Ramshackle (Raegan of Ruin #3)

19. Raegan

Chapter nineteen

Raegan

A girl a few tables over laughs out loud, and I grip the cup of coffee in my hand to keep myself from standing and interrupting them. Kellan grins at her, his white teeth flashing brightly against his golden-brown skin. He’s wearing a tight shirt beneath his leather jacket, his dark tattoos scrawling up the side of his neck. His hair is half up in a knot, with the rest of the brown locks covering the back of his neck.

Kellan has his hands tucked into his jean pockets, thumbs out, as he visibly flirts with the university student in an attempt to convince her to let him borrow her ID badge.

Apparently, that badge is required to access the library. I hadn’t needed one for the coffee shop or bookstore before, so this was news to me. Aiden knew, though, and had already planned on this pit stop.

He and Dane are seated at the table with me, our overpriced drinks in hand, as we are supposed to blend in with the others. Jackson is keeping an eye on things from outside and overhead until we get the badge, and then he’ll join us in the library.

“Relax,” Aiden remarks coolly. “You’re going to draw attention if you keep glaring at her like that.”

“Like what?” I reply distractedly. The girl’s leaning on her hand and giving Kellan a dreamy look. It doesn’t pass my notice that this girl is pretty. She’s wearing some sort of sports uniform, too, which makes her an athlete. I don’t know why that matters to me when it comes to Kellan, but it does.

Of all the girls in this shop that he could have spoken to, why this one?

“Like you’re going to rip that poor girl’s throat out if she laughs at one of Kell’s jokes again,” he answers in a low croon.

I shiver involuntarily in response to his tone, then blink when the words sink in. I finally drag my stare away from them to look between Aiden and Dane. Aiden dares me to challenge him with a raised brow while he sips from his coffee cup. Dane looks…annoyed? Or upset about something. His jaw is sharp and tight like he’s holding himself back from saying anything. Does he think I’ll cause a scene with the girl to ruin the plan?

“I wasn’t,” I snap at Aiden, annoyed he would put that thought in Dane’s head. “I’m just watching his back.”

Aiden stares at me. I’m clearly not fooling him here, but I’m more annoyed with myself for getting jealous over a random girl. He’s told me several times that he’s not going anywhere, but my abandonment issues like to pop up at times like these to remind me that being physically free is not the same as being free mentally and emotionally from the shit Gordon put me through.

“No one needs you. It would be better for you to be alone.”

“Hey…”

Something touches me, and I startle back to the present. Dane squeezes my hand. “Are you okay? We can come back another time if you’re not up for this so soon.” His face is shadowed by the hoodie he’s wearing, but I’m close enough to see it when he looks directly at me. His annoyance is long gone and replaced with worry while he waits for my answer.

I glance at Aiden, who’s watching me with similar attention, his eyes dark and chilling.

“I’m fine,” I mumble, tugging my hand free and shoving both under the table. I didn’t think they would notice me getting lost in my head for a second, but now they’re both on high alert as they inspect my every move and word. It’s been a week since I woke up. Almost two since they rescued me.

In some ways, a lot of time has passed, and in others, none at all.

It took me two years to redefine what normal meant to me and how to get there after getting off the island. I’m already doing a million times better this time around, but it still creeps up on me in moments of weakness.

“Beautiful, come here.”

I snap my head over to Kellan. His hand beckons me over to him and the girl. This isn’t part of the plan. What is he…?

“Stop acting like you’re shy and get your sexy ass over here.”

Oh.

Warmth floods my chest at his public claim. I stand without thinking, joining him at his side wordlessly while his arm wraps possessively around my waist.

“Here she is. Michelle, this is my girl, Raegan. Raegan, this is Michelle. She’s offered to let us borrow her ID badge so we can”—he bends down to murmur suggestively in my ear, though it’s still loud enough for anyone around us to hear—“do what we wanted in the library.”

The heat creeps up my neck to my face. Wait. What?

Kellan chuckles and nips my ear with his teeth.

