Page 51 of Ravage
This one only hits his shoulder, and aside from roaring in pain or anger, he doesn’t seem fazed by it.
I’m down to one more throwing knife and my dagger in my boot.
Against five more guys.
Someone grabs me from behind, and I cry out when my arms are yanked painfully behind me. Another jab from a needle bruises my neck.
Nope.
I’m done.
I don’t care how much my hands hurt; my body hurts. I don’t care that it feels like I’m burning myself alive inside my skin right now.
I draw every ounce of my gift up under my skin until I’m a goddamn lightning bug and listen to the screams of the man who’d been holding me. The syringe in my neck crumbles to the sand. The knife in my hand is gone too, but it’s a loss I’ll take over the possibility of being knocked out by whatever is in these syringes.
I leap at the next guy, wrapping my body around him.
His screams of terror pierce my ears, and he punches and claws at me, drawing blood from my arms, but I don’t relent. The others move up around us, but they don’t intervene. What can they do? Pull me off and risk my gift?
Once this one is well and done, I drop down and run at the next one.
A gunshot rings in my ears, and concentrated fire sears into my shoulder. My gift flickers and dies as I stumble and reach for the injury. I pull my hand away, and there’s blood on my fingers.
Ah, shit.
I yell and run at them anyway, refusing to give up until my last breath.
One of them falls to the ground, but I’m too preoccupied with pulling out the dagger in my boot and launching myself at one of the guys to see what happened to him. I aim for his eye, but he grabs my wrist to hold me back. His foot kicks out my legs, and he falls on top of me, pinning me to the sand.
My arms are shaking with the effort to stab him, but he’s much stronger than me and not only holds me back, but starts to twist my wrists to the side at a painful angle. I cry out and release the dagger.
He drops on top of me, and all the breath in my body leaves me in a wheeze. I pause for a second when I realize he’s not moving and then peek around him.
Black combat boots greet me.
The guy on top of me rolls away, and I take a deep lungful of air.
A hand in fingerless gloves appears before my face, and I reach for it. A cool breeze sweeps across my heated skin, and I remember that my gift might still be charged. I push off of the ground instead.
Jackson doesn’t get angry or snap at me for refusing his offer. He merely tilts his head to the side and watches me. His cerulean gaze is intense and laser-focused on me. It’s not asking or demanding anything from me. He’s just…there if I need him.
I swallow and hold my hands to my chest. Even though he didn’t ask, my gratefulness for his help loosens my tongue. “Sorry. I’m not sure I’m…off…yet.”
He smiles at me, the kind where it exposes the dimple in his left cheek, and brings his hand up to my face.
I step back on reflex, baffled that he’d try to touch me after what I’d admitted.
“You won’t hurt me,” he murmurs softly. I don’t understand how he can have that much trust in me after everything I’ve done. And after not knowing me over the last six years. How can he believe that?
“I might, Jack. You shouldn’t touch me yet.” I’m not sure why I added ‘yet’ at the end of that. He shouldn’t touch me at all.
But I’d be lying if I said my body wasn’t trying to push me toward him. I’m drawn to his self-assuredness and calm confidence. I want to wrap myself up in it like a blanket and take a long, deep breath that I’ve gone years without. To wear his inner strength like armor where nothing and no one can touch me.
He’s like a boulder in the ocean, standing tall and strong no matter the temper of the sea crashing against it. That’s what Jackson feels like. And for once, I’d like to hold on to something that won’t break under the waves and will keep me above water.
Jackson’s smile tilts to more of a smirk, and he touches his palm to my cheek anyway.
I’m tempted to jump back, my body trembling from both fear of hurting him and exhaustion. I try to check in with my gift, make sure it’s fully contained and dormant, but when he doesn’t show any sign of pain, I release a breath.
