Page 100 of Raze
I look out at the room just in time to see shards of broken glass and ceramic flying our way. I drop the table on its side to take the hit with a curse, then turn to see more coming from the other direction.
“Get behind me!” I yell at the others, then widen my arms and chest to take up as much space as possible. I reach out to grab or knock into the shards further out from me, then position myself to take the largest group of them.
They hit me all at once, slamming into my chest, my stomach, and my arms and legs. The pain is nothing if I can take it for the others. I’ll take every one of them to keep them safe. I roar with defiance as the last of them hits me. I drop to my knees and growl when a shard there snaps and burrows deeper.
“Kell!”
I turn my head back to try offering her a smile, that I’m alright, but my vision swims from the pain, and I lose control of my balance. “Shit.”
I crash down on the floor, miraculously on my back, and I can feel hands yanking the projectiles out of me. As soon as the first one leaves, my gift kicks in there. Then the next. And the next. The furious flow of regeneration and scales starts taking over enough thatI blink my eyes and see Dane and Raegan hurrying to remove every last piece. Aiden stands guard behind them with his small shield.
It’s what I see standing beyond them that shocks me.
“What is this, Thorne?” Jackson’s voice is cold, dead. He’s asking a question, but it doesn’t sound at all like he actually cares about the answer. He’s standing on the kitchen island looking out over the room decimated by Thorne’s personal tornado. His hands are tucked in his hoodie pocket, and there’s an odd look as he takes it all in.
Thorne’s voice answers from the living area, but I can’t turn my head yet to look at him. I’m not even sure I would if I could. Because there is no way I’m looking away from Jackson right now. “Just keeping things interesting until you arrive.”
I’m about halfway healed now, but both Dane and Raegan freeze when Jack appears.
“Jack?” Raegan queries slowly.
His head slowly turns until his eyes fall on her. “Little one.” Jackson hops from the counter to the floor, and then he holds his hand out for her. “Come with me.”
She looks at his hand, and then Dane stands up in front of her. “Like fuck!”
“Jackson, what’s going on here?” Aiden asks calmly, as if he’s treating Jack like a rabid dog. He steps forward, trying to draw his attention when it doesn’t stray from Raegan.
“You know me,” Jack says, still talking directly to Raegan as if none of us are in the room.
She moves to stand, and I snatch her wrist. “No, beautiful. If hehas something to say to you, he can fucking say it right here. There’s no reason for you to go anywhere with him.” What hold does he have over her that she would willingly go to him after something like this?
All I know is that I can’t let her leave with him.Them. Because while we can’t be sure of whatever dynamics are happening between him and Thorne right now, there’s something there. Thorne hasn’t moved or attacked since Jackson arrived.
Raegan smiles softly at me, and my grip on her wrist tightens.No.
Her hand touches mine. “He won’t hurt me, Kell. I’ll be fine. Let me go.”
“Never,” I growl. “I told you that before, and I fucking meant it.”
Dane spins around and takes her elbow. “He’s clearly working with Thorne now. You can’t go with him. What if he takes you back to GE? I can’t—”
“Enough of this,” Thorne snaps and swings his hand. Everyone’s thrown apart from each other, and I grunt when the table flies at me, and I have my scaled forearm block it from crushing me.
I shove it off, only to see that Jackson now has his arm around Raegan, and they’re both standing on the kitchen counter. Thorne blasts wind above them to create a hole through the roof outside, and he leaves first.
“Jackson, don’t make me do this,” Aiden calls out to him before he can leave, too. His shield is now a spear that he has aimed at him. “Tell us what’s going on, and we can help. But you’re not taking her.”
Jack just smiles at him. Something clicks, and then I see the lighterin his other hand right before he tosses it on a pile of scattered papers on the floor. The fire catches and grows instantly, too fast, like he’s stoking it with his gift.
And then he and Raegan are gone.
Chapter twenty-six
Raegan
Jackson takes us ontothe roof, then sweeps his other arm under my knees so I’m cradled against his chest. “Hold on tight, little one.”
Thorne is standing there with his hands on his hips, smirking at me like he thinks this whole thing is too damn funny. I flip him the finger and then wrap my arms around Jack’s neck.
