“Ah, Elijah…”
“Let him take a look at the book, Jas,” Julie said, interrupting Jasmine. “Maybe it’ll help him.”
“Maybe,” Jasmine whispered, biting her lip, not at all sure about anything anymore, a knot forming in her chest, and she wondered if she would ever see the man she had fallen in love with again.
Chapter 13
“Ashwin?”
Jade peered around the corner, wincing, at the loud grunt that sounded, gazing at Ashwin as he stood in the middle of the basement, jabbing a fist into the punching bag. His muscles rippling under his bronzed skin, as he jabbed another fist forward, sweat glistening on his skin.
“Ashwin?”
He took another swing, his fist sinking into the bag, not hearing her, the bag swinging madly with the force, and Jade swallowed. Damn. “Ashwin?”
“Go away, Jade,” Ashwin said, striking another fist into the bag. “I don’t really feel like talking right now.”
“But Julie said…”
Ashwin sighed, lowering his fists. He raked his fingers through his damp hair, glancing over his shoulder at her. “What did she say?”
“Not much,” Jade admitted. “But she’s worried about you. She said you’ve been a bit withdrawn since coming home.”
“That’s an understatement,” Ashwin muttered, stalking across the room to the mini-fridge, withdrawing a bottle of water and taking a long drag. He lowered the bottle, his eyes looking distant.
“Ashwin, what’s going on?”
Ashwin laughed. “Oh, Jade, it’s just my past coming back to kick me in the ass, that’s all.” He finished off the bottle of water, crumbling it in his hand, and tossing it in the garbage behind him. He sighed, dropping into the chair and extending a hand. “Come here.”
“Ashwin…” Jade walked across the room, taking his hand, and sitting in his lap. “You know you can tell me anything, right?” she asked, touching his cheek, her heart aching at the pain in his brown eyes.
“Yes, I know,” Ashwin whispered, linking his fingers with hers. “And I do need to tell you something, Jade. Something I’ve been keeping from you, but you’re not going to like it.”
“Will you let me be the judge of that?”
Ashwin nodded, blowing out a long breath, staring down at the floor as he tried to gather his strength. “Do you remember when I told you I’ve been on this earth for centuries.”
Jade nodded. “Of course. It’s one of the curses of being a vampire.
“Yes, that’s all true, but what you don’t know is the history behind the werewolves and vampires.” He paused, gathering his thoughts before continuing on. “Long ago, before either you and I were born, vampires and werewolves were sworn enemies, until the day a vampire and werewolf fell in love. Their families were none too happy about it, and the Gods, well they were livid. On the day of their wedding day, all hell rained down from the heavens, and a lightning bolt struck between the bride and groom as a God appeared before them. He held a pocket watch in his hand and told the vampires and werewolves that from this day forward, a curse will be intact from here on out. A curse, that deems the vampires to roam the darkness of the night, and the werewolves to roam during the daylight. The only days for them to cross paths being on the night of the full moon. But even then, if they dared to merge, there would be unforeseen consequences.”
“Why were the Gods so scared of them?”
“Because, if a vampire and werewolf were to breed, they would create one of the fiercest beasts on the face of the earth, and would dominate the world.” Ashwin paused again, staring down at the ring on his finger. “There’s only one thing that can allow a vampire to roam during the daylight, and it is this ring. A ring, made from a rare metal, forged from an ancient weapon of Zeus’s.”
“What does that have to do with the woman in the casket?”
Ashwin chuckled. “I’m getting there.” He blew out another breath. “There are only a select few who wear these rings. Twenty-four to be exact, and those, who work with me inside the circle. Talia has been hunting us for years. The rings themselves, are one of the key ingredients to breaking the curse, and she wants to break it to bring forth an army bigger, badder than any army before us, but she still needs one thing. The blood, of a witch with darkness inside of her. Your sister.”
“You mean, Julie?”
Ashwin shook his head. “No. Jax.”
“Jax?” Jade frowned. “Ashwin who the hell is Jax?”
