Chapter Nine

 

Jasper felt firm ground under his feet and opened his eyes.

“Jasper, you’re squishing me.” Hayden sounded a little breathless. He loosened his hold on her.

“Sorry.”

She started to laugh and smiled up at him.

His heart jumped. It was beating a mile a minute from the adrenaline rush of magic and the urge to take her right there overwhelmed him. He closed his eyes and shook his head to clear it. Not now. He had to get her to the crossing. He suddenly realized he had felt the nudge. He had recognized it.

“That was you. You moved us.”

Her smile widened. “I let his nudge touch us long enough for me to get the feel of it then I sort of amplified it. I thought that maybe it would work like with the staff of Laif. I’m hoping it was enough to keep Damian alive.”

He shook his head. “So why could you do it like that, but you can’t do it on your own?”

She frowned. “I’m not sure.” She looked around. “Are we there?”

He laughed. “Yes. You don’t remember this lake?”

“You know me.”

He tilted her head up so he could kiss her. “Yes. I know you. Here you are.” He handed her her swords and she chuckled.

“You would remember to grab those.”

He smiled and took her hand and started walking up the deer trail that led to the crossing. “Let’s go.” He put his free hand in his pocket and pulled the little bag out that contained his crossing stone, Shawn’s crossing stone, and Brice’s shifting stone.

Hayden squeezed his hand. “Are you sure you want to come?”

“Yes. It just about killed me the last time you crossed and I stayed behind and that was just over a month. This will be close to a year. I’d rather hurt and be with you than hurt because I’m not with you.”

She looked up at him with soft green eyes filled with grey and gold flecks. He could get lost in those eyes.

“It’s just…I saw the look in your eyes the last time. I could tell it hurt you.”

They had reached the fork in the trail and he stopped so he could turn her to face him. “I’ll be fine, Shlova. Just think. Shawn has been doing it for over four years. I’m sure I can handle nine or so months of it.”

She reached a hand up to touch his face and he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. “It’s starting to get dark. Is there anything important I should know before we cross?”

“No weapons allowed. I’ll bring my swords but once we reach my parents’ place, they get put away. So do our daggers. I’ll keep the boots on with my little knife hidden if you insist on it. Also, no fighting. I can’t see why you might feel you need to fight, but I don’t need to be trying to explain to the justice system why you don’t have any ID or don’t show up in their computers.”

He nodded. “Anything else?”

She laughed. “Yeah. Try to relax and enjoy yourself. After the past couple of years, this is going to be like going on vacation.”

He smiled. “If you say so.” He leaned down to kiss her softly.

Hayden sighed that little content internal sigh that only he could feel, the one she got specifically when he held her.

“Let’s go, Shlova. I’m sure your parents will be overjoyed to see you.”

Her smile widened. “God, I missed them.”

They started down the path that would let them cross. The instant they crossed over he gasped. His legs wanted to give out and he was having trouble breathing. It was like someone was pulling all of his ribs out one by one.

“Are you ok?”

He took a few deep breaths and nodded. “It’s a shock, that’s all. I didn’t quite remember what it felt like.” By the look on her face, she knew he was lying but he was grateful she couldn’t feel what he was feeling. Had she known, he was sure she would have turned back. He took her hand and started walking again. “It’s not as bad when you touch me.”

She smiled. “I guess it’s a good thing I like touching you, then.”

They walked a while in silence. The deer path turned into a paved one and he noticed the trees were changing the farther along they went.

Hayden looked around and let go of his hand long enough to wrap her swords in her cloak. “This is the park behind my house.” Hayden stood on her tip toes and kissed him softly. “If at any point it gets to be too much, you let me know.”

He nodded. This was going to be a long year.

 

*****

I glanced up at Jasper. I could see the pain in his eyes and knew he was trying to hide it. We had reached the street that ran along the park. I looked both ways before crossing then jogged across before any cars showed up.

“What were you looking for?” Jasper was looking around, tense.

I smiled. “Cars.” I pointed to a Honda CRV parked in a driveway.

“They’re dangerous?”

“Well, no. I mean, you don’t want to get hit by one because then they can hurt you. They’re like wagons. Without horses. I’m hoping my dad still has my truck so we can get around.”

We crossed another street and walked up my dad’s driveway. My ’85 Dodge one ton was covered, my mom’s car parked behind it. My dad’s SUV was missing and the house was dark.

“It must be poker night. Shit. I hope they still leave the spare key at the back door.” We walked into the back yard and I checked the usual spot under the flower pot on the deck. I smiled. “Come on.” I unlocked the door and turned off the alarm.

