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into the cabin door and it was only his forward momentum that had him dropping his upper body enough so that the bullet that whizzed by him slammed into the doorframe instead of his head. His relief was short-lived though, as he saw a gun aimed directly at him and his eyes connected with Ren’s deadened gaze just as he began to pull back on the trigger.
    “Ren, don’t!” Declan shouted as his large frame filled the doorway and the gun shifted off of Jagger and onto Declan. Jagger instantly tried to step between the two men but Declan’s hand closed over his arm to keep him from moving.
    “Ren, it’s me,” Declan said softly.
    Ren’s icy blue eyes shifted back and forth between Jagger and Declan several times before he finally settled them on Declan and his finger eased off the trigger.
    “Declan?” he finally asked, his voice sounding softer than Jagger would have expected. It was then that Jagger noticed the change in the younger man’s sunken eyes. They’d gone from cold and empty to heavy with confusion. It was as if he’d been jarred awake from a deep sleep and didn’t know where he was or how he’d gotten there.
    “Yeah, Ren, it’s Declan,” Declan said as he slowly moved so that he was standing in front of Jagger.
    “Did you see them out there?” Ren asked hopefully. “Did I get one of them?”
    “There’s no one out there,” Declan said gently.
    Ren’s arm shook in agitation and he suddenly jerked the gun up and down. “Don’t lie to me! I heard them!”
    “Who?”
    “Them!” Ren shouted. “They’re coming for me! They’re going to try and stick me back in that…that hole!”
    “Ren, listen to me,” Declan said. “No one will ever hurt you again, do you understand me?”
    Ren shook his head vigorously. “You can’t stop them, Declan,” he whispered. “No one can stop them.”
    Jagger watched in horror as Ren took several steps backwards until his back hit the wall and then he slid down to the floor, his knees bent up, the gun resting in his lap. It was Ren’s fixation on the gun that had Jagger taking a step forward.
    “Ren, do you remember Jagger?” Declan asked and Ren’s watery gaze lifted to connect first with Declan, then Jagger. Ren shook his head.
    “Jagger got you out of that place.”
    Jagger stayed put as Declan moved closer. He managed to lower himself in front of Ren so they were nearly eye level but the gun’s position was still precarious and Jagger didn’t miss the way Ren had his finger resting on the trigger.
    “I don’t remember,” Ren said quietly.
    “Jagger,” Declan called over his shoulder though his eyes never left Ren’s. “How many of the guys that were holding Ren did you leave alive?”
    “None,” Jagger answered.
    “Are you going to let anyone take him?” Declan asked.
    “No fucking way,” Jagger said firmly, hoping like hell Ren could see he was telling the truth. When Ren’s eyes shifted to his for a moment, he thought he saw a brief flicker of hope.
    “No one ever touches you again, Ren,” Declan vowed. “They won’t get past me. They won’t get past Jagger. And you and I both know they sure as hell won’t get past your brothers,” Declan added and Jagger could almost hear the smile in his voice.
    Ren’s free hand shook as he came up to wipe at his face. “I don’t want to see them,” he whispered.
    “You don’t have to. They don’t know you’re here.”
    Jagger was surprised when Ren glanced up at him as if seeking confirmation…or reassurance. Jagger nodded. “You decide if and when you’re ready,” he said. He knew in that instant that it was a promise he wouldn’t go back on, even if it cost him the newfound relationship with Dom and Vin.
    Ren nodded and when Declan finally reached to take the gun from his hand, Ren released it. Tension drained out of Jagger’s body and when Declan extended the gun behind his back, Jagger quickly stepped forward and took it.
     
    ***
    Declan felt a ripple of comfort go