by Nashoda Rose
Saliva foamed at the corners of Groar’s mouth as he panted several times. Then he made a deep screeching growl, spun on his hooves and tackled Drake to the floor, his fangs going for his throat. Drake held him off, with his hands pushing on the thick neck.
I dove for them and pressed my hands onto Drake’s chest as Groar pinned him to the floor. I didn’t have long. There was no question Drake would win against the Ink; physically he was stronger and faster. My advantage had been surprise, but all I needed were a few minutes.
I called to my ability and my hands heated. I was dislodged for a second as they flipped to the side and Groar used his horn to carve a five-inch long gouge in Drake’s cheek.
“I’ll kill him,” Drake shouted. “You’ll wish you were dead, Breanna. You’ll beg me for it and I’ll never kill you.”
I glanced back at Jasper and he was watching me. God, he was pale and could barely keep his head up. He had to call his Ink back before it drained all his strength. My hands burned as I pressed them as hard as I could into Drake’s chest, but instead of healing, I did the opposite. I drained him of everything living.
“What are you doing?” His voice was a whisper as I took all that he had. His heart slowed as I bore down on him. Drake’s hands slipped away from Groar’s neck and then his eyes rolled in the back of his head.
I stopped blood flowing through his veins. His organs from functioning and then . . . lastly . . . I stole the air from his lungs. Lungs I’d healed for six years.
Drake’s sudden harsh, cruel laugh with his last breath sent cold shivers through me. His eyes flashed open and they met mine for a brief second as he said, “He will die with me anyway. Remember your house, Breanna. He will burn just like your mother.”
Jasper’s Ink jammed his horn into Drake’s neck at the same time as his heart hesitated and then . . .
Nothing.
I collapsed to the side, my body trembling and cold, even my hands were freezing. I couldn’t stop; I had to get to Jasper. I crawled to my feet, staggered and fell to my knees. “Go to him,” I said to Groar. The boar with its broad shoulders and heavy weight walked past me, blood dripping from its horns to leave droplets on the floor along its path. He then leapt into the air toward Jasper, following the bright string of light that bound them. The beam of light dwindled as it merged with Jasper again and I saw his body jerk at the impact.
“Jasper.” I scrambled to my feet again and ran to him, collapsing against his chest, arms wrapping around his neck. “Jasper.”
His eyes were closed and he was freezing cold. His heart was so faint I had to press my ear to his chest in order to hear the slow, irregular beats. “Hold on, baby.”
I put my hands on his wound but they remained cold. They weren’t warming. They weren’t heating up. “Oh, God,” I cried as I pressed them harder into the wound. “Please. Please.”
I choked back the sobs as I focused and tried to re-awaken my healing, but I’d used all I had in me to take Drake’s life and I was too weak.
“No,” I sobbed as I desperately tried to bring heat into him. There was a spark, like a match being stroked and his heart began to beat stronger as a flicker of heat began in my palms. “Come on, Jasper. Fight with me.”
He groaned and I pushed further, forcing my body to transfer my heat into him. “Baby.” His haggard whisper strengthened my resolve and I pushed more and more until he raised his head and his eyes flickered open.
“Stop,” he said. “Fuck, stop.” He strained against the chains. “You’ll die. Max, it’s too much. Stop.”
My heart slowed and staggered as the coldness I took from him leaked into me, but I’d never stop. Not until we left here together.
Suddenly, a loud boom from upstairs vibrated through the room and I fell backward. Dust and debris crumbled from the ceiling as the house groaned under the pressure. I looked at Jasper and his face was contorted in agony at the sound. Being weak, he was unable to tone down his ability.
I climbed to my feet then ran for the door. “Max,” he called.
Another loud bang as if furniture was falling. I threw open the door and the instant I did, I smelled the pungent smell of smoke and heard the distinct crackling of fire.
“Max, get the fuck out of here. The ceiling is going to cave in.”
I ran to Drake’s body and searched through his pockets and found his phone. It flashed the clock screen.