“What was that?” Jasper peered at the keypad.

“It’s an alarm system. It’s connected to wires and sensors all over the house. If anyone breaks in and trips a sensor an alarm goes off to alert us.” I looked back at him and realized that nothing I had said would have made sense to him. “I’ll explain it better later. Actually, dad can explain it to you. He’s great at things like that.”

I turned the hall light on and Jasper’s eyes widened. “I thought there was no magic here.”

I wanted to laugh but managed to keep it down. “There isn’t. It’s called electricity. It’s…” I tried to think back to high school science. “You know what? We’ll keep all the magic looking stuff for when my dad gets home.”

I scribbled a quick note letting my parents know it was us in the house in case they got home and we were upstairs.

I looked at the clock. “Nine thirty. We have a good two hours until they get home.” I smiled. “I’ll show you the shower.”

He laughed. “I finally get to see this mysterious shower you always talked about when you first crossed.”

I took his hand and led him up the stairs to my room. “This is my room.” I put the swords and dagger under my bed and motioned for him to give me his. He handed it over absentmindedly, too busy looking at the drawings and pictures on the walls.

“Is that Dodge?” He chuckled at a picture of my horse the first day I had gotten him.

“Yeah. He was so little.” I laughed. “Remind me to take that one back with us so I can show him.”

I led the way to the bathroom and started the shower.

Jasper watched the steam rise and shook his head. “No magic?”

“None. There’s a machine that heats up the water.” I stripped and stepped into the shower.

He smiled at my sigh as the water hit me. “Are you coming in?”

I watched him undress and got my usual rush at seeing him naked.

“Shlova.”

I looked up and saw him standing with his eyes closed.

“Oh! Sorry. I didn’t think you would feel it here.” I pulled back on my feelings and he smiled.

“I felt them last time you were here.”

“But you were over there. I thought because there’s no magic here, you wouldn’t be able too.”

“I don’t think I feel it because of magic.” He stepped into the shower with me and I let him stand in the spray while I shampooed my hair.

“So, what do you think?” I nudged him out of the way so I could rinse and handed him the shampoo bottle. “You don’t need lots. It’s liquid soap.”

We switched spots again and he smiled. “It’s nice. We should figure out how to make one at home.”

I watched him rinse. The bubbles ran down his chest, over his hip, and along his legs. I moved closer to him and looked up into his eyes. The pain was still there. I put a hand on his waist and the pain dimmed. More than anything I wanted to make that pain disappear.

I pressed myself against him and dropped my shield a bit. His skin was hot from the water. I groaned.

His hands cupped my face and he brought his lips down to mine. “In here?” His voice was just a whisper against my skin.

I nodded and he lifted me so that my legs were wrapped around his waist. He thrust up into me and I moaned. “Oh, god.”

He turned and pushed me up against the wall. He barely moved at all, simply letting me slide down the wall and slowly moving his hips. He filled me completely. His breathing was hard in my ear.

My head was spinning, every nerve in my body on the verge of exploding.

Jasper caught the change in my breathing and stopped.

I lay pressed against the wall, shaking with my need for release. “Jasper.” I could barely think.

He pushed up into me and caught his breath as I clenched around him. He thrust harder, impaling me against the wall.

It took everything I had not to scream with pleasure. I projected how he was making me feel and he groaned. He gave three more quick thrusts and I felt him swell inside of me. That feeling alone was enough to make me come again.

He looked at the water which was starting to get cool. He set me down and I quickly turned the taps so that more hot water came out of the shower head.

I kissed him softly. “Are you sure you can handle this?”

He nodded. “Do you remember when Ream almost killed me on the ridge?”

“It’s not likely to be something I’m going to forget.” I could still picture clearly how Ream, in wolf form, and stepped on Jasper’s ribs, puncturing his lungs. He had then ripped his throat open with his jaws. By the time I had been able to get to him, it had almost been too late. He had lain on the ground, the blood soaking into his fur. “I still feel like crying when I think of it.”

He smiled at me. “Don’t cry. It turned out alright. I’m just bringing it up because if I survived that, and I survived my time in the cave, I’m pretty sure I can survive this. At least here I’m not actually dying. It just feels like it.”

I turned the knobs again and reluctantly turned them off when it was obvious we had used all the hot water.

I handed Jasper a towel and watched him wrap it around his waist. “I’ll go get you some of my dad’s pants. They’ll be a bit big, but until we can go shopping tomorrow, they’ll have to do. Yours are filthy.”

I pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of sweat shorts and went hunting for the smallest pair of shorts or pants my dad might own. My adoptive father wasn’t a big man width wise, but at six and a half feet, he was much larger than Jasper’s six even.

