“Please, Maddox, move now. I don’t have time for this. I have to get to Jaxon.”
“No. I’m not sure what is going on, Lily, but stop for a minute and think. You are heavily pregnant. Do you want to put yourself or your baby’s life at risk by going out in that on your own, going God knows where?”
“No,” I choke out, and quickly sidestep him, rushing into the living room, where the noise deafens me.
Spotting Dad, who’s standing near the bookshelf, Mum in front of him drinking a glass of red wine, I wobble straight to him, ignoring the tightening sensation in my stomach. They are all I can focus on as I fight to stay conscious, as I fight to take my next breath.
It can’t be true.
It can’t.
‘Lily, I’m sorry, Jaxon’s been in an accident.’
I close my eyes as those words nearly threaten to cripple me.
The dread I woke up with in the pit of my stomach is back, and it has brought along friends.
Dad pauses mid conversation as I approach, and his brows pucker together. “Lily, are you okay?”
“Dad, I need to borrow your car.”
Her jerks his gaze over my shoulder before glancing down at me. “Lily, what’s going on?”
“I need your car keys. Where are they? Please.”
“Lily, what is going on? You can’t drive in this weather.”
“I need those car keys,” I cry, stumbling forward and clinging to the ends of his jumper. “Please, Dad. Please.”
“What’s happened?” Mum asks someone.
“Reid called, but I never heard what was said on the other side,” Maddox quickly answers. “She’s trying to leave.”
Seeing my dad isn’t going to give them to me, I rush over to Max and Malik. “Max, I need your keys.”
“You need to tell us what’s going on,” he demands softly, sitting up from the sofa, and that’s when I notice the room has fallen silent.
I turn to Malik, to find him alert, tense. “Malik, please, can I borrow your car?”
“Lil, you need to talk us through what’s happened.”
I run my fingers through my hair, glancing around the room in a semi-circle, finding them all staring at me. “Please, I need to leave. I have to get to him. I need to go now.”
“To Jaxon?” Dad asks. “Has something happened?”
‘Lily, I’m sorry, Jaxon has been in an accident.’
“Please, someone, give me their keys,” I cry out, clutching my stomach. “I don’t ask for anything, but I’m asking for this. Please. Please give me your keys. Please. I have to leave.”
Mum rushes to my side, one hand on my lower back, another taking my hand. I clench my eyes shut as I take in a deep breath, needing to cry out but too scared to make another sound.
“Honey, you need to sit down.”
“I need Jaxon, and I need him now,” I choke out.
“What did Reid say to you?” Maddox asks.
“J-Jaxon. Jaxon is. Jaxon—” I heave and collapse to my knees, crying out. Sobs rake through my entire body, and the pain is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Every muscle, every fibre of my being, is strung up tight.
“No, sweetie, no,” Mum whispers, pulling me to her chest.
I sob into her chest, clinging to her like it will make it all go away.
“I’ll make some calls,” Maddox whispers, along with someone else.
“I-I can’t be without him, Mum. I can’t. I need him. We need him. I need to find him. Reid has to be wrong.”
Mum pulls back, gripping my face. “What did Reid say to you? We need to know.”
“He said Jaxon has been in accident,” I choke out. “H-he sounded so broken, so hurt, and before the line went dead, he said, ‘I’m so sorry. He isn’t’. I need to find him, Mum. I need to.”
“Let’s get you up while we sort this out. I’m sure everything is fine.”
“It’s not. I can feel it. I know something terrible has happened. If Jaxon could have called me, he would have. He wouldn’t let me worry,” I tell her, as her and Dad lift me to my feet. “I-I can’t—I can’t breathe,” I wheeze, clutching my dad when he pulls me against him. I rest my forehead against his chest, gripping his biceps as a strong cramp tightens my lower abdomen. I cry out, squeezing him until my fingers turn white.
“Lily, sweetie, take a deep breath,” Dad soothes as I hear my mum’s voice direct everyone out of the room. “He’s going to be okay, and right now, I need you to concentrate on you and the baby.”
“It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.”
“How is it your fault?” Dad asks.
I push back, seeing my uncles and Maddox stayed in the room, their gazes on me. It chokes me, nearly pushing me to my knees. “I told him to hurry back,” I shamefully admit. My voice breaks as I continue. “I told him to hurry back.”
It’s all my fault.
Mason takes a step towards me, but I place my hand up, warning him away. “He hurried because of me.”
“You don’t know what happened,” Mason tells me.
“I-I did this. I—”
“Lily,” Mum whispers.
“I’m everything she said I was,” I declare, panting heavily as I take another step away.
“Who’s she?”
“Her. I have her DNA. I hurt everyone around me.”
“You couldn’t hurt a soul,” Myles remarks softly.
I nod, like it’s all making sense. “I’m the reason Jaxon is, is, is—” Pressure between my legs has me bent forward, clutching my stomach as a cry slips free.
Water gushes between my legs and I glance up, locking gazes with my mum. “No,” I whisper.
“Not again,” Max whimpers.
“Honey, we need to get you to a hospital.”
No, I can’t. I need Jaxon. I… My dream flashes in my head and I wheeze, stepping away. “I need to get to Jaxon.”
Dad takes a small step forward, like he’s approaching a wounded animal. “Lily, baby, right now, we need you to sit down and relax for us. We are going to call you an ambulance.”
“I think we need to get her there now,” Mum whispers.
Dad shakes his head. “The roads are too bad. If we get stuck, we’ve got no supplies and she’ll be giving birth in the freezing cold.”
I shake my head. “I’m not going anywhere unless it’s to Jaxon.”
“Honey, you are in labour,” she tells me, and I cry out as a contraction hits, doubling over.
Tears stream down my cheeks, blinding me, and my heart is shattered into a million tiny pieces.
“I-I need Jaxon,” I demand, letting Mum lower me to the sofa.
Malik kneels in front of me. “Madison is on the phone with Paisley, while Eli and his brothers find out what’s going on for us. Everything is going to be okay.”
“You don’t understand. It’s not. I had a dream. I knew something bad was going to happen.”
“You couldn’t have known that,” Myles soothes.
“I’m not good enough. I’ve been waiting and waiting for someone to take Jaxon away from me. He’s too good for me. Too good. And I knew… I knew I’d never be able to keep him. But I kept wishing. And now, now she has what she wanted,” I rush out, screaming when another contraction hits.