Page 134 of Forged in Rain

I’m in a hole with a dead fucking body.

Panting, I stare into the nothing before me, and then I go blank, my screams echoing in my head.

“Rain!” Cyn roars.

A beam of light catches on my face, and I pause, looking up at Cyn. He’s blocked by the light, but I whimper, reaching out to him.

“Rain,” he breathes.

“C-cyn,” I say, my teeth chattering. “T-there’s something here.”

“Okay, sh,” he says, moving the light around the hole.

Falling back, I meet the filmy, wide eyes of the dead and scream because it’s my father’s lifeless gaze staring back at me.

“Shit, Rain.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The guys scramble to find a rope, but Cyn slides down the hole in the meantime, wrapping me up in his embrace.

I shudder and burrow against him, my throat raw as I whimper, “Joey.”

“We found him,” he says roughly, sitting on the ground and hugging me tightly.

“My dad . . .”

“I know, love. I know,” he soothes. I don’t know how long it takes, while I fight the hysteria pushing at my throat, but eventually, Cyn is speaking, and I look at him blankly.

“You have to grab the rope, beauty. I’ll hoist from this end, and Bastion is pulling from that end.” He points above him and, blinking, I nod. My limbs fail me when I stand, but Cyn grabs me up and hands me the rope. Wrapping my hands around it, I focus on the rough feel against my skin and tighten my grip, but immediately I slip when Bastion starts to pull.

With a sob, I let go, grabbing the wall before me and burying my face in the dirt. But Cyn is having none of it and he grabs me around the waist and says fiercely, “Rain, I need you to hold the rope. That’s right, love. I’ve got you.”

With his hands around my waist, he lifts me, and I grasp the rope, turning my head away from where my dad rests in a dirt hole. Bastion pulls me free, and I roll over, staring at the sky. The stars shine like beacons overhead, but all I can see are his sightless eyes.

After a series of grunts, Cyn is above me and he picks me up and carries me back to the cabin, now lit up in a soft glow. Once inside, I see Mom lying on the couch, with Jig hovering over her. His face is a mask of concentration, but it’s the fear etched into the lines around his mouth and eyes that catches at my heart.

She’s going to die.

Movement catches my eye and a head peeks from beyond the couch, the pretty hue of his eyes wide with terror. Sobbing, I struggle in Cyn’s grip and he drops me to my feet. Immediately, I rush around the couch and fall to the floor before hugging Joey to me.

“Rainy,” he sobs.

“Sh,” I say, resting my head against his.

Fuck. With tears rolling down my face, I rock him slowly as the guy’s orbit around me. Joey’s thin frame shakes uncontrollably, and closing my eyes, I wish away the rage making me stiff. There’s time for that later when my family is out of this hellhole.

John is more fucking insane than I thought. Because of him, my dad died stuck in that hole or was put there after his death. I don’t know, but I plan to show that ass wipe of an uncle the error of his ways . . . really fucking slowly.

Eventually, Cyn crouches before me and says, in a low tone, “We have to go. Your mom needs medical attention.”

Nodding, I help a sleepy Joey to stand, my heart squeezing with love as Jig gently picks up my mom and carries her to the SUV. At the door, I hesitate and look back to where my dad lays with a frown, but Cyn appears over my shoulder and says fiercely, “We’ll be back, I promise.”

Searching his gaze, I nod and step inside, pulling my brother into my arms.

∞∞∞

The next few hours are a blur. Mom is admitted to the hospital. Joey is checked out, and other than a few bumps, bruises, and dehydration, he’s physically fine. Mentally, who knows?

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