Chapter 77 THE RAGING KING
LUCIEN'S POINT OF VIEW.
Panic flared in my chest as soon as Sloane fell into my arms. All I could picture was my mother, my sick, blood-coughing-up mother, in my arms as I held her.
“Sloane!” I rushed out in fear, lifting her in my arms, before dashing out of the bathroom. I barely heard anything else behind me. The world had faded into a blur, and all I could do was try my best not to fucking scream. The second I got to my elite infirmary, I gently placed her on the bed and turned to my doctor.
“Treat her, now!” I growled at him, my chest heaving as the panic I felt surged through me in full force.
She’s not Alicia, Lucien…she’s not your mother. I whispered internally at myself, as I watched his expert, but shaky hands go over her. I barely felt the presence of anyone else in the room. All I could focus on was her, as my eyes zeroed in on my girl.
‘Please, please be okay….please.’ I whispered like a fucking moron in my mind, my hands clenched into fists by my side.
All I wanted to do was scream, hit something…someone, anything against the fucking wall. The sight of her blood still trickling down her neck hit me in the chest like a ton of bricks. A wave of vertigo hit me instantly, as the same image of my mother in a crying fit as she coughed up blood in bed haunted my vision.
She always tried to hide it from me, because she thought I was too young for it. But I’d seen it all already. I’d seen her tears, her blood-stained handkerchiefs, her blood-stained cottons, the pills in her bedside cabinet…I’d seen everything, and it was enough to make me hate the man Eldric was, the husband he couldn’t be, and the father he never fucking was.
Sloane..please, you can have anything from me…just please…don’t leave me, not you too.
She was my only person in this world; no one else was for me, not like she was. The horsemen…we were great friends; Hell, they’re my fucking brothers, but it’s not the same.
Sloane…she’s my fucking light. My life’s screwed up, so fucking messed up, you’d hardly find anything of worth in it, but she….she fucking completes me.
If anything happened to her….I would fucking end it all, this world, this school, my own life..everything.
I hadn’t realized how much she meant to me. I knew I’d fucking felt something chaotic for her, but in this moment, watching her like this…a realization fucking hits me in the chest.
I thought I’d liked her before….that getting her to this school ever since that day was all that I’d felt for her. That the stupid fake dating would help me understand just how I felt about her.
But the second it became real, I knew I was fucked. She was too good, much better than I’d expected, and I found myself wanting to spend hours, days, weeks…my entire life with her.
I don’t do love. I never believed in the damn emotion. I saw what it did to my mother, how it reduced her to the point that I could see her fucking ribs through her skin, as she became a fuckin shell. I’d seen how she cried for long hours almost every night for a pathetic bastard like Eldric Hayes.
And I swore to never fall for any woman….to never make any woman put me in that spot, where all I’d think of, all I’d feel, all I’d want, was her.
But staring at Sloane right now, I knew one thing for sure;
I was fucked.
I fucking…love her.
My chest flared with something other than panic….that feeling…it’s chaotic, it’s dark, it’s passionate…it’s something that could leave me absolutely fucked, and at the tip of her fingers, something that could make me feel like I’m walking on fucking stars, something that makes me feel like the entire fucking galaxy is in my chest.
Fuck.
I love her.
I’ve fallen in love with a girl.
I chuckled low at the realization.
She had no idea yet, but my entire mood was controlled by a look on her face, and now that the realization has hit me….I’ll do any fucking thing for her; all she’d need to do was ask.
“Mr Ravenscroft.” The doctor called, drawing me from my thoughts, as I turned to him. I could not help the fucking feeling of hope in my chest.
It was almost laughable.
I didn’t believe in the damn thing…it always felt too…foolish for me. I made my own hope; I made everything work the way I wanted it to. But with this girl, I couldn’t be more out of control.
“Is she okay?”
“Yes, sir. The weapon used to hit her on the head didn’t cause much damage, thankfully.” He said, and I couldn’t stop the sigh of relief that escaped my lips at his words. She was okay….she wasn’t gonna end up like my mother.
She won’t leave me either.
I bent low, placing my hands on my knees, as I took deep breaths in pure relief.
“She just needs to use her medication. But she’s okay now. She should wake up in the next couple of hours, but for now, I have her on medication so she can sleep the pain away. She’ll be alright, sir.” He nodded before clutching my shoulder in a comforting manner and walking off.
“Lucien.” One of the guys whispered from behind me. I’d barely registered their presence.
How the hell did Sloane have me so fucked, that I didn’t even fucking take cognizance of my surroundings?
“Yes,” I whispered without turning to stare at them. I could only stare at her. Her chest moved up and down, the sigh of life sent a wave of comfort through me, as I clenched my hands at the thought of her on the fucking bathroom floor, bleeding out and in pain.
They would fucking pay…all of them, I don’t give a damn, not anymore.
“How are we gonna take revenge? Say the word, and it’s done.”
I chuckled darkly, the sound humorless as I rubbed my palms together. It was almost funny. Roxanne’s father had just sent another request to be added back on the investment list to my company, the same request he also sent to each of the guys’ companies.
I was the reason they were waiting, because I genuinely thought about giving the man a chance. He’d seemed to have changed. That and Sloane has pleaded on his behalf.
Now, all I want to do is fuck everything over.
“Pull the damn plug,” I whispered, my tone dark as I stared at my girl.
They’ll fucking burn at my damn feet.
“Yes, boss,” Cassian whispered, whistling slowly as he stood beside me. They all did, offering wordless support to me.
They were my brothers. The tattoo on my back burned fresh like I’d made it yesterday.
‘Ad Inferos Una" (Together into hell)
“Watch over her,” I whispered, turning to Cassian. He nodded, and I took one last glance at Sloane before I walked out, ready to slay all of them.