Ruined

Chapter Ten

Sam

I saw Jax surge forward just before the entire world tipped backward and the solid ground beneath my feet disappeared. A valiant, although pointless, last-ditch effort to save me. My heartbeat thundered as I braced myself for the inevitable, taking comfort that there was little chance I’d drown in the waters below. The jagged edge of the cliff would get me long before I reached the bottom, breaking my body like a child’s toy.

A scream caught in my throat. The impact came—but there was no pain. One second I was watching the ground zoom steadily closer, icy wind biting at my exposed skin, the next everything shifted and I was staring up at the sky through a mass of tangled hair. Warm, solid arms enveloped me and a familiar scent—mint and leather—filled my nose as I plummeted.

“It’s going to be all right.”

It was going to be all right? Jax? A new kind of panic exploded in my chest. I’d seen him jump forward, but never imagined—

“Deep breath,” he yelled over the sound of the wind whipping past us.

Numb, I obeyed, and sucked in a lungful of cold air.

The noise was like a car backfiring. One second the clear night sky loomed overhead, the next everything had a filmy sheen. Jax took the brunt of the impact, but I still felt the jar and the sting of the icy water. Disoriented, I flailed, kicking hard in hopes of breaking the surface. Air. Can’t breathe! Every muscle stung. From the frigid temperature or the impact, I didn’t know. Didn’t care, either. All that mattered was air. Precious, glorious, necessary air.

But as hard as I kicked and as much as I flailed, my head couldn’t find the surface. The burning in my chest became too much, and instinctually, I opened her mouth to suck in a lungful of air. Of course, I got water instead.

Everything grew dark. I was vaguely aware that I’d stopped kicking. My brain raged at my body as the pounding of my heart throbbed in every limb, and echoed in my ears. Fight!

It was too late. The darkness closed around me.

I was dead.

Taking a deep breath, I cringed. Okay, not dead. Death wasn’t supposed to be painful. Or cold. Struggling onto my knees, I braced both hands against the dew-wet grass as a series of body-racking coughs tore from my throat. I was sore and soaked and freezing—but I was alive…despite someone’s increasingly enthusiastic efforts to change that.

As reality crept back, I found myself getting number. I went over the cliff just as Jax—

Jax.

It wasn’t my imagination. He’d jumped, too. Wrapped himself around me, making sure he hit the water first. Frantic, I whirled around and scanned the area, sure I’d find him floating facedown in the water. But other than an occasional ripple from the increasing breeze, the surface of the water was still—and empty.

A knot formed in my chest as I squinted against the darkness, trying to see across to the other bank. He must have pulled himself from the water farther down. There was no need to panic just because I didn’t see him. That didn’t mean… A shiver ran through me. Something rustled and I jumped, whirling around fast enough to make myself dizzy.

Jax. He was crouched against a nearby tree.

I stumbled to my feet, almost toppling over as the heels of my boots sank into the soft earth. My legs felt rubbery, and the jolt of adrenaline that had kicked in during the fall still lingered, making every movement feel twitchy and sharp. “Jax, how—”

That was as far as I got. A low rumble filled the air and he drew himself up. Dark hair fell across his forehead, the strands dripping.

Jax let out a roar that was nothing short of animal. I jumped at the sound, about to take a step away, and noticed a dark smear across the side of his face. Blood. I reached out, but he flinched and the hair in his face fluttered back.

Time stopped. Something hazy nipped at my subconscious, drawing attention to his eyes. As the moon peeked out from behind the clouds, I got a good look at his face and gasped. His eyes, no longer the comforting gray I loved, were black. Solid black. No. It just looked that way. A trick played in the absence of light. “Jax?” I tried again.

He stepped away from the tree, head tilting to the left. Then, the right. No answer.

“Please,” I begged. “Are you all right?”

Nothing. The silence was driving me crazy, and as he started toward me, I had to force myself to stand still. This was Jax, but for some reason, a little voice inside my head was telling me to run.

