Elemental Trial, page 18
Iris, Mitch and I passed through town once more, stopping only briefly for Tricia to hand me a bag of food and some water, and give Iris a semi-respectful nod. Then we were in the woods once more.
“He’s a good kid, really,” Mitch said after we’d walked in silence for a while.
I looked up from where I’d been watching my feet, intent on not slipping on the moss-covered branches. I could see a break in the trees in front of us, so I knew we were getting close to civilization of some kind. “Who is?”
“You mean Corey,” Iris said.
“Of course I do,” Mitch said. “He acts all tough, but he’s got a good heart. He’ll be able to help your Outcasts. Might even be able to help you too.”
“Riley’s fine,” Iris said curtly. “That’s the neutral zone up ahead, right? I think we can make our way from here.”
Iris slipped past us, branches cracking as she stomped over them. Mitch scratched the back of his head. “Your friend’s got the personality of a dried pufferfish—”
“Hey! I can still hear you!”
“—but she’s got a wicked protective instinct and a good head on her shoulders. You two watch out for each other.” He stuck out a hand and I shook it. “Like Corey, I owe you a debt.”
“That’s not necessary,” I said. “I got the second shard. That’s payment enough.”
“Not to me it’s not. People might think we former convicts ain’t got a good bone in our bodies but that ain’t the truth for all of us. You need help sometime, you give us a call. We clear?”
“We’re clear,” I said, not willing to argue the point, especially when he was still crushing my hand.
Mitch broke out in a grin and pushed me forward. “Go win that crown! And try to not get stabbed anymore!”
Iris blanched, but I waved at him. “Will do.”
“You won’t get hurt anymore,” Iris said when Mitch had blended back toward the village and we made our way toward the clearing. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“We already talked about this,” I said, suddenly feeling very tired. “You can’t protect me from everything. Sometimes putting myself in danger is part of what I have to do.”
Iris angrily kicked a branch out of the way.
We broke into the clearing and I stopped. This didn’t look right. We’d clearly reentered the mundane world again (seriously, someone needed to put up signs or something) and now stood outside a ramshackle roadside BBQ, plopped in the center of a four-way intersection. Winding gravel roads spurred off in the directions of the compass. I sniffed the air. Something smelled delicious. Something smelled an awful lot like…
I inhaled deeply. Meat. Freshly cooked. My mouth started to water. I was all for sustainable, fairly sourced food, but this girl wanted a nice, juicy burger after a trying couple of days and didn’t care where it came from.
“This is the rest stop Mitch was talking about?” Iris said skeptically. Despite my meat-fueled reverie, I had to agree with her. This didn’t look like much.
“Let’s go inside and look around,” I said.
“Hold on a sec.” Iris put her arm out as we neared the front door. A line of six motorcycles sat shiny and parked to the right of the porch. “I don’t think this is a good idea. What if they’re a gang?”
A man stood from crouching beside one of the cycles. He grunted, burped, threw a tool from a compartment at the back of his bike into a backpack, then started moseying up the steps to the porch. He saw us and inclined his head.
“Ma’ams.”
Then he went inside.
“I think we’ll be okay,” I said, taking the steps two at a time. A sign posted in gigantic block letters took up nearly the entirety of the door:
Crossroads Bar and Grill (and Inn, depending)
Neutral Zone for paranormals
That means no shifting, feeding, fighting
Keep the peace and you keep your limbs
“Still sure we’ll be okay?” Iris said, smirking.
I rolled my eyes and pushed inside. The smell of cooking food hit me even stronger and my stomach growled. I realized I hadn’t eaten a decent meal, or even had a decent night’s rest, in a while and both were looking very, very good right about now.
The inside was about as cliché as a backwoods roadside bar and grill (and inn, depending) could look. Bent metal road signs from all over the country plastered the walls, some of them full of bullet holes or rusted over. A scratchy country song played from a dented jukebox in one corner. There were lacquered picnic benches with paper towels spread out in the main area and a couple of small tables and chairs. To my left was a long bar with a wooden sign hanging above it: Beer, food, check in
The bikers had taken a table in the corner. A couple of them eyed us as we moved to the bar.
“I don’t think they’re with the Deathless or Pack,” Iris said. “But we shouldn’t let our guard down, even with the house rules.”
I couldn’t argue with her on that.
There was a tiny bell at the bar and, after checking to make sure this was seriously how to get some service, I dinged it a couple times.
A man so tall and wide it was a wonder he’d managed to fit inside the building at all lumbered in from the back. The first thing I noticed was the eyepatch, barely covering a nasty nest of scars over his left eye and leaving him with a permanent scowl. The glass bottles behind the bar shook as he lumbered over and swiped the bell clean off the table.
“Can I help you?”
“Uh…” I said.
“You kids lost? This ain’t exactly a nice place to hang around.”
“What about the rules outside?” Iris challenged.
I could practically hear metal grinding as the man slowly turned his head toward her. He gave her a painful-to-look at grin. “I am the rules. Anyone breaks them, they get broken.”
I was starting to believe we’d be safe from anyone attacking us here.
