Page 112 of What Lies Within

RAE

“Jesus.” I slam my head back on the cushion. “I can’t handle this shit.” Hand to my breastbone, I press against the thrashing organ behind. “How do you do this?”

Maddie sighs, spread-eagle on the sofa to my left, one arm over her forehead, shielding her eyes. “Got no choice, right?”

Harvey paces back and forth before the fire, Jamie’s keen gaze on him as he moves.

"You'll be okay." Digger lifts one of my feet, which rests on his muscular thighs, and massages the sole through my socks. "He'll be okay."

He stares vacantly into the dying fire as he says this, as though Harvey’s transient legs don’t exist.

He's been lost in his head since Minion refused to let him leave and find Tyke. The conflict is clear as day on his handsome face, highlighted in the knit of his brow and the darkness in his eyes. He wanted to be there to help, but he was ordered to stand down.

I feel responsible.

If I weren’t here, he’d be down that road already, wind thrashing him as he pushes his bike to the limit to catch up. ButI am, so instead of standing at his brother's side, ensuring his safety, Digger is here—babysitting me.

I suck in a deep breath and push my insecurities aside. “Anything I can do?”

“Naw.” Digger slides his hand along my shin, gaze tracking the movement. “Just havin’ you close is enough.”

When it reaches my knee, I trap his hand beneath mine, threading my fingers between his.

He glances up, seemingly unsure, as he regards me from beneath his brow.

I’m trapped by his hunter’s eyes; the intensity of his bright irises hypnotizes me and renders me useless against his charm.

He’s not even trying.

Jamie clears her throat. “So…”

I break away from Digger mentally undressing me, and twist a little to look at her.

"Are we going to sit around all day like mothers waiting for their sons to return from war? Or are we gonna do something?"

“What do you suggest exactly?” Harvey stalls, shakes his head, then resumes his incessant pacing.

“Fucked if I know,” she exclaims with a toss of her hands. “Just, like, shouldn’t we prepare for what comes next… however this thing ends?”

She means what comes next if TykeorTerry wins.

What comes next when one of them dies?

Fuck.Panic surges through me, the adrenalin scratching at my skin as it races toward my fingertips and toes. I can’t just sit here, reveling in Digger's attention, while Tyke battles for us.

For me.

"You're right." I pull my foot free and swivel to sit on the seat properly. "Let's think." Elbows to knees, I lean in and run my mental thumb over the index cards of my brain. "Maybe it's saferfor us to be here right now, but there's got to be something we can do to support them. From here."

“Yeah.” Harvey stalls again, wagging a finger at me. “Like some sort of support crew.”

"I know what you're all gettin' at." Digger sighs. "But it ain't that simple."

"Why not?" I turn my head and frown.

He licks his lips, gaze fixed on mine. "Because you need to know what's happenin' there to be sure what you do here doesn't do more harm than good."

“Explain.” Jamie folds her arms high over her chest.

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