Jasper.
Her mate was nowhere to be seen. She set her bag on the table and noticed the gift bag with her name on it. The tissue paper smelled like Ashton and Makenna, so she assumed it was a gift from them. The people she’d hurt the most in her time here.
They’d bought her…a gift?
Truthfully, Cora expected there to be some sort of threat hidden inside, like in all the mafia movies. This could be their way of telling Cora to get lost. But when she pulled the tissue paper free, it revealed an actual gift. Her heart broke and reformed.
This clan was too much. They were all too kind and forgiving in ways Cora never thought possible. This was her clan. These were her people. This was her home.
There was a thud behind her. She spun to find Jasper gripping the stair railing, splayed out like he’d missed a step and slipped. His attention was trained on her. She realized in that moment that Jasper never expected her to return. Seeing her in the living room must have shaken him, because she knew it wasn’t the lack of an eye that was tripping him.
She offered a small smile before grabbing the bag she’d brought home. She had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing as she drew the contents out of the bag.
Jasper lowered himself to the bottom step and Cora approached to kneel before him. There was something intimate about the gesture, a feeling she would never tire of. Looking up at him and seeing his astonished joy filled her with so much pride. This was her man. A king.
She lifted the plastic crown and placed it atop his head. He looked up, even though he couldn’t see it.
“A good king is recognizable without a crown, but he deserves one all the same.”
He swept her off the floor, carried her over to the couch, and lowered himself atop her. His hands roved over her body, like he was trying to tell himself she was real. Cora wound her arms around his neck and pulled him tight so she could whisper in his ear.
“I think I’m going to stay. This…this is where I belong.” Her throat closed. She didn’t realize how emotional it would make her.
Alone in the sky, she’d made the decision to stay. It hadn’t hit her how much that would mean to Jasper, or how his reaction would make her feel. Here, beneath her mate, she felt the wild beat of his happy heart. She could feel his racing thoughts through the mate bond. He still couldn’t believe it.
His hands lowered over her hips and she thought he would undress her right then and there when a knock came from the door. They both paused, waiting for one of his shifters to let themselves inside. When no one opened the door, they stared at one another, confused.
There was another knock, a little more forceful this time. Jasper pulled himself off Cora and held out a hand to help her up. She took it and waited for him to adjust his erection before they approached the door.
She didn’t know why she didn’t expect what stood on the other side of the door. She’d asked and she’d been answered. Yet, it still surprised her.
The redheaded man on the doorstep huffed, hands on his hips, clearly annoyed that he’d needed to knock more than once until he saw the state of Cora’s hair. A deep blush spread over his cheeks. Behind him stood a number of familiar faces.
Cora launched herself out the door and into the arms of her friends. Tears burned her eyes, but they weren’t from grief. They were tears of happiness. Everyone Cal had ever threatened on her behalf, everyone who’d helped Cora escape, was here. They mingled in Jasper’s courtyard. There had to be twenty faces.
Jasper fell against the door frame. “Where and I going to put all these people?”
He made no argument against taking them in, only worried where they would be housed. Cora adored her mate more and more every moment she spent with him.
“Well, the guest house is empty for now.”
Jasper raised both brows. His lips parted, but he didn’t ask the question that must have been there. Still, Cora felt the whisper of his thoughts and nodded. She intended to sleep in his bed, beside him, for the rest of her life.
His hunger flared, but before he could pull her back inside, she turned to her old friends. She made sure they were all safe and in one piece. Some of them eyed her frightening mate before casting questioning glances in her direction. She assuaged all their fears and told them she was in good hands.
Chapter Fourteen
While they were figuring out what to do with the people who’d left Cal’s clan, Cal struck again. This time, he’d destroyed a number of businesses on the edge of Main Street, where the town tapered off into woodland. It wasn’t an open attack on the center of town, but another brazen effort to frighten Jasper into submission.
It had Cora standing on the side of the road in the wee hours of the morning, watching a fire that was her fault by proxy. The guilt ate her up from the inside and left nothing behind. She was a hollow shell watching the flames while dragons carted boat loads of water to the scene.
Cora thought she’d made the right decision, but doubt had her wavering. It made her rethink every step she’d taken since leaving Cal’s side. If only she could take it all back and endure the life she’d been handed, then maybe he never would have hurt anyone else.
Jasper pulled her into his arms and tucked her head beneath his chin. His warmth wrapped around her and eased some of the ache building in her chest. If she’d never left Cal, she never would have found Jasper. It was a game of costs, betting one price will be worth more than another. She wished she didn’t have to play it.
“We’ll stop him,” Jasper whispered into her hair before letting her go.
He peeled off his jacket and stepped toward the still burning business. She wanted to call out to him and beg him to stop, but she had to trust that he knew what he was doing. Her mate disappeared into the smoke filled building.
He was making sure no one was inside. The flames didn’t bother him for he was a fire dragon. He was made of flames and heat. Like the one building inside her. She was tired of guilt, of doubt, of all the things Cal was still able to make her feel. She wanted to fight back.
