Page 236 of Conquered

I see Willow rush up to us, her bush baby eyes wider than usual and her face tight. Her gaze briefly flicks to Loki at my side, before coming back to me, sympathy in her eyes.

“Have you seen?” she asks, holding her Academy iPad to her chest.

“Seen what, Willow?” I ask, my throat thick as her mouth turns down. My heart beats painfully in my chest.

“I’m so sorry, Loki,” she replies, my brows dropping as she holds out the iPad and starts playing a video.

It takes a moment for my eyes to make sense of what is on the screen, but when they do, they must go as wide as Willow’s.

“Is that...Clarissa?” I whisper, horrified as I watch a young, naked Loki, underneath an equally naked Clarissa, who's writhing on top of him. The sounds she’s making are those of a cheap pornstar, and bile fills my throat when I realise just how young Loki looks. Maybe he’s thirteen at the most.What is wrong with these fucking people?

I tear my gaze away to look up at him. His jaw is clenched so tightly, I can hear his teeth grinding together, his cheeks mottled, his whole body tight. I reach out to touch his rock solid arm, but he flinches away at the contact, like it burns him. My eyes sting at the rejection, even though I know he doesn't mean it.

“How many are there?” he asks through gritted teeth, not taking his eyes off that damn video.

“Um, I dunno,” Willow answers, cringing slightly. “Maybe twenty or so. But I’ve not watched them.”

My heart sinks.

“Loki…” I start, reaching out again, but he takes a step back.

“Just...leave me alone, Lilly,” he replies, his hands shaking. “Leave me the fuck alone.” Then he turns and storms back towards our dorm, his body tight and practically vibrating with rage.

Tears spring to my eyes as I watch him go, and I rub my chest with the pain suddenly there.

“Fucking Julian! This has his stench all over it,” Ash snarls, watching Loki disappear. “Kai, can you take this shit down?”

“On it,” Kai replies, his own iPad already out as he furiously taps at the screen.

“Good,” Ash says, turning to look at me. “Go to him, Princess. And you, Kai. He needs you both.” He strokes the side of my face, brushing away a stray tear that falls.

“When will it stop, Ash? Why would Julian share this?” I ask, begging him for answers that he probably doesn’t have.

“To hurt us, discredit us. Show us that we are nothing compared to him and the board. Take your pick, Princess,” he tells me, pulling me into him and surrounding me with his warmth. Kissing me on the top of my head, he lets go, encouraging Kai and I to go back to the dorm. “I’ll explain to your teachers, don’t worry.”

I flash Willow a grateful smile, getting a sympathetic one back. I really must organise some time with her soon. Talk about the world's worst friend.

We hurry to the dorm, Kai finishing his task just as we open the door to devastation. I gaze with bated breath at the mess that lies in front of us. The new things that we’d just bought, replacing the stuff that Kai had broken, are all lying in pieces on the floor. Feathers float around us from the torn sofa cushions, asBad Childby the Tones and I fills the air with its melancholy beats. My heart breaks for this beautiful boy, who only everwanted love and affection, but instead was given neglect and abuse.

I hear a whimper, and my gaze snaps around to see Loki, sitting on the bottom step of the spiral staircase, his head in his hands. I approach slowly, cautiously, as you would a wounded animal, Kai behind me.

“Loki, my love?” I say softly, my soul hurting as he slowly brings his head up to look at me. His eyes are red, tears glittering on his auburn lashes, the emerald jewels dull and shattered.

“I was fucking thirteen when she came into my room, sent by my asshole father to ‘turn me into a man’,” he tells me woodenly, not breaking my gaze. My heart feels like it’s a lead weight in my chest, falling to the pit of my stomach as he tells me his awful story.

“Oh, Loki,” I breathe, unbidden tears falling from my eyes.

“I was young, stupid, and excited by the free pussy. The first time I was shit, it lasted less than three minutes.” He gives a hard laugh that cuts me badly. “But she kept coming back, fucking me, letting me fuck her. Teaching me all about a woman’s body.”

He runs his hands through his hair, and my soul aches for him. He was so young, and yes, he may have enjoyed it physically, but she was still a predator. And his father...I knew something was wrong with that cunttrollop.

“She became possessive. Wouldn’t let me see other girls. Driving any away that I brought home. It took me two years to get out from under her thumb. I’d bulked up a bit by then from our training, so I used that to scare her into leaving me alone. It’s not something I’m proud of.”

I rush to him as he hangs his head. Dropping to my knees in front of him, ignoring the sharp pain, and taking his face in my hands.

“Loki, she deserved everything she got. She was a predator, regardless if your father was the one to start it.” I force him tolook at me, to see that I’m not disgusted. That I don’t love him any less for his past.

“We told you at the time, dude,” Kai says, crouching down next to me, placing a hand on Loki’s knee. “She’s a grade A cunt.”