Journey 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book Two' (28 page)

I took it from her and carefully untied
the string that was holding the package together. I looked at her
and she laughed at me.

“Go on. Put it on.”

I held the pendant up gingerly and lay
it in my hand to look at it. The gem looked very much like a cross
stone, but instead of being blue it was a deep red with black veins
running through it. The flat stone was about half the size of my
palm and hung on a leather string. Jasper took it from me and tied
it behind my neck.

Marilynn smiled and touched her
identical pendant. Jasper squeezed my shoulder. Once I had enough
control over the magic to be consistent, I would then be recognized
as a trained sorceress and the leather string would be dyed
black.

“Thank you.” I gave her a
hug.

She grinned. “There’s something else.
You’re to come back here, tomorrow, after breakfast.”

“Why is that?”

“Hanna has something for you as
well.”

My heart jumped, knowing full well what
Hanna was going to give me. “Do you think it hurts?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I’m
glad I’m a sorceress and not a healer.”

I laughed. “Alright. I’ll be here.” I
turned to Jasper. “You’ll come with me?”

“Of course.”

I was more than a little nervous about
getting the healer’s tattoo. The thought of having a needle and ink
going into the skin around my eye made my mouth dry.

Jasper put his hand on my arm. “You’ll
do fine. Just think. You’ve been through much worse than one little
needle.” He smiled at me reassuringly.

“I suppose when you put it that way.” I
smiled. Still, needles weren’t my favourite thing, especially when
they were pointed at me.

“Now,” Jasper took my hand. “Where
to?”

I looked at my packages and the ones
Tara and Ben were holding. “Maybe back to our rooms to put these
down.”

Tara laughed. “I agree. I’m all shopped
out.” We had spent the entire morning going from shop to shop
buying things that we knew were hard to find in Sageden.

“When do the Gysps come to shore?” I
handed Jasper a couple of the packages.

“In about three days,” answered
Marilynn.

“We’d better make sure to keep enough
coin for when they get here.” Ben took one of the larger packages
from Tara.

I had been surprised to find out that
Quelondain was actually a continent. The Gysp were a sea faring
folk that only came to shore to trade. They traveled between
Quelondain and Thistendal, the continent situated across the sea to
the east, bringing goods from one to the other. The strangest part
about learning of the other continent was also finding out that no
one traveled from one to the other. No one seemed to have an
explanation. It just wasn’t done. The third continent was Nankada.
It was situated between the other two on Quelondain’s west
coast.

“Alright, we’ll see you tomorrow
morning then, Marilynn.”

She smiled at me and gave a wave as we
left her shop.

Once we had gotten back to our room, I
dropped the packages on the floor and lay on the bed, my chin on my
hands. “Man, I hate shopping.”

Jasper chucked, straddled my hips, and
started to massage my shoulders. I groaned and relaxed under the
warmth and pressure of his hands.

“Feel like taking a ride along the
cliffs? Maybe we can spot the Gysps’ ships. Dodge isn’t back from
visiting the herd south of here, but I’m sure we can find you a
horse somewhere.”

I nodded and rolled onto my back. I
looked into the sky blue eyes that gazed down at me and had to
remind myself to breathe. I held out my hand, palm up, and he lay
his cheek against it. His eyes closed and long dark lashes fanned
down. Dark curls dropped forward into his eyes and I reached my
other hand up to brush them away. I ran my thumb over the bridge of
his nose and smiled at the memory of him the first day we had met.
His nose had been slightly crooked. I had fixed that since then,
more than once. His eyes had been full of uncertainty as he had
tried to come up with the best plan possible to get me to follow
him to Pinsaber. His lips had been inviting. Hell, everything about
him had been inviting. The man was lucky I hadn’t ripped his
clothes off right then and there in the meadow.

He caught his breath but kept his eyes
closed.

I traced the line of his jaw back
toward his ear and smiled at the shiver that ran through him. I
held his face gently between my hands and simply looked at him. My
heart beat quickened and my stomach clenched. He opened his eyes,
both of us unable to look away.

“God, I love you,” I whispered
softly.

He bent down and brushed his lips
against mine, his tongue gently parting them. He laid himself flat
against me and pinned me to the bed. He groaned, the kiss becoming
harder, hungrier. My head started to spin and I melted under
him.

There was a knock on the door. Jasper
let out his breath in a hiss. “Who in bloody hell is
that?”

“Jasper, Hayden? Are you in
here?”

Jasper rolled off of me and I sat up,
trying to catch my breath. I cleared my throat.

“Yeah, we’re here. Come in,
Matthew.”

The door opened and Matthew came in.
His dark blond hair was messy, his left eye was swollen shut, his
bottom lip split and bleeding.

I jumped off of the bed and ran to him.
“Oh, my god! What happened to you?”

He stopped and looked at me, surprised.
“What?”

I turned him around so he was facing
the mirror. “Your face!” I looked him over a bit more closely. His
tunic had been torn and his right pant leg had a spot of blood that
was starting to show around the edges of a rip. I took his hands
and looked at them. The knuckles were bruised and his right ring
finger was broken.

“Oh. Well, it looks worse than it
feels, really.” He smiled and winced as the cut on his lip widened.
“You should see the other guy.” One green eye looked at me through
the mirror.

I took his left hand and led him to the
bed. “Sit down so I can fix you.”

Jasper came to stand beside me. “Who
was the other guy?”

Matthew sucked in a breath as I pushed
the green wave through him. “You’ll remember Parker? From
Habon?”

“How could I forget? We trained under
him when we started. I wonder if he remembers us.” They grinned at
each other.