“Oh, God.” He killed his vampire followers upstairs just to make certain Jasper didn’t escape. That he’d burn here, just like my mother and Talde. And he would if we didn’t get out soon. The house would either collapse on top of us or the smoke would suffocate us.
I ran back to Jasper and tried to undo the chains. “Jasper. I . . . I can’t undo them.” Panic gripped me and my breathing quickened, making me lightheaded. I had to calm down. We’d get out together. We’d make it. The Scars had to know I was gone and then they’d see the fire and come for us.
“A gun. Something,” I said and ran to Drake’s body, quickly searching for any kind of weapon to break through the lock. “There has to be . . .”
“No,” Jasper said. “He was never planning on letting me go, Max.”
“No. No.” I shook my head as I yanked off Drake’s boots looking for a knife—anything. “He wouldn’t do that.”
But I knew that was exactly what he’d planned. That was why I knew I had to try and kill him. What I hadn’t anticipated was being unable to get Jasper out of the chains.
“Max, come here.” It was his calm, steady voice that drew me from my frantic searching. “Come here.”
I pushed up and then ran to him, my arms wrapping around his neck as I pressed my lips to his. “There has to be a way.”
He pulled back and I stroked his cheek. “You killed him. You stopped him, angel.”
“We did,” I corrected. “We have to find a way to get you out of here.”
“I want you to listen to me, Max.” He tilted his head down and looked at me while I cupped his face in my hands. The grey in his eyes wrapped me in its intensity as he waited until I calmed my breathing and my eyes were steady on his.
“Good girl.” He quirked a half-smile and then it was gone and I knew. I knew what was coming. “My heart is yours, sunshine.” My own heart crashed through its protective cage and dropped into my stomach. “Never knew I had one until you. It lost its beat a long time ago when I lost myself. I never thought it would beat again—until you.”
“Jasper. No.” I knew why he was saying this and I shook my head. “No. I don’t want it. I don’t want it without you.” I clutched at his shirt, tears staining my cheeks as I pleaded with him.
He grunted and his muscles flexed. I frantically reached around again to try and undo the chains on his wrists. I choked on the sob catching in my throat. “Help me. Help me. Your Ink. Groar can—”
“Baby,” Jasper whispered.
I ignored him, yanking on the chains, desperation blurring the reality of what I was doing. I had to get him free.
“Baby, stop.”
“No. Fuck you, Jasper. Fuck you. You don’t get to give up.”
“I need you to look at me, Max.” I clawed at his trapped wrists until he added, “Please.”
My trembling hands slid down his stretched arms and away from the chains that were going to break us; tear us apart before we were even brought together. I shifted so I was standing in front of him again, ignoring the escalating sounds of the crackling and banging upstairs.
“I can’t,” I said. Because the second my eyes hit his chin, I had to close them. I couldn’t look at what I knew I’d see.
“Yeah, you can. Because it’s all I have left.”
Oh, God, the pain crushing my chest was so debilitating I had to grab hold of him to stay upright.
“Look at me so I can see the stars in your eyes. Going to take them with me, angel.”
I collapsed at his feet, my hands on the floor, my curtain of hair hiding the anguish in my fac
e as reality hit me. There was no escape for him and I was helpless to save him.
“You going to give me your eyes, sunshine? Because fuck, I don’t want to die without seeing them again.”
I crawled back up him, my legs vibrating so badly I needed to use him to keep myself standing. I raised my chin and then my blurred, tear-filled eyes slid up his body, past his chin, his nose and then . . .
We locked. And it stole my breath and stilled my heart.
This was what it was about. This was why anyone would go through suffering because on the other side was this . . . the encompassing brilliance of what Jasper and I shared. It was us merging, with that one look and becoming one.
“That’s it, baby. Fuck, you’re beautiful. I’m so proud of you.” He cocked a half-smile and from the wince after, I knew it was painful for him to give me that. I traced his lips with my fingers as the tears continued to stream down my cheeks. “Max. I need you to get out of here. Take Drake’s shirt and put it over your head, stay low and run. Use your telepathy to try and reach the others. You have to go before it’s too late.”
