Page 35 of Conquered

The blood drains from my face, and I hear a wind begin to whistle in my ears.

“I never knew my father, and, well, my mother died in February this year.” I say in a rush, swallowing, as my eyes start to fill, the wound of her death still fresh and bleeding. The guilt from that day still claws at me, and I’m left breathless for a moment.

“I had a sort of stepfather, well, Mum’s long term boyfriend Ryan, but he kinda bailed after she passed away,” I add sadly, the pain of his disappearing act adding to the hurt I feel in the centre of my being.

I realise that we’ve come to a standstill in the middle of the hallway, and Loki pulls me into him, surrounding me with his warm, comforting body and rubbing circles on my back. I breathe in his vanilla cookie scent and relax in his arms. He smells like...home. I feel so safe in his strong arms and wish that I could stay here forever.

“I know it’s not worth a damn, and won’t change anything, but I’m so sorry she died, Pretty Girl,” he says gently and kisses me on the head.

I take another deep lungful of air and look up, his image wavering a little with the unshed tears marring my vision. One slips free, and he catches it on his finger, bringing it to his lips and tasting my sorrow.

“Thank you, Loki,” I whisper hoarsely, clearing my throat, and falling into those stunning emerald depths of his as we stand there.

“Anytime, baby,” he whispers back huskily, his own eyes glistening with what looks like a pain similar to my own.

“LOKI!!!”

A screech like a female fox in heat interrupts us, assaulting my ears and I feel Loki’s arms tightening round me, a soft curse sounding under his breath. I cringe at the sound, and turn to look behind me, keeping his strength wrapped round me.

A girl is hurrying down the corridor, her artfully tousled, blonde wavy hair flying behind her. She’s wearing a faded pink ‘save the turtles’ baggy cropped t-shirt, a shell necklace, light blue cropped denim jeans, and white trainers. In her hand, she carries a metal water bottle covered in stickers and has a backpack slung over one shoulder.

Oh, my giddy aunt! Is this...is she…a VSCO girl?!

Don’t know what a VSCO girl is? Basically, a teenage girl who spends twenty minutes making her messy bun look just so, and spends a small fortune on her casual outfit, all while spouting about ‘saving the whales,’ yet buying plastic stickers to stick on her reusable water bottle. Yeah, that kind of girl.

She comes right up to us, totally ignoring my presence, and is flanked by two girls dressed very similarly, both carrying the same metal water bottles. One has dark brown hair, the other black, but basically, they are all clones of each other.

“How was your summer, Loki?” she purrs, fluttering her eyelash extensions and twiddling her hair.

I didn’t know girls actually did that. And how fucking rude is this eco warrior cumbubble to just ignore me? Are we in some fucked up teen romance movie?

I roll my eyes and chuckle at my own joke, turning round in Loki’s arms so that I can face the she-wolf head on.

“Oh, hey, Amber,” Loki replies in a bored tone, keeping his eyes on me and not even looking at her before stepping to my side and tucking me under his arm once again. “Have you met, Lilly?” he adds, gesturing to me with his other hand.

Her blue gaze flits over to me, her upper lip curling slightly, ruining her pretty features as she takes me in.Cue the Mean Girl cliché.

“Oh. You must be the Brit,” she sneers, looking at me like I’ve just offered her turtle soup. “Charmed, isn’t that what you British say?” she asks with a titter as her flunkies laugh behind her.Yep. I officially hate the bitchtits.

“You must be one of those VSCO girls I’ve heard about,” I reply sweetly, flashing her a cold smile. “Tell me, how are the turtles doing here in the mountains?”Silly cumdumpster! Teach her to be rude!

She scowls even more, and I just can't resist poking the hornet's nest again.

“I hear the best eyelash extensions are made from mink, who suffer greatly on breeding farms and are ultimately killed for their fur. Did you go for the best, or did you get cheap plastic ones?” I blink innocently as Loki roars with laughter beside me, and Amber’s eyes narrow, setting said extensions quivering.

“And on that note…” Loki chuckles once more as he leads me away from the scowling trio, towards what I assume is the dining hall.

As we enter through the double doors, I halt in my tracks, my eyes widening and my mouth becoming slack as Loki’s arm drags across my shoulders when he keeps walking a fewsteps. He pauses and turns to look at me, a questioning red brow raised.

Holy shit.

I’m surrounded by light. Glorious, brilliant sunshine pours through the walls, two of which are entirely made from glass and held up by what looks like elegant black metal trees. The ceiling soars above us and is also made of glass so that it feels as though we are standing outside. Round Swedish design beechwood tables fill the space with matching chairs, and along the right hand side are counters filled with food to go, reminiscent of Harrods food hall in London.

“You coming, Pretty Girl?” Loki’s increasingly familiar drawl comes from ahead.

I emerge from my daze to see his eyes full of amusement, causing my own to narrow back at him.

Fucktwollop.