The girl, Michelle, grins and waves her badge between her fingers. “Good luck with your bet. The librarians are sticklers for that, so your buddies will need to be good at distracting them. You’re too tall to hide,” she adds while looking Kell up and down.

His fingers scissor closed over her badge. “Sounds like a good challenge.”

I point to the last island I can remember on the screen. “…and that one.”

Dane zooms in close enough to see the general landscape of the island and its buildings, then hits a bunch of keys until I hear the printer along the wall starting up again. He zooms in and out, getting whatever pre-planned shots he needs up close and from a distance so we can see the other islands nearby.

Kellan shifts behind me, yanking my hips back against him as his beard scratches across the line between my neck and shoulder. “Now that’s done, how about you and I take up that challenge between the shelves?” he drawls seductively.

Fuck, I love how resonant his voice is. It’s so low that hearing it feels like he’s stroking some deep part of me. If I were a feline, I’d be purring.

I lean my head to the side, granting him more access as I shudder with pleasure. “Kell…we can’t…” I whisper, though it doesn’t sound convincing at all. But I do mean it. Aiden and Jackson are patrolling the library so we can get the information and leave as soon as possible. The longer we’re here, the more in danger we are.

Dane’s chair whips back, somehow managing to roll over Kellan’s foot before it thuds back to the floor. Kellan doesn’t flinch, but he does stop what he’s doing to aim his taunting chuckle at Dane. “We won’t be long, Rapunzel.”

“Vera’s probably on her way here now with a squad of GE agents. Unless you want to be caught with your pants down, we need to get Aiden and Jack and get out of here,” Dane bites out.

I pull away from Kellan. “He’s right. Now’s not the time.” He tries to grab me as I keep stepping back from him. “I’ll go find the other two and bring them back here. You guys collect the papers off the printer and stay put.”

I hurry out of the computer room before Kellan can try to stop me. He’ll have to stay behind to make sure no one sneaks up on Dane. If I had my phone on me, I could have tried calling them, but that’s been lower on my priority list. Maybe I should bump it up if we’ll be doing outings like this again.

When jogging gets me yelled at by a librarian, I drop it down to a fast walk as I peer down each of the aisles to look for them. The first set of aisles doesn’t have either one of them, so I move upstairs to the next few sections. “Jack! Aiden!” I call out in a harsh whisper that still garnishes glares from others.

I huff when I reach the back corner with no sign of them. Why is this library so big?

I'm turning back the way I came when I’m suddenly shoved forward. My hands catch me before I land face-first on the rough carpet. I push to flip myself onto my back and face my attacker. My gift sparks instantly, shooting to my hands like an activated line of electricity as I prepare to eliminate the enemy.

Vera lands over me, straddling me with a knife aimed at my abdomen. “Touch me, and I’ll gut you before you can finish.”

Fuck.

Of all the people, it’s the one person I can’t use my gift on.

I raise my hands up and to the side, and she watches as the reddish glow of my gift dissipates.

Instead of lowering her weapon in response, she just smirks and moves the blade up to my neck.

Great.

“I forgot you made that promise to Dane. But he’s not here right now. You can’t be so stupid that you wouldn’t try to fight to save your life. Because I’m taking it now. You owe me your life.”

My mouth flattens as I realize that this could very well be the end of it. But she’s just as much a fool if she thinks I can only fight with violence. I stare at her, taking in her amber eyes that look back at me with a sense of desperation. I remain completely still under her, which is how I notice the fine tremble of her body. There’s a manic energy about her, and it reminds me of the time Dane had held a gun to my head.

“I’m not breaking my promise to him,” I reply slowly, as one would a cornered and dangerous animal.

She applies more pressure to the knife, and a sharp sting echoes back. “No, you will. Your life is more important to you, just like anyone else. But if you tell me where the Guild is, I’ll make this less painful than I want it to be. I’ll make it quick.”

A bead of liquid slides down my neck, warning me that she’s broken skin.

I’m too afraid that talking loud or fast will result in a sliced neck before either of us gets what we want, so I keep my voice low and calm. “Vera. I know about Royce. Tell me about him. Is he controlling you? Is he why you’re with GE? We want to save you, Vera. Just tell me how, and we’ll do it.”

