Page 333 of Conquered

Lilly’s own disappointment is clear when we tell her, but like the Queen that she is, she accepts it for what it is and moves on. We are some lucky bastards to have found her.

Finally, the day of reckoning arrives, and we run through the plan one final time at Ash’s house.

“Jax, you have the GHB?” Ash asks as we sit around his glass dining table, our packed bags by the door,99by Elliot Moss playing quietly in the background.

“Yep,” Jax replies. He’s withdrawn a little since Lilly went into hiding. Not as much as he was before her arrival, but he’s not talking as much anymore, preferring his silence and only answering in single words.

“And you’ll get it into their drinks this evening, with enough left over to give us each a mild dose?” Jax just nods this time. Ash sighs, noting Jax’s silent affirmation with a head bob of his own. “Kai, are you ready?” He settles his steely gaze on me, and my senses heighten, a slight roiling in my stomach making me aware of my nerves.

“Yes,” I answer, not elaborating. They’ve given me free rein over what I’m going to do to my uncle, the revenge that I’m going to carve into his skin. He gives me a tight nod.

“And I have the playlist,” Loki adds, lightening the mood as Ash rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile on his lips.

“Excellent,” Ash deadpans, adding, “Enzo will come to help with cleaning ourselves up and take our clothes to be burned. But he’ll be close the whole time in case we need him.”

“Then we’re all sorted,” I state, each of us looking at the others with steel in our spines, jaws locked tight.

“One for all!” Loki cries, leaping to his feet and thrusting his hand into the centre of the table. I can’t help the grin that splits my face, even as Ash gives a long, suffering sigh. Loki wiggles his hand, clearly growing impatient. I get up, placing my hand on top of his.

“All for one,” I answer, my smile widening at Loki’s beam of delight. He really is a ray of fucking sunshine sometimes. Ash sighs, copying my movement and putting his own palm on top of mine.

“All for one,” he repeats in a bored tone, but the tilt of his lips shows his amusement.

“Come on, big guy,” Loki cajoles Jax, waggling his eyebrows. “We need our fourth Musketeer.”

Jax sits with his arms folded for another beat, then huffing, gets up, and thumps his hand hard on top of ours like a dick.

“Say it,” Loki insists, and Jax holds his stare. A lesser man would wither under his intense scrutiny, but Loki holds his ground.

“All for fucking one,” Jax rumbles, and Loki fist pumps with his free hand.

All for fucking one.

The irony of being back at the cabin we meted out justice to that scum, Robert, is not lost on any of us as we pull up in Jax’s truck, parking at the end of the row of expensive SUVs.

“Let’s get this shitshow started, shall we?” Ash asks, getting out of the passenger side, and we all follow him, grabbing our bags from the trunk and walking towards the front door.

It opens before we reach the bottom step, and my jaw aches as I grit my teeth at seeing Julian standing on the threshold. I did suggest that he is more deserving of death for all that he’s put us through, but the guys wouldn’t hear of it, saying that his punishment will be to watch as his world crumbles all while herots in prison. My uncle on the other hand deserves a slow and painful death for what he did to me all those years ago.

It still rankles that we can’t just kill them all and bathe in their blood as we watch the life flow from their eyes, but we have to be smarter and play the long game. Anyways, sometimes death is too kind, the lesser of a punishment.

“Boys,” Julian beams as if he really doesn’t know our hatred for him. He must though. Julian Vanderbilt may be many things, but stupid is not one of them. “Come on in.”

He ushers us into the cabin, and I’m once again reminded that it’s a place of dead things, the animal heads on the walls from previous kills reinforcing the impression that this is not a place for the living. Just as well given our plans for tonight.

“Son,” Rafe addresses Jax, who grunts back. Neither goes to shake the others’ hand, they just size each other up like male lions ready to do battle.

“Loki,” Chad greets his son, stepping forward to give Loki a man hug, slapping him on the back. “You would have liked the fine piece of ass I had last night, big juicy tits and a tight cunt.” Loki visibly shudders, passing it off with a laugh.

“I’m sure I would have, Dad,” he replies, and I can see the cringe in his eyes, the skin around them tight.

“Kai,” my uncle’s voice sounds next to me, and I turn to face him, steeling my spine to face the monster of my childhood.

“Uncle,” I respond. Like Jax and Rafe, there are no hugs or back slaps, just a wary recognition of a familial tie.

“Right,” Julian’s voice booms, taking centre stage as always. “Now that we’re all here, let’s have a bite to eat, and then we can do a spot of hunting before dinner.”

“Let’s kill some shit!” Chad cries, his tone excited, and the bloodlust already in his wide eyes.