Page 101 of Raze
Just because I’m putting my trust in Jackson doesn’t mean I plan on playing nice for Thorne. Maybe I’ll find a chance to kill him while his guard is down.
Jackson leaps into the air, and I gasp and cling tighter to him once we’re airborne. A smirk tugs at his lips, telling me he caught my reaction, but he says nothing.
I’ll wait until we’re alone before finding out what the fuck Jackson’s gotten himself into and what the plan is.
I wish I could say it was a smooth journey, but both Jack and Thorne don’t waste their gift simply flying us through the sky. Instead, it’s like they give themselves a boost every time they touchdown, then soar through the air until their feet land on something—a building, tree, whatever—and then shoot back up.
At first, I try to keep track of where we’re going. But the city looks completely different from up here, and after only five minutes, I’ve already lost where we’ve come from, let alone where we might be going. I bury my face into Jack’s neck instead, soaking in his scent and grounding myself against him while my stomach rides this roller coaster over and over again.
Eventually, I doze off. I don’t know how long we’d been flying for. An hour? Two? It feels like forever, and with nothing better to do and coming in so late this morning, my body conks out.
I wake up to the smell of salt and brine. I prepare to open my eyes, but stop when I realize we’ve stopped flying.
“We can chat after I’ve gotten her settled,” Jackson tells someone, his dark voice vibrating against my ear.
There’s a loud scoff. “I’m not sure what you see in a girl who falls asleep after being kidnapped.”Ugh. Thorne.
“Good,” Jack retorts calmly. “There’s nothing for you to see in her other than your lifeline.”
We start moving, but I keep my eyes closed in case there’s anyone else around. I focus on my other senses instead. The smell of the ocean isn’t as strong now, like we’ve gone inside, but I’m sure we’re on the coast somewhere.
The air outside felt cool, with the usual ocean breeze, but I didn’t feel any sunlight. So, is it after dark now?
“I know you’re awake,” Jackson interrupts my thoughts. A door creaks open and then shuts behind us. He sets me down on my feet,and I blink to gather my bearings.
We’re in a small room with a twin bed against the far wall under a circular window. There’s a desk next to a closet on one side and then a door on the other that’s most likely a private bathroom.
“Where are we?”
“On a cargo ship.”
“Uh-huh,” I murmur, looking out the window to check that we are, in fact, out at sea. Trapped in the middle of the ocean with no escape. Again.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I can feel Jackson come up behind me, even though I hear nothing when he moves.
I spin around to face him with my mouth set in a firm line and anger blazing in my eyes. My hand slaps across his face.
He doesn’t flinch or try to stop me. He lets me get that slap in and then just smiles knowingly at me.
Well, that’s not good enough for me.
“What thefuck, Jackson?! You’d better fill me in rightnowor else I’ll find a way to leave this and you behind. You owe me a really big explanation for what happened back there!”
He nods and crosses his arms over his chest while leaning against the wall that cuts into the room for the bathroom. “I’m using Thorne to infiltrate GE.”
“And you had to hurt the guys to do that?”
“Thorne got ahead of me. It wasn’t supposed to happen like that, but looking back now, he was testing me. He wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to care about them. It’s why I started the fire before I left too. To make sure I proved to Thorne that I didn’t plan to havethem follow us. I’d keep them busy with the fire before they could see where we went.”
Kellan got hurt because of all that. I know he can heal, but that doesn’t mean I like seeing him hurt more than anyone else. And what if Kellan hadn’t been able to protect us? What if those hit Aiden or Dane? If Thorne had hit me, what would Jackson have done? Keep up the charade?
“He saw that you care about me. How does that factor in?”
Jackson tilts his head. “He knows about me and you. You come first, for me, which was why he decided he would come with me to pick you up. To…give me backup,” he finishes with a smirk.
I’m still not finding any of this funny. “So then, what’s the plan? You’ve got me out in the middle of the ocean on a boat, with one of our biggest enemies.”
He stalks toward me. I hold my ground, even though instinct tells me to back up and keep the distance between us. He stops just in front of me and cups my face. “I’m sorry, little one. I had to use you, too, but I won’t let them have you.”