Though, she didn’t know where to start. All she knew was that she was tired of this.
A shout rang out. It rose over the roar of the fire and the commands of the firefighters filling the street. Cora’s stomach flipped. She didn’t think about it, just ran. The night was dark away from the burning building. It took her eyes a long while to adjust.
This far down the street, Cora realized she should have grabbed another shifter to go with her. Mina was there. She would have accompanied her. Another shout filled the night and all thoughts of safety vanished.
That was the voice of a child.
Cora ran faster than she’d ever run in her life toward the sound of the screaming child. The street was dark, no lamps lighting the way when there should have been light. No cars turned down the street to cast their light on the road.
The next scream fell into a scared whimper. She turned toward the source of the sound, a brick building. The door was unlocked. It should have been her first sign that this was a trap. No business door should be unlocked at this time of night, but she ran head first anyway. The sound was so close. Someone needed her.
But a laugh filled the room. The lights flicked on. Cal and the green dragon shifter stood before her. In the green dragon shifter’s hand was a recording device. He clicked it and a child’s scream filled the room. Her stomach dropped to the floor.
“Now that we’re alone,” Cal began. “We can finally have a decent conversation.”
Cora growled. The sound surprised even her. An unexpected strength straightened her spine so she could look Cal in the eye. The only way he could threaten her now was physically, and if he hurt her then his precious crystal scaled dragon was gone.
“You planned to do what? Kidnap me?” She scoffed.
Cal’s arrogance faltered. So, he indeed planned on kidnapping her. Cora refused to be taken so easily. She might have fallen into his trap, but s
he wouldn’t be his pawn. Not anymore.
***
Jasper shrugged off burning embers and ash. The building had indeed been empty. Grateful that his search turned up nothing, he turned back to Cora. Only, Cora wasn’t where he’d left her. He searched up and down the street, but his mate was gone. Panic brought his demon to the surface. The beast scented the air and found her trail. It reached through the bond just to make sure it was going in the right direction.
Cora sent an alarm back through the bond.
Help, please.
Though her words had been gentle and calm, Jasper’s demon was anything but. He raced toward her, following the connection that bound them. Darkness swallowed him. What had led her away? Why hadn’t she called to him earlier?
The bond tangled and his demon paused. His confusion and the fear she’d been holding down rippled and twisted the bond until he didn’t know which direction to follow. His demon sniffed the air, but it’s mind was too clouded by panic.
What good was being a good king when he couldn’t protect Cora? He was useless. He was not the man she deserved. The beast growled at him.
If you would kindly shut up, then I would be able to find our mate.
Jasper realized it was not the beast’s panic that bogged them down, but his own. Cora was so much more than just his mate, more than the person who kept his beast in check. Jasper knew love always followed a mate bond, but he never expected to feel the way he did about Cora. She allowed him to be anyone he wanted. In her presence, he could set aside his crown. He could laugh and joke and flirt.
And she gave it all back to him. She teased, she worried, and she stood so tall. He never imagined a queen like her. He never imagined a woman who would fight back as hard as he did. Now, she was alone and frightened. Danger breathed down her neck, and he couldn’t find her.
His failure pierced him and left him breathless, but the demon was dogged in its pursuit. It did not lose sight of the goal: find Cora.
Voices slipped into the night. They were soft, but he followed the source of the sound to a business. The only light was the nearby Aurum ATM, illuminating an ajar door that he dashed through. The smell of Cora disappeared. The voices faded into the shadows, like they were retreating.
Jasper snarled and lunged deeper into the building. He ran between shelves filled with hardware, the tools ringing as they clattered together in the wake of his wind. Still, the voices grew fainter and fainter.
He felt like he was being sent on a wild goose chase. A thought prickled against his consciousness. What if Cora wasn’t here? He paused and looked back over his shoulder. The building was still dark. He could only see the faint outlines of the shelves. He began to worry his demon had led him in the wrong direction.
The demon had never been wrong before. It always knew where Cora was. He could find her. He only needed to try harder. But when he turned, the room changed. He stood at the entry way again. His heart beat frantically. A second ago, he’d been at the back of the store. Now he faced the shelves, with the front door behind him.
None of this made sense.
He took a slow step forward, testing the floor for traps as he gently pressed his toe against it. Nothing happened, so he took another step. The shelves seemed to stretch infinitely.
Wake up! Cora’s voice boomed through his head.
Confused, he looked around. Everything felt real. The sound of the tools, the glow of the ATM. Yet, when he reached, the world caved, and his fingers passed through the nearest wrench. His stomach flipped. The demon’s snarl came from outside his body. When he looked up, the gold dragon was outside his body.
They locked eyes, and the dragon huffed in annoyance. Jasper didn’t spare another moment.
“Where can I find you when I wake up?”
Silence answered him. He worried he was too late, that he wouldn’t reach her in time. This might have been a dream, but it had been created by Cora’s fear. She was still in trouble. Her fears had leaked into his mind. He looked around, searching for clues.
I’m not here. I’m in a sandwich shop. The stockroom. With Cal and one of his shifters.
