Page 6 of Legions

“Thatcher,” she said my name as if a plea, and her small hand touched the one I had on her throat.

“I’m listening, little doll.”

“Jesus, Thatcher, you don’t want to hurt her. Stop,” Sebastian said behind me.

A dark chuckle came from deep in my chest, but I didn’t look at him. I tilted my head as I held Capri’s gaze.

“He isn’t hurting me,” Capri told him but kept her eyes on me. She knew that I wasn’t in a state of mind that I could handle her looking at anyone else. Even my brother. “It’s fine. You can go.”

The sour scent that met my nose registered in my thoughts, and I turned my head to look for the source. Vomit was inches away behind Capri. My attention snapped back to her. I needed answers now.

“You’re sick?”

She shook her head barely. “No, but the things you did.” She stopped, and her eyes turned a darker shade of gray.

“What things?” I asked this time instead of who had told her. I’d find that out on my own. I just needed to know what it was that had her so upset she was throwing up.

“Les,” she said his name on a whisper. Her gaze watched my face as if it would give her the answers.Ah, my little doll, you should know me better than that by now. My reactions were never displayed on my face.

“Touched you,” I told her. “No one is allowed to touch you.”

She closed her eyes a moment and took a deep breath. “Thatcher,” she said my name as they opened back up. “I don’t even remember him touching me. If he did, it was an accident. Or because he was helping me with a horse. I don’t know. But his finger,” she said the last word and winced. “That’s not okay. Ihave to live with that. Me. That is my fault.”

The agony in her eyes felt as if she was ripping open my chest.

“Nothing I do is your fault,” I told her, sliding my hand down to her collarbone and then her arm. “It was one finger. Not his hand.” It would have been if King hadn’t shown up and snapped me out of it. I’d been set on taking every finger slowly before I took his hand off at the wrist.

“That’s not okay,” she said, raising her voice. “Can’t you see how that is not okay? It is… it’s messed up.”

Perhaps, but so was I.

“Christopher,” she said his name, and her eyes glistened with tears.

It felt as if ants covered every inch of my body. “Don’t cry over another man,” the growl tore from me, and my grip on her arm was too tight. But I couldn’t make myself release her.

“I’m not,” she whispered. “I’m crying because of what you did to him. Again, because of me. I have to live with that, Thatcher. The weight of it makes it hard for me to take a deep breath.”

With my hold on her arm, I shook her. Not too hard. Just enough to get it through to her that my sins weren’t hers. “NO,” I snarled the word. “My actions are not yours to carry.”

She let out a small sob, and I released her arm, afraid I was hurting her. Panic at the thought I’d held her too tightly edged into my current rage, and I took her wrist to hold her arm out for my inspection.

“You didn’t hurt me,” her tone was a mix of frustration and sorrow.

There was a red mark where my hand had been. The roaring in my head made it hard for me to focus on anything else.

“What did you do to JB?” she asked me.

My eyes snapped back to her face. Hearing her say his name pushed me over an edge I had been teetering on. The lips I worshiped were too holy to speak a name so unworthy. I turnedand began to stalk away toward the stables. I’d find my answers that she wouldn’t give. They would all talk until I knew whose tongue would be removed with my blade.

“Thatcher!” she called my name, but I didn’t stop. My little doll had been damaged by my deeds—things she should have never known. I wasn’t sure how to fix her, but I would be able to think clearly once the guilty had paid.

“Thatcher! Where are you going?” she cried out behind me.

“To seek my vengeance,” I said in a low voice that she couldn’t hear. One she wouldn’t recognize.

“KING! HELP!” Her shout caused me to pause. My little doll asking another man for help wasn’t what I needed right now, not if I was going to keep from burning down the stables and everyone in them.

I turned my head to see King walking toward me. His brows were drawn together, and his eyes were locked on me. Storm was behind him, flanking his left, and Wells was on his right, which made me grin. I ran a thumb over my bottom lip and chuckled.Was this the Calvary?

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