“No, no, no,” Sage couldn’t stop repeating the word. As soon as Lochlan left, the walls surrounding her came crumbling down like dominoes.

The doctor—the man with the soulless gaze—was a close friend of her father’s from the outside world and had called him immediately.

Everything after her father, Morgan, and a few other devout parishioners had shown up happened so quickly, Sage hardly had time to react.

“You will be quiet. You will beg forgiveness. And so help me God, Sage, if you do not recite your vows as they have been laid out for you, it is not the pit you will have to fear.” The threat from Gideon’s lips shut her up.

Morgan’s vile hands roamed her body freely as he sat next to her in the large van that was used to take crops to the farmer’s markets around the county. The smell of wheat she once found soothing, now brought bile rising into the back of her throat.

“I’ll make you a fine wife, yet.” Morgan’s lecherous words and the intent in his body language made Sage wish the snakes had killed her on the first round.

She had known…had just known that everything happening with Lochlan was too good to be true. She wasn’t meant for love and babies and happily ever afters. She was meant to succumb to pain and degradation.

Morgan was going to make her life pure hell before she had a chance to live. His hand began to slither up her exposed thigh; they hadn’t even let her get dressed before carting her away under duress.

Kirsten was the only nurse who knew just how deep her family’s depravities had become. She was the only one who would have been strong enough to stop them from taking her, but she wasn’t there. Everyone else, from staff to patients, and even security, had watched as Sage struggled silently. Tears streamed down her face as she had been dragged through the hospital’s corridors and into the waiting van.

“Please don’t do this. Let me go; I won’t tell anyone.” She could do nothing but beg.

They all ignored her. Treating her as though she were nothing and no one. The pain vibrating within her heart made breathing nearly unbearable.

Not because they had hurt her in any way.

But, because she lost Lochlan only as she’d found him.

* * *

Strolling back into the hospital, Loch felt lighter than he had when he left just over an hour earlier. His mind and heart were settled in peaceful harmony while he made his way

up to Sage’s room. More than ready to bring her home, even if it was to his mother’s.

There was a weird commotion throughout the building as he made his way through. People were looking frantic as he passed nurses stations and there was whispering. Reaching the wing where Sage’s room was located, his spine began to tingle, and his hair stood on end.

Something was wrong.

“Lochlan!” Kirsten called as he was about to enter Sage’s room.

“What’s going on?”

“Her father…he took Sage. That son of a bitch Dr. Stanley called the man, and they were here and gone before I came in. I would have stopped them, I swear I would have.”

Took her.

Gone.

His heart stopped beating for what felt like minutes. He couldn’t breathe. Full-blown panic consumed every cell in Loch’s body as he tried to process what he was being told. She couldn’t be gone. He was supposed to take her home at lunch. She had to be there. Ignoring Kirsten’s words, he went in search of Sage.

Inside her room, it was empty and a mess. The bag of clothes his mom had brought sat dumped upside down in a corner, and the breakfast she hadn’t wanted to eat that morning was tossed on the floor like garbage.

“Where is she?” Loch’s voice was jagged like sharp rocks. He hardly recognized it.

“I don’t know,” was the whispered response.

“When?” His throat was tight.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, what do you know?” he yelled. The room filled with personnel from around the hospital. “Where the fuck is Sage?” The strain in his muscles as he tried to hold himself back from ripping the hospital to pieces was felt in every fiber of his being.

“The police are on their way,” Kirsten whispered from his side, her hand reaching out in comfort only to pull away at the last second when a deep snarl vibrated from his chest. “I don’t know if they’ll do much because she’s an adult.”

A ferocious roar tore from deep within Lochlan at the idea that no one would do anything to help his precious broken angel. She was his. Fuck what anyone else thought they could tell him. He would find her with or without the authorities’ help.

“Get out,” he snapped. When no one made an effort to leave, he levelled them with a glare. “Get…out!” They jumped and moved with alarming speed.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he sent a text to both of his brothers with a simple 911 to the hospital. He knew they would understand what he meant. There was trouble, and they needed to get there. Next, he called Frank. Two rings later, and the older man was answering. “I’m already on my way. Keep calm and don’t break nothing.”