I went to my dad’s closet, looked through his selection of pants and settled on a pair of khaki cargo pants. I went to the dresser to find a belt.

“Oh, mom. You kept them all.” My throat tightened at the sight of a small box that sat open on the dresser. In it were all the letters I had written my parents since crossing to Quelondain.

“Is everything alright, Shlova?” Jasper came up behind me and rested his chin on my head.

I nodded. “Yeah. I just saw that mom kept all the letters I sent them. You know, I’m so busy over there, I forget how hard it must be for them.”

“You make them sound like terrific people. I can’t wait to meet them.”

“They are terrific. They’ll love you.”

He smiled at me in the mirror. “Maybe I should be dressed when they get here.”

I grabbed the belt and pants off of the dresser and laughed. “Here.”

We headed back to my room and he pulled the pants on.

I had to laugh. Even with the belt on the pants barely stayed on his hips. I rolled the legs up, stood and grinned. “We definitely need to go shopping for you tomorrow. Lucky for you, I had a savings account before I left.” I pictured him in a pair of wranglers and smiled to myself.

Jasper yawned and lay back on the bed. I crawled in beside him and snuggled into his chest. I didn’t hear my parents come home.

 

*****

I woke to the sun shining in the window, the smell of coffee brewing, and the sound of laughter coming up the stairs. I took a deep breath and savored the coffee smell, stretching under the covers.

I got up, pulled my hair into a ponytail and headed down the stairs. I couldn’t help but grin at the scene that awaited me in the kitchen. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever let myself think that I would one day find my father and my mate having coffee together.

My dad and Jasper were both leaning on opposite counters, each with a cup of coffee in their hands. My dad was in his pajama pants and Jasper was wearing a pair of dark green camouflage colored cargo shorts. These were a bit big but were staying on much better than the pants I had found for him yesterday.

“Good morning, Shlova.” Jasper’s eyes lit up with his smile.

My dad put his cup on the counter before turning towards me. I took three big steps to reach him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Morning, dad.”

He kissed the top of my head. “Morning, Hayden.” He let go of me, looked at me closely and smiled. “That’s quite the tattoo.”

I grinned. “That’s my official healer’s tattoo.”

My dad pulled a cup out of the cupboard and filled it with coffee for me.

I smiled and added cream and sugar. “Thanks.” I walked to Jasper and gave him a soft kiss. “Where did you get the shorts?”

“Your father lent them to me.”

“Your cousin Tyson came to spend the weekend a few months ago while your aunt and uncle went out of town. He forgot these here.” My dad smiled. “He’s a bit more Jasper’s size than I am.” My cousin Tyson was sixteen years old and already six foot one inches tall.

I grinned up at Jasper. “You look good in them.” He smiled back at me, knowing full well what I was thinking. Good was the understatement of the year. “So what was so funny before I got down here?”

My dad started laughing. “Jasper was telling me a few stories.”

“Don’t believe anything he tells you, Dad. If the stories are about me, he’s lying.” I blushed.

“I would never lie about how stubborn you are, you know that, Shlova.” Jasper laughed and hunched over a bit to absorb the slap I gave him. I noticed that now that we were in this world his slightly Scottish sounding accent was a bit more noticeable.

My dad laughed even harder. “I agree with Jasper. No one could exaggerate that fact.”

I stuck my tongue out at both of them.

“What’s so funny down here?” My mother came walking into the kitchen looking just as beautiful in her pajama pants and t-shirt as she would have in an evening dress. Her long blond hair was pulled up in a ponytail. The blue colored shirt she had on made her aqua green eyes bluer than normal. At five feet eight inches tall I always thought she made a great match for my dad.

I could tell she was fighting back the tears when she crushed me into a hug. She took a few deep breaths before looking down at me. The tears won the battle and rolled down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t believe you’re here.”

A lump formed in my throat and I realized I was crying too. “It’s ok, mom. I missed you guys so much.”

She smiled and wiped her tears while I did the same. My dad gave us both a hug, his grey eyes looking a bit misty.

Jasper appeared holding a cup of coffee for my mom.

She took the mug and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.” She laughed at the surprised look on his face. “Not just for the coffee. Thank you for everything you’ve done. Taking care of Hayden, keeping her safe.”

He nodded and smiled. “It’s been my pleasure.”

I started to laugh. “Your pleasure, is it? It seems to me that last night you told me I was the cause of your hair going grey!”

He grinned. “I don’t mind sacrificing the color of my hair to keep you around, Shlova.”

