Page 27 of Overcast

My fingers itch and burn to just snatch her up by her neck and make her tell me.

Ignoring me isn’t going to get her anywhere, but my temper taking a leading role in this conversation.

“Please…”

Another fucking beg for her life—geezus Christ.

Rubbing one of my temples, I demand the thin strand of patience that I still have to stay put. “It’s a simple question, blondie.”

She doesn’t move, I don’t think she’s breathing. Emric is one hell of an asshole, and he plays well when Marty is struggling to keep his feelings in check.

“Stormi.”

My brows knit. That word, name, adjective.

Let’s go...we need...Stormi.It’s all I remember Hollis yelling over the door of his forest-green pickup truck.

Five words.

And one that fits perfectly with the woman cowered down in front of me.

It just blundered the final nail in her coffin.

She was there.

Her name was called out.

“That’s...different,” I force from my lips like I give two fucks what her name is. Her nickname is now “dead” to me.

“I didn’t do anything,” she utters. “I didn’t hurt anyone.”

“Stormi.” It’s a sour taste on my tongue, but it comes out normal, collected. “Look at me.”

Her neck then slowly cranes up, blue irises slamming forcefully into mine.

I don’t know if she even realizes what those eyes can do to a man, but my inhale skips as they practically glow under the shitty-ass lighting of this dungeon Mills calls a basement.

She seems so innocent. So guiltless that I tug in a deep and steady breath.

Appearances aren’t everything.

It’s what lies underneath to really spell out who a person is.

How they tick and react to certain things or events like this. Stormi can act all day long, but she fails to notice that the truths are laid out in front of us.

My eyes picked her up.

I watched my sister struggle for her life under calm waves as she frantically tried to survive.

For Huck.

For Wade.

For me.

I remember my heart thrashing into my chest. I recall not being able to breathe in fear that I wouldn’t reach her in time. It’s extracted from my brain every single moment I’m faced with the woman in my grasp.

“You need to eat.”

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