Page 64 of Uprising

“And tell Roman, tell him that I love him. Tell him…” My voice falters as the door opens. God I have so much I want to say, so much I need to say.

“I will.” Ty mouths before letting me go.

I drop my gaze, returning to the broken thing they expect me to be.

And Ty walks away leaving me alone with Darius once more.

Roman

Ishould wait.

I know I should.

But I’m not going too.

Not now.

Not when I’ve waited so long.

Not when she’s waited so long.

Not when she’s right here within my grasp and I can actually do something. I can actually save one of them.

I walk down the hallway. I can hear the chatter of children around me, I can see them too, playing in the fields, it looks like they’re in the midst of a game of football.

Holden is beside me. Ben is behind because this building is too old and narrow for us to walk three abreast.

We planned this out, planned this exact school, I just didn’t expect Ty to be able to set it in motion so quickly. Apparently Darius was more than happy to ship my child off and I don’t want to think about what it will do to Rose to have separated them.

When we reach the headmaster’s office I rap my knuckles on the door.

A curt answer comes through the wood and we walk in.

He’s sat behind a huge antique desk, not unlike the one my father had. He frowns taking the three of us in.

I know ordinarily three men wouldn’t be able to walk into a school unchecked and I can see he’s disarmed by it.

“Who are you?” He asks.

I draw myself up. Sliding a photo across the desk.

“This girl was just sent here, correct?”

He glances down then looks at me. “I can’t confirm…”

“You will.” I snap back. “This girl is my daughter.”

He shakes his head. “No, the girl is…”

I cut across him again. “I’m not here for a conversation.”

“If you think I will hand her over...”

“You will.” I state.

He narrows his eyes. “We have a duty of care. The parents of this school expect their children to be safe here.”

“I’m not disputing that.” I reply, pulling out a seat, sinking into it. I’ll try a different tactic, see how this works if he wants to be difficult.