“He’s right, you know.” My dad was laughing too. “Look at what you did to my hair.” His once dark blond hair had more silver than blond in it.

“Ha, ha, ha.” I smiled. “Funny.” I leaned back into Jasper and looked up at my dad. “We were wondering if it would be alright if we stayed here until we could find a place to rent. We have to stay here until next spring.”

Both of my parents’ eyes widened in shock . “Of course we don’t mind.” My dad poured himself another cup of coffee and smiled. “Can I ask why you need to hide?”

I took a deep breath and nodded. I had never lied about anything important to my parents before. I wasn’t going to start now. I knew the truth would worry them, but they had a right to know what was happening. “You’d better pour us all another cup and we’ll go sit down. It’s a bit of a long story.”

We all headed to the dining room and sat around the table. We told them everything from the night I had left after going to the roping jackpot until last night when Damian had warned us to come back. Well, almost everything. I left out the part where I had gone into heat but had failed to conceive. If Jasper noticed he didn’t bring it to anyone’s attention.

By the time we had told our story and had answered all of my parents’ questions it was almost lunch time. Everyone was quiet for a few moments.

I glanced at my dad when he cleared his throat. “Well, Hayden, I always told you you had been put on this earth for a reason. I just had no idea it was something quite as extravagant as this. At least we’ll know you’ll be safe for the next year.”

Jasper grunted then smiled when he realized he had done it loud enough for everyone to hear. He shrugged at me and I laughed.

“So what are the rest of your plans for the day?” My mom was getting up and heading to the kitchen.

I smiled at Jasper’s half naked form. “We need to go shopping.”

“Your bank card is in your top drawer. You’ve sold a few of your prints at the art gallery at the lake. We put all the money you’ve made off of them into your account.”

I gave them both a hug. “Thanks, mom. Thanks, dad.” I headed for the phone. I waited while it rang and smiled when a familiar voice picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Shay!”

“Hayden! You’re here?”

I laughed. “Yeah. We have to hide out for the next year. We got here yesterday. Is Shawn in town?”

“Yeah! It’s his weekend off. He’s here right now. What do you need?”

“Nothing. I thought we’d go for lunch. I’m taking Jasper shopping for some clothes.”

“Oooh. You’re putting him in Wranglers, right?”

I laughed. “Definitely.” I waited while she relayed the information to Shawn.

“Ok. Actually, we’ll meet you at Rider’s. Shawn needs to pick up a bigger cinch. You should see the size of his new colt.”

“Alright. We’ll be leaving in about ten minutes.”

“Sounds good. See you in a bit.”

We hung up. “Let’s go get dressed. We’ll meet Shay and Shawn at Rider’s. We can pick you up a couple pairs of jeans and some t-shirts. Shawn needs a cinch. Then we’ll go for lunch.”

He smiled and followed me up the stairs. “You lead, I’ll follow.”

I changed into a pair of Wranglers and a solid black t-shirt. I searched through the shirts in my closet until I found the one I was looking for. It was a dark blue t-shirt with the picture of a horse and rider spinning. I had won it in a raffle and had never got rid of it even though it had been a couple of sizes too big.

“Here. This might fit you.” I handed it to him and smiled. It was a bit snug, but from my point of view, that wasn’t such a bad thing. “Well, if you decide you don’t like the cowboy look, we know you can pull off the jock look.”

“And that’s a good thing?”

“Jasper, if we weren’t meeting Shay and Shawn, I’d be tearing that shirt off of you this instant. Of course, you could probably wear a dress and still manage to be drop dead gorgeous.”

He laughed and shook his head.

“Let’s go see if Tyson forgot some shoes here.”

Luckily for us, my cousin was the forgetful type. The black running shoes were a size too big for Jasper, but would do until we could get him his own.

I gave my mom and dad a hug and grabbed my keys from the key holder.

“I moved your mom’s car already.”

“Thanks, dad.” I slipped my bank card into my back pocket and wished I had known we were going to be coming here. My wallet and driver’s license were back at the cabin in Sageden.

Outside, I pulled the tarp off of my truck and threw it behind the seat. After unlocking the passenger door and opening it I made my way to the driver’s side. Jasper’s eyes widened as the truck rumbled to life.

I smiled at him and put the truck into reverse. “Shawn can explain this one to you. I know a bit about motors and that sort of stuff, but not enough to talk about it so it makes sense to you.”

I made my way through the streets and ten minutes later we were parked in front of Rider’s, the only western and equestrian shop in town. I put a hand on his knee and looked into his eyes. “How are you doing?”

He shrugged. “I’ll live.” He smiled, but I could see the pain he was trying to hide.

