Journey 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book Two' (39 page)

I frowned. “You want to come
back?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“What about our cabin? And Dodge? And
Luke, Mel, and the boys? God, Jasper, you’re finally able to live a
normal life with your brother and his family. Why would you want to
give that up?”

It was his turn to frown. “Well, I like
it here. I like working on the ranch. Do you realize we have gone
nine months without someone trying to kill us or steal you away?
Well, other than the incident at Bruce’s, but I don’t really think
that qualifies. And I can see you’re happy here. Aren’t
you?”

“Of course I’m happy here! I was raised
here. This is what I know best. But I’m happy there, too. There are
pluses to being both places. I’ve already told you, hun. I don’t
care where we are so long as you’re there with me.” I looked into
his eyes. “You hurt here. It may not be as bad as when we first got
here, but I can still see it in your eyes.”

He swallowed and something close to
fear passed over his face. “Will that always be enough?”

“What?”

“Me. I keep thinking that maybe for
now, it might be. But what about five or ten years down the road?
Will you wake up one morning and think of everything you’ve given
up to stay there just to realize that you regret the choice? That
it wasn’t worth it. That I wasn’t worth it.”

I looked up at him, shocked. “I don’t
know how to answer that. Have I done something to make you doubt
how I feel about you?”

“No. Not at all. I just…” A low growl
escaped his throat. “I just want you to be happy. If you feel you
are happier here, I will be glad to come back. I like it here. At
the rate we’re going we’ll have enough money put away so that we
can put some down on our own place when we’re done over there.” He
looked down at my hands in his and gently rubbed the gold band on
my finger with his thumb. His eyes met mine again. “You always say
that you don’t care where you are so long as we’re together. I need
you to know that the same goes for me.”

I reached up and touched his face. “How
about we see if we survive saving the world and then we’ll decide
where we’ll stay.”

“We’ll survive.” He caught my hand in
his and brushed his lips over my knuckles.

“How do you know?”

“I just do. We just have to.” He took
my other hand and pulled both of them so they were behind my back
and I was pressed against his chest.

“And why is that?” I closed my eyes and
shivered as he ran his lips over mine.

“Because I’m not done loving you yet.”
He rested his forehead against mine and took a deep
breath.

“Well, that’s good to know.”

Jasper pulled back and looked and me.
“Oh?”

I stood on my tip toes and ran my teeth
along his jaw line. “I’m not done loving you either.” He let go of
my arms and I wrapped them around his neck. “How are you worried
about where we’re going to live when we’re about to be neck deep in
bodies and blood in a few months?”

“Bodies and blood I’m used to. Not
knowing what to do with myself afterwards is what I’m worrying
about. I’m used to being told what to do. I must admit that the
past three years I have felt a little lost. I have no doubts that
my place is by your side. It’s what I’m supposed to do while I’m
there that has me more than a bit confused.”

A lump was forming in my throat and I
had to swallow a few times. “Why have you never told me any of
this?”

He smiled sadly. “Because I knew it
would make you cry.” He wiped a tear off of my cheek with his thumb
and I closed my eyes. “Hayden. Look at me.”

When I didn’t look up at him he pulled
me to his chest and rested his chin on my head. My shoulders shook
as I tried to keep in the sobs while I thought about what he had
just said. Why had I never thought to ask? Why hadn’t it occurred
to me that breaking his bond to Melana would affect him in some
way? It was more than just being freed from the urge to do what he
was ordered to do. Namaels were genetically programmed to obey
whoever ruled at the time. Being fated to me had disturbed his
being at more than just a conscious level.

Jasper’s arms tightened around me. “I
love how you fit so perfectly against me like this.” He took a deep
breath. “Do you know what else I love? I love how I can get lost in
your eyes; how I can lose myself in your kiss. I love waking up
beside you every morning.” His fingers ran through my hair. “I love
how you are trusting to a fault. That you believe in the good in
people even after everything you have been put through the past few
years.”

I looked up was a bit shocked to see he
was smiling.

He kissed the bridge of my nose. “I
love how stubborn you are. How you get so cold and that I am the
one who warms you up.”

His lips brushed along mine and I
shivered. “But most of all, Shlova, I love the fact that no matter
where we are, no matter what we are doing, we will be together. All
of the small details will work themselves out.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I wouldn’t change a thing
that’s happened the past few years. Well, maybe the parts where I
almost die and you get abducted.” He smiled and I had to laugh. He
kissed me softly. “Think about it. When this business with the
humans is done and over with, we don’t have to stay there. And it’s
not like we can’t go back to visit.”

“I wonder if Dodge would come
back.”

“I’m surprised he isn’t here
already.”

I took a deep breath. “We’ll talk about
it some more later. I’m not deciding this on my own. Whatever we
decide, we’ll decide it together.” I looked up at the clock. “Let’s
go practice. Everyone else will be there already.” I stood on my
tip toes and kissed him softly.

“Alright. I still think we should cross
over so you could work on your magic too. I hate not knowing what
Damian saw.”

I shook my head. “We can’t take a
chance that someone might see us.” Though we didn’t know exactly
what would be waiting for us when we crossed back over the night of
Shay and Shawn’s wedding, we had been warned to be ready to fight.
We spent a few hours three days a week sparring out at Shawn’s to
keep on top of our game. I went up the stairs to my room and pulled
our weapons out from under the bed.

There was a knock on the front door and
I heard Jasper head over to answer it. His growl stopped short and
turned into a grunt. I heard chairs being knocked over and
something heavy fell on the dining room table hard enough to
collapse it. I stuck my dagger in my belt and pressed myself
against the wall, listening.

“Where is she?”

Jasper coughed. “Gone.”

“Where?” The man’s voice sounded
desperate. And familiar.

“I’m not sure. She had errands to run.”
Jasper grunted again.

