Page 104 of Buried Beneath Sin

“Do you think I’m fucking stupid, Knox?” I hiss. “You’ve been dragging your feet from the start. You never wanted her around! This was your way of removing her from the equation, wasn’t it?”

Knox shakes his head frantically, causing his blond waves to swing with him.

“No! Thatcher, you have to believe me,” he whines, his face scrunching up in despair. “I know the rules. IpromisedI’d be good and?—”

“And yet here we fucking are! Waiting to see if she’ll live!” I roar.

Knox’s bright blue eyes widen as his face pales. “Thatcher, I want her to live too. I was wrong to?—”

Beatrix gasps, regaining consciousness abruptly. Relief floods me, and for a second, the world spins a little too swiftly. I must’ve barely been breathing, even while I wrung Knox out.As Sagan sits up, Beatrix jerks upright. Her eyes are wild and unseeing. Her arms shoot out as if to grab for something, and then she lets out an ear-splitting scream. The three of us flinch in surprise as the sound shoots off in every direction.

I compose myself faster than the others.

“Beatrix!Beatrix!” I shove Sagan out of the way and take his place beside her. I grab her shoulders and shake her gently. “You're ok! We got you.”

Rather than listen to me, Beatrix screams again. The sound echoes around us, bouncing off the woods and chasing across the hill. Fat, watery tears spill down her cheeks as her cry trails off and she sucks in a renewed breath to do it again.

“We need to get her inside,” Sagan states, getting to his feet.

I nod in agreement. This is going to draw too much attention. How would we possibly explain this to anyone if they pulled up right now? Determined to make this right, I allow my hands to slide down in order to pick her up. Immediately, Beatrix starts to fight me. Her hands come up and her fingers curve as she claws at my face as another screech of fear and rage slips past her pretty lips. I ignore her attack, jerking my head just out of reach as I scoop her up and get to my feet.

“Beatrix, it's ok now, you're out of there,” I murmur, lowering my voice as I attempt to get her to focus on me and my words rather than the fear that consumed her.

It doesn't work. Beatrix fights me, using her bloody hands to rake across my face, and she thrashes around madly. Her eyes, still unfocused, dart around as if to look for an escape as her body flails around in my grip.

“Here.” Knox pulls off his shirt and tries to cover her with it. The crop top hardly covers her chest, let alone the rest of her. I glare at him. “What? That's all I got. I left my jacket inside.”

Rather than acknowledge him, I turn and take off up the hill toward the house.

Over my shoulder, I call out, “Sagan?—”

“Already on it.” He rushes ahead of me, throwing open the front door and disappearing inside.

When I make it through the threshold, I can hear the water running through the pipes. The thundering of my footsteps up the stairs is echoed by Knox as he follows close behind.

“Starr Girl, I’m sorry! Calm down and I’ll explain!” he calls as she continues to struggle in my arms and scream like a banshee. “Jesus Christ, just chill out! It’s not that serious. Everything is ok. If you would just listen to?—”’

Knox’s words are cut off as he runs into my back after I come to an abrupt halt just outside Beatrix’s room.

“Shit, sorry, Thatch.”

“Get back down to Bright Starr, Knox,” I order through clenched teeth. “Someone needs to man the front in case anyone calls or walks in. If they do, just take their number, and I’ll deal with it when I get back down there. We'll talk later.”

Rather than wait for a reply, I move into her room and slam the door shut behind me using my foot—not bothering to acknowledge Knox's crestfallen expression. Sagan steps out of the bathroom. He looks down at our sister who continues to scream and flail about.

“I'll get the first aid kid,” he offers through clenched teeth.

I stare him incredulously. “Do you even know where one is?”

“I do!” Knox calls from the other side of the door.

Sagan and I exchange looks as Beatrix unexpectedly goes limp in my arms. I glance down to find her staring up at her bedroom ceiling, her eyes slightly glazed over and unseeing.

“Beatrix?” I call to her gently.

Her eyes slide to my face but don’t linger there as they move past me to look at something behind me. Or nothing. I’m not sure how much shock she’s in.

“I’ll go fetch it,” Sagan assures me before he leaves us be.

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