“Alright.” I watched Shawn’s green pickup pull up beside us.

He hadn’t even pulled to a full stop before Shay was jumping out of the passenger’s side. I jumped out of the truck and met her hug with my own.

“Oh, my god! Hayden! I had managed to convince myself you weren’t coming back! This is great!”

Shawn gave me a hug of his own before turning to Jasper. “How are you doing?”

“Quite honestly, I’m not sure how you’ve done this for five years.”

“Believe it or not, it actually gets better. The hard to breathe part I still feel. But after a few weeks it doesn’t feel like your ribs are being pulled out of your chest anymore.”

“Well, that’s good to know.” Jasper glanced at me and took my hand. “I’m fine, Shlova. Really. And you heard Shawn. It gets better.”

I wanted to cry. Here he was, feeling like his chest was being broken open and he was comforting me. I hugged him close. “Lest allais dernaugh.”

I felt him shake his head. “We’re not going back.”

“We could just stay at the clearing by the waterfall. If anyone we don’t know wandered near, we could just come here.”

“You want to live at the waterfall for a year? Through the winter?” He chuckled. “Hayden, you complain you’re cold when you’re in the house and the fire is going.”

“I know. It’s just, geez, Jasper. It’s in your eyes. They have that same look as when we rescued you from the cave. Maybe even worse.” I swallowed hard. “It is worse because here I can’t help you.”

He squeezed my hand and brought it up so he could brush his lips over my knuckles. “You do help me. See?” He stepped away from me and I saw him take a quick breath. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. If I hadn’t been looking for it, I wouldn’t have seen the change. He took one step toward me and I reached out and touched his chest. I felt him relax; his breathing seemed deeper, like he was getting more air. He took my hand and started leading me toward the door to Rider’s. “Now, let’s go get some of these Wranglers you and Shay seem to be so excited about.”

Shay winked at him and I laughed.

We spent a half hour browsing the store, getting Jasper into some new jeans, a pair of lace up boots and some t-shirts.

“Why don’t we grab subs and go sit on the riverbank?” Shay suggested as we headed back to the trucks. “I have tons of questions and I don’t think this conversation will be for just anyone’s ears.”

I laughed. “If anyone was eavesdropping they would think we were on some bad drugs.”

I put the bags in my truck, locked the doors, and we all piled into Shawn’s truck.

At the riverbank, we grabbed one of the many empty picnic tables. We told them our story and answered all of their questions.

Shawn was shaking his head. “This is unreal!”

Shay put her hand over his on the table and I grinned.

“Um, Shay?”

“Hmm?”

“Is there something you need to tell me?”

She frowned. “Ah. No. I don’t think so.”

I reached across the table and held her hand up like she had done to me the last time I had crossed back over.

She laughed. “Oh. That! With finding out that you were here and getting Jasper to model all those jeans, I totally forgot!” She took the engagement ring off and handed it to me. It was a beautiful white gold band with a raised diamond in the middle of two smaller emeralds.

“Very nice.” I handed it back to her. “So, did you set a date?”

Shawn nodded. “April twenty ninth of next year.”

I looked at Jasper. “A blond girl in a white dress when the snow melts. That’s when we have to cross back. The night of the wedding.”

“We’re sending out the invitations next week. I was going to give yours to your mom. I thought that maybe she could send it your way with your little blue bird. I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to come, though.”

I smiled. “Of course I would have come.”

“But this is even better! I would love it if you could be my maid of honor!”

“Really?”

“Definitely! Do you think there’s a way to get Tara here so she can be a bridesmaid? We’re going to be keeping it pretty small, and the two of you have always been there no matter what.”

I nodded. “We’ll send her a note. The bluebird said she would keep contact during the next while that we’re not over there. She won’t miss this for the world.”

Shay was grinning from ear to ear. “Awesome!”

We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up and trying to explain anything and everything to Jasper so that nothing he ran into while he was here would be too much of a shock.

 

*****

“I still don’t understand how they did that.” Jasper took my hand as we left the movie theater and headed back to the truck. “How does the camera know to… record?”

“Well, there’s the power source, right? So when you turn on the machine, it starts to record and inside the camera are mirrors and stuff that capture the picture.” I glanced at him and smiled. “I think.” Having Jasper here was showing me exactly how I had taken things for granted growing up. Just trying to explain something as common as cell phones and cameras had me feeling pretty ignorant. “Do you want to stop at Quick’s Corner and grab some wings on the way home?”

“Alright.”

I put the truck in gear and headed toward one of the small restaurants where I liked to eat. They had some of the best take out wings in town. I pulled into the parking lot and we headed into the restaurant to order.

