Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three) (42 page)

Jasper watched as he tackled her to the
ground and flashed back to his dream. But Ternach was trying to
save Hayden. This didn’t make sense. He growled. Of course, he’d
never actually seen the immortal kill his mate in the dream, had
he. Everyone, Ternach included, had simply assumed that that was
what happened. Hayden rolled, pushed Ternach off and stood before
running the last four steps towards Braw. A scream exploded in his
head and he dropped to the ground. Around him, cats and dogs were
doing the same wherever they happened to be. The humans stopped
their attack, stupefied at this turn of events. A lot of them
grinned while others simply looked relieved.

“No!” Ternach’s voice echoed in his head
somewhere under the scream. Jasper managed to look up in time to
see the immortal pull Hayden and the staff to his chest. They fell
to the ground with the staff clutched between the two of them. The
scream amplified and Jasper felt a tug deep inside of him. The tug
pulled harder and he tried to ready himself for something he
couldn’t prepare for. The only thought in his mind was that if he
was to die this way that Hayden be safe because of it. He tried to
hold in the scream that was making its way up his throat.

Ternach’s arms tightened around Hayden. He
reached for a handful of her hair, pulled her head back and brought
his lips down to hers.

Give it to me.

Jasper wasn’t sure how he could hear Ternach
over all of the screaming that was happening. Hayden’s eyes
widened. It took a fraction of a second for her to make up her mind
and she threw herself into the kiss.

The pain that was building deep inside of him
lessened. He saw Hayden’s body spasm and Ternach’s followed suit.
As his pain lessened Hayden’s increased and Jasper tried to crawl
to them. Hayden and Ternach clung to each other.

“Hayden!” He watched her body spasm
violently. “Hayden!” He managed to get to his feet only to collapse
again as a different part of him died.

“No!” He dragged himself to their side.
Ternach rolled off of Hayden. His hands were clutching his head,
his breathing so quick that Jasper was amazed he was getting any
air at all. Hayden laid still, her chest unmoving. Both of them
were covered by the black shiny dust that had once been the
staff.

“Is she alright?” Ternach was almost
impossible to understand.

Jasper forced himself to his knees and put
his ear to her chest. Nothing. Ternach had one eye opened, watching
him. Jasper’s heart jumped in his chest. Rainen. Rainen could
help.

“Rainen!” The name stuck in his throat and he
had to repeat it. “Rainen!” He picked Hayden up and hugged her
tightly to his chest. “Please, Shlova. You promised.” He looked
around wildly, trying to catch a glimpse of the sorceress. Everyone
was staring at them. It seemed that now that the staff and Braw
were gone, the humans were at a loss.

“Jesus! Is she ok?” William nearly fell over
as he tripped on a body.

Jasper’s voice caught in his throat and he
swallowed hard trying to get rid of the pain in his chest. He
managed to shake his head. “I need Rainen. Now.”

“She’s over this way.” He led the way back
out of the courtyard. Rainen spotted them and limped toward them
while Jasper laid Hayden on the ground. He looked into Rainen’s
midnight blue eyes as she knelt across from him.

“I can’t lose her.” He swallowed hard.

Rainen took a deep breath, muttered something
under her breath, and placed a hand over Hayden’s heart. He waited
expectantly then frowned when she did. She shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Jasper. She’s…I can’t…I need
energy to multiply it. There’s…” She shook her head and swallowed
hard. “There’s nothing there. She’s gone.”

“What if you transferred energy? You told me
you’d done that once.” William’s face was white and he wiped an arm
over his eyes.

“I also told you I’d killed the one I took
from. I’ve never done it since.”

“Take from me.” Jasper looked down onto
Hayden’s face and a sob shook him. She was covered in blood, dirt,
and shiny dust. “You can take it from me.”

“Jasper, I’ll kill you.”

“By the moons, Rainen, don’t you understand?
If she’s not here I might as well be dead anyway! Please! You have
to try!”

“Jasper.”

He looked up at Brice.

“Is she…?” He knelt beside them and swallowed
hard.

“She’ll be fine.” Jasper knew he was trying
to convince himself just as much as he was trying to make his
friend feel better.