“She’s fucking gone, Frank. I told her she would be safe here, and doctor no-dick made me a fucking liar.”

“That’s some strong language from you, boy.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Frank, not now. My girl is gone, and I know I’m not getting on that compound without some kind of backup. The question is, will that be with you or just my brothers?” He wasn’t going to fuck around with some investigation bullshit. Not now.

“I’ve got warrants set to go already. Judge Talbot is real interested in what’s happening out there. State Troopers are meeting us at the gates, so get your ass downstairs while my officers come up there to talk to staff and hold doctor no-dick for questioning.”

Hanging up, he headed out of the room just as two uniformed officers were entering. Rushing past them, he saw the hallway was teaming with law enforcement.

“Get her back, Lochlan,” Kirsten encouraged as he ran past her. Nodding, he kept on his way, down the stairwell and out to the parking garage.

“I’ve already called your brothers. They’re making sure the girls are secure with some special forces fella then meeting us out there,” Frank told him as he climbed into the cruiser.

Frank’s statement pissed Loch off even more. The fact that Nox and Levi felt the need to make sure the girls were safe was a fucking problem for him. Not because he thought they were wasting time but because it was even an issue to begin with.

“This would sure be a lot easier if you’d have married the girl,” Frank half-joked. “Then she’d really belong to you, and I wouldn’t need no pesky warrant to just barge in there to check on her well-being.”

Loch sat up straighter at his suggestion. Marry her. She would legally be his. No one could take her from him then.

“Now boy, you listen here, don’t go getting foolish on me. I was only kidding. I’d still need the warrant; it’d just be easier to get.” All Frank was doing was making the decision easier on Loch.

“But, if she were my wife, they couldn’t keep trying to make her marry this other guy. She would legally be mine. By law, she couldn’t marry anyone else.” Loch reasoned.

“Shit. Your Ma is going to skin me alive,” Frank muttered.

The rest of the ride was tense but quiet, and soon enough, they were approaching the land her compound occupied and cruisers with lights flashing lined both sides of the highway. An ambulance stood off in the distance, and Loch remembered the last time he was there.

“If she’s anywhere near that snake pit again, I’m going to kill him.” It didn’t matter which him it was. Someone would be losing their life.

“Fuck.” Frank’s muttered curse as they climbed from the vehicles went unheard by everyone around them, as the Troopers were cutting the gate locks with bolt cutters and a negotiator was on the phone with someone.

Loch waited impatiently while the law decided what the fuck they were going to do.

Until he heard it.

Heard her.

“Lochlan!”

* * *

So many flashing lights heading towards the gates had brought everyone from their homes as the van Sage was in came barreling down the driveway. Relief unlike anything she’d ever known had swamped her upon seeing the vehicles screeching to a halt almost as soon as the gates had been locked.

Morgan hadn’t stopped fondling her legs and arms, even once getting brave enough to run his fingers along her exposed collarbone. She’d begun heaving at that point, and had he not stopped his movements, she wouldn’t have been able to stop the acid rising in her throat from being expelled.

“Get her inside,” her father snapped as her siblings came running out the front door of their home.

“Sage!” Jossilyn gasped. Excitement lit her eyes, but terror rang through her voice.

“I’m fine, Joss.” She tried to be reassuring. Even though Joss was the older of the two, Sage had always been the one to care for her.

“You have to let her go,” Porter tried to reason with Gideon. “She’s eighteen now. It’s her choice.”

It hit her then. She had missed her own birthday because of the abuse bestowed upon her from her “family.” It was so trivial that it shouldn’t matter, but it did. It was huge, and she was a clueless girl. Of course, that was why Loch felt comfortable enough to kiss her. To touch her. She couldn’t imagine another moment without his caress. She needed his strong hands to replace the repulsion from Morgan’s grip.

Not understanding how or why, her heart just knew her white knight was there. He had to be.

“Lochlan!” She screamed as loud as she could, startling Morgan into letting her go, and she ran. For the gates, for freedom, for Lochlan. Sage moved as fast as her still weak body would carry her.

“Sage!” Loch’s voice was a balm to her erratic heart.

