Page 27 of Ravage
Elias moves to my side almost protectively, and Aiden visibly stiffens. Annoyed that I may have an ally? “I see. Well, I’ve been looking for my date for a while now, so I hope you won’t mind that I’ll be stealing her back.” He smiles tightly and takes my hand in his. I let him because there’s nothing more I have to say to Aiden anyway. He squeezes my hand, but I’m not fluent in what the heck that means, so I squeeze it back to say that I’m fine.
Elias pulls me away from Aiden without another word. My neck prickles with the feeling of him watching us all the way down the hall. I hate giving him my back after just declaring us as enemies, but it’s also good to show him that I’m not scared of him.
Not now. Not ever.
Chapter eight
Raegan
Elias doesn’t ask me about what happened, and we continue on our hunt for information. But my mind isn’t so forgiving and keeps running back over what Aiden said, and I’m only getting more and more distracted as it stews and festers. When I make a snarky remark to the current person we’re talking to, Elias apologizes and excuses us.
“Go take a breath outside. Or are we done here?” he asks calmly. There’s no hint of sarcasm or annoyance at my behavior. This man has the patience of a saint.
I nod. “Let me take a quick break, then I should be okay to keep going.”
“There’s a side exit over there that should be quiet. I’ll wait just inside the door to make sure no one follows you out.”
Ugh. Why was I attracted to Aiden shoving me against a wall but not Elias being considerate of me?
I’m definitely broken.
He guides me to the door and stands off to the side. I open it and am instantly hit with the soft, cool breeze of the evening. I take a gulp of fresh air and already feel like my head is clearer. I keep walking away from the building until there’s some space around me. A single light above the door illuminates the area I’m standing in while the rest of the alley is dressed in shadows.
I clench my fist to my chest, trying to calm the frantic beat of my heart that hasn’t settled since being near Aiden. He’s thrown me off my game. I can’t concentrate on what I’m supposed to be doing here, when all I can think about is how my body reacted to him. How it was drawn to him as much as it always had been. Like coming home.
And then having reality slap me in the face with the undeniable truth of all I am to them now.
Their enemy.
I knew I had to stay away from them. Hearing his voice one more time, feeling his body against mine…that’s all it took to stir up the longing and regret I’ve been avoiding since I last saw them.
I slowly bunch my dress up to check for my weapons, only to feel something strange where my gun should be. I pull it out and then stare at the disfigured metal that comes out instead.
What.
The.
Fuck.
How dare he use his gift to warp my one good weapon. I stole it from the first Gifted Enterprise goon I took down on my own three years ago. It’s my only long-distance weapon. The one that’s gotten me out of too many bad situations to count. My one gun I used to keep myself safe and take out the recruiters. Aiden, that son of a bitch!
I throw the mutilated metal away from me and start cursing him eight ways ‘til Sunday.
Now how am I going to get out of close calls without it? While I’d like to say that I’ve gotten better at this, I know I still make mistakes. But at least I had that to get me out quickly and have the chance to escape and start over again somewhere else.
Not only is he distracting me, but he’s putting extra road blocks in my way.
“Aiden make that piece of art for you?” a deep voice drawls from the shadows.
I reach for two of my knives and turn toward the, unfortunately, familiar voice. I’m expecting a man of six feet to come out of the darkness, but a built, six-foot-four man steps out instead, wearing Kellan’s face.
There’s a cigarette dangling from his lips and a full bottle of whiskey clutched in his right hand. His beard is long and overgrown, his dark brown hair shaggy, and I’d call him a mountain man or Yeti if I didn’t recognize the twinkling blue-green eyes staring back at me.
He looks…terrible.
There’s a second of hesitation as I take that in while comparing him to the Kellan I remember. What happened to him? Why did Aiden look put together while Kell looks like he’s been through hell?
I shake those thoughts from my mind as I think back to Aiden. I’m their enemy and I can’t let my guard down. I’ve already lost my focus and my one gun because of Aiden. I can’t afford to lose anything else with Kellan.
