Page 52 of Ravage
“Jack—” I start to chastise.
“You should trust yourself more, Raegan.” His thumb grazes across my cheekbone. Then his hand slides down to my neck, leaving warmth and tingling in its wake. My pulse beats erratically against his hand. He’s stepped up close, so there’s barely any air between us, but only his hand is actually making any contact.
“I know you’d never hurt me like that.” His eyes lock onto mine, and it feels like he’s peering straight into my soul. “You can trust yourself with me. Like you used to.”
His other arm presses into my lower back, and he pulls me against him. I stiffen at the unexpected, but familiar, embrace. He buries his nose in my neck and inhales like he’s taking a drag of a cigarette.
But it’s of me.
A shiver rolls from my neck to my toes and forces them to curl to do something with the feeling.
Jackson wraps himself around me while I’m frozen like a rabbit in the eyes of a wolf. The smell of autumn surrounds me while his clothes block out any light from the moon or stars until I’m enveloped in him. His hold tightens, and while I’d think that would make me more concerned, it has the complete opposite effect, and my body melts into him instead.
I press into him, my hands burying themselves in his hoodie as the fear and adrenaline begins to drain from my body.
“Come back to the safehouse with me. You can get cleaned up there, and I can patch you up.”
“If the others are there…”
“They’re not. We live in the Tower.” He points to the tallest building in the city skyline that’s visible from nearly everywhere in the city. It’s also oddly the one that Elias had pointed out as where some Guild works out of.
He holds my arm, and I look at the bullet wound. It just grazed me, which is good news. But when I check Jackson’s expression, his face is pulled down in a frown.
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen him frown.
“What?”
His eyes snap back to mine. “This shouldn’t have happened. I should’ve been here sooner.”
I scoff and step away from him. “I’m surprised you were here at all. Thank you for that, by the way.” He still doesn’t look any more reassured, but I’m not sure what he expects of himself. He’s not my babysitter, and ordinarily, I don’t need one. I may have made it out of that encounter with my life, but it was a little too close.
They’re coming at me harder than before. More goons, better gifts.
The beach is now littered with bodies when I finally take the time to survey the aftermath. “What about them?”
Jackson shrugs and smiles. “I’ll take care of them in a bit.” He waves his hand, and one of the men lifts into the air. One by one, he moves the bodies into a boat. They’re all out of line and banging together now that the pier is gone and their ropes are floating on the water.
My knives come floating back, and I pick them out of the air and return them to their holster. “Which asshole had the gun?”
He raises his eyebrows at me, and I roll my eyes. “Aiden disfigured mine. I could have used a gun tonight.” He nods and takes my hand without hesitation, pulling me with him to walk closer to the boat with the bodies. That simple touch sends me right back to the island. His familiar hold on my hand makes me feel precious and protected.
He leaps toward the boat, using his gift to keep him aloft until he lands perfectly on the edge. Even as the vessel tips and rolls over the waves, his balance doesn’t waver. He picks through the guys and then sails back through the air. Jackson hands me two guns.
“You should have told me. I have plenty of weapons if you need them.”
I tuck them into my pants, double-checking first that their safeties are on. “Duly noted.” I smile, and his reciprocal smile is heart-melting.
Gah.
I don’t know what to believe about him anymore. If he hated me, why would he have come all the way out here to save me? Why is he acting like no time has passed between us? Like I didn’t kill Vera?
He must see the confusion in my expression because he chuckles and shakes his head at me. “You can ask me anything you want. I’m an open book.” Jackson pulls his hood up to hide his face again and sticks his hands in his hoodie pocket. For someone claiming to be so open, he sure looks closed off and untouchable from the outside.
But he always had, hadn’t he? He kept to himself, making his origami animals in our room or hanging back in class. He was more like a fly on the wall in every room, present but not making himself stand out. No, that’s not right. Maybe more like a raven. Always watching and observing everything happening in the room until he knew anything and everything about everyone. Ready to strike if needed, but content to do nothing until that time came.
“Why don’t you hate me? The others do, and I get it. But not you. I killed Vera. I’ve admitted it to you multiple times. She was one of us. Like a sister to both of us. But…you haven’t batted an eyelash over it.”
Jackson nods and runs his hand back and forth over his hair under the hood while gazing up at the stars. “Mm. Right. That.” His face angles back to gaze at me, his signature smile still there, and he shrugs. “I trust you.”
