The Raven Four Books 1-3 - Jessica Sorensen Page 0,22

dumb as I thought.” He grabs the sleeve of my jacket and tows me to the front of the car where Jax and Hunter are waiting.

Hunter appears fidgety, tugging at the sleeves of his shirt while Jax takes out his phone and glances at the screen.

“We have about an hour before we need to be at the house,” Jax says. “So let’s make this quick.” He stuffs his phone away then turns to me, raking his fingers through his hair. “The thing is, Raven, we have a reputation to uphold. People are scared of us, and for good reasons. And we need them to stay that way. But for that to happen, we have to keep up that fear factor, which means making sure everyone knows their place. You, however, seem to have a hard time with that. And while you may be one person, if your defiant attitude becomes a fad, we’re going to have a problem on our hands.”

“It’s not going to become a fad.” I wrap my arms around myself as the wind picks up, blowing strands of hair into my eyes. “I’m not the kind of girl who sets fads. I’m the kind of girl that people try not to be like.”

Jax’s gaze flicks up and down my body. “I really doubt that.”

“I don’t know why you would. You know I’m a murderer. Just like almost everyone back in my hometown did.” I shift my weight. “No one wants to be like a murderer.” Well, except for maybe Zay, but I decide to keep my snarky thought to myself for now since I'm fairly confident they’re about to force me into that freezing cold river.

I need to talk my way out of this. Need to be nice.

Remember how to be nice, Raven?

The problem is that it’s been a really long damn time since I’ve had a reason to be nice.

But I have to try.

“I can try to be better,” I force the words out of my mouth. “If you’ll just let me go.”

Jax briefly studies me before gazing out at the water. I think he might be considering my offer until I spot the apologetic look on Hunter’s face.

“We can’t just let you off without punishing you first,” Jax says, redirecting his attention to me. “It’s not really how we work, and we can’t start working that way. Not unless we want to lose our power. And with how things are at …” He trails off as Hunter gives him a wide-eyed, pressing look.

I wonder where he was going with that statement. How things are where?

“Anyway,” Jax continues. “We need our power. And while I want to believe you’ll change and can be trainable, you’re really stubborn, which leaves us with only one option.”

I hold my breath as I wait for him to tell me what I think I already know.

“So, here’s what you’re going to do.” He turns toward the river and points toward a rusty beam that extends out from the bridge and over the water. “You’re going to climb up there and jump into the river.” His gaze slices to me, his expression turning cold. “And the next time you so much as even think about smarting off to any of us, you remember what it was like to feel your blood turn to ice and the chill of the water seep into your bones.” He steps toward me, his boots scuffing against the snowy dirt. “Remember what it was like not to be able to breathe for a second, to have the cold water rip away your ability. Remember what it was like to sink to the bottom and, for a split moment, worry that you won’t ever make it to the surface again.” He traces his finger along my cheekbone. “Remember that helpless feeling we gave you. Remember we’re in control of everything in Honeyton and that we’ll do anything to keep that control.” He strokes my cheek like I’m a pet.

Okay, maybe I was wrong when I said Zay might be the serial killer. Jax might be even scarier in a very serial killer-ish sort of way.

“And what if I won’t jump?” I ask, relieved I’ve still managed to hold on to the ability to sound calm.

“Oh, you will,” he assures me, withdrawing his fingers from my cheek. “Either you can do it willingly or we can help you out.”

I swallow hard, my gaze drifting to the river again. Not only do the rapids look freezing, but I’m not sure