“Why? Because you guys are so awesome?” I question. “You basically kidnapped me today and threatened my life, so why the hell would I want to be friends with you?”
“We’re not offering our friendship.” Zay steps up behind Jax.
Like Hunter and Jax, he’s wearing nicer clothes than he was earlier; wearing a black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a red tie hanging loosely around his neck. It’s the first time I’ve gotten a real look at his face without his features being shadowed by a hoodie. Well, besides when he pulled me out of the river and presses his body against mine, but I was really out of it then. I realize that he’s even more gorgeous than I thought. And scary. And intense.
Dangerously gorgeous is probably the best word to describe him.
“We’re offering you protection,” Zay explains, seeming oblivious to my subtle inspection of him. “Something I’m guessing you need since you’re crazy enough to jump off a bridge. And I’m sure that mouth of yours is gonna get you in trouble around here. You’re gonna need someone to have your back.”
I growl out in frustration, “I had to jump off the bridge. It was either that, get murdered, or be your whore. The bridge seemed like the best option.”
Zay shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “Not every threat means something, princess.”
Hunter and Jax give him a curious look for who the hell knows what reason, but Zay doesn't even so much as a glance in their direction.
“Not in my world,” I tell him. As the words slip from my lips, I tuck my arms against my side as my scars throb. “And don’t call me princess. I’m far from being one.”
Zay’s gaze drops to my side, then he looks up at me, his eyes burrowing into mine. “Where’d those scars come from?”
I smash my lips together. Nope. I’m not talking about this.
Zay narrows his eyes. “You have to answer me. It’s part of our rules.”
I shake my head. “I don’t have to follow your rules, because I’m not part of your stupid circle.”
Zay’s nostrils flare. “God, you’re the most frustrating person I’ve ever met.”
“The feeling is mutual,” I retort, equally as irritated.
Zay glowers at me. “You better be careful, princess, or that mouth of yours is going to end up around—”
“Okay.” Hunter pushes Zay out of the way. “I think you need a timeout.”
Zay’s glare snaps in Hunter’s direction, his chest heaving as he breathes raggedly. “Don’t fucking tell me what to do.”
Hunter gives him a pressing look as he puts a hand on his shoulder. “You need to chill out before you say something you’ll regret.”
Zay grinds his teeth. “Whatever.” He glances at me one final time, our gazes colliding.
Intensity blazes from his eyes and my pulse accelerates, but I refuse to look away.
Finally, he tears his eyes off of me, and reels around, storming out of the room.
Jax starts after him. “I’ll go check on him this time,” he tells Hunter. “You rationalize some sense into her.”
Rationalize some sense into me?
Anger trickles through me, but fizzles a bit when Hunter smiles at me.
“So, I was wrong about October eighth being the start of our friendship. I guess I’m not a psychic after all.” He grins. “Not that I care. I’m kind of glad I was wrong if it means we get to start being friends sooner.”
“Friends?” I question. “I thought the circle was for protection and nothing more.”
“Its main purpose is for protection. The friendship part is just an added bonus.” He winks at me. “Especially when it comes to you.”
I roll my eyes. “I already told you that you and I aren’t gonna be friends. And that was before you guys did all that shit to me earlier … How much time has gone by since I passed out?”
“Only a couple of hours.” He offers his hand to me, not trying to grab me, which I’m thankful for. “Come sit by me for a while. There’re some things I need to explain to you.”
I want to protest, want to yell at him to let me leave, but I have a feeling he won’t help me out of this mansion until I at least hear him out.
I cross my arms. “Fine. But I’m not taking your hand.”
He juts his lip out. “Well, that’s not very fun.”
“Holding my hand isn’t very fun,” I insist. “I suffer from clammy hand syndrome.”
Curiosity sparkles in his eyes. “Is that really a thing or are you telling me bullshit because you think I have cootie?”
I lift a shoulder, struggling not to smile, which is so annoying. I shouldn’t find him amusing. Not after what happened.
I really am crazy.
Grinning, he steps back and motions for me to step out. “Okay, fine. We can pretend I have cooties for now. But eventually, I’ll prove to you that I’m as clean as a whistle.”
