Page 72 of Entombed In Sin

“Come on, Beatrix, breathe with me,” he urges before taking another deep breath.

My panic won’t subside. I swear I can feel the air thinning. Despite how cold it is outside, it’s hot in the trunk with our body heat. Hard sobs rock my frame, reminding me just how tight the space is as the top of my head skims across the metal side.

“Breathe, Beatrix,” Knox coos. “You’re going to make yourself sick, and if you think that’s going to get you out of this, then you’re sorely mistaken. Try to clear your head ’cause you’regoing to need it tonight. Thatcher looked deranged as fuck earlier—I should’ve known a punishment was coming.”

Nothing he’s saying is helping at all. I scream again.

Knox takes another deep, audible breath. Then another. The rise and fall of his chest finally breaks through my hysteria.

“I can’t do this, Knox,” I whimper softly.

“Yeah, you can,” he chuckles, the sound strained. “You’re tough, and you’ll get through it. You might notlikeit, but, hey, that’s how the twins do things.”

My next sob causes my whole body to jerk hard. Knox pulls me tighter against him. “W-what did I do?”

Knox hesitates. “ThatI’m not going to tell you. That’s cheating. I’ll get doubly punished, and I really don’t want that. But just take some comfort in the fact we’re gonna go through this together, ’kay? Trust me, being here in the dark is nothing compared to whatever Thatcher and Sagan have planned, so enjoy the down time.”

“I’m not going to play.” I shake my head. Panicked and angry tears trickle down my face as I think about what we could be facing. The different scenarios that flicker through my head only make me feel worse. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Well, you did,” Knox objects ruefully. “But after this, you won’t have to worry about getting punished for it again because you’ll have learned your lesson.”

I glare into the darkness as tears continue to spill down my cheeks. Knox’s hand slides up and down my arm again. The soothing gesture is both strange and nice.

Now that the panic has settled some, I can think. My head races as I consider my options. Once this car comes to a stop, I can do one of two things. The first is that I go along with whatever their punishment is. Whatever nightmare situation they’re concocting is probably worse than being buried alive. How? I don’t know, but I’m not willing to find out if I can helpit. Which leads me to option two: I fight back. The thought is startling. Since when do I retaliate? Then again, in what universe do I kill people? Drug guys or bathe in blood? Apparently this one.

It’s that thought I cling to as the car comes to a sudden stop.

“Oh fuck… Here we go,” Knox grumbles in my ear. “I wish they’d at least give me more time in between yours and theirs.”

I should’ve asked what Knox did to earn his punishment, but it’s too late now. At any moment, we’re about to be thrown into a new type of hell. I bite the inside of my cheek. I’ve made my decision. I know what I’m going to do. Squirming away, out of Knox’s arms, I mentally and physically brace myself.

As the trunk opens, I twist and fling myself upward at the person standing over me. All I know is that it’s one of the twins. That’s as much as my brain processes as I strike. My fingers curl into claws, and when I grab hold of their face, I make sure my nails dig deep. I can taste blood as my teeth sink into the crook of their neck.

I’m not gentle as I fight for the last pieces of sanity I still hold on to. If they put me through another punishment, I might lose what I have left.

A booming laugh startles me. The noise overpowers the swearing of the twin I’ve latched onto. As a pair of hands grip my hips, I push off on the twin I’ve attacked and kick out, then jerk my elbow into whoever is trying to pry me off. The satisfying sound of a grunt as my foot lands in someone’s gut only pleases me for a moment.

Someone grabs my flailing ankle as I try to kick out again. They tug hard. I screech as I’m yanked off one twin and thrown onto the ground. The cement is hard and knocks the breath out of my lungs. Whoever grabbed my leg still has it and twists it hard to one side. Pain flares up my leg and I scream, moving with the limb so it won’t break.

It’s the wrong move. I should’ve let it break. In this position, I’m on my stomach. I scream in terror as the laughter continues above me. The twins are havingfun. Fighting was the wrong choice. I should’ve tried to run. How could I have been so stupid? They’re feeding off my fear. Using my hands, I try to push up. A hand, placed in the middle of my back, pushes me back down to the ground. I rest my cheek on the cold, hard cement as I try to catch my breath.

“Well, that was an unexpected treat,” Thatcher says, laughing darkly from on top of me. “Knox, want to make a run for it? Make this evening more fun?”

Knox snorts. “Yeah, no. Sagan has that fucking glint in his eye I know too well. I’m good.”

“You’re notgood,” Thatcher spits out, his mood swiftly shifting. “That’s why you’re in this predicament in the first place. Now get out and lay down.”

“You could say ‘please,’ you know. Manners will—” Knox yelps, and a second later his body hits the ground a few feet away from me. I stare, wide-eyed, as Sagan places his foot in the middle of Knox’s back to keep him down. Knox thrashes, but it doesn’t do him any good. “Fucking hell, Sagan! Watch the face!”

“Here’s what’s going to happen, Little Sister,” Thatcher starts. He shifts over me so that his thighs straddle my waist. Leaning down, he growls into my ear, “Knox is participating in your punishment tonight, so take some comfort in knowing that our attention will be split between the two of you while we play Fox and the Hound.”

Knox swears. “Fox and the Hound? Damn it, I typically love this game! Am I going to be a hound tonight? The fox part isn’t as fun.”

“You’renot having the fun tonight, Pretty Boy.Weare,” Sagan assures him, his voice a growl that practically vibrates with excitement.

“I’m not playing! I didn’t do anything wrong!” I cry out.

The Hunt twins chuckle. The sound is ominous. Bumps rise and race down both of my arms and my back at their dark amusement.

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