Page 85 of Ruined

“Of course.” Jace nods.

Reaching over, I grab Jace’s hand while I hold Ryker’s face with the other. Putting my life into Jace’s hand in the beginning, I felt like I was being forced. My parents handed me off as a job, and now I’m willingly letting Ryker and Jace care for me out there.

I just hope I don’t regret it.

“Here, take this.” Ryker holds his hand out.

Tilting my head, I take the knife he’s holding out to me.

“If anything happens, stab and don’t stop.”

I grin, nodding my head. Tucking the knife into my pocket, I follow him out of the cabin. Jace stands by the trunk, placing our duffle bags in. Ryker hands him another one before grabbing my hand.

“You sure about this?” Jace asks, slamming the trunkclosed.

“No,” Ryker snaps as I nod my head. Squeezing his hand, I glare up, daring him to say something about us going again.

Since it was decided we were leaving, Ryker has been in a bad mood. Jace continues to apologize and I’m about at my wit’s end dealing with hormonal teenagers.

“I’ll drive,” Jace mutters.

Each of us climb into the car, Jace in the driver’s seat, Ryker in the back, and at the last minute I get into the passenger side. Grabbing Jace’s hand, I hold it in my lap. Scooting the back of the seat back, Ryker’s hands move through my hair, and before I know it, I’m falling asleep.

“Is she asleep?” Jace asks, glancing in the rearview mirror.

After a few hours, Blake climbed into the back so she could lay in my lap to be more comfortable. Glancing down, I brush some of her hair out of her face. Her mouth parts, snoring into my stomach.

“She’s asleep,” I answer back.

“I think after we figure out the Luna situation we take her back to her parents.”

“Excuse me,” I growl out.

“I don’t mean just drop her off. I think we should hunt down those who hurt her. You were right about Dimitri probably not doing anything to get Antoniooff his back. And we’re hitmen, Ryker. While I’m glad we took this protection job, I think we should hunt them down.”

I nod my head along, agreeing with everything he’s saying. I’ve thought about leaving in the middle of the night and hunting down those who scarred her body. I just have to figure out who did it, and while Blake isn’t that forthcoming, I could make Dimitri talk.

“After we deal with Luna, we could leave her with Walker. I trust him more than her family.” Dropping my eyes down, I stare at Blake. Afraid that she’s going to disappear. In my thirty-six years of life, I never planned or wanted a future with someone. After my parents’ death, it was about Laia, taking care of her and her needs. I didn’t care about myself. Then she was killed, and I didn’t care if I lived or not. There were a few close calls and the only reason I survived was because of Jace.

Now I want to live. I want Blake and having her means making sure no one can touch her. No one but Jace and myself.

“Do you love her?” Jace asks. I can feel his eyes on me, but I can’t tear my eyes away from her. She might think she’s damaged, but she's our baggage. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Do you?”

The silence in the car tells us our answer. We might not have to say the words, but we’re willing to die for her. I’ll burn the world down for my pet.

“Blake,” I growl. I’m going to push her out of this booth and shove something healthy down her throat. “You can’t just eat cinnamon rolls this entire trip.”

She holds her fork as if she’s daring me to try and take it from her. While I’m not afraid to get stabbed, I’d rather not in the middle of some hole-in-the-wall diner.

“You’re being a brat,” I hiss out, leaning forward. Of course, she’s not intimidated by me, she never was.

And Jace is no help. He just sits there watching this unfold. It dawns on me that he’s done this with her before. Of course, he finds it funny now.

“Jace, if you don’t shut your mouth, I swear to God I’ll put blue dye in your shampoo.”

Blake glares at me over the counter, taking a much too large of a bite, just trying to make a point.

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