He stopped in front of me, so close, and in a deeper than normal voice, said, “Samantha Merrick.”

My full name. “Jax, you’re scaring me.” I pointed at the rocks. “What just happened—we—”

“You are a strange creature.” He ran a finger across my cheek, letting it linger at the corner of my mouth. “Your place in his life confounds me.”

Creature? “My place in whose life?” I backed away a step, half expecting him to follow. He didn’t. “What are you talking about?”

No answer.

That was my breaking point. He’d obviously gone into some kind of shock. I tried to grab his hand, but he jerked away. “NO!” A harsh, angry sound filled the air, and he jumped forward, knocking me hard to the ground. When I turned back, he was gone.

I started walking. The wind kicked up and the breeze against my still-damp skin made me shiver. I was numb and in need of hot coffee and a place to curl up and pretend this past month had never happened. Was one of the men who pushed me from the cliff tonight the same one who attacked me on campus? I was lucky Jax had been there…

He’d saved my life again. This time by jumping from the cliff and somehow shielding me from the fall. He must have dragged my sorry, waterlogged ass from the river as well. Then he snarled and ran away.

Snarled? Really?

Jax could explain away the car with fact. I’d done some research. Once the car filled with water, it would have been easier to get out

But the fall? How had he done it? There was no way to brush it aside. He’d taken the brunt of what’d been, essentially, a thirty-foot nosedive, and walked away?

Run away, actually.

That was impossible. He should be dead. We both should. And then there was the way he acted after I woke up. The animal-like growl. The odd words. The way he’d pushed me to the ground hard enough to knock a tooth loose?

He’d already admitted that there was something he couldn’t—wouldn’t—tell me. I had a feeling it had to do with why he’d left home, as well as how he was able to save me twice from situations no one should have survived. He was hiding something, and I intended to find out what it was.

After trekking through the woods, soaking wet and freezing, I finally managed to make it back to town. My keys were gone. I’d been clutching them when the men grabbed me on the way to the car, and must have dropped them somewhere along the way. I tried retracing my steps, but gave up. There was no way in hell I was trekking back to that cliff, and the chances of seeing anything in the dark, even with a full moon, were slim. I might have been able to use my cell as a flashlight, but that was gone, too. Probably at the bottom of the river with the fish. It made calling for a ride impossible. That left no other choice but to walk. Through the woods. At night. After being pushed from a cliff to my death.

I was having a really shitty week.

A horn honked, pulling me from the crazy sludge that was my thoughts. I’d hit a pay phone and called Chase to pick me up two blocks from the club. I’d been careful, passing by the lot to check on Jax’s car. It was still there, parked a few spots down from the rental, so wherever he’d run off to, it’d been on foot.

“Um,” Chase’s eyes skimmed my body from top to bottom as I pulled open the car door. “Do I want to ask why you look like a sexy drowned rat?”

I wrung out the edge of my skirt before sliding into the passenger’s seat. We hadn’t been alone since he’d kissed me at McCarthy’s and I was feeling a little awkward despite the fact that I knew the whole thing had been staged, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit used.

“I lost my damn keys at the club.” I shrugged and gestured to my wet clothes. “And this… Would you believe a sudden downpour?”

He shook his head and pulled away from the curb once the door was closed. Four blocks later, he spoke again. “I thought tonight was your night off? And why are you dressed like that—not that I’m complaining.”

“Theme night,” I said with a weary sigh, and fastened the seat belt. People thought I drove fast, but anyone who’d ever been in a car with Chase would surely dub me the queen of safety. Heedless of speed limits and stop signs, he had more traffic infractions than I could count. It blew my mind that he still had a license.

“Well, I like theme night.” He waggled his brows and pulled the car into a spot at the front of my building. When I didn’t respond, he frowned and shifted around to face me. “You okay, Samantha?”

My hand hovered over the door handle. The words formed, and slipped to the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t force them past my lips.

