Ramshackle (Raegan of Ruin #3)

17. Raegan

Chapter seventeen

Raegan

Fear grabs me in a chokehold.

I can’t breathe. I can’t move. My body begins to shake uncontrollably.

No. I can’t go back.

Gordon drags me across the floor, and knocking into the debris is enough to snap me out of my stupor. I’m able to twist to see that there’s another portal in my room that he’s bringing me to.

NO!

I kick and scream, flailing in his grip.

I’m not going back!

I claw at his arm over my head and fall through it where he’s made himself intangible. Gritting my teeth, I seek out his hand at my scalp and have the disorienting feeling of my hand passing through my own head. He’s spread his gift onto me from his touch.

Knives fly through him above me. Jackson climbs through the window and holds out his hand, then fists it.

Gordon chokes, and his hand loosens in my hair. I tear free, ignoring the pain of hair snapping, as I rush toward Jack.

“Not so fast!” Gordon bellows.

Another cry rips from my throat as I’m wrenched backward by a section of hair and pulled to the floor. How? My hands fly instinctively to the hair that’s being pulled to try to win it back. I search for Jackson.

Jack straightens from a crouch to standing on the windowsill, his blue eyes burning into Gordon behind me. He’s holding knives in each hand like a spread of cards, and just as he looks ready to leap at Gordon, something small bursts through his thigh. The end of it snaps out like a diamond blade and then jerks back just as quickly as it appeared.

“Jack!”

Glass sprays the room as he crashes rearward through the window.

My arms fly up to cover my face. “Jack!”

“Time to go, pet.”

“Fuck you!” Yanking a shard of glass from my leg, I throw it at him for whatever time that distraction will give me. I call on my gift, and it answers me without hesitation. The burning heat doesn’t even hurt while it consumes my hand, and I slam it to the ground.

I clench my teeth together and focus on it, steering my gift through the debris to aim it at Gordon and nothing else. A crack of destruction snakes in his direction.

It stops under him.

“You know you can’t hurt me,” Gordon taunts.

No. There has to be a way.

I push up on my feet to run at him, and he releases my hair and jumps out of the way.

Gordon’s face darkens. “I understand now.” His voice is threateningly calm. “Your friends gave you false hope. You think you can fight me now, but you can’t.” His lips peel back in a sickening smile. “I’ll use this as another lesson for you. I already promised you that I would kill your friends if you left me. It’s time I followed through on it.”

My breathing shallows.

“I will send hunters to kill every last one of them. And only when they’re gone, and you’ve realized your mistake, will I come for you.”

He laughs and steps back into the open portal until it begins to swallow him. A blade flies at him, and the portal consumes the rest of Gordon and the blade before disappearing.

Arms wrap around me from behind, tugging me back into the smell of leaves and crisp autumn air. “You’re safe, little one. I’m here.”

I turn in his arms, my hands sliding up to his shoulders and around his neck. “Jackson! Thank fuck you’re okay. We need to get Aiden and get out of here.” Pulling back, I turn to the door to search for him.

Jack swings the door back and steps in front of me to check the hallway first.

“Where is she?!” Aiden demands when he sees Jackson. I push under Jack’s arm to see where he is, but he doesn’t let me squeeze any further than that.

“I’m here! Jack, move out of the way so we can help him!”

Aiden dodges an attack and swings his whip sword at three of the opponents trying to sneak up behind him. He’s surrounded on all sides by gifted GE agents. “Get her out of here,” he calls to Jack.

“What? No! We’re not leaving without—Wait! Jack, put me down!”

Two short leaps and we’re on the broken window in my room, and then we’re airborne before I get a chance to do more than gasp and cling to his neck.

The agents who’d been outside are all lying on the ground, dead most likely, so there’s no one to slow us down as Jackson takes us into the woods.

“We’re not leaving him! Gordon just told me he’s planning to kill all of you. We can’t leave him alone with them!” I bang a fist against his chest. A flash of red makes me pause and stare at my hand. “Jack? Are you shot again?” I rub both of my hands over his black hoodie until I find what I’m looking for. He’s bleeding below his left shoulder.

“It’s nothing,” he murmurs.

“It’s not nothing. And I know your thigh is injured, too. We need to go back for Aiden so we can all go back to the bunker. Where are you taking us?”

We land on a wide branch high in a tree. Jack carefully sets me on my feet, where the limb meets with the trunk. “Stay here. Don’t move or let them see you if they search this far.”

“Are you going back for him? Take me with you. I can help.”