“I doubt you care right now, but there are
packs heading for Sageden. I overheard them talking before you
showed up.”

Jasper’s heart dropped and he rubbed his
hands over his face. Why couldn’t this be over? He looked up at his
friend. “Are you well enough to handle it?”

Brice nodded but looked down at Hayden,
uncertainty clear on his face.

“Brice. I need you to do this. I… I can’t.
Take anyone who is well enough to travel back with you.”

His friend nodded. “She’ll be alright?”

“When have you ever known her not to come
back around?” He tried to sound optimistic.

Brice smiled. “She is stubborn that way.
Alright, off I go then.” He hesitated before moving to Hayden’s
head. He frowned, kissed her softly then stood.

“Stay safe, Brice.”

Blue green jaguar eyes blinked and the big
cat nodded. He leapt over to where most of their pack was
assembling.

“Now, where were we?” He looked at Rainen who
shook her head in disbelief.

“I think I was about to kill you.”

He nodded. “That sounds about right.” He lay
beside Hayden and took her hand.

“Jasper, you understand that this isn’t like
Hayden’s waves, right? This is a spell and I can’t control how much
I take. The last time I tried I took every last bit of energy there
was to be had.”

“Hang on a second.” He sat back up and
ignored the hopeful look in Rainen’s eyes. He put a hand on
Hayden’s cheek. “Shlova…” He swallowed the lump in his throat and
took a deep breath. “If this works how Rainen thinks it will…” He
kissed her softly and wiped her face where his tears were falling,
the dirt and blood smearing across her cheek. There were a million
things he wanted to say to her, yet none of them would make their
way past the lump in his throat. “A shlova yan.” He pressed his
lips to her forehead and lay back down. His hand gripped Hayden’s
and he shook with the effort to keep his sobs under control. He
closed his eyes. He tried not to think about the fact that he would
never get to hold her again, never feel her lips against his.
Another sob escaped him. He’d never see those green eyes flash with
anger, or soften with passion. He’d never have the chance to see
her with child; would never see her holding his baby in her arms.
He thought of how she felt when they lay by the fireplace and she
would snuggle against him. He remembered how he’d felt the first
time she’d let him feel just how much she loved him. Another sob
shook him as he thought about how he’d never feel that again. And
yet he knew that to live and still not get to see, or do those
things with her wasn’t an option.

“Get on with it.”

Rainen mumbled something under her breath and
he jumped as her hand touched over his heart. He felt it quicken
and pound in his chest until it hurt. Every muscle in his body
cramped. He groaned with the effort to lay still. Rainen moved her
hand and he felt everything flow out of him, like all that he was
had been sucked away. He jerked and everything went dark.

Chapter Eleven

“We just lost Alex.” Danny sounded exhausted.
Someone punched something hard and someone else took a deep
shuddering breath.

“How’s Leslie doing?” Tara sounded like she’d
been crying.

“It doesn’t look good.” Fillian sounded worse
than Danny.

“Come on, Mel. Let’s go find something to
eat. Starving ourselves won’t help.” Luke’s voice was hoarse.
“Maybe there will be news on how Brice and the others are making
out.”

Someone pulled a chair up to the bed. “I’ll
stay here,” offered Ternach.

“Can you feel anything?” inquired Danny.

“No. Nothing. I thought maybe it would come
back in time, but it seems I am officially human.” He took a deep
breath and let it out. “I suppose it’s better than being dead.”
There was a brief silence. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”

There was a snort from somewhere nearby.
Any change?
Dodge must have poked his head inside the
doorway.

“Rainen’s been moaning and groaning, but
other than that, no.” William must have been by her bed.

Ternach’s chair fell over as he stood
quickly. “Did you see that?” More beings moved closer. “Come on,
Jasper. Do it again.”

He focused on his fingers and willed them to
move. He was rewarded with pain that shot up his arms. Once the
fingers remembered what they were doing, he moved on to his arms
and legs.

Someone ran to the door. “Luke! He’s waking
up!” Tara ran back to the side of the bed.

Jasper tried to move his head and
groaned.