“I don’t think he’s likely to forget.
Anyhow, his pack came back from patrolling this morning. They were
ordered to the hall. When he asked what was happening, Gerald
informed him that all packs were being searched for human spies.
Parker made a fuss. Asked how it was we were going to do that. We
told him that Hayden would come down and scan everyone’s auras. His
pack is at least a hundred and fifty strong. It would take forever
to check them all manually.” His dark green eyes narrowed.
“Parker’s comment was along the lines of ‘I’ve heard stories about
her. Seems she has more dogs in her pack than cats. What makes you
so certain she’s not the spy?’. He went on to question how he knew
I was to be trusted. I told him my pack had already been checked.
Then there was something about how he wasn’t surprised I was caught
up with your pack. Good for nothing trouble maker who couldn’t
follow an order if my life depended on it is what I believe he
called me. I asked him if he was against the idea of being scanned
because he had something to hide.” He shook his head. “He got the
first punch in and I got the last.”

Jasper was tense beside me. “Where is
he now?”

“Still in the hall. Melana’s orders are
that no one leaves that hall until Hayden has scanned them. My men
are watching his. I’m sure he is loving that!”

“So why the look that passed between
you two?” I looked form one to the other.

Jasper grinned. “Remember how I was
explaining about the second shift?”

I nodded.

Matthew smiled. “We trained together
under Parker. If there is such a thing as black sheep among
Namaels, it’s us. Actually, the whole second shift is considered to
be outcasts. Well, except for Taylor.”

“But you are two of Melana’s best
captains!”

Jasper shrugged. “We get the job done
with minimal casualties on our side. It’s the way we go about it
that the higher ups don’t appreciate. I’m sure that had it been up
to Parker we would have gotten kicked off of the guard. I think it
helped that Marilynn took a liking to us. She’s his mate. I think
if she had been a man she would have ended up on the second shift
as well. You should see the two of them together. He’s so proper
and she’s so…well, you’ve met her.”

I smiled. “So the two of you changed
orders and now the two of you are bond free or close to it. I think
I’m starting to see a pattern. Is there anyone else out there who
might be joining our crew?”

Matthew looked at Jasper.
“Kendall?”

Jasper nodded. “That’s a good
possibility. How about Cole”

Matthew started to laugh.
“Definitely.”

I looked at the rip in his pants. “Did
he use his dagger on you?” The thought of someone attempting to
kill Matthew had my adrenaline pumping.

“No. I broke a chair against him and he
used a piece of it to try and stab me.”

“How hurt is he?”

Matthew shrugged. “He was unconscious
when I left. I know I broke his arm.”

I took a deep breath to calm down.
“Alright. Let’s go down there. He’ll need fixing and hopefully we
don’t find any humans in his pack.”

We headed down to the hall, the two of
them side by side ahead of me. I could see the tension building in
their shoulders and backs the closer we got to our destination.
Jasper reached for the door.

“Jasper. Matthew.”

They turned to look at me.

“Relax. A spy isn’t the worst thing
I’ve been called.” I smiled. “Jasper, your bonds are broken.
Matthew, yours are breaking. You’re able to accept things more
willingly. Those who are still bound to Melana don’t have the
luxury of deviating from the norm around here. Now, when we go in
there, no fighting. If they want to insult me, let them. We’ll do
what we are here to do and leave.” I looked from one to the other.
“Understood?”

Matthew glanced at Jasper. “I forgot
how bossy she was.”

Jasper grunted and smiled at me. “Get
used to it.”

I stuck my tongue out at the two of
them. Jasper swung open the door and we made our way into the large
room. The first thing I did was scan everyone’s auras. Matthew
looked down at me and I shook my head.

“They’re all good.” I started walking
toward the man who, by the looks of him, I assumed was Parker.
Jasper and Matthew stayed right behind me.

Parker was a very well built man. He
looked to be in his forties. His hair was black with a hint of
silver. His dark brown eyes glared past me to Matthew as we neared.
He was leaning against the wall, his right arm cradled in his left.
A cut on his left temple was leaving a trail of blood down the side
of his face and soaking into his shirt. I spotted a broken chair a
few feet away.

I stopped and looked at him.
“Parker?”

He nodded.

“Could I speak with you a moment?” From
the way he was keeping the pain off of his features and the looks
he was throwing Matthew, I knew he was a proud man. It would take a
bit of convincing to get him to let me heal his injuries. I started
to walk to the far corner of the room.

Jasper and Matthew made to follow and I
held up my hand. “Just me and him.”

Matthew frowned and Jasper opened his
mouth then closed it. They each grabbed a chair and sat down where
they could still see us.

The older captain started to lead the
way to the corner and pulled a chair out for me with his good arm
before sitting on one himself.

“Thank you.”

He nodded, looked at Jasper and
Matthew, and looked at me curiously. “Does your whole pack listen
to you that way?” Everyone insisted on calling our group a pack and
I had given up trying to correct them.

I shrugged and he laughed.

“Those two have been a pain in my rear
since they became of age and joined my pack. When Melana promoted
them to captains and gave them their own packs, I was glad to be
rid of them. I’m impressed, young lady. I don’t think I even got
those two to look in the direction I wanted them too.”

It was my turn to laugh.

“What can I do for you?”

“Matthew told me about your
conversation before your, um, disagreement.”

Parker surprised me by turning red.
“Yes, well, no harm meant really. I was really just trying to get
under his skin. I try not to judge any being until I’ve actually
met them. I meant no disrespect to you.”

I waved off his apology and smiled.
“I’ve been called worse than a spy.”

He pressed his arm against his temple
and wiped the blood away.