“Hey, Bruce.” I gave the owner a wave. The short grey haired man behind the counter looked up. His grey eyes met mine and he smiled. He was in his fifties but could have passed for a forty year old.

“The usual, Hayden?” Bruce, the owner, manager, and employee scribbled down a few notes at my nod before heading back to the kitchen. Jasper headed to sit at one of the tables while I went to use the washroom.

“Hey, Bruce, someone used a permanent marker on the walls again.” I looked behind the counter as I walked back to the table and almost fell to the ground as a tall teen, the only other customer in the restaurant, shoved into me with his shoulder. His hand caught my arm. I turned to thank him for catching me and stopped at the look on his face. He spun me around so that my back was against his chest. He had a knife against my throat before I had a chance to react.

Jasper stood with a growl. The teen turned us in his direction then pulled us a few steps back.

“Bruce!” The yell almost blew my ear drum.

Bruce came running to the front and stopped short.

“Open the cash and put it in the bag!” He kept angling me back and forth between Jasper and Bruce.

“Vais sil faur sant?” Jasper was looking from me to the young man behind me.

Will he do it? I got myself to calm down and focused on the teen’s body language. His arms were too tight around me. His body was shaking. The way he moved around made me think he was extremely nervous. He was scared and had obviously not done this before. I didn’t think he would kill me if it came down to it.

I looked at Jasper. “Brut.”

“Alright, then.” He sat back down and leaned back in his chair. I felt the teen jerk in surprise.

“He doesn’t seem too concerned for you. Not that great of a boyfriend if you ask me.” As the teen talked I felt the knife move away from my neck a bit.

I laughed. “He’s my husband.”

“Well, either way.” He jerked me back toward Bruce. “Hurry up!”

He made the mistake of pulling his knife away from my throat to wipe his hand on his pants. I pushed back against him as hard as I could and reached back along his arm until I had his wrist in my hand. I turned and pulled him toward me, lifting my knee so that it connected with his groin.

He inhaled sharply and dropped to the ground. The knife fell and I kicked it away. By this time, Jasper was beside us with a table cloth. He tied the young man’s hands behind his back, picked him up by the shirt and dropped him onto a chair.

“Good job, Shlova.”

I grunted. “One scared teenager isn’t exactly a challenge after everything we’ve been through, hun.” I was thankful that the only ones in the restaurant at the time had been us.

He chuckled. “What was it you told me before you crossed back here the first time? Ah, yes. I think it went along the lines of ‘geez, Jasper, it’s way safer over there than it is over here!’” His sky blue eyes were filled with amusement. “The last time you crossed, I found you on the verge of being raped. Now this time around, we’re here just over a month and you manage to get held up at knifepoint.” He shook his head.

“Hayden, are you ok?” Bruce had made his way back around the counter and held me out at arms’ length to look me over. He pulled me into a hug. “I’m so sorry!”

“About what?” I laughed. “This was hardly your fault.”

He let go of me and turned his attention to Jasper. “How long has it been since you’ve crossed?”

My heart jumped and Jasper’s eyes widened. Both of us tensed. Bruce waved away our concern.

“What I mean is, if I call the cops, is proving your identity going to be an issue?”

“Oh. Umm, yes. The person we were told to contact hasn’t gotten the proper documents back to us yet.” I wasn’t sure how much I should be telling him.

Bruce nodded and motioned to Jasper. “Care to give me a hand?” He grabbed the teen by the shirt and pushed him toward the kitchen. Jasper and I followed behind them.

“Ow! You’re hurting me!”

Bruce didn’t loosen his hold on the thin arm. “Sit down!” He pushed him down into a chair. He turned to the only cook, his wife. She frowned and waited.

“This young man decided he should hold Hayden at knife point so that I would empty the cash register for him.”

Her light blue eyes widened. “Oh, my.” She made her way over to the counter. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?” She pulled two large chef’s knives from the block and tossed them to Bruce and Jasper.

I’m not sure which eyes were bigger, my green ones or the teen’s hazel ones.

“You come in here quite a bit. There’s a whole group of you.” Bruce tested the sharpness of his knife on a tomato. The tomato didn’t stand a chance. “It’s Eric, if I remember correctly.”

Eric, if that was his name, refused to acknowledge.

“So, Eric, here’s what’s going to happen. I won’t call the police today. You will use your get out of jail free card this time around.”

Eric stood and made to run away. Jasper grabbed him by the back of the neck and sat him back down roughly.

