Page 61 of Unraveling Connections

“Well done, Princess,” Atlas says, sounding proud of me even though it is really not a big deal that I opened a box.

“Thank you,” I reply anyway because I kind of like the praise and I melt every time he calls me princess. “You guys need to come and help me lift the lid off though, one because it looks really fucking heavy and two because I’m terrified about what’s in here.”

“Alright, give us a second,” Atlas says as they both move around the box so we can pick it up easier. Once they are in place, Atlas adds, “Okay, I’m going to lift this corner slightly, and I need one of you to just shine a torch under it without lifting it any more so that we can make sure that there aren’t any trip wires or anything in here, that could be set off if we lift the lid any higher.”

“Got it,” I reply.

I move over to where Atlas is standing and crouch slightly getting ready to shine the torch inside. Fortunately, we alwayscarry a small one on us wherever we go, as we need them more often than you would think.

“Ready?” Atlas asks, and Pete moves next to me so that he can see too, we both nod.

I shine my torch under and scream, launching myself backward as Peter yells as well, and Atlas quickly shuts the lid; I am fucking shaking and absolutely terrified.

Atlas crouches down in front of me as a thunder of boots heads our way, “Ever, what is wrong? What did you see?”

“Eyes,” I reply, finally moving my gaze away from the box and looking at him, his eyes widen.

“What’s going on?” Trick demands, as he arrives with the rest of my guys and a couple of other agents.

“Eyes,” I repeat. When everyone looks at me curiously and slightly disturbed, I realize that I need to put my big girl pants on and tell them in more detail what happened. I glance at Pete who is white as a ghost, and hold out my hand to him, he grips it tightly. I would stand up so they aren’t all towering over me but quite honestly, I am completely unsure whether my legs will hold me right now, so sitting on the floor it is.

“Ever?” Cash says gently, kneeling next to Atlas.

Both of them look extremely concerned, and I know that I must be showing my fear on my face.

I take a deep calming breath and push everything away, burying it slightly, not like I used to do but enough that I can talk and explain things properly.

I start from the beginning since no one else was with us, “We decided to open up one of the crates to see what was inside and what Hunt has been up to in here. When we finally pried the lid free enough to lift, Atlas suggested that we lift one corner and shine the torch underneath to see if they were booby-trapped and if we could trigger something by lifting the lid any further. Pete and I both got in position and shone the torches in the smallgap,” I swallow, and Pete squeezes my hand, “the torch showed eyes, human eyes.”

“There’s a person in the box?” Riot asks, sounding horrified.

I nod.

“Dead?” Jensen asks.

“I have no idea, it shocked the shit out of me, and I screamed,” I reply honestly; I would feel ashamed about my reaction, but honestly, I challenge anyone to look into a box and see dark eyes staring back at you and not freak the fuck out.

Trick stands tall, and immediately starts issuing orders, “Okay, those who aren’t a part of my team, head back to the vehicles and see if you can find some crowbars or something to open the other crates, if there is a body in this crate then we’re going to need to open some more to confirm whether it’s a one off or if they have all got bodies in them, and if not then we still need to open a few to get an idea of we’re dealing with.”

They all nod and jog away, we need to know what is in these boxes and what we are dealing with once we are alone Trick drops his leader persona entirely.

“We’ll figure it out, Sweetheart,” he says, “you and Pete stand back, and we’ll lift the lid and see what we’re dealing with.”

“I need to see, I know what’s in there now, or at least what I think is in there, I need to see for myself,” I reply.

Trick studies me closely, clearly not liking the idea since I reacted how I did the first time, but he nods, “Okay. We will lift it.”

“Did you see anything that would indicate that it was rigged?” Luc asks me gently.

“No, I didn’t but I was startled by the eyes so double check,” I reply and then add, “I really hope I was seeing things and there weren’t any eyes.”

“I hope so, too,” Luc says as he pulls me into a comforting embrace and kisses the top of my head. “We will sort it, no matter what’s in there, it’s what we do, okay?”

I nod, and stand up pulling Pete to stand up with me, while the guys move back over to the crate I turn to him and say, “You don’t have to look again, you can stay over here and I’ll just look and tell you what’s in there if you want me to.”

He looks uncertain for a moment before he pushes his shoulders back and shakes his head, “No, I’m with you I need to see too. I think my mind will make up something ten times worse if I don’t see it with my own eyes. You never know we might be wrong.”

“Both of us?” I ask and then add in a whisper, “I’m worried that my mind is actually being kind and what we’re about to find is so much worse than we thought.”

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