Journey 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book Two' (40 page)

Jasper had moved on to a red headed man
that had been behind the blond one. I had time to see him get
kicked in the gut before I threw the other bottle at
Dave.

Dave ducked and the bottle smashed
against the wall. He turned back to me and smiled. “Come on,
Hayden. Make this easy on yourself.”

“There’s no such thing as easy anymore,
Dave.”

His dark eyes bore into mine and his
grin widened. “How are my chances of getting a date after
this?”

“Not very good.” I took off the bunny
hug and pulled out my own dagger.

He shrugged. “Can’t blame a guy for
asking.”

Someone grunted behind me and I
resisted the urge to look back. Dave looked over my shoulder. I
lunged at him and stabbed at his chest as hard as I could. He
dodged sideways before I could plunge it into him but the tip of
the blade slid across his chest and left a shallow cut that started
to bleed.

“Damn, Hayden. I didn’t think you’d
actually try to kill me.” Dave’s eyes were wide.

“And why the hell shouldn’t I,
Dave?”

“I just… I don’t know. I know you. You
know me.”

“I don’t know you.” I crouched low and
moved so I could see what Jasper was doing. He was facing away from
me and I saw the blood soaking into his shirt from a cut on his
back. “And even if you weren’t a shifter come to take me to Rainen,
do you think you would deserve any less?” I watched Jasper slice
his dagger across the red headed man’s throat just as the second
blond man came at him from the side. Jasper ducked and turned. I
caught my breath.

Dave looked back at what had made me
react. Jasper’s shirt was soaked in blood. His cheek had a deep cut
that bled freely and the eye over it was swollen shut.

I felt a tremor start deep inside of
me. Jasper jumped backward to dodge a kick and tripped on a piece
of the broken table. He fell and his opponent stood over him, a
sneer on his lips. Without thinking I threw my dagger as hard as I
could. It buried itself to the hilt in the man’s side.

The short instant I had been distracted
was enough for Dave to capitalize on. I felt the blade slice across
my belly, not deep enough to kill, but enough to make me double
over with pain. I looked down at my hands and noticed how bright my
blood was.

Jasper’s growl sounded over everything
and was followed by his opponent’s final cry of pain.

Dave’s blade pressed against my throat
and he pulled me to his chest. “Stay there, Jasper.”

Jasper’s eyes met mine and I could see
the fear in them. He took one step forward and stopped short as
Dave moved the blade just under my collar bone and cut me through
my shirt. I cried out in pain and tried to stay as still as
possible. The tremor got a little stronger.

“I’m impressed, Jasper. Those four were
the best in my pack.”

I was impressed too. Jasper looked
horrible, but from what I could see, all of the damage was
superficial. He took one step closer and I hissed when Dave cut me
again, this time just over my breast.

The tremor was getting stronger with
each cut. I clenched my hands and tried to keep from visibly
shaking.

“Shlova?”

“Jesus, what’s wrong with her?” Dave
loosened his grip a bit but didn’t take his dagger away from my
throat.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on
standing.

“Hayden!” Jasper’s voice cut through my
concentration and I opened my eyes to look at him. “Put her
down!”

“No way!” Dave took a few steps back
and stopped when he realized he was supporting my full
weight.

Jasper threw his dagger to the floor
and took two long strides toward us. Dave cut me again. I screamed
and reached back so I was holding his head in both of my hands,
trying to stay standing. My whole body was burning. I knew I had to
get rid of the energy in me before it engulfed me. I started to
push it out and away from me and stopped when I realized that
Jasper would be in the line of fire.

I saw him tense to take another step
closer. “J…J…Jasper! Stop!”

His eyes widened and he did as he was
told. “Dave! If she dies, Rainen will kill you.”

Dave lay me down and placed his dagger
pointedly against my arm. “You get any closer, I cut her
again.”

Jasper nodded.

Dave leaned closer to me. “Hayden? Are
you alright? What do I need to do?”

I looked away from Jasper and into
Dave’s dark eyes. I twitched and his blade cut across my arm. The
heat intensified. I saw him glance down at the blood on my arm and
watched his tongue slip over his bottom lip. I swallowed hard and
tried to keep from throwing up at the realization that he was
getting turned on by cutting me. I arched as a spasm raked my back
and he glanced at the blood on my chest. Suddenly, there was
nothing I wanted more than for Dave to be dead.

“K...k...k...kiss…m…m…me…” I managed to
stammer out.

His eyes widened and he turned to give
Jasper a wicked grin. He moved so that his dagger was pointed into
my side. He grinned when I twitched again and I groaned in pain as
the tip of the blade pushed into me. The heat running through me
was scorching.

I reached up and pulled his head down
so that his lips brushed against mine. Dave placed a hand on either
side of me, his right one still on his dagger. I felt the heat try
to cross from my lips to his and I held it back. The effort made my
muscles clench and I arched against him. He groaned and pressed
himself down on me. I jerked back when he bit my lip hard enough to
draw blood.

Jasper growled and I held my hand up so
he would stay. There was one thing I wanted Dave to do before I
transferred the heat from me to him and that was drop the dagger. I
swallowed hard, knowing I was going to hate my next words once this
was over.

“T…t…t…touch…me…”

Dave ran his left hand up my shirt and
rubbed the palm of his hand over my breasts. I jerked under him as
another spasm raked my body. He seemed to think that meant I was
enjoying myself. He let go of the dagger and placed his hand behind
my neck so he could pull my face up to his. I wrapped my arms
around his back and my legs around his waist as tightly as I could
and threw myself into the kiss.

Dave pressed down on the cut under my
collar bone and I gasped. I was shaking like I was standing outside
naked in freezing temperatures. I pushed the energy out of myself
and into him. He gasped and tried to pull away. I clung to him and
pushed the heat as hard as I could.