“I’m not sure running is such a good idea, Eric.” Bruce shook his head. “You see, I happen to know that my friend, here, is extremely experienced with knives.” He turned to Jasper. “Maybe Eric would like a demonstration of what might happen should he try to run away before we were done with him. Eric? Do you see that bag of flour by the far wall?”

I was sure Eric’s eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

“Imagine that bag of flour is you.”

Jasper followed Bruce’s lead, tossed the knife in the air a few times to get used to the weight of it then threw it at the bag of flour. The knife slid into the bag noiselessly right to the hilt.

Bruce pushed Eric’s chair back against the desk and brought the knife down where it stuck into the wood by the teen’s shoulder with a thump. Eric stared at it and his lip started to tremble.

Jasper stood him up roughly, a smaller knife already in his hand. He pressed it against the teen’s throat.

“Oh, god, please! I’ll never do it again! I promise!” Eric’s words were hard to hear between his sobs. I was actually starting to feel bad for the guy.

“What do you think, Bruce?” Jasper looked over the teen’s head and smiled, his blue eyes full of amusement.

Bruce chewed on his lip thoughtfully. Eric looked at him pleadingly, tears running down his face.

“Ok.” Bruce nodded. “Eric, run along home.”

Jasper pulled the knife away from his throat and untied his hands. “I think you owe Hayden an apology.”

Eric wiped his arm over his face. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t going to hurt you. They dared me I wouldn’t do it.”

“How old are you, Eric?”

“Sixteen.” He turned his attention to Bruce. “Sorry.”

Bruce patted his shoulder. “Everyone makes stupid decisions. Make sure you learned something from this one.”

Eric nodded. “I did. Quite a few, actually.” His eyes met Jasper’s. “How did you do that? With the knife?”

“I’ve had a lot of practice.” Though he kept his face serious enough I could see the smile glinting in his eyes.”

Eric stood in front of us awkwardly, looking at the ground. “Can I go now?”

Bruce nodded. “You can.”

I waited until he was out of the restaurant before I started to laugh. “Oh, god, that poor kid!” I shook my head. “You guys are mean.”

Jasper smiled. “Mean? The boy had a knife to your throat, Shlova. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him.”

“Had we been back home, he wouldn’t have walked out of here.” Bruce shook his head.

Madge gave him a pat on the cheek before turning back to my wings, which were almost ready. “We were told we can go back now that Hayden has found her way home. You’re the one who insisted on staying.”

He smiled. “What can I say? After twenty years, it’s hard to leave this place.”

“You’re Wedelves, aren’t you? Tara told me there were other Wedelven guards sent to watch over me!”

The two of them nodded.

“Anyone else?”

“No one knows who the others are.” Bruce grinned. “Top secret, you know.”

I laughed.

“How did you know I had just crossed?” asked Jasper.

He shrugged. “I can pick out a shifter from human. There are small hints to watch for. The eyes are the most important. There aren’t that many humans out there that need to hide the amount of pain you guys have to go through.” He went to the front door and put up the ‘closed’ sign. “Do you guys have a few minutes to catch us up on everything?” He smiled at our nod.

Madge brought over the wings and waved away my money. “It’s on the house tonight, dear.”

The four of us sat and talked until the small hours of the morning.

 

*****

It was midsummer and the weather was beautiful. Jasper and I were sitting by the horse trailer, watching the two horses I had brought to the horse show. The grey shook his head lazily to get rid of some flies and the bay blew out of her nose.

“What time is the first class again?” Jasper pulled off his baseball cap, ran a hand through his hair, and put the hat back on.

“Ten.” I looked at my watch. “We’d better warm these guys up.”

We saddled the horses and led them to the ring. I swung onto the grey and watched as Jasper hopped onto the bay. He pulled the horse’s head around and had her moving nicely off of his leg. Due to his experience on horseback and his catlike balance, it had taken no time at all before he had caught on to the style of riding required for reining.

“Are you sure you don’t want to ride the bay in one of the classes?” I pulled slightly on the reins and asked the grey to give me his head.

“No. I’ll just watch. Carl is paying you to ride these two, not me.” He looked at me and smiled. “Besides, she slides better for you.”

I looked around the ring at my competition. “Well, here’s hoping it will be enough. There’re some nice moving horses here today.” I glanced toward the concession stands for Shawn and Shay. My heart jumped in my chest.

“What’s wrong?” Jasper followed my gaze.

I frowned. “I…I’m being paranoid. It’s nothing. I thought I saw Dave standing over there.”

“He’d better hope he’s not dumb enough to show his face around you again.” Jasper’s jaw clenched and I knew he was remembering how he had crossed over and found Dave trying to rape me. The bay sensed his change of mood and tensed.