She bares her teeth at me. “Shut up! Why would you try to save me now? It’s too late! I already know how you feel about me. You want me dead.”

More liquid runs down my neck.

“No, I don’t. Killing you was an accident, I swear. I never meant to hurt you. I would never wish for you to be gone.” My voice thickens with emotion, but I’m too scared to swallow it down and risk a deeper cut. “You were like a big sister to me, Vera. Losing you…was one of the hardest things.”

Vera’s eyes widen. I concentrate on keeping my breaths shallow as she processes what I’ve said. Her face blurs as I struggle with the limited oxygen. If she doesn’t decide what she’s going to do soon, I’m going to pass out and be completely defenseless. I can’t let that happen. Should I buck her off? Does that count as hurting her?

Sorry, Dane, but that can’t count against me.

She leans back, bringing the knife with her. I gasp, heaving a deep breath to fill my lungs.

Vera narrows her gaze and then stands. “Get up. Either tell me where the Guild is or fight me, Rae.”

I stand, keeping my hands open and to my sides, and shake my head. “I’m not going to fight you. Tell me how we can help.”

She scowls and slashes at me with the knife. It cuts across my chest, drawing blood, but it’s shallow. Her face darkens more when I don’t retaliate. “Give me Dane, or give me the Guild!”

“I can’t do either of those. How can I save you , Vera? Is Royce the answer?”

Vera cuts me again, this time on my left cheek before she snarls and shoves at me. “Why won’t you fight back?! Dane isn’t here! He wouldn’t even know. Fight me!”

Another cut on my forearm. Stomach. She pushes me back against the bookcase, holding the knife back to my throat. Her eyes are wild as she glares at me, the V-shaped scar over her eye looking longer and darker now that she’s so close. A foul smell wafts by, but then it’s gone before I can look around to see where it came from.

The knife at my throat again also steals my attention from anything else.

“How can you say you want to save me if you won’t give me anything?” she spits at me.

“But—” I stop. Has she been telling me how to save her? Is she in danger if she doesn’t get one of those things? “Are you—”

“Raegan!” Aiden’s voice commands nearby. Others shush him, but when he calls my name again with the same tone and volume, he makes it clear that he doesn’t give a shit about their silence policy.

Vera and I stare at each other. Aiden’s coming. She could kill me before he gets here. Her knife is already flirting dangerously into my skin, so I can feel the sharpness of the blade. I haven’t given her anything she wants, and she should know by now that I won’t give her any of those things even with more time. What reason would she have to keep me alive, then?

Killing me, getting revenge, it’s something else she needs, isn’t it?

She presses the knife a bit further in, and her gaze flickers with some emotion. Then she hesitates, freezing when we can hear Aiden’s footsteps scuffing across the carpet and getting closer.

Vera drops her hand and runs, disappearing around the corner.

I don’t breathe until she’s gone, and then I’m hauling deep breaths as the world spins. My heart is jackhammering in my chest, but I hadn’t even realized it until now. My fight instinct kept me focused on Vera, on doing whatever it took to keep her from killing me without actually fighting back.

I glance at my hands and find the fading glow of my gift.

Shit.

When had I turned that on? Or did my body do it on instinct?

If Vera had tried to kill me, then would I have killed her first?

“Raegan!” Aiden shouts. He takes one look at me from the end of the aisle and then, in his imposing tone, shouts, “Jackson!” He runs down the aisle to me, and Jack appears on my other side at the same time. “What happened? Is Gordon here?”

Jackson pulls a strip of fabric from somewhere and wraps it gently around my neck.

“What? Oh, no. It was Vera.” They both freeze. Jackson turns first like he’s about to take off after her, but I grab the fabric of his hoodie. “Let her go. Have you seen any goons? Are Dane and Kellan safe?”

“We’ll get them and head out now. They said you were looking for us, so we came to find you, and I’m glad we did,” Aiden replies while inspecting the other wounds on my face and body. “I’ll have Cassandra meet us in your room, and you can tell us what happened on the way.”