But I was too weak to use my telepathy and I wouldn’t leave Jasper. Never. I wasn’t scared to die; I was scared to walk away.
“No. I won’t leave you.” I stood on my tiptoes and curled my hands around his neck and then kissed him. His groan vibrated beneath my mouth and I deepened the kiss, my tongue tasting, my need so intense it was like I was unable to breathe without him.
“Max. Go,” Jasper mumbled when I refused to let him go. “Fuck,” he grunted and tore his head to the side to break us apart. “Get out of here. Give me that. Let me die knowing you’re safe.”
“I’m not safe. I’ll never be safe without you. You’re my safe, Jasper. Don’t you see that?” I flinched as his eyes hardened. No. No. I gagged on the tears, the sobs, the clenching pain that had my heart in its hand and squeezed until I felt as if it burst and I was drowning inside from my own blood.
“Do this for me. Jesus. I can’t watch you die. Don’t make me. You’re free, Max. You’re finally free of him.”
But I couldn’t give him that. I wouldn’t. I’d lived my whole life locked away doing what I had to in order to protect everyone. Now, I was doing what I wanted and I’d never leave him. Never.
I pulled away from him and this time when I met his eyes, I raised my chin and refused to falter under his determined harsh expression that he was using to try to get me to do what he wanted.
“I’m not leaving you.”
We stared at one another for a few seconds, both unwavering. It was Jasper that broke first and it was him sighing. Then every muscle relaxed as he hung, accepting what he couldn’t fight. “Come here, baby,” he whispered.
I buckled into him and it was at that moment I felt as if I took his heart and he took mine. Because every day I suffered in Drake’s hands, every day I hid away, it was all worth it for this moment, knowing that Jasper was mine. That he was giving the pieces of him that had scattered into the wind so many years ago.
I’d caught each one and brought them back and now they were mine. He was mine and I was his.
“Fuck, you’re stubborn.” His voice was a ragged whisper and I heard the tinge of fear. “But I love you, Max. I fuckin’ love you.”
I pressed my forehead against his chest, his heart still thumping strong and steady despite the walls that crumbled around us. It was getting closer. The heat burning my back and the smoke leaking beneath the door to make a light fog in the room.
“I love you. I love you. I love you,” I said as there was a sudden crash of what sounded like parts of the roof.
“Jesus, Max.” I knew he must have heard the fear in my voice. But it wasn’t fear of dying; I’d always accepted that. What I was scared of was us not dying at the same time. Of holding him dead in my arms or him seeing me being burned alive.
Jasper kissed my forehead. “Don’t look, okay. Kiss me, baby. Just kiss me and we’ll go together.”
I jerked as the door burst open and the inferno of smoke and heat filled the room. I slammed my mouth down on his and kissed him with all I had left. Because this was all either of us had.
I kept my eyes closed, ignoring the agony of the heat burning my back, the smoke filling my lungs with each breath that was Jasper’s and mine together.
But my kiss ended too fast as I struggled to breathe and my hands slipped from his neck as I coughed violently. No. No.
Suddenly I was yanked away and a cry escaped my lungs, not knowing what happened until a wet cloth came over my nose and mouth and I saw the cold ice-blue eyes of Waleron.
Then Xamien came up beside us and something else. An Ink. A brilliant light linked the black shadow of a massive beast to Xamien. It was transparent except for the mouth, eyes and claws that glowed bright turquoise. It had to be over seven-feet tall with faded grey markings all over the black shadowed form. Xamien took me from Waleron then spoke to his Ink.
“The chains, Grief.” The Ink moved like the wind and shifted past us. It snarled and razor sharp fangs emerged. It lowered its head and clamped down on the chains around Jasper. Within seconds, they fell to the ground.
Waleron grabbed the now unconscious Jasper around the waist as he collapsed and threw him over his shoulder. I reached out to Xamien’s Ink, no longer hiding what I’d been forced to for ten years. “Thank you, Grief,” I whispered to the Ink in my mind.
His glowing eyes darted in my direction and then he tilted his head to the side as if he was trying to ascertain whether he heard me or not. After a few seconds, Grief bowed his head to me then swept across the floor and merged back with Xamien.
