Waters of Lethe, Book 2

55. Learned

I was unable to move. As terribly corny as it was, I was stunned at how handsome Jai was, and how his handsome features were masked with rage towards me for reasons unknown. I watched in slow motion as he ran full speed toward me. His skin was lightly tanned. The smooth black hair on his head matched his eyes. I could see his white teeth behind the snarl he wore.

What froze me in place longer were the similarities between Jai and Alex. From their clothes to their height to their stance; I'd seen Alex angry before. He was relentless, a trait these two men obviously shared. They both wore plain white t-shirts, their muscles obvious. I wanted to roll my eyes at the thought, but I didn't have time.

Alex was in front of me before Jai got ten feet from us. Alex pinned me behind him, both arms squeezing me in behind him to make our bodies parallel. I could feel Alex's body tense, could feel a shift in his previous easy-going mood.

Jai came to a stop three feet away. "Get out of my way!" he barked at Alex, making me jump. Alex had one hand behind him, twisted around so he gripped my waist, and had the other hand out in front of him to get Jai to stop.

"Hey," Alex began in a strong, authoritative voice, "what's your problem?"

Jai knit his eyebrows together, confused. Angry. He pointed a finger at me to where I looked around Alex, like a child. "She almost killed me, that's my fucking problem!"

Again, I jumped at Jai's hard voice. But I didn't remember almost killing him. "What?" I asked, trying to come out from around Alex. Confusion and anger flooded my brain, mixing with the pounding headache that still reigned.

"What do you mean what? Please tell me you remember giving me this," he growled, pulling his shirt up to reveal a wound on his chest. In his fury, he ripped off the thick gauze pads that covered his left pec muscle. 

I sucked in a breath. Although they were healing, they still looked bad. Probably because the two bullet wounds were so close to his heart. A drip of blood shot down his abdomen, curving with his muscles. He wasn't worried about it, though.

I was. 

I felt my face go slack, the confusion and anger gone momentarily. Jai saw my face, and something in him changed, too, only to be replaced with anger a moment later. I took a step from around Alex. "I didn't..." I began. I twisted away from Alex's grip, but he soon found me again. "Let me go!" I said loudly. There was something about Jai, besides the way he wanted to rip my limbs from my body and roast them over a camp fire. "I need to look—he's bleeding! I need to fix him!"

"He wants to murder you!" Alex yelled at me, locking his arms around my chest, pinning my arms by my side so I couldn't move.

Jai's face relaxed and he laughed. "You're really about to come and examine the wounds of someone who wants to tear you to pieces? Oh, man. They told me you were strong. Smart, even. They were obviously wrong."

"Screw you," I said silently, falling back against Alex's chest. His grip didn't loosen. "I don't remember shooting you."

"You don't? Let me paint you the picture. You and your friend here," he said, nodding at Alex, "were on the mission to get me out of the hell hole I was in, but your sorry ass took the shot to kill an enemy behind me. An inch to the right and you would have killed me."

I twisted around to stare at Alex in horror. "I don't remember..." I said frantically, shaking my head. "I don't—"

"It doesn't matter whether or not you remember, El," Jai started again. I jumped yet again when he spoke my name. "All that matters is that during my time here, however long or short it may be, I will never work with you. Got that? I would rather shoot myself. At least I know I could hit the damn target."

My limbs felt like jelly. I'd never been one for confrontations, especially when the person confronting me made me feel two feet tall and as dumb as dirt.

I whirled around so that either boy couldn't see the hot tears that stung my eyes.

I could hear the satisfied smirk on Jai's face when we left, could see it burned in my mind as I took off for the elevator.

"El, wait!" Alex breathed as he rushed after me.