He brushes my hair aside and presses a chaste kiss to my forehead. “It’s you I’m worried about. I’ll be back.”

“Jack, wait—” He’s gone before I can stop him.

“Son of a…” I gripe, my nails digging into the hard grooves of bark as my body trembles at this height.

This is fine.

I’m only thirty feet off the ground, clinging to a tree with a bad knee.

Maybe sitting would be better.

I sink into a squat—that my knee hates with a fiery passion—and lean into the trunk of the tree to give myself greater balance. I’m not thrilled that I’m stuck in a tree, but as far as hiding places go without being too far from Old Red, I can see why he picked it.

Shifting one foot out to straddle the branch, it slips and sends me backward. I throw my weight forward, yanking my other foot out for counterbalance and slapping my hands around the trunk in a bear hug with a string of curses. I glance to the ground, and the world spins. Ohhhh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep breath.

I’m okay. I didn’t fall.

There’s no way I’m getting down from here with my knee, which means I’m stuck waiting and hoping Jack and Aiden are okay.

Dammit, Jackson.

“I heard something over there!”

Panic clutches my chest, and I slow my breathing to listen. There’s no way…

Two GE agents search the woods.

Why are they all the way out here?

“I found her!” one of them yells, pointing directly at me.

Fuck me.

The two agents surround the base of the tree.

“Get her down.”

“You got her when she falls?”

“Yeah, as long as you make sure she’s asleep when you hit her. I’m not touching her while she’s awake.”

“Don’t worry. She’ll be out for a long time with a single shot.”

“Good.”

Not good.

I’m a sitting duck in a fucking tree with a bum knee.

One of them aims a gun at me and fires. I duck and swing to the side. When I look up, there’s a tranquilizer dart stuck in the bark where I’d been.

“Don’t move!” the one with the gun actually shouts. As if anyone in their right mind would willingly wait to be hit by a tranquilizer while they’re thirty feet up in a tree.

“Don’t shoot!” I counter with an equally ridiculous request, hoping it’s enough of a distraction that I can delay his next attempt. Turning awkwardly to one side, I lie forward on the branch where I’m sitting and cling to it like a sloth. I hear another round fire, and breathe a short sigh of relief when there’s no answering sting.

I move quickly, but in short adjustments, until I’m upside-down on the branch, and then release my legs to dangle to the branch below.

Another shot.

“How are you missing? Give me that!”

I have to loosen my arms a bit to gain a few more inches until my toes dance over my goal. Once the pads of my feet reach, I let go and lean toward the trunk again.

One down. A bunch to go.

The next few branches are closer, so I’m able to drop more easily to them. The last one snaps beneath my weight. I jump to another one and pray it’s strong enough, but it bows and then cracks. My back and sides knock into more branches as I fall. I reach for a branch. Then another.

I finally catch one, and it bounces and sinks. Don’t break. Don’t break.

“There. She’s close enough now without other branches in the way that you shouldn’t miss.”

I’m maybe ten feet from the ground but there aren’t any branches left between me and it.

One of the goons aims the gun at me, and I have no choice.

I let go.

I don’t even feel the pain in my normal knee because it’s completely eclipsed by the searing pain in my injured one. I’m on my feet for a split second before the pain takes over and I collapse to the ground, clutching my knee and locking my jaw to keep my screams contained.

No, no. Get up!

I can yell at myself all I want, but the wave of pain hasn’t subsided enough for me to move.

The crunch of boots on sticks and leaves gets closer, and I curse my fucking luck. I’m able to turn on my side in the direction of the sound and see the two goons walking toward me.

The tranquilizer gun is pointed at me again, and I thrust my gift into the dirt. I’ve used my gift through the haze of pain before, so I’m able to control it even though my knee hasn’t improved. It’s almost like an out-of-body experience. I know I’m in pain, I know I’m paralyzed by it, but as long as my hand is touching the ground, my mind can will my gift to do what I want.

I shove at it, pushing it to reach them faster and splitting it once I do.

I take them both in seconds.

They drop to the ground in hard thuds that I hope no one else is close enough to hear. My body rises and falls as I catch my breath and the wild burning in my knee slowly subsides. I close my eyes, panting and trying not to fall into the pit of despair that’s waiting for me in the back of my mind. If I let it, it would suck me down like quicksand.

Gordon’s threat to the guys.

The idea of being taken back by him. Of killing for him again.

The severe disadvantage I’m in now with my knee.

