Page 75 of Released

LILLY

Iwake up with a jolt, my heart pounding and a feeling that something isn’t right making the hair stand up on my arms. A snuffling sound next to me brings my head down to see my baby, Violet, snuggled next to me, my body curled around hers protectively. Taking a deep inhale of her addictive baby scent, my panic subsides somewhat, but I can’t shake that feeling of unease.

Needing the toilet and something to drink, I decide to get out of bed, but can’t bear to leave Violet behind, so I pick her up and take her with me. She stirs a little but soon settles into my embrace, and it feels as natural as breathing to carry her in my arms, but also weirdly alien. I can’t believe that she’s here.

Padding quietly downstairs, I’m surprised to hear the murmur of voices, and even more so when I round the staircase and find the twins and Mai in the living room, all with concern written across their faces.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, my voice lowered but my mouth really dry with all the possible scenarios running through my head. “Tell me.”

“Loki’s been shot,” Roman states and my body goes ice-cold and numb, instinct alone making sure that I don’t drop Violet, pulling her small body closer as if to protect her from the news.

“W–what?” I rasp, sinking down on the same sofa that I leaned on a few hours ago to give birth.

“We don’t know all the details, just that something went wrong and Loki got caught with a bullet,” Rowan elaborates, his knee bouncing.

“W–where is he?” I ask, pulling Violet closer to me, breathing in her scent which is the only thing helping me to stay calm right now.

“The private hospital, back in Brompton Lakes.”

“We have to go there then,” I say, standing back up and turning to head towards the stairs to get ready.

“Lilly, you only gave birth a few hours ago,” Mai interjects, a note of concern in her tone. “It’s a three-hour drive.”

“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.

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