Page 340 of Conquered

“Plus,” Rowan interjects, “you’re meant to be dead.”

“He’s Violet’s father, and my soulmate,” I say, needing them to understand that any discomfort I feel is secondary to my need to make sure that he’s okay. Mai sighs, then gets up too.

“Luckily, we bought a car seat for Violet, just in case you had her whilst we were here,” she tells me, giving me a small smile. “Let me take her while you get ready.”

“Thank you,” I reply, handing over Violet, careful not to jostle her.

I rush up the stairs, well, as much as my aching body will allow, and say a prayer to anyone who’s listening that my baby gets to meet her father.

JAX

Ash, Kai, and I sit around Loki’s bedside, watching his still form lying there, and all I feel is sick with the thought that our freedom may have cost him his life. The doctor said that it was a clean entry and exit wound, the bullet passing through his shoulder, and although he may have limited use of the limb for a few weeks or months, with physical therapy he should make a full recovery.

But fuck, that was too close for my liking.

A groan pulls my worried gaze back up to my brother's face, finding his eyes blinking as he struggles to open them.

“Fuuucck,” he rasps out, his voice cracked and painful sounding, and I leap to my feet, grabbing him a cup of water that the doc left for him.

“Shit, it’s good to have you back,” I say, holding the cup to his lips when his gaze finds mine. He drinks deeply, finishing the whole thing before resting his head back on the pillow with a long exhale.

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a fucking truck,” he comments dryly, closing his eyes and wincing, then opening them and looking around the room. Ash and Kai are on the other side of the bed, both with grins on their faces, their previously tight shoulders slumped.

“You were shot,” Ash tells him, and Loki’s forehead creases, then his eyes widen as he remembers.

“By Rafe!” he exclaims, though his voice is no more than a cracked mumble.

“Yeah,” I reply, then give a smile that I know is pure evil as I recall what the cops told us when we woke up a couple of hours ago. “Turns out he fell back down the basement stairs, cracked his head open like Humpty fucking Dumpty, and died in a pool of blood and piss at the bottom.”

I mean, I wish I’d been the one to put a bullet in his brain after I beat the shit out of him, but I guess, this way at least, he’s no longer walking the earth. Perhaps it’s not the way a son should feel about his father’s death, but I’m glad the bastard is dead.

“Talk about silver linings,” Loki jokes, and we all chuckle, the tension dropping away from my limbs.

My shoulders tense once again when I hear a commotion outside, a harried woman’s voice sounding in the hall.

“You can’t go in there, miss!”

“Fuck off!”

“Is that Lilly?” Kai asks in a confused tone, but before we can answer, the door to the room bursts open, and in strides the woman herself, looking exhausted but beautiful in her wildness.

“Loki!” she exclaims, rushing across the room and practically pushing me out of the way as she flings herself on top of him.

He lets out a pained groan, but what makes me really pause is what sounds like the cry of a baby.

“Oh, poppet, I’m so sorry, shhhh,” Lilly coos, pulling back and rocking the bundle in her arms that I’d somehow missed when she came in.

“Lilly?” Loki asks, his eyes wide as he, too, takes in the squirming bundle she's holding.

“Loki, guys,” she says, her eyes swimming with tears as she looks around at our stunned faces. “This is Violet, our daughter.”

She pulls the blanket away to reveal a beautiful baby with a shock of red hair on her head. I stare, stunned at the perfectionof this infant, a wave of such intense love almost bringing me to my knees.

“Here,” Lilly says, placing the baby in Loki’s good arm, and a moment of panicked terror flashes across his face before he looks down at his daughter and he just fucking melts.

“S–she’s perfect,” he whispers, bringing her in close and nuzzling her hair. “Look at her hair!”

“I know,” Lilly beams, and I wrap my arms around her from behind, taking her weight as she sags into me.