Dave screamed. Dark circles appeared
around his eyes and blood dripped from his nose. His body heaved
with a spasm and I heard bones breaking. The last of the heat
seeped into him. I let go and pushed him to the side, trying to
catch my breath.

Dave moaned and I glanced at him. He
was locked in a spasm that had him bent almost in half backwards.
He had blood dripping from his eyes and ears as well as his nose
and mouth.

What had I done? How had I done it?
There was no magic here. There was no way I should have been able
to project any sort of energy whatsoever. I closed my eyes and
started to cry. “Jasper?”

He was at my side in an instant. “Is it
safe to touch you, Shlova?” He pulled me into his lap at my nod.
“Are you alright?”

“Yes.”

Dave gave another choked
moan.

“Jasper, do you think…? I mean, could
you…?”

Jasper looked at Dave. “I can do that,
but only for you. If it were up to me, I’d just leave him that
way.”

My breathing was starting to get back
to normal and I made myself watch as Jasper set me down, grabbed
his dagger and walked up to Dave.

“You know, she’s actually sorry she did
this to you. After everything you’ve put her through, after
everything she knew you were going to do to her, she is still sorry
that she’s hurt you.” He placed the dagger to Dave’s throat. “I
don’t think you deserve to die.”

Dave twitched as Jasper’s blade cut
deeply into his neck. His body relaxed and Jasper dropped him on
the ground.

He picked me up and carried me to the
couch. “By the moons, Shlova. What was that?”

I took a deep breath and tried to stop
crying. I shook my head. “I don’t know.” All I could manage was a
whisper.

His cell phone started to ring and he
grabbed it off of the coffee table. “Hello? Shawn. Just the man I
needed to talk to.”

He glanced at the mess in the dining
room. “Is there any way you can get your trailer over here right
away?” He listened and nodded.

“Just back it up to the front door.
They came for Hayden. We have a bit of a mess to clean up before
the landlord comes to get his rent tomorrow morning. I don’t think
he needs to see this.”

I could hear Shay’s voice loud in the
background.

“No. She’s fine. She projected magic.
No, I don’t know what it means. Alright. We’ll see you in a
bit.”

He put down the phone and hugged me
tightly to his chest. “Do you need to sleep? Are you
tired?”

I shook my head and looked up at him.
His cheek was swollen and the bleeding had slowed so that the blood
was thick and sticky. I reached up and touched the other side of
his face. I tried to pull the color waves to me and started to cry
when I couldn’t.

Jasper kissed my forehead. “You can’t
do magic here, Shlova.”

“What the hell do you call what I just
did?”

“I have no idea. But don’t feel bad
about the color waves. I’m sure I’ll rebreak the nose when we go
back and you can straighten it then.” He smiled at me.

“But your cheek…”

He shrugged.

I sat up and looked at it carefully.
“Let’s go wash it. It might need stitches.” I stood and pulled him
up. “Take your shirt off. I’ll clean you up.”

We headed upstairs to the bathroom. I
pulled out my little sewing kit and got the needle ready. Only two
of the cuts needed a stitch or two; the one on his cheek and the
one across his shoulder blade. I wiped him down with a cloth then
taped on the bandages.

“Your turn.” He helped me pull my shirt
over my head and I sucked in a breath. My one bra strap had been
cut by Dave’s dagger and Jasper carefully removed the whole
thing.

I heard him swallow hard and I looked
up at him.

“Oh, Hayden.”

“Shush. I’m fine.” I handed him the
cloth and tried to stay as quiet as possible while he cleaned the
cuts Dave had inflicted.

When he was done putting the last
bandage on, he kissed me softly. “I’m sorry.”

I started to laugh. “For
what?”

“When I saw it was him at the door I
underestimated him.”

I laughed even harder. The tears were
starting to stream down my face and the cut on my belly was
aching.

“What in the world is so funny?” Jasper
was frowning.

“You!” I tried to catch my breath.
“This was not your fault!” I leaned my forehead against his chest,
careful not to put it against one of his cuts. I was giddy with
relief and I started to giggle again. “If you’re sorry, then I’m
sorry.”

“Why would you be sorry? You were
upstairs!” He ran his fingers up my back and I shivered.

“Well, they were here for me, weren’t
they? It’s my fault everyone breaks your nose and tries to kill
you.”

He took a breath to object and started
to laugh. “I’ll give you that one. But don’t be sorry. I don’t
mind.”

I looked up at him and a lump formed in
my throat. “Your poor face.” His one eye and cheek were swollen and
his nose was slightly crooked once again. He leaned down and kissed
me softly before smiling.

“Just think. It’s a good thing they
insist on breaking my nose.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, I still have all my teeth, for
one.”

I started to laugh and he flashed me a
beautiful smile.

“I don’t think you could replace those
even with magic.” He handed me a green tank top and pulled on a
clean pair of jeans.

We walked to the bottom of the stairs
and looked over the mess.

“What the hell are we going to tell the
landlord?” The house had come fully furnished.

“The truth. It won’t sound as bad when
the mess is gone. We’ll say a group of drunks broke in and tried to
rob us.”

The front door flew open and Shawn came
running into the house followed by Tara, Ben, and Shay.

Shay stopped short and her hands flew
to her mouth. Shawn walked to Dave’s body and nudged it.

“Hmm. Who would have thought?” He
looked up to us and his eyes widened. “Are you guys ok?”

I nodded.

Jasper walked to Shay. “Shay? Are you
alright?”

She was staring at the blond man who
still had my dagger in his side. “That’s…that’s
Hayden’s.”

He nodded. She looked up at him, her
eyes wide. “Which one did that to you?” She looked at his face and
chest.