“Please,” she whispered out of breath. The lengthy driveway seemed longer than any other time she’d run up and down it before. Her legs grew weak with fatigue. Her lungs strained to take another breath.

Just as she thought she would make it to the gates—only feet away—she heard heavy breathing behind her as Loch yelled angrily at someone to hurry up and open the gate. She saw Frank, too, shouting, getting red in the face. As she was about to lunge for Loch’s out-stretched hands through the bars, she was tackled from behind, hitting the ground so hard that air was knocked out of her, and her head hit the gravel with enough force that her ears rang.

Lochlan’s rage-filled threats could not be mistaken as she was hauled to her feet. “Let her the fuck go, you son of a bitch!”

Morgan laughed at him.

“I’ll fucking kill you if you hurt one hair on her head.” The menace in Loch’s voice should have frightened her.

“Like this?” Morgan taunted as he grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked so hard her feet left the ground, and she cried out from the pain.

“Stop it,” Sage whined. The hospital gown she was still wearing loosened, and she was terrified it was going to fall off.

“Listen now,” Frank tried to reason, “we have a warrant. We are coming in. I suggest you let the girl go and make it easier on yourself.”

“You have no right to come to my home and make threats. Bringing trash with you. She is my child, and I can do with her as I please.” Her father stood his ground just feet from the fence.

“In fact, you can’t.” Frank seemed to smirk as she was dragged further away. “You see, this is America, and she has every right as me. I’ve heard her repeatedly ask that man to stop. What he’s doing now is assault. I’ll arrest him for that.” Frank’s finger swung from pointing at Morgan to pointing at Gideon. “You, I’ll arrest for unlawful confinement and kidnapping.”

“Don’t forget the child abuse.” Lennox, Loch’s oldest brother, had shown up with Levi, and they were holding onto Lochlan as the chains began to crumble beneath the saw now being used.

“Get your fucking hands off her!” Loch screamed as she was pulled away again.

Jossilyn’s sobbing could be heard from her position between their brothers, and Sage made brief eye contact with Tru. He was enraged like she’d never seen. With everyone’s emotions running so high, Sage became overwhelmed and soon found it increasingly hard to breathe. “Can’t breathe,” she muttered, hyperventilating, trying to get every ounce of air into her lungs that she could.

“Shut up, whore,” Morgan hissed in her ear as he continued his trek.

Reaching deep down inside her heart, Sage knew she had to muster the strength to fight back. She had to be strong for Lochlan because he was falling apart while plotting murder and mayhem.

Digging her feet into the ground, Sage pulled away from Morgan’s body with all her strength, knocking them off-kilter and crashing to the ground again. Pain assailed her already battered body.

“Sage!” Loch’s scream could be heard from the fence.

“Loch, wait a fucking minute!”

“Don’t do it, Loch!”

“Son of a bitch!”

“Dios mio, Loch.”

All these protests could be heard as the creaking of the gates gave way to an opening. Sage couldn’t move from the weight of Morgan on her back and the ground at her front. “Get off me.” Her grunts went ignored.

“I said…” She heard Loch’s voice as the weight from her back was lifted. “Get the fuck off of her.” The sound of knuckles cracking and flesh splitting hit her ears as she rolled to her side. Lochlan was on top of Morgan pounding his fist into the other man’s face.

Heavy feet ran past where she was lying on the ground to pull Lochlan off of Morgan, preventing him from giving the vile man precisely what he deserved.

“Loch, you gotta cool it. Sage needs you now,” Lennox told him firmly.

“Here I thought you were against violence,” Levi joked.

Lochlan’s breathing was heavy, harsh, drowning out all other noise around them as dozens of people filed onto the compound. A place Sage had once felt safe. A place she now feared more than anything else in the world.

“Go to your girl.” Asher, she thought his name was, encouraged Loch as the paramedics approached her.

Fear once again grabbed a hold tightly and wouldn’t let go as the two men reached for her. “No!” she screamed, unable to stop herself.

Loch’s head whipped around so quickly, she thought it might break. “Don’t fucking touch her.” His growled words were fierce as he stormed over.

