preparatory Academ:y Compendium)

He doesn’t respond, and I catch movement in the corner of my vision.

I look down to see that he’s reaching into his pocket, my chest tightening painfully at the move, then flinch my head back slightly when he pulls out a white earbud headphone.

Before I can utter another word and give voice to this fluttering in my stomach, he pops it in my ear with a kind, sad sort of smile.

“ Princess ?”

My limbs go weak, and Roman grunts quietly as he takes more of my weight, my fingers digging into his arm. I know that voice, dark as a moonless night, but the kind of dark that hides you from the monsters seeking to steal you away.

“ Princess, tell me you’re there ,” the voice begs, a catch that I’ve not heard from my darkest Knight before.

“A–Ash?”

“Fuck, Princess…Fuck, it’s so good to hear your voice, ” he replies, a sort of hiccupping laugh sounding in my ear as tears rush to my eyes.

“You’re…you’re real,” I state, not a question, more a breath of relief, the yearning in my soul increasing tenfold at just the sound of his voice.

“ Yeah, Baby Girl, we’re real ,” another deeper voice tells me, a similar stutter to Ash’s marring his usually gravelly tone.

“Jax,” I rush out with a sob, my free hand flying to cover my mouth, the other wrapped around Roman’s waist. The salt of tears drops onto my lips, letting me taste my relief, my sadness, my heartbreak at being apart from the other parts of my soul.

“ Don’t cry, Pretty Girl, ” yet another voice pleads, one that’s usually full of mirth and mischief.

“Loki!” I cry out, my palm moving to my rounded stomach, and our baby gives a kick, as if it knows that its fathers are on the other end of the line, and is desperate to meet them.

“ We don’t have much time, darling ,” the final of my Knights says, the melody of his voice dulled slightly.

“Kai,” I whisper, closing my eyes as a smile tugs the corners of my lips up, the shadows cast by the plants around us feeling like the caress of my men. My Knights.

“I told you that we were bound for all eternity, my darling. We were always going to find you. You’re our beating heart ,” Kai tells me, the strength of his conviction flowing into me until I can stand a little taller.

I open my eyes, my mind clearing a little more with each word, each syllable they make.

“What happened? Why am I here?” I ask, desperate to know the truth.

“Your…uncle…took you,” Ash replies, seeming a little unsure of his words. “And we think my father is involved too.”

“Adrian?” I question, my head giving a slight shake. “Took me?”

“Yes, and we think that he might be drugging you to keep you compliant,” Loki interrupts, a sound of pain followed after.

“What? She needs to know,” he hisses, but I can barely hear him, my mind replaying all of the times that I ate, then felt so exhausted I had to sleep for hours.

All of my confusion, all of my weakness suddenly made more sense.

My fingertips trace the fading bruising on my hips, the ones in the shape of fingertips. The nightmares, the visions of shadowed men, and dreams of Robert, the guy who tried to rape me. Were they imagined too? And what about my baby?

“Princess?” Ash asks, his voice laced with concern. “You still there?”

“Yeah,” I reply softly, clearing my throat and blinking. One thing at a time, Lilly. “ I think it’s in my food. The drug, I mean.”

Silence.

“Shit,” Ash curses, followed by the muffled sound of something smashing that makes me wince. “Keep it together!” Ash barks, but clearly, the comment is not aimed at me. “I’ll sort it, Princess. Don’t stop eating.”

A fissure of pleasure rolls through me like a feline stretching at his commanding words.

“So, what’s the plan?” I question, getting back to business, though the wonderful warming haze of knowing that they exist, that I didn’t dream up our time together, settles over me in a comforting blanket.

Roman’s head is turned the other way, giving us as much privacy as he can, though I’ve got the feeling whatever happens next will involve the twins.

“That’s our girl,” Loki praises, and I can hear his smile, lighting up the sunny day even though I’m hundreds of miles away from him as I stand in the rose garden.

“My birthday is in two weeks,” Kai interjects, and I can just picture him pushing his glasses up his nose as he speaks, my breath hitching at the thought of the gesture. “We plan to fly to Amsterdam to celebrate.”

“Okay…” I say, trying to figure out what the next step is, but my fucking head is still so clouded.

“Once we get there, we’ll catch a plane to England, and with the help of our Shadow Crew friends, we’ll come and get you,” Ash adds, taking up where Kai finished.

“Oh.” I look back up at Roman, seeing a smirk on his admittedly pretty face. “Oh!” I gasp when it finally clicks. “The Shadows, Willow’s brother’s crew!”

Roman winks, then looks over his shoulder, his brow dipping.

“Gotta hang up now, pixie girl,” he tells me, his voice softening when he sees what must be my face falling.

“I love you, wife,” Ash murmurs in my ear, and if I close my eyes, I can pretend that he’s the one holding me up instead of a stranger.

“I love you, husband,” I whisper back, trying and failing to keep the tremor out of my voice.

“I love you, Pretty Girl. Give our baby a rub from me,” Loki tells me, his voice thick, and my lip trembles, tears freely dripping down my cheeks.

“I will. Love you too,” I respond, my heart aching so fiercely that I rub at it, trying in vain to ease the hurt.

“I love you, darling,” Kai whispers, his voice etched with sorrow.

“I love you too, my soul,” I tell him, feeling as though no truer words have ever been spoken. They are my soul as it no longer resides in me, and the pain of being parted is almost unbearable.

“I swear to you on my blackened heart and all that is left of my soul that we will come for you, and fucking dance in the blood of those that have harmed you, my love,” Jax vows, and his declaration is full of love and vengeance in equal measure, making my heart thrill.

“I love you with all that I am, Jax. All that I will ever be,” I say in return.

“Good girl,” he commends, his deep voice a rumbling growl that sends a shiver to my core, lighting me up from the inside out.

Before I can say another word, I hear footsteps on the grass behind us, and Roman plucks the earbud out, pocketing it and turning us around as I wipe my tears off my face with my sleeve.

I see Jacky hurrying over, her face damp and eyes puffy, and the thought that maybe her father’s accident wasn’t so accidental suddenly occurs to me.

I freeze for a moment, but then realise that although I feel sorry for her, it doesn’t horrify me, nor the idea that my guys may have had a hand in the misfortune of an innocent bystander.

I’m clearly not as lily-white as I used to be, and somehow, I’m not ashamed of that.

“My father has had a nasty fall, and I’ll have to take over his care,” she informs me, fussing as if she plans to take over from Roman, but he doesn’t let go, instead, he helps to lead me down the walkway and back to that fucking chair.

“So the agency is sending a replacement this afternoon. I’m sorry, dear. ”

“Tha–that’s fine,” I respond, trying to work out what this means. Roman gives my waist a little squeeze, and I think he means to assure me that this, too, is linked back to my guys.

We make it back to the chair, which waits innocently in a patch of sunlight, unknowing that it now represents everything that is wrong with my situation. I wouldn’t fucking need it if my uncle wasn’t drugging me!

Roman supports me as I get settled into it, and I grudgingly admit to myself that I’m feeling drained, both emotionally and physically, so it’s a welcome relief to finally sit down.

Jacky takes hold of the handles and starts pushing me back towards the house, unaware of the maelstrom of my thoughts and the swirling storm of my emotions.

Two weeks.

Fourteen days and I’ll be in their arms again.

I just need to hold on.