Page 11 of Raze
“Yes.” I steel my nerves to finish the rest that I know will break us. “I always have been.”
Chapter three
Dane
There’s fuck-all chances ofme sleeping.
As soon as Raegan locked herself in Aiden’s room, Jack retired to his own room to sleep off Cassandra’s healing. Aiden and Kellan stayed awake for a bit, each of them trying to talk to me about my sister, but I’m still so fucking angry at everything that I practically bit their heads off for even attempting to have a conversation with me.
If we aren’t leavingright nowto go get her, then I have nothing more to say to any of them.
They would do the same thing if they were in my position, and they know it. If this were Raegan we were talking about, they would craft a rescue mission without hesitation.
I’m absolutelylividthat we’re doing nothing.
Even if what Raegan said is true, none of that matters. She was clearly brainwashed then, and the longer she’s there, the harder it will be to break her out of it. But I know…Iknowshe’ll come around if she’s with me. If she can be made to remember our family and thatwe could have a home to go back to.
Our parents are alive.
Through some dumb stroke of luck, GE hadn’t murdered our family after they’d taken us. Not like they had Kellan’s. I could have gone home to them after we got off the island, but I couldn’t bear to go without Vera. I’d felt like a failure as a brother. I hadn’t protected her on the island like I should have. Even if she was older, I still felt responsible for her when we were there. That, and I’d rather not ruin that luck by bringing GE back to their doorstep and testing my chances a second time.
Now that I know she’s still alive, there’s hope that our family could be whole again. Get her back, destroy every member of Gifted Enterprise until there’s not a crumb left, and then we could return home to tell our parents that we’re alive. They didn’t lose their only two children thirteen years ago.
Hours after Aiden and Kellan retire to their rooms, I’m still lying wide awake, glaring through the darkness at the ceiling. No matter how much my body may be tired, my mind and emotions are wild within me. I’ve played through the conversation on repeat and what it all might mean. I replay every word Vera spoke to me on that rooftop and what might have happened if we’d just been able to sit and talk without everyone else around.
I just need time with her.
I won’t give up on her. Never.
A door creaks open from the hallway, but I don’t react to it. If Kellan can’t sleep, he’ll often go out to tinker on his car, race, or check in at the fight club. Or Aiden might be trying to see if I’vecooled down enough to speak to in private. I actually hope for the latter in case I can convince him to remove the chains.
Soft footsteps tap along the wood floors past the couch and into the kitchen. The light of the refrigerator illuminates Raegan in nothing but one of Aiden’s few and infrequently worn T-shirts. It barely covers her ass, and when she bends forward to check a lower shelf, her black lace panties are exposed.
I watch her like a man possessed. It doesn’t matter that I hate her with every fiber of my being. It’s like the ghost of my youth takes control of me in this moment. Just to get a glimpse of what younger me had wanted for so long, now flashing before me like it means nothing. Is she normally this risqué now, or is she dressing like this because she’s staying here?
Is it for Kellan? For Jackson? For Aiden?
Well, it’s definitely not for you.
With that stupid reminder, I clear my throat and sit up on the couch, curling an arm over the back of it.
Raegan practically jumps out of her skin and gasps when she either realizes I’m not asleep or remembers that I’m here. I’m amazed she made it as long as she did if she’s this skittish.
“Come here,” I order in a hushed tone so as not to wake the others. I’m not going to have a chat with her from the living room to the kitchen.
Her brow furrows at what I could possibly want from her, but I’m surprised when she does as I ask without a fight. It seems like all she does lately is fight us on everything, so I expected to have to threaten her to get her over here. She tugs at her shirt in an attemptto keep her underwear covered when she walks. I’m tempted to tell her too little, too late, and then ask who she’s dressed for, but bite my tongue.
Seeing her alone has given me an idea that’s too good to pass up.
I check the digital clock on the cable box and it’s nearly midnight. Good.
She stops just out of reach of me behind the couch, and I wonder if she really thinks I’d attack her. Then I remember I held a gun to her head a few weeks ago and let it go. I grab the chains to keep them from making noise and lift them in offering to her.
“Break these off of me as quietly as you can.”
Raegan looks from the cuffs and chains to me. “Why?”
My teeth grind with frustration, but I force myself to keep my temper and voice in check. “I thought my sister was dead for the last six years because of you. You owe me this, at least. Let me go find her and fix this.”
