Jared (21 page)

Spotting a large tree Tessa stumbled toward it grabbing onto its thick trunk like a lifeline. Turning she placed her back against it trying to get her breathing
under control. Glancing down at herself she cringed. She was a bloody mess and her feet felt like a thousand bee stings. Throwing her shoes didn’t seem like a good idea now.

Turning her focus away from her injuries
,
she tried to calm herself enough to listen. The only sounds coming from the area was rustling leaves above, small scampering sounds of wildlife going on with their
nightly
doings and her shallow gasps of nervous breathing. Swallowing was a chore, her throat raw from breathing the cool air. T
aking a peek
around the tree she didn’t see anyone coming, nor did she hear heavy sounds of footsteps. Sliding
slowly down the tree she sat on the cold damp ground. A wispy fog swirled along the wooded ground casting a creepy feel to the air.
She had never felt more
vulnerable
in her life th
a
n she did at the moment. Spotting a large log next to her she reached over rolling
it
to her. Kneeling
,
she picked
it
up deciding it could make a weapon
, at least it was something.

Standing she took a few practice swings before leaning against the tree to wait….wait for what was the scary question
. Hearing motion a few yards away from her
,
Tessa held her breath, closed her eyes in fear as she clutched her weapon with a white knuckle grip praying she lived to see another day.

********

The fight between warriors and
half-breed
s last
ed
a whole ten minutes before they started running away in different directions. He hadn’t even been able to get his hands on Sparkles. Before he could even get close three
half-breed
s had c
o
me at him at the same time. Now looking around
warriors
were all that was left.

“Shit!” Jared stomped over to make sure everyone was in one piece.

“Where’s your grandfather?” He ask
ed
Adam who was holding his bleeding arm.

“Over there.” Adam nodded where Jill
was
standing guard in front of the older man.

“I can’t get a read on Nicole.” Damon came over his eyes black as midnight, strain evident on his face.

“Go.” Duncan told them before
o
r
dering
warriors to help humans who had been hurt or were still stuck on the Ferris
W
heel. “I got it covered
and I’ve sent some of the guys out to follow the
half-breed
s
.”

“Where’s Tessa?” Adam had been walking toward his grandfather when he heard Damon. “Wasn’t she with
Nicole?
”

“Take care of your grandfather.” Jared jogged past him. “I’ll find her.”

Adam nodded
,
looking older than his eighteen years at that moment. “Okay.”

“At least someone trusts me.” Jared smirked.

“Don’t be too hard on her dude.” Adam called out. “She hasn’t been able to trust many people
.
T
rust is kind of hard to come by for both of us.”

Jared didn’t respond as he fell into a dead run beside Damon. He knew to follow Damon because a mated mal
e could find his mate anywhere at any
time, even if he couldn’t read her. They made their way far into the woods when the scent of honeysuckle filled Jared’s senses. Damon had stopped looking around. Nicole dropped out of a tree in front of them
wear
ing
the hoodie Tessa had worn
.

“Are you okay?” Damon lifted her face to his.

“I’m fine. Someone was tracking us so I wore Tessa’s hoodie to draw them away. I was getting ready to back track to find her.” Nicole looked proud of herself.

“She’s not here. You left her alone?” Jared frowned, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“No.” Nicole pointed toward the direction she left Tessa. “I hurt my leg jumping with her off the Ferris
W
heel. I knew I couldn’t carry her and get away so we split up.”

“Fuck!” Jared took off in the direction Nicole pointed.

********

Tessa had never prayed like she prayed now. She just hoped the big guy was listening and not too busy. She was no challenge
to a vampire,
half-breed
or pure blood
and she knew it. Th
e
log she held may or may not do damage, but she wasn’t go
ing to just
lie
down
. She was a red head with attitude
. Heavy footsteps crunch
ed
through the fallen leaves and brush that littered
the
wooded area. They were coming closer at a slow pace before stopping and then starting again. It was starting to drive her a little crazy. She knew it wasn’t Nicole because she hadn’t heard a whistle, not even a damn bird, just the crunch of brush.

Knowing whoever the footsteps belong
ed
to was just behind her hiding place, she slowly lifted the log. Moving only her eyes she glanced at the ground beside her tree knowing that a foot was the first thing she was going to see. Sure enough the tip of a foot came into view and without thought she swung the log with
everything she had.

The loud crack of the log hitting a solid form filled the woods
along with
splinters and broken pieces of bark as the dead log exploded. Tessa turned to run, but stopped at the cursing of a very familiar voice.

“Son of a bitch!” Jared grabbed his stomach, bending over in pain. He may be immortal, but that didn’t mean he was immune
to
pain.

Tessa turned, her hand flying to her mouth in horror. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.” She rushed to his side. “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay.” Jared growled at her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Why didn’t you tell me it was you?” Tessa shot back not liking his tone. “
I was trying to save my ass.
I thought you were whoe
ver was following me and Nicole.

