The Devil is Marvelous

Chapter 23

Rylee and Lucas ^^

---------

Gray, Daphne, and I met up at school early on Thursday. Daphne sulked into the cafe area looking half asleep, and Gray was ten minutes late.

Sometimes they really irk me.

"Okay here's the deal" I started before Daphne butt in.

"Let me guess" she yawned "Don't tell Ava those guys were in your little gang or she'll be in trouble"

"Yes, but-"

Daphne groaned, throwing her head back "You seriously couldn't have texted that in a group chat?"

"Nope. I need you two to see how serious I am. I know I can't stop either of you from talking to her-"

"You got that right"

"Daphne if you don't stop interrupting, I'm going to cut off your tongue and feed it to you." Gray shot me a look of disapproval, smacking the back of my head. Okay, I deserved that.

"Daphne, you and Ava have been targeted by the Crimson Blaze twice now. The outdoor mall situation was pure coincidence, you two were in the wrong place at the wrong time. As for yesterday, those asswipes saw me with Ava and decided to follow you two to the bathroom. I wish you didn't know about the gang, but we can't change that now. However, when it comes to Ava, we need to make sure she never finds out. We should ghost her."

"I don't waaaant to ghost her" Daphne whined "She's one of my best friends. I don't understand why it's an issue if she knows. Wouldn't it be good to tell her about the gang? That way she could be more aware of her surroundings"

"You're missing the point" I sighed, leaning back in my chair. Gray had been awfully quiet this whole time. He was staring off at nothing, which I knew meant he was lost in thought.

"I don't want her involved in my life it's too dangerous. If Ava finds out about the gang, she'll be looking over her shoulder the rest of her life. On the flip side, if the gang finds out about her, she's a target. You and Gray, my brother, any family of mine, you're all targets. If I do anything wrong... if I piss off my boss, if I fail a mission, if I bomb a race, then I am susceptible to their torture. They're either going to hurt me, or they will hurt the people close to me. To them, it's all about sending a message. I've known you guys for years, and I couldn't get through life without you guys, but every time I go do my job all I can think about is being perfect because I need to protect you guys."

Daphne and Gray were silent. Another student walked into the cafeteria so I lowered my voice.

"We all like Ava. She's fun and caring, she's courageous and she is different than any girl i've met in this school. She doesn't care about petty shit, she works hard at school and at her job too." Should I mention she works for me? Nah, they don't look curious.

"She doesn't deserve a spot in my life, susceptible to danger that she didn't ask for. There are plenty of people in this school she can talk to, like that blonde dude and the redhead. I'm no good for her."

Daphne sighed, finally speaking up "We get it Jax. You want to protect her, and that's all fine and dandy, but when are you going to realize you can't push people away forever?"

"She's right man" Gray finally chimed in "I hear where you're coming from and I agree we shouldn't tell her, but that doesn't mean you can't be her friend. I know that shit is risky, but I haven't seen you have such a soft spot for someone in a long time."

They didn't understand. It's impossible for me to have friends, hell, I was lucky enough to have them in my life. Everyday I risk putting them in harms way. I couldn't do that to anyone else. No one deserves to live their life in fear like I do.