Jasper came to, gasping only to inhale smoke. He was inside the burning building. The air was thick with ash and steam. He coughed and staggered to his feet. A beam laid on the floor beside him. Had it hit him? It must have fallen, hitting his head just right.
He shook it off. The demon shoved against his mind. It wanted to be free, wanted to go find Cora. If he shifted inside, it would destroy the building. He looked around. It was more wreckage than shop now. He didn’t think it could be salvaged.
The demon huffed as it filled reality. Claws pierced the charred and bloated floor. His great form cracked the wet walls, bursting the windows. He launched himself out of the building and into the air. People cried out below, but they were all a safe distance from the building.
From above, the demon scanned the street. Cora said she was in a sandwich shop. Jasper could not recall any such shop. He hadn’t spent enough time in his own town to know what shops there were. The demon tossed its head, taking in the scents of Grove.
It smelled of exhaust and motor oil, but beneath that it could pick out the different odors of each shop on the street. It caught hints of vanilla and coffee from the cafes. A car part shop smelled heavily of rubber from the stack of tires behind the building. They’d been too close to the fire, making the air acrid. But as it flew away from the fire, the air became laden with yeast and processed meat.
There. That had to be it.
But the demon couldn’t bust through the wall to rescue Cora. As much as it wanted to, Jasper was cautious of causing any more damage to the town. Grove had put up with enough from its king. He wouldn’t allow this war to infringe on his home any longer. He was responsible for his fair share of the damage and that had to end.
He dropped to the ground, wings tight to his body. Before claws could reach the asphalt of the road, booted feet touched down. Jasper marveled at the fact that he had clothing, a magic his beast had never bothered to reveal before. The demon sank deep into him with only a lingering laugh.
It had many more secrets to share, but now was not the time. Jasper spared a moment to wonder that the creature could grant him jeans, flannel, and boots, but not a new eye. He shook his head before racing into the building.
There was no Aurum ATM here. It was dark, but through it he heard voices again. This time, the voices didn’t retreat. They remained where they were, growing more familiar with each step.
Cal’s brusque smugness. The heavy breathing of a familiar shifter. Cora’s thudding heartbeat.
Jasper clenched his fists before shoving the storeroom door open. Cora sidestepped the swinging door without looking. There was a hint of a smile on her lips, like she knew he was right behind her. They were one, after all.
“I think you’re finished here, Cal.”
Cal’s face dropped. The cockiness he’d worn when Cora was alone was replaced by fear until he caught sight of Jasper’s eye. The man laughed and leaned in to stage whisper.
“I took something from you, at least. What happens when I take both?”
“Like you’ll get the chance,” Jasper growled. He wanted to take the man by his throat and pin him to the wall, but there were too many shelves in the way. He didn’t want to wreck someone shop over this worm of a man.
Cora touched his arm. Her eyes flicked to Cal and the thin shifter. Jasper sniffed again. This was the shifter who’d attacked Mila, who’d changed Lilah. Who’d punched a hole in his roof. He had the face of a rat, nothing more than a cretin who wanted to cause as much damage as possible.
Jasper wasn’t going to let either win tonight. It was late and he wanted more sleep. The fire was out. He would speak to local construction companies in the morning about rebuilding. He placed a hand on Cora’s shoulder, signaling that they should leave.
She nodded and turned her back to Cal. The man growl
ed, but it was a weak sound. Pathetic. His offense did nothing to stop Jasper and Cora from leaving.
Only when she was far away from the shop did she stop, gripping Jasper’s sleeves to keep from falling. He noticed the way her knees shook. She pressed her face to his chest and tamed her breathing while Jasper rubbed her back, wishing he could do more.
“You did enough,” she said, voice muffled by flannel. “You arrived when I needed you. They planned on kidnapping me, but Cal wanted time to gloat, obviously. If he wanted time, I was more than happy to give it to him. What happened to you?”
He wasn’t sure. The beam could have knocked him out, but Jasper thought he was more durable than that. He tried not to show his confusion, but Cora was quick to catch on to his feelings. Her hands slid up his chest to cup his face. She peered at him for a long moment, one that stretched into a very specific ache.
All he wanted was to take her home and bury himself deep inside her. Cora was still here, with him. She’d chosen to stay. Most importantly, she’d decided to trust him.
Cora would not be satisfied until she figured out what rendered him unconscious. He could feel the determination radiating off her.
“Let’s go home,” he whispered.
A glanced down the street revealed that the others had followed them. Ryker glared at the shop, as if he could smell Cal and the other shifter. Jasper thought he would hunt them down, but his steel dragon didn’t enter the shop. Jasper gave an appreciative nod.
“Why can’t we just smash his face in and call it a night?” Ryker groaned.
While it was a tempting thought, hurting Cal wouldn’t make him stop. Jasper needed to devise a plan that would put an end to all of this. One that didn’t end with the man’s death. He didn’t want to have Cal’s blood on his hands, no matter how irritating the shifter was.
“We could take his eyes,” Ashton offered. “An eye for an eye, and all that.”
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