“We need a room. And food,” I said. “And before you ask, yes I’ve got money and no we’re not lost. Technically.”
The man’s good eye narrowed on me. “Huh. You one of them newbies from the Dying Lands, that right? Or you just passing through?”
“We just need a room and some food,” I repeated.
The man shrugged. “Fair enough. For one room and dinner that’ll be—”
I turned as the front door opened, and Jasper strode in.
At once, any worries I might have had pretty much flew out the window. His gaze slid over the bikers like they weren’t worth concern, then found me. He smirked. “Out of all the gin joints in all the world…”
I had to stop myself from running as I crossed to him and hugged him tight. He kissed my head, muttering, “Glad you’re safe.”
“Glad you are too.”
Jasper nodded at Iris when we broke apart. “I see you found her. Good to see you’re sticking together.”
“Even if Riley doesn’t—” Iris seemed to reconsider. “It’s no problem.”
Jasper caught my forearm and turned it over. “Two shards down. That’s great.”
“What about you?” I said.
Jasper held up his own arm. A single shard glowed faintly beneath his skin. “Just one. The shard of compassion. Long story of how I got it. Valencia personally checked in on me a little over an hour ago. I don’t think she knows I helped you before but…” He shook his head. “I can’t stay long.”
“You can at least stay the night and rest up. We’re getting a room—”
“Well, well…”
The front door slammed with all the force of a hammer shattering my kneecaps. I turned slowly, hoping I had mistaken the snarling voice.
Lukas grinned at us, his teeth glistening. “Guess it’s my lucky day after all.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Looking back a couple hours later, I was amazed nobody attacked each other, house rules or not.
I practically had to drag Iris back. Jasper had looked truly murderous. Even the motorcycle guys had stood, ready to join in the action at a moment’s notice. The only person who’d stayed totally calm had been Eyepatch the Owner, and I was pretty sure he was just waiting for the opportunity to put his obvious threat into effect.
Eventually, though, Iris and I got a room. Jasper insisted on taking one right down the hall, for which I was grateful. The threat of what Lukas might do hung heavy like a shroud over my thoughts, dampening any happiness I’d had at finding Jasper and resting up.
“He’s baiting us,” Iris said. She peered through the blinds of our room at the gravel lot below, cloaked in twilight. Lukas stood there, staring into the woods. I would have almost believed he was being contemplative if I didn’t know he was plotting something. “He wants us to leave the safety of the Inn. There’s something else he’s after.”
“Yeah, it’s called me and power,” I said wearily. “Staring at him isn’t going to change that.”
“Give me a minute and I’ll take care of him,” Iris said. She went to the door and checked either way down the hall before pulling her head back inside. “Why wait around for him to try something? That bartender isn’t going to be able to help us, either. Once Lukas comes back in, I’ll corner him and—”
The walls groaned. I looked up as the ceiling collapsed down on us like a panini press. A voice seemed to rise from the very earth we stood on. Do not break the rules of the house.
And then the room reverted back to normal. I exchanged a look with Iris, my heart thudding in my chest.
“What was that?”
“That means this place is a lot better protected than I thought,” Iris grumbled. She shoved her hands in her pockets. “Fine. I won’t do anything here. But the second we’re out, all bets are off. Lukas had better watch his furry as—.”
“Iris, stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Just…I know what you’re trying to do. You’re being overly protective because you feel like you have to make it up to me. I appreciate the concern, really I do. But…”
But what? Did I tell her that it didn’t matter what she did? That there would always be this insurmountable divide between us? Did I tell her to stop caring for me? There was no doubt in my mind that she really, truly did, but could that care overshadow everything else?
“You don’t have to prove anything to me,” I said at last.
Iris shoved her hands deeper into her pockets, shoulders hunched as though to ward off what she knew I’d really wanted to say. “Actually, Riley. I do. I’m going down to get some food. You coming?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Okay.”
Iris threw open the door. I listened to her footsteps pound down the stairs.
“Is she all right?”
I jumped. Jasper stood leaning up against the door, arms crossed, strong and lean and totally at ease. “You two were fighting.”
I sighed. “Yes. No. Not exactly. It’s complicated.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“Not really. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you it’s just…”
“It’s complicated.”
I smirked at him. “Like you read my mind.”
Jasper grinned. I stepped aside and he slipped into my room. “Spacious. But nothing compared to my deluxe luxury suite. I convinced eye patch down there to give me the room with the jacuzzi.”
I moaned. “I could totally go for that right now. I’ll probably dream of Lucinda’s pool tonight.”
“You’ve been busy,” Jasper said. “And you already found the Charmsmaster and got the second shard.”
“Jealous?” I teased.
“Moderately impressed. You’ll have to try a little harder than that to really impress me. Besides, I’ll get the second shard soon and catch up.”
We were joking, nothing but lighthearted banter, but when he said that my heart suddenly wasn’t as into it anymore.
But there was a light I could latch onto.
“Ari taught me something else before we did the prison break,” I said slowly.
