Page 196 of Conquered (Highgate Preparatory Academ:y Compendium)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

ASH

G uilty.

That one word holds such weight. A word that signals our freedom.

Both my father and Loki’s are charged with first-degree murder, life in prison with no parole as their punishment, and we’ve made sure that they won’t be able to bribe their way out by getting there first.

We drive the new mini bus that Jax picked up yesterday back to my place in the woods, Violet asleep in the back with Lilly at her side and Loki next to Lilly.

Lost My Mind by Alice Kristiansen plays quietly over the speakers, and I can’t help feeling that this is our song. All five of us lost in each other.

“I can’t quite believe it,” Lilly whispers, resting her head on Loki’s shoulder as we drive through the fall afternoon. “Is it really over?”

“It’s really over, Princess,” I say from the front, craning my neck to look back at her.

“And what happens now?” she asks, a small smile playing on her lush lips.

“Anything we want, sweetheart,” Kai tells her, and her smile grows, rivaling the sunlight filtering through the trees alongside the road.

“I’d like to invite my grandparents over, and Ryan and Lexie,” she replies.

“I’ll message them now for you,” I say, pulling out my phone and sending an email to them all asking if they’d like to visit, an idea forming in my mind of what we could all do while they are here.

We sit in comfortable silence for the rest of the journey, letting the fall sun wash over us as we drive home, unencumbered for the first time by the shackles that our parents put on us.

We’re finally free to live, and I intend on doing just that with my brothers and our woman and child.