“That wasn’t going to stop them Tessa.” His glaring was as angry as his tone.

“It stopped you.” Tessa snorted.

“This isn’t a game Tessa.” Jared hissed.

“I didn’t say it was…Jared.” Sh
e mocked
. “What’
s your problem?”

“What’s my problem?” Jared stalked toward her making her take a step back. “What’s my problem?”

Opening her mouth she closed it really quick deciding that maybe a nod would be in her best interest since her mouth seemed to get her in trouble most times. She had nev
er seen this side of him before,
didn’t like it.

“My problem, Red, is that you don’t trust me.” Jared
’s
breath tickled her face he was so close. “And it pisses me off. Is that plain enough for you?”

No
,
not really, she thought, but kept that to herself. “I trust you Jared. I don’t understand why you’re so angry.”

“What did you take from them?” He raised his eyebrows at her waiting for an answer.

At first she was confused, but then her eyes widened when it dawned on her. “I was going to give it to…..”

“Bullshit!” He backed up
,
rubbing his hand down his face. “We are going right now to get it. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, I understand.” Her voice
raised
a little, her attitude starting to match his. It was
n’t
like she
actually
hid it from him. Well at first she did, but then things just got crazy and well
,
she might as well save her breath because he wasn’t going to believe her.

“I really don’t think you do understand.” Jared turned and started walking away expecting her to follow. “We could have possibly helped your brother and the others sooner if we would have had that vial of stuff they are shooting them up with. You had
no right to keep that from me….from us.”

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have….” Tessa started to apologize, but he cut her off.

“Damn right you shouldn’t have.” He didn’t even turn back around, just kept on walking.

She kept qui
et
after that. It didn’t matter what she said at this point. He wasn’t going to believe her in the foul mood he was in and she was trying to keep up with his pace wit
hout falling down, but she was slipping
more behind
his fast pace
. The ordeal of the night was starting to catch up with her and she was freezing. Crossing her arms
,
she rubbed
her hands up and down
trying to take the chill out of her
bones
. Her dozen of scratches were burning and her bare feet
were on fire.
The adrenaline was wearing off and the pain was setting in.

Jared stomped through the woods
more pissed
than he’d been
in
a long time. After finding Tessa
in one piece his worry became anger in the blink of an eye. Why her trusting him meant so much to him he didn’t know
, but it did. Glancing back to make sure she was still behind him he stopped. She stumbled, but righted herself. Pain flashed in her eyes as they made contact with his, but she looked quickly away
trying to hurry her steps
. Looking down at her feet he saw she wore no shoes.

“Where in the hell are your shoes?”
His
hissed question
echoed through the trees.

Shooting him a dirty look Tessa continued toward him. “Probably at the bottom of the Ferris
W
heel. I threw them trying to slow them down
when they were climbing
toward us. Obviously that was as effective as the log.”

Grabbing her arm as she went to pass him he frowned. “You’re bleeding.” He pulled her arm away from her body looking at the scratches.

“Really?
You don’t say.
” Sarcasm dripped off that one word. Pulling away roughly she hobbled past him. “Just get me home Jared. I’ll give you the vial and then you can be on your way.”

This time when he grabbed her he swooped her up only to set her
ri
ght back down on a fallen tree. When she started to move he grabbed her thighs holding her still. “Stop!” Jared’s tone was more concerned than angry.

Trying to peel his hands off her thighs she kicked out almost hitting the sweet spot between his legs. “I’m fine. I just want to go home.” Her teeth chattered
,
clearly indicating that she was far from fine.

Cursing under his breath Jared ripped his shirt off and pulled it over h
er
head. Grabbing her foot again he started to peel the sock off, but her hiss of pain stopped him. Blood
wept
through the cotton
. S
ome of the sock was embedded in
a few of the
cuts.
“Why didn’t you tell me dammit?”

“When
….
between accusing me of things or yelling
at me
?”
Tessa snorted keeping
her arms inside his shirt trying to shake the chill off.
Jared stood scooping her up.
“Put me down. I can walk.”

“Shut up Red.” His words were spoken with affection more than anger as he carried her out of the woods into the clearing.

“You shut up
…
.” She whispered
,
feeling exhausted and not in the mood to fight anymore.

Jared grinned over her head. It wa
s almost impossible to stay mad
at her. No other woman ever stood up to him like this woman and he liked it…a lot.

Adam started to go to his grandfather, but Sid stopped him.

“We need to get these people off the Ferris
W
heel.” Sid headed that way. “They can’t get it started.”

“We’re
good.” Jill, who stood guard with his grandfather
,
called out giving Adam a thumbs up.

Following Sid up the rails Adam started taking people who were stuck down. The older ones he
took
down easy, while the younger ones he gave them a thrill and jumped either holding them or with them clinging to his back.