His body covered hers as he lay on top of her. From head to toe, she was shielded. Her legs between his, his arms bracketing her head. Sage was…safe. There was no other word for it. Having been sheltered her entire life, never once did she actually feel safe. Not like Lochlan made her feel.

The hardness in his gaze was circled with concern for her. “Did he hurt you?” He still hadn’t lost the ferociousness from his tone.

“No.”

“Did he touch you?” His teeth ground together with the question.

Unable to look him in the eye, for fear of the disgust he would surely feel, Sage could only nod her head.

“That fucking son of a bitch is dead.” He was seething at this point, getting ready to climb to his feet.

Her hands gripped his sides tightly as she begged, “Please don’t leave me.” He was torn for a second before settling back down on top of her. His own emotions shining bright like stars on a dark night.

“I’m so damn sorry, Sage. I promised you’d be safe, and I let you down.” His face was buried in her hair. She could do nothing but comfort the anguish he must have felt upon learning she was gone.

“You can’t control everything, Lochlan. This isn’t your fault. It’s theirs.” She could never blame him. Not for this. Not for her selfish parents. Not for Morgan’s sick fantasies. He wasn’t at fault.

“Maybe not, but Angel, you’re mine to protect. How can I do that when I’m not even there? When you aren’t mine fully?” His voice was bleak in her ear.

“I am yours, Lochlan,” she insisted. No matter what happened in her life, she would always belong to him.

Pushing his body upwards, his gaze searched hers before saying, “You’re not. Not in the eyes of the law. I want you to for my own, Sage. Completely.”

“I don’t understand.” His words were genuine but confusing.

“Marry me. Be mine, and I’ll be yours, and no one can ever take you away again.”

Speechless, she didn’t know what to say. They barely knew one another. In their hearts maybe they did, the calling so powerful that nothing would keep them apart. But were they compatible?

“I–I–I don’t know what to say,” she finally whispered.

Before he could respond, Nox was whispering in his ear and pointing to the paramedics. “Fuck. Fine. But she’s not leaving my sight.”

“It’ll be alright,” she reassured him again as he helped her to her feet. His arms wrapped around her like he was afraid to let her go. “Lochlan,” she whispered.

“No.” He growled again as the EMTs came closer again. “You’re mine, and the last time I let you out of my sight, they took you.” The last couple of words were so caustic she almost couldn’t understand.

“But you have me now, and I’m here. Frank is arresting them. We can move on.” Trying to comfort him made it easier on Sage. She was terrified to overthink on what would have happened had they not shown up when they did.

“How can you be okay with all this?” The confusion mixed with his pain and anger softened her body into his hold.

“I have very few things in my life I can count on, Loch.” She waited to continue until his gaze met hers. “I have faith. I have to believe in that. And I have you. You more than anything else on this earth, I will always believe in.”

Sage could feel the emotions bleeding from his body as he took in her words. “You can always trust in me, Angel.” His rough fingers gliding through her hair worked to soothe him more.

“I do. But please, I just want to go…” She almost said home. Only to realize she didn’t have one. Sage had nothing.

“Home.” He finished for her.

“I guess I don’t have one anymore.”

He didn’t say anything for so long, she became nervous that she was acting clingy again. Placing his hand on her jaw, he lifted her head. “As clichéd as it may be, home is where your heart is, Sage. It’s not just a roof and four walls. It’s not just a shelter. It’s where you’re happiest. It’s where you feel safest.”

He was right, so very right. And she knew all of that. Always had. Sometimes hearing it from someone else worked better than telling herself, and that’s exactly what he had done. “I guess that makes you my home then.” Her murmured words were barely above a whisper. Afraid of rejection, her gaze shifted to the side. However, he wouldn’t let her hide.

Not a word needed to be said as his lips met hers softly. A gentle placement meant to convey their vulnerabilities. A meshing of their hearts without the words.

Gripping his shirt tightly in her fists, Sage pulled herself up more firmly into his kiss, seeking a deeper connection. The world melted away as Lochlan made her feel invincible and took her to another plane.