My thoughts flirt along the line of giving in, bringing me too close. Its pull is like a magnet drawing me in whether I want to go there or not.

“Raegan!”

My eyes snap open at Aiden’s voice.

He breaks into a run when he looks from the dead guys on the ground to me. I hurry to push myself upright before he makes it here.

Aiden kneels in front of me. I open my mouth to tell him I’m fine, but he wraps me in his arms and pulls me into his chest. His heart thunders in my ear at a frightening pace as he works to catch his breath.

I don’t move.

This is the first time Aiden’s held me like this.

Like someone important to him.

I’m afraid to bring any attention to myself that’ll snap him out of whatever headspace he’s in that caused him to give me this uncharacteristic sign of affection, so I freeze like a rabbit pretending to be invisible.

His hand slides up my back into my hair, clutching me closer to him as the rapid beat of his heart finally eases.

He eventually releases me to inspect my face. “Are you hurt?” His dark gaze slides to my hand on my knee, and I quickly move it away. The pain there is reduced to a resounding ache, but it’s manageable now.

“I’m fine,” I answer softly. I’m still not fully recovered from his reaction to seeing me, so there’s no strength in my voice. He scoops me into his arms anyway, and I gasp, clutching at his suit. “What are you doing? I can walk!”

“You were holding your knee.” He walks us a few steps in the opposite direction of the firehouse before I realize he’s not taking us back.

“Wait, where are we going? Where’s Jackson?”

“He’s finishing the last of them.”

I flail in his grip, fighting to get free of him even if it means falling to the ground.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m not leaving without Jack. Without either one of you.” Why didn’t Jack come back with him? They were both supposed to escape. Did Jackson really think I would leave without him?

“I’m not giving Gordon the opportunity to grab you if we’re all fighting. I’m getting you out of here, and I’ll go back for Jackson if he doesn’t meet up with us before then.”

My chaotic thrashing finally does the trick, and rather than let me fall, he sighs and helps me back to my feet. It’s only after I’m standing that I notice the trail of blood running down the side of his face. The vibrant red splattered over his suit like a wild paint night.

“Are you—”

“Don’t leave my side,” Aiden interrupts. He takes my hand in his, tugging me close before he lifts his sword arm in front of us. “If you’re going to walk, then stay with me.”

I try to jerk my hand from his, but he doesn’t let go. “I’m not some damsel in distress for you to rescue,” I snap angrily. “Gordon didn’t kidnap me last time, and he didn’t this time either. Give me some credit and let me fight with you. You’re giving Gordon what he wants by splitting us up. He’s going after all of you now because you broke the deal. I need to get you to safety.”

His expression darkens. “Your safety is the only one that—”

Twigs snap, and we both swing around to search for the source. Jackson’s strolling toward us, his hands tucked in his hoodie pocket and his hood down. He’s smirking at us, obviously listening in on our argument that’s over him, no less.

“You could have said something, Jack,” Aiden remarks, annoyance coloring his tone.

I unfortunately agree with him, but I keep that to myself.

“Did they give you any trouble?” Aiden continues.

“No. We’re clear.”

Aiden nods. “Good. Let’s get back to the car and leave before they realize that and send more.”

Jackson walks right up to us, stopping in front of me. His eyes flick to Aiden behind me for a beat and then he cups the side of my face and kisses me.

Right here.

In front of Aiden.

While Aiden still has my hand in his.

I panic for all of three seconds before I’m so consumed by Jack’s kiss that I don’t care about anything else.

His kiss melts away my fears, my inhibitions. Every negative thought vanishes until I’m cocooned in his warmth. I moan, my free hand instinctively clutching at his hoodie as I lean into it.

Aiden’s hand tightens on mine, and reality floods back in a rush.

Jackson must sense the change in me because he draws back with a smile. He takes my hand from his hoodie, weaving our fingers together, and then turns to lead us back to the firehouse and the Aston Martin.

I’m waiting for Aiden to drop my other hand, but he merely scowls at Jack over my head and meets his stride until I’m centered between them.

It’s confusing and unexpected, but having them on either side of me brings a wave of warmth and fluttering to my chest.

I risk a glance in Aiden’s direction. Our eyes connect for seconds that stalls the air in my lungs before he turns his head to stare at the woods around us instead.

“You’re so easy to please, little one,” Jackson whispers. He’s bent over to keep his words between us, his heated breath tickling my ear. “The others just can’t get out of their own way to see it.”

His gaze darts to Aiden and then back to me, and my face burns.