I debated putting my swords on my back
and decided against it. There wasn’t enough room to maneuver safely
downstairs. I pulled on one of Jasper’s bunny hugs on and made sure
my dagger was covered. I stuck his in the back of my pants. With
the living room and dining room situated at the bottom of the
stairs there was no way I was going to sneak down and surprise
them. I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice as normal as
possible.

“Jasper, hun? Who was at the
door?”

I heard him suck in a breath. “Just an
old friend of yours and a few of his.”

“Oh! I’ll grab some beers from the
fridge up here. How many do I need?”

“Seven if you want one.”

That meant there were five. Now, who
was my old friend and why was he beating the crap out of my mate. I
checked again to make sure neither of the daggers were showing and
went to the spare room where the beer fridge was. I moved the
bottles around to make it sound like I was grabbing some but only
took two. I knew I wasn’t very good at throwing knives, but I was
sure I could hit what I was aiming at with a beer bottle. If
anything it might slow the person down.

I made my way down the stairs. I took a
few seconds to scan the room then leaned nonchalantly against the
wall. Jasper was standing in the dining room amongst pieces of the
table. His nose was bleeding and his eyes were swelling. There was
a blond man holding a dagger to his throat.

“Do they always have to break your
nose?”

Jasper shrugged. “It was crooked when
you met me, Shlova.”

“This will be the fifth time since I’ve
met you I have to straighten it.” As I talked, I looked around. I
only saw four men.

“Yes, well, it’s not like I ask to get
hit in the face. And don’t forget, one of those times, it was you
who broke it.”

I smiled. “I remember.”

I took a closer look at the men holding
him. “So, Rainen strikes again, does she?”

A dark haired man standing to Jasper’s
left looked surprised.

“It’s your eyes,” I explained. “You’re
hurting and since Melana isn’t after me anymore, there’s only one
other choice.”

“Smart. I always loved that about you.”
A man walked in the front door carrying ropes and my heart
jumped.

“Dave?”

He laughed. “Oh, that’s priceless. You
should see your face.”

I had an idea what my face might look
like and I could feel it getting redder. I looked closely and
noticed what I hadn’t before. Hidden behind the sneering look in
his eyes was the pain.

“It turns out Rainen doesn’t appreciate
how long it’s taken me to get you back to her so I’m here to finish
the job.”

All I could do was stare at him. He
grinned at me.

“Those times you tried to haul me away,
all those times you would somehow know where I was…” I was starting
to see him in a totally different light though one thing puzzled
me. “But you can’t fight?”

It was his turn to turn red. He
shrugged. “When I crossed over I found that if I was drinking I
didn’t feel like I was dying.” He looked at Jasper and sneered.
“I’m not drunk now.”

Jasper stood almost casually pressed
against the blond man’s chest though the dagger was pressed hard
enough against his neck that a thin line of blood was starting to
show. I had seen his battle calm before. This wasn’t it. This was
the look he’d had when Brice had taken me. He stared directly at
Dave and his sky blue eyes held a promise. Whether Dave managed to
get me to Rainen or not, he was a dead man.

Dave’s smile slipped slightly and
Jasper’s lip curled.

I tried to figure out a way to start
this fight without getting Jasper killed. Five on two weren’t very
good odds, especially when one of the two already had a dagger to
his throat.

“So what’s your plan, Dave?”

He looked at me. “I’ll tie you two up
and we’ll head to the park behind your mom and dad’s
place.”

“You’re going to tie us up?” I laughed.
“I’m pretty sure little Mrs. Connelly down the street will have the
cops over here in a flash when she sees that.”

He frowned.

“Why don’t you just leave us be. We
were coming to see Rainen in a couple of months anyway.”

“Why should I believe you? You’ve been
hiding from her here for almost a year.”

I shook my head. “Not her.
Braw.”

He snorted. “Hiding from the humans?
Now I’ve heard everything.” He pulled a piece of rope out and
straightened it. “Come here. By the time old Mrs. Connelly realizes
what’s going on we’ll be well on our way.”

I looked at Jasper and he shrugged. He
smiled. “Sae nos craix dess mansun nos ist mourt.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. He was
right of course. If we crossed over now we were dead. Then again,
if I did anything right now, he was dead. I told him so.

He shook his head as much as he could
without slitting his own throat. “Purt avens luib.”

I looked at Dave, smiled as meanly as I
could, and nodded. “Not before him.”

Dave blinked then sneered. “Get over
here, or he dies in front of you.”

I grunted. “Wouldn’t be the first
time.” Though I said it casually, my heart was pounding in my
chest. If anything happened to Jasper here, I knew I couldn’t save
him.

“Shlova.”

I looked at him and realized I wasn’t
shielding. I took a deep breath to calm down. “A shlova
yan.”

He smiled. “A shlova yan
jer.”

After putting the beer bottles down on
the chair next to Jasper, I went to him, stood on my tip toes, and
kissed him hard. Everyone seemed to think this was an appropriate
response to our situation and didn’t interfere. Of course, the
blond man wasn’t nice enough to take his blade away from Jasper’s
throat, either.

“Dernaugh da moin jarbs,” I whispered
into his ear.

His hand snaked under the sweater I was
wearing and came to rest against the small of my back, on his
dagger. I ran my hands up his chest and rested them just under the
blond man’s hand.

Jasper pulled the dagger out of my
pants and thrust it blindly past his own side. I grabbed the Maj’s
wrist and pulled away from Jasper’s neck. The man grunted as
Jasper’s blade stabbed into his belly. I stepped back, grabbed the
beer bottles and let one fly at the dark haired man who was coming
to interfere as Jasper turned and stabbed the blond man again. The
bottle hit his forehead with a loud thump. He fell to the ground
and lay still.