Emotions swirled around them like a tornado on the heels of a storm, whipping frantically through a rainbow and becoming so much stronger than the wind. Her body was aflame with the need to be with him. To have him consume her in the most intimate ways a man could know a woman’s body.

Forced to break their connection for a much-needed breath, his eyes turned a deep cobalt with his passion. A storm brewed behind his hooded lids, and Sage craved to know more about it. She wanted to feel all that emotion with him.

His words from a few minutes before burst from his lips again. “Marry me, baby.” He didn’t question, simply demanded.

“Are you sure you’re ready for that, Lochlan? It’s a huge step.” For her, marriage was so much more than a piece of paper and having the same names. It was the binding of two souls into one. It was eternal.

“She’s right, kid,” Levi said from beside them, breaking into their bubble.

“Piss off, Levi.” Loch shot his brother a glare.

“No. This isn’t something to just jump into, and you, of all people, I would have figured knew that.”

“I do know that.”

“Then what’s the rush?” Nox interjected.

Police still milled around questioning everyone. Her siblings, her mother who was crying with Anastasia and Kaidence consoling her, their friends. Her father and Morgan were sat in the back of two separate police cars near the gates.

Extracting herself from Loch’s strong embrace, Sage tried to put distance between them. If his brothers didn’t accept their union, then it was only a matter of time before he agreed with them. “I’m just going to go with the medics and then talk to Jossilyn.” She smiled.

He reluctantly let her go as his brothers and friend circled around him.

“Miss, were you hurt anywhere? Touched where you shouldn’t have been?” The older of the two men was undoubtedly trying to be sympathetic to her situation, but she still cringed.

“Only when we fell. Nothing else happened.” She wasn’t so sure she could have admitted it even if it had.

As they placed a blanket across her lap and another around her shoulders, Porter walked closer with one arm wrapped around Joss’ shoulders. They wore matching expressions of fear and uncertainty.

“If you want to leave, now is the time,” she said to them, knowing they wouldn’t be presented such an opportunity again.

“Where would we go?” Joss worried her lip with her teeth in one corner.

“There are shelters,” the paramedic offered as he cleaned the cut on her head.

“I would go with you,” Sage offered.

“I thought you were staying with Lochlan?” Trusen questioned.

Shaking her head, her stare roamed over to where he was standing and watching her. A sad smile played on her lips as she answered. “I don’t think that to be wise.” Even though just moments before, she’d felt terrific about being with him, being together, knowing love would come just as quickly as their attraction, Sage didn’t want to be a regret for him. With his family convincing him a marriage to her wasn’t a good idea, being around him would quickly become agonizing in ways the pit wasn’t and couldn’t ever be.

* * *

Loch didn’t like the look on Sage’s face right now. She was sad in a way he hadn’t seen her previously. Her gaze was flat and the life that shone in them moments go had vanished like smoke on a rainy day. Her shoulders were slumped in defeat, and every time he tried to remove himself from his brothers, they would block his path. Since she broke free of his hold, he hadn’t heard a word they said to him. She was his only priority. Nothing else mattered.

They were trying to convince him that marriage to a girl—they kept saying that—wasn’t a good idea. She was too young, too naïve. She couldn’t know what she wanted right now. Not after all that she’d been dealt.

They were wrong.

She was wrong.

He could see the doubts swirling in her pale stare. Whatever she thought Nox and Levi were saying was messing with her mind.

“Enough,” Loch finally snapped. “I don’t care what you think. Not about this. Not about her. You have Soph, Nox, and she worships everything about you. She’s giving you everything you’ve ever wanted.” Nox looked away. “And you, you have Hayes, even when she wants to kick your ass, she still wants to kiss you. There isn’t a damn thing she wouldn’t or hasn’t done for you.” Levi looked sheepish. “So why are you trying to convince me to give up my girl? She’s mine. We’ve been building up to us for almost a year. You guys are acting like just because we haven’t really spoken until this clusterfuck happened that we don’t know each other. Her eyes speak so much louder than words, and I had to watch for almost nine months as Sage screamed at me to take her away, to give her life. And now, I’m finally able to do that without going to prison, and you’re trying to fuck that up for me!” All movement had ceased around them, and everyone was staring as he basically threw a hissy fit.

