Danger Zone
By Divamercury
Sorry it's taken me so long to post again. Hope all the time I spent on this has paid off and I hope you enjoy it! Please read and review!
Chapter 28
When we had finished our session of girl talk, I stood up and said to Mac and Sara, "I've really had fun swapping stories today, ladies, but I think I'm going to get some air, take a stroll. Anyone care to join me?" I prayed that they would say no.
"Well, this pizza is entirely too good to resist and considering how much food I haven't eaten in the past few days, I think I'll have to stay here and catch up," Sara said, diving right back into her current slice.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, Pez. Plus, I'm wiped. I need some rest. I guess we'll just have to take a rain check, Raven," Mac replied.
I tried to hide my relief. "That's okay. Everyone's been through a lot lately and I don't blame you for wanting to stick around. I won't be out too late. See you girls later," I said and jogged up the stairs to ground level and left the warehouse.
I concentrated as I walked, hands stuffed into the pockets of my long black coat, and tried to find Jackson Miller. We needed to have a talk about a very important subject. I picked up a signal that matched his brainwave pattern coming from a specific street downtown and decided to pay a call.
* * *
I took a deep breath as I left my office, glad to be out of that claustrophobic chamber. It wasn't too cold outside, but nevertheless I decided not to take off the jacket Joyce had given me earlier. Without knowing where I was headed, I walked about the city in a daze. What was I thinking? Was I expecting Raven to just appear whenever I wanted to see her? And what did she mean by spewing all that shit about the Witchblade controlling people's destiny? It was just a bracelet, for Christ's sake.
Well, maybe not,' I countered. It was special in some ways, seeing as it could protect its Wielder in so many ways, but saying it manipulated lives was a little far-fetched.
"I guess I'll just have to convince you, then, Jackson." Raven appeared standing right next to me. I jumped and whirled on her.
"Damn, do you have a tracker on me or something?" I asked.
Raven tapped her temple. "I don't need a tracker, remember? Have you forgotten our discussionand your ride in the chair?"
"That didn't really happen! It was a bizarre dream that had nothing to do with any of this!"
"Jackson, you're trying my patience! You are part of the Blade's master plan whether you like it or not, and because of this and the fact that you refuse to believe what I'm telling you, I'm going to do something drastic."
"Oh, really? What would that be?"
"I've decided to risk unleashing the wrath of the Guardian by taking you to see the Wielder."
I blinked several times in rapid succession before saying, "What? You're taking me to see the Wielder? I'm one of the guys that was trying to kill her for a while there, and that's not something to be proud of. Hell, the last guy that was in that position is lying on the floor of a downtown warehouse right now in a pool of his own blood with a hole through his stomach! Not exactly a promising future! And you're asking me to go into the lion's den without anything to distract the hungry lioness except my lovely hide? Not bloody likely!"
"Trust me, Jackson. Something's telling me that you're not really the way you appear, that you're not—"
"Stupid?"
"—Well, "misguided" was the word I was thinking of. Anyway, you deserve a second chance. No doubt the Witchblade will tell Sara where you fit into all this."
"You really shouldn't concern yourself about me, Raven. I'm definitely not worth your time. I've always been a nobody, born in Chicago to a poor Jane and a John with big connections to the Mob. I've been a criminal since I was five, stealing candy from stores, and I've worked my way up to a hired hit man who could name his price and get it without question. Crime's ingrained in me, and I don't know if anything short of a miracle can change that."
"I pick my own friends, Miller. And my hunches are rarely wrong. I think I'm doing the right thing, on the right track, and don't worryI won't let anyone kill you unless you do something stupid. Now, to find out where you fit into this crazy, screwed-up world." She took a piece of black cloth out of her pocket and before I could react, she tied it around my head.
"What the—?" I sputtered.
"Even though I trust you and I'm going to take a lot of risks on you, I'm not going to risk giving away the location of the Associates' hideout without being one hundred percent sure of what I'm getting intono offense."
"Right. Sure. Just don't let me walk off the curb and get run over by an Arab driving a taxi in this crazy town."
* * *
"So, Pez, whatcha up to tonight?" Mac eagerly asked me as we finished up with dinner and started cleaning up.
"I believe I need to have a bit of a tete-a-tete with a male friend of mine. And you?" I returned as I picked up an empty pizza box and tossed it in the trash.
"Same. Neither of us are very well established in the field of romance, are we, Pez?"
"Our love lives definitely leave something to be desired.
"Yeah, like love."
"Even so, you're better off than I am."
Mac laughed. "Not even. Gabe doesn't risk everything for me. He doesn't sit out on my fire escape every night and make sure I'm okay. There's a lot of things he doesn't do. The only thing he's done was kiss me, and even then we weren't alone," she said, looking at me.
I colored a bit, remembering that scene, but said, "That doesn't mean he doesn't care about you."
She sighed. "Yeah, I know. But you're a lucky girl, Pez. Anyone with half a brain can see how much Ian cares about you just by looking at him. His gaze is never fixed on anything but you if he's in the same room with you. He puts you first and him second—"
"—which is what scares me," I interrupted. "I'm afraid that I'm going to lose him because he's going to always put himself between danger and me, and one day he won't be fast enough to dodge the bullet aimed at me."
I paused for a moment, then continued. "I've never had a real, strong, lasting relationship before where I can look in the man's eyes and not see anything else around mewhere he becomes my universe. I've never felt completely at ease and totally safe when I'm in a man's company, except my father, and now when I am starting to believe that I've finally found that someone, all signs point to an unhappy ending." I sighed. "I just want to have someone that won't die before I do."
Mac nodded. "I think you'll find him, Pez. In fact, I think you already have. And I also think that you should talk to him about it and seal the deal. You two deserve happiness, considering all you've been through, and I'll be damned if I won't do whatever you need me to do to make sure it happens."
"Thanks, Mac," I said. "I'll go see what he's up to."
