Thunder (Hell's Handlers MC #10) - Lilly Atlas Page 0,3
that had her focusing on his face. “You don’t understand.”
Dread rolled through her empty stomach forcing bile up her esophagus. She swallowed, wincing as the acid burned. “What don’t I?”
“H-he wants Cathryn,” Eric whispered.
She shook her head. His words struck a cold bolt of fear deep into her gut, yet at the same time, her brain rejected the statement as impossible. “She’s fourteen. It’s not—they’ve never—”
Eric nodded. “I know.”
“Father said no, right? He’s crazy, but even he’s never gone that far off the deep end. Please tell me he said no.” If she could have, she’d have crawled across the floor and knelt at Eric’s feet, begging him to tell her their father refused Roger’s demand.
“He agreed.”
Delilah sagged. “Oh, my God. We have to get out of here. Now.”
“First thing I did was grab the money and get the kids packed. They’re ready to go. We need to leave tonight, but, God, Delilah, you look awful.”
She let her eyes fall closed as she huffed out a painful laugh. “Thanks, Eric. You’re sweet.”
“You know what I mean. I’ve never seen you so bruised. How could he do this? I wish I could kill him. I’m not even kidding. If Roger or father walked in right now—”
“Shhh,” she reached out as though to soothe him, grinding her teeth as her ribs protested. “Rae is right against your heart. She takes comfort in its strong, steady beat. You need to stay even. Okay?”
Eric blew out a breath. “Yeah, okay. I’m calm.” He may have settled, but his eyes still held a violent hatred she’d never seen in him.
Delilah made her decision.
They’d be leaving that night. Right then. No matter how excruciating, she’d make it. They couldn’t stay. She would die before allowing Roger to get his hands on her fourteen-year-old sister. And Eric’s threats against their father and husband weren’t idle. They were born of a desperation cultivated from years of torment and abuse. Though she was the community’s black sheep and rebellious troublemaker, Eric had it even harder. As a son of the community’s founder, he was groomed to run the place one day. Everything he did and said reflected on their father, and Eric was never given a chance to forget that fact. He’d been mistreated his whole life not only by being hit, but powerful verbal abuse and violent, deadly training a young boy should never suffer through. He had the skills to carry through on his threat. Though she wouldn’t mourn the bastard should Eric eliminate their father, she wouldn’t survive without her beloved brother at her side either behind the walls of the community or in the real world.
“Help me up.” She extended a hand, smiling through the pain.
Eric frowned and shook his head. Clearly, she’d fooled him about as well as she fooled herself. “Del—”
“Shh,” she said, harsher this time. The exhaled sound rumbled through her chest as though a steam roller were crushing her ribs. “I-I’m all right. Just bruised and sore.”
Lies. She was pretty sure Roger had broken at least one of her ribs.
Eric gripped her forearm, and she did the same to him, only her hand barely made it halfway around his bulging muscle.
“Okay, pull me up.”
With a furrowed brow and eyes that spoke his disapproval, he hauled her to her feet in a swift, rip-off-the-Band-Aid move.
Delilah bit her lower lip as the pain in her chest stole her ability to breathe. Once upright, she grabbed Eric’s sides and bowed her head as she puffed through the anguish. Shallow breaths were all she could manage. Each one made her dizzy.
“Jesus, Delilah, we can’t—”
She lifted her head. “I’m okay,” she said, though her strained voice sounded anything but.
Eric rolled his eyes in a move so typically teenager, it gave her hope a young man still lived inside the world-weary expressions and man’s body Eric had.
“Here, give me Rae.” She motioned to herself with her hands.
“What? No. Are you crazy? You can’t carry the baby.” He took a step back, shaking his head.
This was something she couldn’t back down on. With her injured, Eric would end up doing more than his share of the work. She needed to carry her own weight and at least some of the others if they were to have any chance of success. “Eric, I’ll be fine. She’s tiny. I won’t be able to help the others climb the fence. You’ll need to do that. So hand Rae to me. I can manage her.”