He, too, is dressed fully in black, tactical gear, his body stacked, giving even Jax a run for his money in terms of bulk. His dark blond hair is cut short to his head, his jaw square like a Disney prince. But the darkness that swirls in his green eyes leaves me sinking further into Loki’s embrace, his arm tightening around me as the man comes closer. And he really is a man, older than the twins by maybe a couple of years if the lines etched around his dark eyes are any indicator.
“Hunter,” Ash’s deep voice sounds in the room, Jax and Kai coming to stand on either side of Loki and I, framing us. Ash moves just a little in front of me, giving his protection too.
“Asher,” Hunter replies, his own voice as cavernous as the endless caves that can be found in nature. The ones that people disappear into and are never seen again.
The boys clasp hands and exchange a firm handshake, clearly testing each other’s mettle. Hunter gives Ash a half smile and nods, slapping him on the back as if he’d just passed some sort of test. He then leans to the side, letting go of Ash's hand and ensnaring me in his piercing gaze.
“This is the pixie that’s caused so much trouble, huh?” he teases, and I realise that he has Willow’s smile. This must betheHunter, Willow’s brother. The boys tense round me, Jax issuing a growl that does inappropriate things to Her Vagisty given the current situation. “Calm yourselves, boys, I’m only teasing,” he tells them, his tone light and unafraid. “My sister speaks very highly of you, Lilly Vanderbilt. Tells me you helped her out over there, over some cunt called Amber.”
“That’s right, Willow is my best bitch, and we look out for each other,” I tell him, deadly serious and hoping he sees how much his sister means to me too. He gives me a nod.
“You have The Shadows’ protection for life,” he tells me, voice full of a heavy gravity, and by the way the guys take an inhale around me, I know that this is a big deal.
“Thank you,” I whisper back, realising that I have more chosen family around me than I ever realised.
“Family takes care of itself, pixie girl,” Roman tells me, giving a sly wink that makes Loki bristle.
“Speaking of…” Hunter interrupts with a roll of his eyes at the mischievous twin, turning to gesture with an outstretched arm at my uncle. I swear the room gets colder by several degrees as my guys swing their gazes towards him, tied up and helpless.
Anger burns in my veins at how helpless I was when I first came here, when he was drugging me and sneaking into my room at night. I can feel my expression tightening, my body tensing as I look at the man before us, usually so put together and suave. He’s wearing silk pyjamas, his hair a mess, and his face red as he tries in vain to free himself from his bindings. I smirk when I see his still puffy nose, a strip of tape over the bridge of it and bruising along each side and under his eyes.
“Nice work, Baby Girl,” Jax praises from beside me, and I preen at the attention.
Rowan strolls up to him, casually grabbing an edge of the tape and ripping it off with a sound that reverberates around the huge room.
“I should have known it was you fucking boys, especially Julian’s spawn, behind all this!” he spits out, still tugging at his bindings. “Julian won’t stand for this, you little shits! He’ll have your balls for hurting me!”
“What Julian will, or will not stand for is not your concern,” Ash tells him, tilting his head to the side and studying the man as one might an insect you are about to dissect. “What is your concern, however, is how you might be of use to us so that we don’t end your miserable existence in the most painful of ways right now.”
“Fuck you, Vanderbilt! I don’t fucking answer to you! Or you father!” Adrian screams, spitting at Ash. The globule doesn’t even come close, yet Ash’s lip still curls in disgust. Ash heaves a great sigh, as if this is all just so tiresome, and I watch with bated breath as he lazily strolls towards Adrian.
“This can go one of two ways, you know,” he tells my uncle, voice bored as he inspects his nails. “You can answer our questions in full, thus helping yourself. Or you can resist.”
“I hope he resists, don’t you, Pretty Girl?” Loki asks me, loud enough for Adrian to hear and squirm more. Loki’s body thrums next to mine, full of pent-up energy. “It’s always so much more fun when they do.”
I look up into his shining, green eyes, twinkling like jewels in the lamp light, and see an evil smile sitting on his face as he gazes hungrily at my uncle. And I’m not afraid like I might have been once upon a time. I look at each of my Knights in turn, all of them with a matching hunger in their eyes, a need to dish out vengeance on this man who has wronged me.
“I’m not going to tell you shit, boy,” Adrian snarls, his confident smile wavering slightly at what he must see on Ash’s face. I can’t see, as my darkest Knight’s back is to me, but I can imagine that it must be terrifying if my uncle’s expression is anything to go by.
“I was hoping you might say that,” Ash’s voice sends chills across my skin, his words a promise of pain, and I shiver with how much I enjoy the sound. “Jax.”
My Viking steps forward, sparing me a quick glance and a devastating smile that leaves my stomach full of butterflies. Without any preamble, he draws his fist back and punches Adrian square in the face, snapping his head to the side and drops of red spraying across the floor. I wince when I hear the crack of bone as presumably, his nose breaks again.
“That was for being a fucked up pervert and for sexually assaulting your own daughter!” Jax screams in a guttural roar, his whole body shaking, his huge neck corded.
“Wait, what?” I stumble out, my mouth falling open. All the boys freeze, turning towards me with looks of regret on their faces. Kai steps in front of me, cupping my face in his warm palms, and I can’t help leaning into his touch.
“Adrian isn’t your uncle, darling. He’s your father. We believe that your mother wasn’t called Laura Darling, but Violet Rochester, and that she was carrying Adrian’s child when she ran from him,” he tells me softly, trying to soften the blow with the caress of his thumbs.
“Fucking worthless whore that she was!” my un-father-Adrian scoffs, his voice thick and a little muffled. “Couldn’t even get knocked up properly, not for lack of trying on my part.” I look past Kai to see Adrian’s deceptively handsome face, the monster underneath finally showing in the swelling on one side with blood dripping down his chin. “You boys think you know everything! Well, I'll tell you one thing. That good-for-nothing slut got herself knocked up with some other cunt’s baby. Lilly is no more my daughter than she’s my niece. The paternity test last year proved that.”
He looks at me, his lip curled in a sneer as my world tilts on its axis, and I try to process the information that I’ve just been given.
“Why take me in then?” I question, Loki’s grip tightening round my shoulders as Kai keeps his hands on my face even when he steps aside slightly, both lending me their strength. “If we’re not related, why pretend that we are?”
“That’s the billion dollar question now, isn’t it, little whore?” He smirks, his head whipping to the side again as Jax delivers another punishing blow.
“Don’t you even look at her, you fucking piece of shit!” Jax barks, grabbing a fistful of Adrian’s dark hair and pulling his head back, snarling right in his face.