Atticus's face reddens. "It could be if your lazy ass dumped him in a shallow grave and Ellie dug him up and exposed him to the elements."
Seven flinches.
"Goddamn it, Sev. We said no more bodies on the property."
Ellie whines with impatience, bouncing on her front paws as she waits for Seven to throw her the bone.
Seven pulls himself out of the pool, back muscles rippling beneath ink, and shoulders past Atticus. He walks the bone to the small wooden hut that contains a steam sauna and pulls out a pressure hose from behind it. He starts to clean it off, fingers checking it over for any sharp bits. He's completely unbothered by the fact Atticus is chasing him down, looking like he's about five seconds from blowing his top.
"Where did you put him?"
"Drop it, Atty."
"No, you fucking said you would handle it. Itoldyou not to bury his ass here. Why do you always have to?—"
"Atticus," Elijah interrupts, ever the voice of reason, but Atty's not in the reasoning mood. The way his fists clench, how his eyes darken and his chest expands…
It's like fingernails picking at a fresh scab, until I remember in visceral clarity what it felt like to have that rage directed at me. My jaw locks.
Elijah twines his fingers with mine under the water as Atticus continues to lay into Seven for being 'so fucking irresponsible and lazy', but if he doesn't shut the fuck up soon, even Elijah's steadiness won't be enough to keep me anchored here.
He isn't supposed to exist.
Not to me.
But right now, all I see is an asshole shouting at myman.
When I walk forward in the water, Elijah's hand on mine squeezes. "It's all right, Angel."
"We agreed," Atticus roars at Seven. "And now who knows how many of that fuckface's bones are scattered around the property."
Seven shuts off the water and flicks the bone to cast off the excess droplets. "Dude,relax."
He whistles for Ellie and lifts the bone in a taunting wave overhead.
She yips in excitement, doing a twirl on the spot, keeping her keen eyes fixed on the clean chunk of Jesse in Seven's grip.
"Don't you dare," Atticus hisses.
But Seven only smirks, his brows rising in challenge as he and Atticus face off on the pool deck.
"You really need to lighten up, Atty," Seven says, and then twists to hurl the bone as far into the trees as he can, sending a happy Ellie scampering off after it.
Atticus turns to watch it vanish into the wall of pines, his nostrils flaring.
Then he's ripping off his apron, and throwing the metal spatula onto the counter next to the smoking barbecue to stalk after Eleven into the trees.
"Don't," I snap, and the sound of my voice directed at himfor the first time in ten days makes him falter. His jaw works as he decides whether to listen. Whether to hear a voice that shouldn't exist.
He twists his head to look right at me, his stare burrowing beneath my skin in a way that makes me squirm, but I don't look away. His lips part like he might speak, but I shake my head. Giving him another warning.
"Leave it," I hiss, and a muscle twitches beneath his right eye as he unfurls to his full height, every muscle taut and rippling with his frustration.
For one fleeting second, I think he might shout at me, and a small part of me hopes he does so I can say all the horrible things I've been holding back this past week.
Instead he rips his gaze away and mutters, "I was just thinking about Ellie," and pivots on his heel, storming away.
The glass rattles in the pane of the cabin door as he slams it behind him.