Jasper cocked an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Oh indeed. I learned how to shield my magic. I’m not very good yet, but it kept my power safe from the suppression spell inside the prison. I was thinking that maybe…”
Jasper’s eyes widened just a fraction at the realization of what I was implying. “You think it’ll be enough to protect your magic…from me?”
“I don’t know. But I want to try—”
Jasper closed the distance between us, backing me up against the wall, a barely constrained hunger in his eyes. His enormous form boxed me in, but I didn’t feel the slightest bit of fear. A little anxious, a little uncertainty that what we were trying to do wasn’t the best idea, but nothing more.
“I’d love to try,” Jasper said, his voice low. “But I don’t want to hurt you. I’d never want to hurt you. If this doesn’t work—if you feel even the slightest bit like it’s too much, you tell me.”
“I will.”
His hand came up and the rough pad of his thumb traced a shivering line of fire across my jaw. My lips tingled. “You promise?”
“I will. Now are you going to try to kiss me or what?”
His thumb was replaced by his entire hand, sliding around the back of my head as he brought his mouth closer to mine. His breath lightly brushed over my lips. “You ready?”
I didn’t know if I’d ever be ready for him. But I tore myself briefly away from the overwhelming sensation of him and made sure my magic was protected by the smooth sphere. It didn’t feel as secure as I’d like, but I wasn’t willing to wait. “Yes.”
Jasper leaned in closer, closer, closer, like he was trying to kill me with anticipation until I got fed up with it, bunched the front of his shirt in my hands and pressed my lips against his.
A few things happened at once.
I was lost in the touch of his lips against mine, the hungry growl in his throat as he separated, only for a moment, then dove back in again, kissing me once, twice, his hand wrapping possessively around the back of my waist and pulling me even closer.
Then I became aware of the shield around my magic beginning to flake away even as I concentrated on securing it. It was like my magic was battering against it from the inside, desperately reaching toward him, and my concentration wasn’t strong enough to resist.
Jasper tensed. He drew back even as I tried to keep hold of him. The draining sensation I’d felt the first time we’d kissed wasn’t there, not yet, but something had shifted between us. He wanted me, that was obvious. But there was a reservation, too. A hesitation that went beyond his fear of hurting me.
There was a snap! My lips stung as though someone had slapped me across the face. My head slammed against the wall. Jasper tripped back and fell on his butt. A thin trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. Shocked, he reached up and touched a finger to it, then looked at me.
“Riley, your lips…”
I reached up and touched my chin. My fingers came away red.
“The blood oath,” Jasper said, suddenly realizing. He swore, slamming his fist against the floor hard enough to leave an indentation in the wood. The walls growled in warning. “It stops me from helping you.”
I chuckled darkly. “That oath’s got its priorities skewed if it thinks you kissing me is going to help me win the trial.”
Jasper stood, entire body tense. “It’s not funny, Riley.”
“I didn’t say it was,” I snapped. I stood and wiped the blood away with my sleeve. “It actually sucks. A lot. But what else are we supposed to do except laugh at it? You can’t break the curse, and my magic still isn’t strong enough to resist your pull.”
“I have to try harder to fight my instincts,” Jasper said. “And you just started with your magic. You’ll get it.”
He went into the bathroom. He turned on the sink and let it run for a moment before returning with a damp washcloth which he gently pressed to my face. I took it and wiped off what I hoped was the rest of the blood. I watched as he did the same for himself, waiting for him to bring it up.
“What?” he said when he noticed me watching him. He grinned. “You’re not seriously thinking of trying again?”
“This isn’t just about the blood oath, or my magic, is it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You…” Did I say it? Was I absolutely sure of what I’d felt? “It seemed like you were pulling away from me. It seemed like you were…scared.”
“Can you blame me, after what happened last time?”
“I don’t think that’s it.”
I waited for Jasper to deny it. He continued dabbing at the blood, not looking at me.
“Jasper—”
“What?”
His tone was so sharp I was temporarily caught off guard. It reminded me of the same abrupt attitude he’d taken when we’d tried talking about this before.
“Earlier, you said you were scared that I wouldn’t look at you the same if I knew the real you. Is that what this is about?”
“Really, Riley? Do we have to go over this now?”
“I think we do, yeah. That’s what you told me. And ever since we broke the prophecy, the Outcasts should have been able to see the loved ones they’ve been kept apart from. But you haven’t mentioned your family at all.”
“To be fair, Riley, we’ve all been kind of busy.”
We had. But Ari had told me when I’d first arrived at the Loft that something had happened in Jasper’s past. Something he’d only shared with Ari. I didn’t want to argue with him, not while Iris and I were in a standoff of sorts and the number of allies around me was so few. Not when my feelings about Jasper, which I’d once thought were completely straight forward, were now anything but.
“What is it, Jasper? What is it really?”
Jasper stopped dabbing his face. “Riley, I don’t talk about my family because…because I’m not sure if I have any family left. And yes, I’m scared.” He stood suddenly, his frame seeming to swell with anger. “But you should be too.”
“Of what?” I said softly. “What should I be afraid of?”