“The baby your Mom miscarried,” Ashwin whispered, tightening his grip around her hand. “When your mother lost the baby, her soul was sent up to the heavens. When the Gods caught sight of her, they were so scared, that they rejected her and sent her down to the underworld where Talia intercepted it. She raised the baby as her own, teaching her the ways of the underworld. Bringing out the darkness inside of her, and turning her against you and your sisters. When I got wind of what was happening, I tried to get there. I tried to save her, but I was too late. Talia had already injected her with the blood of the vampire, and now, she has the blood of a werewolf inside of her now too.”
“So she’s already starting to build her army?”
Ashwin nodded. “Yes, but in order to break the curse, she doesn’t just need the twenty-four rings, she also needs twenty-four souls of pure innocence. With magic inside of them.”
“The children who have been kidnapped?”
“Yes. Jax has been hunting them for the last year, bringing them to Talia. They’re locked away in a hidden room down in the underworld until the full moon rise’s on the twenty-fourth night, but now, there’s something wrong with Jax. The blood inside of her, they’re fighting with one another. It’s erasing the humanity inside of her, and if we don’t act soon she’ll be gone forever.”
“So what do we do?”
“We save Jax,” Ashwin told her, rising to his feet. “But Jade, I have to warn you. The Jax down there, she’s not like your sisters. She was brought up to hate you. To despise you, and she believes that you’re the bad guys. She’ll do everything she can to take you down. Including, killing all of you.”
“But she’s still our sister!” Jade cried. “There has to be some good inside of her!”
“There’s not, Jade,” Ashwin whispered, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “God, Jade, I am so sorry. I should have never kept this from you. Knowing you had a sister down there, that you didn’t know about, was killing me, but I didn’t know how to tell you. I felt like a failure. Not being able to get to her in time, and I didn’t want to lose you.”
“Ashwin, you’re not going to lose me,” Jade told him, cupping his face in her hands. “What you did, trying to save her, that means more to me than anything ever could. I might be a little ticked you didn’t tell me about her before this, but the important thing is that I know now, and now, my sisters and I can do everything we can to save her.”
Ashwin smiled. “You know you’re amazing, right?”
“I have been told that a time or two,” Jade said, laughing. She sobered, wrapping her fingers around his wrist. “But, Ashwin, there is one thing I don’t understand. Why are the vampires killing all of the Gods?”
“Because they want the power.”
Jade jerked around, glancing over her shoulder at Elijah. “But why?”
“Because it’s all demons ever want. Power,” Ashwin said, pulling her to her feet. “And to kill you and your sisters of course.”
“Of course,” Jade said, following him up the steps, her mind reeling with all the information he’d just thrown at her. “And just how are we going to convince her that we’re the good guys?”
“We’ll figure it out. We always do.”
Chapter 14
“Okay, so let me get this straight,” Josslyn said, leaning forward and staring at Ashwin with wide eyes. “My sister, my twin sister… is alive?” She rubbed her temples, sighing. “You know, this would have been nice to know, Ashwin!” She snapped, glaring at him.
“You could have told us about her!”
“And just when would I have done that?” Ashwin asked. “Between which demonic fight?”
“You just should have!” Josslyn snapped. “And you!” She jabbed a finger at Matthew. “Did you know your daughter has magic inside of her?”
“Well…”
“Well? I’m waiting on an answer here, Bucko!”
“Josslyn, would you calm down?” Jasmine asked, sighing, as she turned from the window. “He’s telling us now. That’s what counts.”
“Calm down? I don’t even think that’s possible right now!” Josslyn cried. “How the hell would you feel if the person you shared a womb with has been resurrected and is evil!”
“She’s not evil, Joss,” Jade whispered. “She’s just lost.”
“And how the hell do you know that?”
“Because I think I saw her this morning.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This morning, when I was taking a shower, there was a woman with red hair who appeared in front of me. She looked a lot like you.”
“She also might have been the person we saw at your office today,” Matthew said.
“So what? She’s trying to communicate with us?”