“Whistles aren’t clean.” I inch out of the closet and peer around the room, at the hardwood floors and at all the artwork covering the walls.
I’d been in such a rush before I dove into the closet that I hadn’t even noticed the artwork. One in particular draws me in; a painting of what can only be described as a shadow girl hiding in a forest. I can’t see her face, but I can almost feel her pain flowing off the canvas.
“You like art?” Hunter asks as he watches me closely.
I shrug, looking away from the painting. “I don’t really know much about it, but the stuff on your wall seems cool. Or, well, maybe cool’s not the right word …” I waver. “Maybe hauntingly sad and dark.”
A pleased grin tugs at his lips. “I’ll take that as a ‘you like my work.’ ”
My lips part in shock. “You painted these?”
He nods, stepping toward me and stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Which one’s your favorite?”
My gaze magnetizes back to the shadow girl. “I don’t know … Maybe that one.” I rub my lips together, highly aware of him studying me as closely as I’m studying his painting. “She looks sad. I can almost feel it.”
I turn my attention back to him, only to find him staring at me sympathetically.
“Maybe it’s because you’re sad and you see some of yourself in the girl.” He starts to reach for my hand then withdraws, crossing his arms and tucking his hands underneath his armpits. Then his expression turns serious. “Why’d you jump? And please don’t say it was because we made you. Sure, we may have made it seem like you had to, but with how feisty you are, we thought you’d try to run. And we were going to let you do that.”
I frown. “Then what was the point of any of it?”
He shrugs. "What Jax said was true. We need people to respect us around here, and to gain that respect, we took the route of instilling fear in people. It almost always works. Almost every time we’ve hauled someone to that bridge and threatened them, they’ve nearly pissed themselves and ran away. And they fear us after that. But that almost always used to be an always … until you.” He unfolds his arms then hesitantly tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Why did you jump when you can’t swim? At least, that’s why I’m assuming you didn’t swim out of the river yourself.”
I lean away from his touch and wrap my arms around myself. He frowns at my offish move but doesn’t comment.
“I tried to tell you guys that I couldn’t swim,” I mutter.
“I know, and I’m sorry we didn’t listen.” He offers me an apologetic smile. “But in our defense, that’s the most common excuse we’ve heard.”
“Well, it wasn’t an excuse.”
“Clearly.” He pauses, eyeing me closely. “How are you feeling anyway? You don’t feel sick or anything, do you?”
I shake my head. “I feel a little tired and irritated with you guys, but other than that, I feel okay.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re okay. And I’m glad that whole shared body heat thing wasn’t a myth.”
“Shared body heat …?”
“That thing Zay did to you in the back seat,” he explains with a pucker between his brows. “What did you think he was doing?”
I lift a shoulder. “Honestly, I thought he was going to rape me.”
His eyes widen. “What?”
I shrug again. “He was yanking off my clothes after he threatened me and proposed I could be you guys’ whore. What else was I supposed to think?”
His expression plummets. “We may be a lot of things, little raven, but we have and never will rape anyone. That’s not who we are.”
“Then who are you?” I wonder, really curious to know the answer.
He smiles and tugs on a strand of my hair. “And that’s what I’m trying to explain to you.” Then he grabs my hand and tows me toward a leather couch.
Deep down, I feel like I should pull away from him, but honestly, I’m really tired of fighting.
Just give up.
I kind of did today when I jumped. For a moment, I had let myself sink to the bottom of that river, and I would’ve stayed there if Zay hadn’t jumped in and pulled me out.
“Why did Zay jump in and save me?” I ask as he plops down on the sofa and pulls me down with him.
“Well, for starters, we didn’t want you to drown. And Zay’s the best swimmer. Plus, he reacted quicker than Jax and I.” He slips his arm around my shoulders. “Also, the moment you jumped off that bridge, you became one of us.”
“You keep saying that, but I still don’t understand why. Honestly, I don’t really understand what you are. I mean, I know you’re called The Raven Three and that you’re like super powerful or something because you’re scary. I know your dad works for Jax’s, who’s also Zay’s uncle and that you’re all like super rich. I was also warned that I should stay away from you. And to not piss you off.”