“Take it easy, Jasper.” Danny must have been
pulling a wave over him. Every part of him was hurting. He
concentrated on breathing then cracked open one eye to look around.
The light blinded him and he closed it again.

“Hayden.” The word refused to come out. He
licked his lips and tried again. It came out as a cough. The pain
of the sudden movement tore through him and the darkness took him
again.

*****

He could feel her curled against him and he
sighed. He refused to push past the darkness and every once in a
while he would dream. He rolled over and pulled her close. Hayden’s
hair tickled his nose.

“He’s moving again.” Danny.

Couldn’t they just leave him alone? He didn’t
want to wake up. It was peaceful here and Hayden was with him. He
kissed the back of her neck. She turned and he felt her hand on his
face, smiled when her lips touched his. She snuggled into his
chest.

“Jasper?” Her breath was hot against his bare
chest.

“Hmm?”

“Why won’t you wake up? There’s nothing wrong
with you anymore. The healers took care of that. You just need to
wake up.”

He felt his throat tighten. “I don’t want
to,” he whispered and pressed his lips to her forehead. Somewhere
past the darkness he could hear people moving about. He pushed
deeper into the dream.

“Can you tell me why?” Her fingers ran along
his arm and he shivered. He hugged her tightly.

“Because I’m alive.”

She chuckled and he fought the urge to open
his eyes. If he opened them, he’d wake up and she’d be gone.

“You’re cracked, you know that? You’re alive.
That’s the perfect reason to wake up.”

He shook his head. “Rainen said she would
kill me if she saved you.” He felt tears fall down his face and she
brushed them away. “I can’t live without you, Hayden. I don’t want
to live without you. If I stay here, then you’re with me.” He
kissed her softly and pushed past the dream and deeper into the
darkness.

*****

“Jasper.” Hayden’s voice sounded in his ear
and he smiled.

“Hello.” He pulled her close.

“Hun, everyone is worried. I’m worried. You
can’t stay like this.” She kissed him. “You need to wake up. You’re
wrong, you know. I’m not dead.”

He frowned and swallowed hard. “That’s not
nice, Hayden. Tricking me won’t work.” He listened for the others
outside of the dream and noticed it was quiet in the room. He
wondered what time it was. She grunted.

“And he calls me stubborn.” Her hands cupped
his face and her mouth pressed against his. A shiver ran through
him as her tongue pushed past his lips. He groaned and pulled her
close. His heart sped up and his head reeled. He remembered the
others.

“For as much as I’m enjoying this dream,
Shlova, I don’t want the others seeing the consequences of it.” He
smiled and pulled away.

“There’s no one in the room.”

He felt her sit up and when she lay back down
against him he groaned at the feel of her bare breasts against his
chest. She kissed him hungrily, moving from his mouth to his chest
to his belly. She untied the laces on his pants and pulled them off
before kissing her way back to his mouth. He caught his breath as
she straddled him.

“Touch me.” Her breath was hot in his ear.
She groaned as his hands found her breast and he pulled her up so
he could suck on them. He kissed his way up her throat and found
her lips. Hayden scooted back and both of them moaned as she helped
him slip inside of her. She sat still with him fully sheathed. He
shivered. The feel of her against him, around him, was almost too
much. His throat tightened and he felt the tears try to push their
way past his eyelids. What should have been a great dream was just
reminding him of what he’d just lost. He rolled over and pulled
out, crushing her to his chest.

“I can’t.”

“Jasper…”

He shook his head. She put a hand on his face
and he leaned into it.

“Can you… can you show me how you felt when I
was alive?”

He shook his head again.

“I need you to. I need to feel it.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“Because I love you. I want you to love
me.”

He swallowed hard. “I do love you. More than
anything in any world, I do.” The tears won out and he wiped his
arm across his eyes.

“If you love me, you need to wake up. Do it
for me, Jasper, please.”

“I can’t. I can’t do this without you.” A sob
shook him and she pulled him close.

“You don’t have to. I’ll always be with you.
I promised, remember?” Hayden’s voice was tight and he heard her
swallow hard.

“That’s not the same.”

“If you can’t wake up for me, then do it for
the others.”