If I confessed what happened at the cliff, Chase would tell me I imagined the whole incident and was suffering from some weird kind of post-traumatic stress thing. No. This was something best kept to myself for now. “Yeah,” I said, forcing a smile. “Been a long day, that’s all.”

I made a move to open the door, but he grabbed my hand. “I’m really worried about you.” The look in his eyes made my breath catch. A fierce seriousness that almost bordered on possessive. But it was there and gone too fast to be sure. “If you get yourself killed, how will I see if we’re compatible?”

Thankfully, serious never lasted long with Chase.

He leaned forward like he was going to kiss me. I threw up my hands. “No way. Don’t go there.” I pulled away and swung my foot from the car.

Chase fell back against the seat, frowning. “Stop.” He sighed. “Please.”

I don’t know why, but I did. Maybe it was his tone. Three parts apologetic and one part commanding.

“You’re seriously bludgeoning my ego here.” His lips slipped into a grin. “Usually I’m fairly irresistible. I’m even thinking about having my tongue insured.”

I didn’t know whether to be upset or angry. “Where is this coming from? That kiss at the diner was a joke. For Jax’s benefit. Right…?”

“It’s my brother, isn’t it?” Something dark settled on his face and he narrowed his eyes. One of the biggest differences between the Flynn boys was temperament. Jax was always dark and sarcastic. Chase, on the other hand, bounced back and forth on the tip of a pin. One second he was laughing, the next he was spitting poison. I was used to it, but it still unnerved me sometimes.

I wanted to deny it, but the words stuck in my throat. Why did he even need to ask? He watched us growing up. A thing like that didn’t just go away. It was sad, and probably a little pathetic, but if even if Jax never came around, he’d always be the one.

Chase sighed and pounded a fist against the dash as some of the tension left his body. “I’m not into you. Not really.” He threw up his hands. “Not that you’re not amazing or anything. I just—I know you and Jax have some pretty intense, screwed-up history. I thought maybe…” He twisted back so he was staring out the window. His right hand tapped the wheel to an uneven rhythm as he let his head tilt back against the seat. “I hate myself—like, really hate myself—for saying this, but he’s got…problems. I’ve seen firsthand what he’s capable of when he’s angry. It’s not pretty.”

A small part of me wondered if any part of what he was saying came from real concern or was strictly out of jealousy. Because that’s what this was. Jealousy. He wanted me because his brother was back in town. That was it. When Jax was gone again, things would go back to normal. He’d done it when we were young, too. Vied for my attention, then as soon as he got it and Jax wasn’t looking, he was off and running after some new, shiny thing.

I couldn’t help the defensive chill that crept into my voice. “You forget that we grew up together. I know all about his issues.”

“No. I really don’t think you do.” When he turned I could see it. Plain as pie, in his eyes. Sadness and something else. A secret. There was definitely something he wasn’t saying, and a part of him seemed…happy about it? No. That couldn’t be right. Chase could be a bastard, but he wasn’t outwardly cruel.

“Maybe not, but maybe I don’t need to.” I thought of all the rumors flying around town. Rumors I knew for a fact were 100 percent bullshit. Everything from blaming him for the fire that burned down the Harlow mall several years ago—when he wasn’t even here—to insane whispers that he was the Gentleman Stalker. “I know you love your brother, Chase, but sometimes I think you’re just as blind as the rest of the town.”

That seemed to surprise him. He pulled back, brows high, and shook his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Everyone has Jax pegged as the bastard while you walk around with your head held high.” I could see the hurt in his eyes and that wasn’t my intention, but he needed a dose of truth. Maybe it was the recent brushes with death, but it felt like the truth didn’t get enough attention around here and it pissed me off. I reached around and popped open the door. “You’re not a bad guy, but you’re not perfect. Just like Jax isn’t a perfect guy. Maybe he just needs the people he loves to have some faith in him.”