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My eyelids lower as I breathe the feeling in, wanting to go to sleep.
“Just keep ahold of her until we get to the house,” Zay says. “Although, if her condition doesn’t improve, we may have to take her to a hospital.”
“She seems like she’s getting warmer already.” Hunter brushes his hands up and down my side. “Jax, are you doing okay?”
Jax presses closer against me and rests his head against my back. “Yeah,” he whispers. “Did you see who did this to her?”
“No,” Zay replies, annoyance ringing in his tone. “I tried to chase them down but couldn’t catch the fuckers before they jumped into their vehicle. They were all wearing masks, so I didn’t see any faces and the vehicle didn’t have a plate. All I know is that they drove a black SUV that looked like maybe it was a Cadillac, but I didn’t get close enough to be positive.”
“So, basically, all we know is that they drive a black SUV and that they’re from one of the families,” Hunter states in irritation. “Great, that narrows it down to basically anyone who’s a part of a family.”
“My money is on Porter,” Zay replies. “He saw us with Raven this morning and made those subtle threats.”
“I agree, but we can’t retaliate until we know for sure,” Hunter reminds him. “Even though we’re technically not part of the family, we still have to follow the rules, or we’ll be in deep shit.”
“I’m aware of how the rules work,” Zay snaps. “I don’t need a reminder.”
“Don’t snap at me, man,” Hunter tells him. “I’m not the one pissing you off right now.”
“I know that,” Zay grumbles. “I’m just pissed off … I don’t like it when people get the upper hand over me.”
“None of us do.” Jax’s voice is weighed with exhaustion. “But we’re not the one who suffered. She did.” He hugs me closer against him and buries his face in my neck.
Time and time again, everyone has said how scary Jax is, but all I’ve seen is this sweet, soft side, so I don’t really get it.
“I know,” Zay chokes on the word and quickly clears his throat, his tone dropping to an eerie, dark tone. “We’re going to find out who did this, and then the fuckers are going to pay. They want to play a game, then let’s show them how to play. We may all hate are families, and everyone may know that, but they forgot that, while we may have detached ourselves from them, for a very long time we were raised by the scariest motherfuckers this town has ever known. We know things, and I think whoever did this to her stupidly forgot that.”
“I completely agree, but I also want to point out that you sound very protective right now,” Hunter remarks with a hint of a taunt in his tone.
“Oh, shut the hell up,” Zay snaps. “I’m just pissed off, and I …” He trails off.
As They grow silent, that tiredness I’ve been fighting off finally wins.
13
Jax
My knee is bouncingup and down as I sit in the chair in our living room, biting my thumbnail. If Raven was here, she’d probably tell me to stop, and I know I should. I’m a mess, though.
“She should’ve woken up by now,” I mumble, jitteriness bouncing through me.
“She has woken up. She’s just been a bit out of it.” Zay is standing in front of the fireplace, drinking whiskey from a glass. “You need to calm down.”
I scratch my wrist. “I’m trying, but nothing is working.” And I don’t think anything will work except either Raven being wide awake so I know she’s perfectly okay or the bite of a razor on my flesh.
Sighing, Zay crosses the room and hands me the glass. I down the rest of it then hand the glass back, the alcohol burning my throat and numbing my anxiety a drop.
“I need you to have a clear head.” Zay sets the glass on the table. Then he sinks down onto the coffee table in front of me. “If this game has really been started again, we can’t have you going off the deep end. Hunter and I need you to have our backs.” He presses his lips together momentarily. “And so does Raven.”
Knowing he’s right, I take a deep breath in and out in an attempt to calm myself down. “You say that like you’re finally accepting her into our group.”
“Did I ever really have a choice?” He arches a brow. “You and Hunter basically made that choice for me when you decided to make friends with her after only knowing her for a couple of days.”
“Have we only known her for a few days, though?” I challenge, thinking of that photo.
That haunting photo.
And that image of Raven falling off the bridge. It looked so similar to when Willow did. Only, this time it didn’t end the same. I saved her. I ran so fast when she fell that Zay didn’t even have time to stop the car before I jumped into the water. I think Hunter ran after me while Zay chased down the people who pushed her off the bridge. That didn’t matter to me, though. All that mattered was that I saved her, that I didn’t fail her like I did the last time.
