Page 69 of Conquered (Highgate Preparatory Academ:y Compendium)

Instinctively, I reach out and grasp Ash’s warm hand, interlocking our fingers.

His nostrils flare, then he turns his head to look down at me.

I have to suppress a gasp when his grey eyes meet mine.

There’s a look of intense sorrow in them as he gazes down, the likes of which I’ve never seen on his face before.

I don’t think it’s sorrow at what is happening before us, but more that I am having to witness it and see their true nature.

Like he would save me from this if he could.

I can’t smile to reassure him that I’m okay, because honestly, I’m not sure if I am.

I will never be the same after this night, more than the blood of my mother’s death will be on my hands, and they will never be clean again.

Jax moving breaks my stare off with Ash. Jax comes around the head of the table, walking down to stand next to Robert’s crotch. Robert is thrashing and crying, angry hopeless tears trailing down his face.

“I’d be still if I were you,” Loki leans down to whisper threateningly in Robert’s ear. “You wouldn’t want Jax to cut off your dick by mistake,” he chuckles darkly.

I feel a little sick and lightheaded, my breaths coming faster, and although I’m trying to control them, I can feel panic start to claw at the edges of my vision as Jax snaps the gloves onto his hands.

Suddenly, hands grasp my upper arms, and I’m turned to the side.

“Look at me, Princess,” Ash commands, and I obey immediately, lifting my head up and looking into his grey eyes in desperation. “That’s it, good girl,” he praises, his tone soothing, and completely at odds with how he was moments ago.

The wounded scream of an animal in pain rends the air, and my head goes to turn, but is stopped by a gentle hand on either side of it.

“Eyes on me, Princess. Don’t look anywhere else,” his voice coaxes, and I keep my eyes locked with his. They are full of anguish, yet also some emotion that I can’t, or don’t, dare to name. “Now breathe with me, darling, that’s it,” he encourages as I follow his deep inhales and exhales.

Tears start to fall from my eyes as the screaming turns to whimpers, so full of agony my soul weeps. The sounds stop, and all I can hear is that the song has changed to Monsters , by Tommee Profitt and Xeah, the beat matching my heartbeat.

“Loki, adrenaline shot,” Ash calls out, eyes never leaving mine. Seconds later, the whimpering starts again.

“Ash…” I whisper, not knowing what to say, just knowing that my heart hurts, my soul lamenting.

Not for Robert, he deserves to face the consequences of his abhorrent behaviour. My heart hurts for these men, these boys who have had to do this, and probably a thousand other horrible and depraved things in their lives so far.

“Shhh...it’ll be over soon, darling, I promise,” he says in that calming voice of his, surprising me as he wraps me up in his strong arms, enveloping me in his spicy ginger scent. I breathe him in, absorbing his strength and wrapping my own arms around his waist, burying my head into his chest.

What feels like hours later, Jax speaks.

“All done,” he says in a rumble. I lift my head from Ash’s chest, noticing the mess my makeup has made of his black shirt, leaving smudges of white and other colours on the cloth.

Keeping my arms tight around him, I look up and catch Jax’s eyes. His hard gaze softens as he meets my eyes. “You alright, Baby Girl?” he asks gently, and I nod.

“Is she alright?!” Robert screeches, his voice broken and raspy from screaming. “The fuck does that whore have to be worried about?” he spits as I hear several growls, including the rumbling growl of Ash that I feel vibrating against my chest.

My gaze turns to look at Robert. Blood still trickles from his lip, he’s slick with sweat and shaking.

His brown eyes are crazed, pupils blown.

I realise that for the first time, the blood doesn’t send me spiralling into a flashback of the day my mother died.

That I’m actually glad to see it dripping down from him, and a slow smile spreads across my face.

Robert sees this, and his eyes flash with pure undiluted rage.

“I should've fucked you until your cunt was bleeding, and choked you out, watching the life fade from your eyes, my dick still inside you,” he snarls at me, eyes full of loathing like this is all my fault.

All hell breaks loose before I can even register what’s happening.

The guys are cursing him out, Loki grabbing the bloody scalpel and lunging for Robert’s neck, Jax pulls out a dagger from somewhere, and Kai's eyes flash dangerously. Ash is deathly still underneath my arms, like he’s turned into a marble statue.

I know that Robert’s words have tipped them over the edge, and if I don’t do something, they will kill him here and now.

“Stop!” I cry out in a sob. Surprisingly, they all do as I ask and freeze. “If you kill him, his death will be on me. On my conscience. Please, I can’t have another death on my hands,” I beg them, looking into each of their eyes as I speak, pleading with them.

I look up to Ash last, who is still wrapped in my arms as I am in his. “Please, Ash,” I ask, imploring him with my eyes to stop this.

His own have darkened to a slate grey, filled with hatred. Is it just for Robert, or for himself too? They bore into me, digging down into my very soul.

“Jax.” his deep voice sounds out. I hear Jax dropping his knife with a clatter, and then the sound of fists hitting flesh, and grunts of pain as Ash leads me away.

None of the others follow as we head up the stairs, and I don’t dare look back. I can’t bear to see them mete out further punishment. Perhaps that makes me a coward. Perhaps it’s just self-preservation. Or that I just don’t care what they do to that evil man.

These guys, my guys, might be monsters, Black Knights with the souls of demons.

But they’re mine, and I belong to them completely.