“Jasper, breathe. You’re making Tika nervous.”

I saw him relax and Tika followed suit.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll ask you to please exit the ring. Those of you in the open class, please make your way to the holding pen.”

We rode the horses to where the other riders and their mounts were starting to congregate.

“If you do see him, don’t do anything.” I glanced at Jasper to see his reaction. “You can’t just beat the crap out of people here; you’ll get thrown in jail. Understood?” We had already gone over what was and was not acceptable behavior here, but I thought I had better remind him just in case.

He nodded. “You should have just let me kill him when I had the chance.”

“Maybe.” We watched as three riders took their horses through the pattern.

“Next up, number fifty-six, Hayden Carlson riding Poco Shadows Prince.” I nudged Shade with my legs and proceeded to enter the ring.

“Good luck, Shlova.” Jasper smiled.

And good luck we were having. Shade ran through the pattern with very few faults and ended the production with a slide that took my breath away. We made our way back to the holding pen.

“Holy crap! Did you see that second spin to the left? I don’t think his pivot leg moved an inch!” I patted the little grey horse on the neck.

Jasper grinned. “That was impressive.” He looked past me and his eyes narrowed. I glanced back and saw Dave staring back at him. He had his arm around a young blond woman. His free hand held a beer. I heard the low growl that escaped Jasper’s throat and my heartbeat quickened.

“Jasper.” I put my hand on his leg.

“What?” His eyes never left Dave’s.

“Get that look off your face.”

He blinked and the killer look slipped away. He took a deep breath. “That’s as close as he gets, Hayden. If he gets any closer than that, he dies.”

It was my turn to take a deep breath. “Fine. Here. Switch me horses. I’m up right away.” We made the exchange and I moved closer to the in gate. I looked back at Jasper to make sure he was alright and almost laughed out loud. Shade was now standing between a sorrel horse and a black one. Their riders, a couple of pretty blonds that looked to have just gotten out of high school, were both laughing, leaning slightly toward him. He smiled, shook his head then pointed to me.

“I’m just watching him for Hayden,” his voice floated toward me. They looked at me and I smiled at them.

The announcer called my name and Tika and I ran through the pattern. Though our run was decent, I knew we wouldn’t be placing. I gave Tika a pat on the neck, angry with myself for letting Dave distract me.

“Sorry, my girl. That was my fault. My mind was elsewhere.” I looked up and saw Jasper looking at me, nodding absently at something the blonds were saying. I stopped Tika in front of Shade.

“Take a deep breath, Shlova. He’s gone.”

I looked across the ring and let my breath out slowly. I looked back to Jasper and smiled. “So, who are your new friends?”

Both girls blushed.

Jasper grinned. “Hayden, this is June and Katie. Girls, this is my wife, Hayden.”

June’s pretty lips pursed into an ‘o’ and Katie turned a deeper shade of red. It took everything I had not to burst out laughing.

“Nice to meet you, girls. Did you have your runs yet?”

Katie nodded and June shook her head.

“Hey, Hayden!”

My heart jumped into my throat and I turned Tika so she was facing Dave who was standing just outside the holding pen.

I looked back at Jasper. “Hun, not here.”

The two girls were looking at him, their eyes wide. I couldn’t blame them. I had seen what Jasper could do when his face looked like that. I was hoping to god it wouldn’t happen in front of all of these people.

I nudged Tika forward and rode to the fence. Jasper pulled Shade to a stop beside me.

“What do you want, Dave?”

Dave looked up at me, then to Jasper, and finally back at the ground. “I…” He swallowed and cleared his throat. “I wanted to apologize.” He took a sip of his beer and looked me in the eye. “I’m sorry. About everything.” He glanced at Jasper but kept talking to me. “I’m glad he stopped me. I don’t remember much from that night. I was pretty drunk. Anyway, I don’t imagine you’ll want to have much to do with me, but I just had to let you know that I realize what I did was wrong, and I’m sorry for it.” He took another drink, gave Jasper a nod, and walked away.

Jasper looked over at me and I knew that the surprised look on his face matched the one on mine.

“Did that just happen?”

He shrugged then frowned. When I followed his gaze, I saw Dave, leaning against a fence post, staring at us.

“I don’t trust that man, Shlova.”

“Me neither.”

“Well, so long as we agree. Now,” he smiled and stepped off of Shade. “We had better switch so you can get your ribbon with the right horse.”

I laughed. “You think so?”

“I know so.” He kissed me softly before getting on Tika.

We settled ourselves near the fence and waited for the rest of the class to be done.