We made it out of the basement just as the ceiling gave way.
JASPER PACED.
I watched from the bed, my legs crossed beneath me as he strode back and forth like a caged animal. His hair was tussled and slightly damp from his shower and his jeans hung low on his hips, button undone as if he’d quickly yanked them on. He wasn’t wearing a shirt which I took great pleasure in because I admired his muscles that at the moment were flexed. And they were flexed because Jasper was . . . agitated. No, it was more than agitated, it was pissed off.
We’d been back at Xamien’s for a few hours after the long trek back.
Despite Xamien’s protests that I was too weak, as soon as we escaped the burning house, I healed Jasper enough so I was certain he wouldn’t die. I’d attempted to heal him completely but it was Guise who had dragged me away the moment I began shaking from exertion. Guise was scary as hell in a quiet, subtle way, but I still fought him to get back to Jasper and finish healing him. It was when Holden and Xamien came and stood in my field of vision, blocking me from Jasper with their unyielding expressions that I gave in.
Waleron left as soon as we were safe. The tension between him and Xamien was obvious from their fierce glares at one another. At some point they’d have it out and it wouldn’t be pretty.
Jasper remained unconscious all the way back and I knew it was due to the blood loss. I could heal a wound and repair damage, even offer the heat from my own body, but I couldn’t give blood. But his heart beat was steady even though it wasn’t strong yet and he was no longer bleeding out.
Xamien flew Jasper’s rust bucket, Fiona, and I was less concerned about dying a fiery death this time as I was too concerned about Jasper. Holden came with us to the manor, but Guise said he was going to the hotel. Something about the waitress, Vee, and he needed to talk to her.
It wasn’t until I had him in my bed and finished healing him, with his temperature up that I finally relaxed. Holden and Xamien left me alone with him and I took off my clothes and climbed into bed with him, needing to feel him up against me.
It was hours later when I woke and he was gone. I panicked and got out of bed so fast I tripped over the sheet and fell hard to my knees. Then I heard the shower.
Now Jasper paced.
I sat on the bed in my panties and t-shirt watching the angry Scar assassin and
I should’ve been nervous. Maybe even a little concerned about my well-being. Instead, all I could think about was how I was going to get him to remove his jeans.
“Jesus, what were you thinking?”
And this he’d said three times now as well as “you weren’t thinking” and “you could’ve died.” Freaking out. Yeah, Jasper had been on a rampage ever since he’d come out of the shower and saw me awake, sitting on the bed.
I think the reality of what went down had finally hit him and the initial relief that we were both alive had shifted to anger over how it went down.
“Seriously, Max. Why?” He stopped pacing to stand in front of me; his arms at his sides, hands curled into fists. “What if you hadn’t been able to raise my Ink? Did you think of that? Christ, what if you couldn’t have . . . fuck, I don’t even know what the fuck you did to Drake, but it sure as hell wasn’t heal him.”
“I did the opposite. I took his life from him.”
He stared at me a second as if contemplating, and then he swore beneath his breath. “You can do that?”
“Well, I thought—”
“You thought,” he shouted.
I shrugged. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest gesture when he was reeling because that pissed him off more.
“You willingly walked right into Drake’s arms—alone—with a plan to raise my Ink, which by the way, an Ink you know nothing about. You think you can manipulate your ability to do the opposite—to a hybrid ancient Scar.” He raised his voice at the hybrid ancient Scar part. “And then you refuse to leave a burning building. Fuck, Max.” He bowed his head and I heard him growl low in the back of his throat. “Does any of that sound senseless to you?”
“Maybe.” That was my safest answer at the moment and it had been risky, but I’d do it again. I was a Scar, a fighter and I was no longer going to hide.
I knew he wasn’t done yet, so I waited quietly on the edge of the bed as he ran his hand through his hair several more times. Jasper was fighting a lot more than what we went through. He must have faced worse situations over the years in his line of work, but this was him having to face all that we were now. His past clashing with what happened. Of nearly losing someone he cares about again.