“Some part of her is,” Jorja said, glancing from one sister to the next, then glancing back to Ashwin. “Ashwin, she’s a witch. Doesn’t that mean she has a power too?”
“Yes.”
“And she’ll probably use it against us, once Talia cures her of whatever’s killing her,” Josslyn said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “I don’t like this.”
“Maybe Sky can help,” Jorja said, glancing over at him, from where he was sitting in the chair, flipping through the book. “Do you think you could sense her, Sky? Get a feel for what’s going on in that mind of hers?”
“Sense her?” Sky arched a brow at her. “What’s that?”
“It means, that being an angel, you have the power to sense other witches and angels,” Josslyn told him. “Just like you can teleport, and shoot lightning from your hands.”
“I…what?” Sky looked at her, his jaw dropping open. “You’re kidding me!”
“Joss, remember, Sky doesn’t remember who he is,” Jasmine whispered, her voice cracking as she said the words. “Which means, he doesn’t know about his powers. They’ve been taken from him. Just like his memories. Who knows if they’ll ever come back.”
“But his memories are coming back,” Jade put in. “I mean, that’s why he remembered me, right? And why he’s hearing those voices in his head?”
“Maybe.” Jasmine sighed, wiping a tear from her cheek, shaking her head. “I can’t do this,” she whispered, turning, and walking out the door. The door slamming shut behind her.
“Wait. Jasmine!”
“What?” Jasmine snapped, spinning around and glaring at Sky as he hurried after her. “What do you want, Sky? What do you want me to say? I don’t know you!” she cried, her heartbreaking as she said the words. “I have spent weeks trying to find you, Sky! Weeks! I’ve tried every potion I could think of. I tried every spell I could think of. Hell, Elijah even tried teleporting to you! So did Jade! None of it has worked, and deep inside me, there’s this ache. An ache, that I cannot for the life of me get rid of!” She hiccupped, holding a fist to her mouth. “I love you, Sky,” she whispered. “I will always love you, but I can’t love you like this. Not when you don’t even know who I am!”
“Jasmine…”
“No.” She held up a hand. “Look, I know this isn’t your fault. That you losing your memories, is not your fault, but I don’t even recognize you!”
“You think this is hard for you, Jasmine?” Sky asked, his eyes flashing. “Try being me! I woke up, in a street, surrounded by traffic with no idea to who I was, and lately, I’ve been having these dreams. These images. Images of a blonde woman… who I’m guessing is you, and jellyfish! What do damned jellyfish have to do with anything?”
Jasmine laughed despite the pain she was feeling. “You’re remembering last Halloween,” she whispered. “When the evil witch divided us into different fairytales. When we were all united once again, we went searching for her, and she had these giant jellyfish that tried to kill us. We all almost died. You saved us, Sky.”
“And what about the vampires? I’ve seen them before too, haven’t I?”
Jasmine nodded. “Yes. In the underworld, when we were trying to save Julie. Not that it mattered. She ended up marrying Elijah anyways.”
“Who is good now?”
“Yes.”
“Wow.” Sky sighed, leaning against the railing, staring down at her. “We must have been on a lot of adventures together.”
“You don’t even know the half of it,” Jasmine whispered. She turned, striding up the steps and stopping in front of him. “You were always there for me, Sky,” she whispered, lifting a hand and touching his cheek. “You were always there, to push me. To make me better, and it’s because of you, I’m the witch I am today.”
“While that may be, I’ll never be the person you remember,” Sky said, wrapping his fingers around her wrist and lowering her arm. “There’s no guarantee I’m ever going to get my memories back, Jasmine, and looking at you I don’t feel anything. No familiarity. No spark. It’s just empty, which is why you and I will never be together.”
“Sky…”
“I’m seeing someone, Jasmine.”
“You’re…” Jasmine’s breath caught. She stumbled back, gripping the railing. “You’re seeing someone?”
“Yes. Lexi,” Sky said, nodding to the small, red car as it pulled up in front of the house. “In fact, there she is right now.”