“Shit.” Nox squeezed his shoulder.

“Damn, bro.” Levi smiled. “When did you start talking so much?”

He shrugged, not knowing what to say anymore now that everyone knew just how he felt. Including Sage. Tears pooled in her eyes as she sat on the step of the ambulance only ten feet away, her brothers and sister beside her smiling. Relief was evident on all their faces at his confession.

Her eyes. Those perfect crystal clear blue irises were hiding everything she was feeling now. He couldn’t get a read on her for the first time since meeting her.

Pushing past his brothers, he walked over to her. “Sage?”

“You could have gone to jail.” She sounded horrified.

“I wanted to rescue you. Swear to God, every time you walked into the shop, I wanted to steal you away.”

“You would have gone to jail for sure.” She seemed stuck on the jail part.

“You would have been worth it.”

“I’m not, though. I’m just a silly girl.”

“I won’t argue with you about just how important you are to me. You’re everything, Sage. There isn’t a single thing in the world I won’t do for you. You have to know that by now.”

“I do.”

“Then marry me.” He couldn’t let that go. No matter what anyone thought, for them, it was right.

She hesitated for a split second before saying, “yes,” so quietly he almost missed it.

“You’re going to hell!” was screamed before he could react to the acceptance.

“No, mother.” Sage stood calmly, sauntering over to the woman who gave her life. “If you would just open your eyes and heart, you would see there is so much more than what was forced on you.”

“You’re Satan’s whore,” the woman shrieked.

Sage flinched but continued on. “Father shouldn’t have married you. You were fifteen, you had no choice. I understand that now, more than ever before. But what he’s doing to us at this moment, forcing everyone to stay behind these walls, making us forfeit a life where happiness and love are prevalent isn’t fair. Now is your time to learn and to leave, Mother.” Reaching out a hand, Sage asked, “Come with me, please.”

The woman’s gaze was swimming with confusion and fear before she snapped out, “I hope Lucifer drags you into the bowels of Hell and plays you like a fiddle.” The sharp inhale from Sage conveyed her hurt at the woman’s words.

“Hey!” Loch finally cracked. “She’s offering you a chance at a new life. She’s offering you far more than I or anyone else I know would do. She is your flesh and blood, and in my presence, you will damn well show her the respect she deserves.” Speechless, Sage’s mother only stared at him. “You sat back and watched her being bullied and abused for years; you owe her. Not the other way around.” He was seething with rage thinking about all Sage had to tolerate that by the time he’d finished speaking, he had to hold back from throttling the stubborn woman.

“How dare you!” she barked back.

“Enough of this.” Frank stood between them. “Mrs. Marlowe, your husband is being taken to the county jail. You can choose to follow and find out about a bail hearing or stay here.” He didn’t give the woman a chance to respond as he turned to face Loch, who had pulled Sage into his embrace. “Lochlan, take Miss Marlowe to the hospital to be evaluated and then home. Let her rest where she’ll have peace. Bring her some tea and tell her about that time you and Levi decided flying was a good idea. She looks like she needs a good laugh.”

“Come on, Loch, let’s get her out of here.” Nox guided his brother towards the waiting ambulance once again.

“Porter,” Loch called to Sage’s oldest brother.

“Yes?”

“You guys coming? We’ll help get you squared away,” he offered.

The three of them appeared torn, lost at what to do. He knew the answer before it was given. “I think we’ll stay.” Loch nodded. “For now.” He was relieved to know they would think about it.

“Are you sure?” Sage questioned. Leaving them behind wouldn’t be easy for her. She loved them fiercely.

Hugging his sister to his chest, Porter whispered to her, “You go, savor that love. I have to take care of Mother. Make sure the girls will be alright.”

Nodding her head, Sage embraced them each one last time before walking back to Loch. Making their way to the awaiting ambulance, he said to her quietly, “I’m proud of you.”

“What for?” She sounded perplexed.

“Giving your mother that chance. I couldn’t have done it.”

“You would have.” She seemed so sure. “If it were Lorraine, you would have.”

Maybe he would have.

One thing was for sure, though, no one would ever speak to Sage like that again.

Not while he was around.