Chapter 12 Jasper #3
She rushed him, her speed and agility starkly contrasting his lumbering bulk. He swung a massive fist, but she slipped beneath his guard, her dagger slicing across his thigh. He roared, more in anger than pain, and swung again. She ducked, her other blade carving a line across his chest.
He stumbled back, shock and disbelief in his eyes. Palmer pressed her advantage, her blades a flurry of silver that left him bleeding from a dozen cuts. He tried to grab her, but she was too quick, too skilled. She danced around him, her strikes precise and relentless.
Finally, with a roar of frustration, he lunged. Palmer met him head-on, her dagger driving up under his chin. He froze, his eyes widening in shock. With a twist of her blade, he fell, his massive body hitting the ground with a thud that shook the courtyard.
Palmer stood over him, her chest heaving, her blades dripping with blood. She looked like an avenging angel, a goddess of war, and I was humbled. This was her element, her purpose. She was born for this, trained for this, and she was magnificent.
As she surveyed the battlefield, her gaze locked onto a familiar figure. My heart tightened. I’d looked at him thousands of times over the years, but this time was different. I fucking remembered him. Us.
There was Rhodes, his dark hair stained with blood and ash, locked in combat with a demon nearly as large as the one Palmer had just felled. He was holding his own, but he was tiring, his movements slowing.
Palmer didn't hesitate. She sprinted towards him, her blades a blur of motion. She leapt, her foot planting on the back of a fallen demon, and launched herself at Rhodes' opponent. Her dagger sank into the demon's eye, and he screamed, clawing at his face as he fell.
Rhodes looked at her, shock, gratitude, and rage warring in his eyes. "Palmer," he breathed. "What the fuck—"
"Later," she cut him off, already spinning away to the next threat.
Together, they fought, their movements syncing in a dance as old as time.
Rhodes literally had no option. This moment was life and death.
He knew what kind of fighter she was, and he respected her for it.
Rhodes' strength and Palmer's speed complemented each other perfectly.
They were a whirlwind of death, a force to be reckoned with, and I watched, my heart swelling with pride and something else.
Something deeper, something more profound.
I was in love with her, and I'd loved him for so long; seeing them like this was incredible. With his strength, her courage, both of their unyielding spirits, how fucking stubborn were each of them not to see they were meant to be? I wanted nothing more than to join them, but I couldn't.
I stayed invisible, a silent guardian. I watched her back, my eyes scanning the battlefield for threats, my form ready to intervene if needed. But she didn't need me. She was a warrior, a queen, and she was glorious.
They fought with a synchronicity that spoke of years of training, of battles won and lost, and a bond that ran deeper than blood. And Palmer, she fit among them like she was always meant to be there—like she was the missing piece of their puzzle, the final note in their symphony.
And me? I was the echo, the whisper in the wind, the unseen force that stood beside them, fought with them, and loved them.
I was a ghost, a demon, a spirit bound to this world by unfinished business and unkept promises.
But I was also a brother, a lover, a friend.
And I would stand with them and fight with them until the very end.
Because this was my family, my love, my existence. I would not let anyone take that from me again. Not without a fight. Not without a war. Not without a battle that would shake the very foundations of hell itself.
Palmer went to take off after a group of soldiers, and Rhodes grabbed her wrist, pulling her back against him. “Don’t think you’re going to disappear,” he growled.
“I traveled all the way here, I’m not going anywhere,” she said, casting a pointed look at the guards who were getting away, thanks to Rhodes’ interruption. “But I can help. Let me go.”
I could tell he was torn. He didn’t trust her, but he couldn’t argue with the fact that she was in Besmet. Rhodes was arrogant and stubborn, but at his core, he was a curious creature. His curiosity to know more would always override any rash or emotionally driven decisions.
“Fine,” he said, releasing her wrist. “I will find you afterward.”
Palmer lifted her chin with a level of defiance that rivaled Rhodes’. “Not if I find you first, monocle.” And with that, she left him standing there in total confusion. He didn’t get long to process any of it though, having to jump to action moments later.
Well, good, that was a start to rebuilding their relationship.
As the battle raged on, I caught sight of my other brothers.
Talon, his eyes wild with battle lust, swinging a baseball bat like a madman.
Felix, movements precise and calculated, his every strike a work of art.
Misha, his massive form a bastion of strength, his fists crushing all who dared to stand against him. And Ashland—wait.
Where the hell is Ashland?