“Wait. You’re leaving?”
“I have to, Jasmine,” Sky said, as he jogged down the steps. “My life’s not here, it’s back in Minneapolis with my family and Lexi.”
“But Sky!” Jasmine raced after him, grabbing his arm, and pulling him to a stop. “You can’t leave! This is your calling! Your destiny! The Gods trusted you, when they gave you your powers, you can’t just turn your back on them!”
“Yes, I can,” Sky said, pulling his arm away from her. “Because this isn’t my fight. It’s yours.”
“Then you really have changed,” Jasmine whispered, fighting back tears as she stared at him. “Because the Sky I knew, would never turn his back on his charges. He would stay. He would fight for the greater good. For magic. For the people around him.”
“Jasmine…”
“No, save it,” Jasmine said, holding up a hand, interrupting him. “You’re not the man I knew. You’re far from it because I don’t even recognize you anymore. Goodbye, Sky. I hope you’re happy with the life you choose.” She spun on her heel, racing up the steps and slamming the door shut behind her.
“Jasmine?”
Jorja turned, hurrying toward her as she leaned against the door. “What happened?”
“I don’t even know,” Jasmine whispered, wiping tears from her cheeks. She turned, staring out the window as Sky hurried to the car, kissing his new girlfriend. She sniffed, turning away. “I don’t even recognize him anymore, Jorja. He’s different. He’s cold. He’s aloof, and he has a new life. A new life without me.”
“And a new girlfriend?” Jorja asked, peering through the window. “God, what a jerk!”
Jasmine laughed. “Yeah. He’s a jerk.” She sniffed again. “Liam was right,” she whispered.
“Right about what?”
“That Sky and I will never be together again,” Jasmine whispered. “He’s gone, and there’s no coming back. The man I knew. The man I loved. I lost him.”
She turned and raced up the steps. She raced into her room, slamming the door shut behind her and threw herself on the bed. She buried her face in her pillow, sobs sounding from her throat, feeling as if her heart were shattering in a million pieces.
Chapter 15
“Sky! There you are!”
Stella glanced up at the soun
d of the door opening, staring over her shoulder at Sky as he walked into the kitchen. “I’ve been worried sick!” she cried, discarding the gloves she was using to clean the sink, crossing to him and wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. “Where were you?”
“In St. Paul,” Lexi said, scowling, as she took her mittens off. She pulled the wool hat off of her head, shaking her brown locks free. “And I had to go pick him up.” She glared at Sky. “What were you doing there, Sky?”
“I needed some time to myself, to think.”
“And you needed to go all the way to St. Paul to do it?” Lexi asked, lifting a hand to his cheek. “Sky, I’m worried about you. You've been acting so weird lately.”
“I have a lot going on in my mind,” Sky said, stepping back from her, remembering what Jasmine had told him. Had she been telling him the truth? About everything? He’d been so confused by his dreams lately. By his thoughts, and Jasmine had been so certain. Had they been a thing? Had they been in love? One thing was for sure, he didn’t feel anything for Lexi. Her touch, was cold, where Jasmine’s touch had been warm. Why had he lied to her, then? Why had he told her he felt nothing?
You’re trying to protect yourself, Sky. There’s no harm in that.
“Remember, I’m still trying to figure out who I am,” he said, pushing the thoughts away.
“What you are, is the man I fell in love with,” Lexi said, walking forward and catching his hand in hers. “From the moment Stella introduced us, I knew you were the man for me. You were kind. Smart. Funny, and it doesn’t matter who you were,” she whispered, stepping up on her tiptoes and brushing her lips across his. “What matters is who you are now, and the future you and I are going to build together.”
“Would you stop!” Sky cried, shoving her back a step. “Goodness, Lexi, you’re like a damned leach! Everywhere I go, you’re there. You’re suffocating me! Jesus!” He blew out a breath, massaging the back of his neck. “You and I have only been dating a couple of weeks,” he said, staring at her. “How can you even think of a future together, when we barely know each other!”
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