24. Jolie
24
JOLIE
W hen my alarm goes off the next morning, I burst out from my covers, eyes darting around the room. Squinting, I make out Jax’s shape in the darkness. Grabbing my phone, I shut off the blaring music, then notice a notification on my lock screen. A text message.
Ballet Potomac:
Studio closed today for inclement weather. Will update once we reopen.
I scrunch my brows together. It was supposed to be getting warmer outside. How could there be inclement weather?
My eyes snap to Jax’s. They glitter with mischief. “Was this what you went off to do last night?”
“I needed more time with you,” he says, like it’s a matter of fact and not him personally deciding to mess with the seasons. “I couldn’t give up the chance to see you before I’m pulled away and spring steals the show.”
I dash over to the window to see what he’s done.
There are people slogging through a foot of snow on the ground, a few trying uselessly to dig their cars out. A few slip, falling on their asses. DC isn’t equipped for weather like this. There’s no way people are going anywhere today.
My gaze shifts to the balcony next to mine where a little girl and her mother are building a snowman together in its corner. She giggles, stuffing a mozzarella stick into the middle of its face, then takes a few small rocks, arcing them into a lopsided grin. The girl waves at me and I give her handiwork a thumbs up before stepping away from the window.
“So…you decided to kick up a blizzard?” I ask, turning to my frosty mischief maker. “How long will we be snowed in?”
“I’m hoping I bought us a few more weeks. Depends how much I’ve angered the Blooms and how long it takes them to thaw everything out.” He shrugs. This one hundred percent interferes with the lives of mortals. He’s already explained how it’s the key tenet of his kind, so I don’t see this going to go over well with whoever he reports to.
That’s also a lot of missed rehearsals with Giselle right around the corner. After last night’s revelations, I’m more motivated than ever to thrive at Ballet Potomac and shove my reclaimed soloist position in Blake’s smug face.
I also don’t want Jax to get in trouble on my behalf. What if he’s punished again and I don’t get to see him again? What if they take away his memories of being here and refuse to return them? I haven’t been able to stop thinking about our almost kiss, and even though I’m slightly exasperated by him right now, it hasn’t changed my desire for the chill of his lips on mine.
Unfortunately, I still can’t see him anymore than I did in the moonlight.
“Okay, I feel like we have some things to talk about.” I groan, swallowing down the part of me that already feels rejected. I had a lot of time while I couldn’t sleep to think over my questions. Once the initial shock of Jax’s news about our connection started to sink in, I wanted more details. “You said that I was your mate.”
“I did.” He plops down on the bed next to me, and I drag the covers over my feet, tucking my knees into my chest. “What do you want to know?”
“What does all of this even mean? You can always sense me?”
“Harbingers have heightened senses that come along with our earthside beasts. I can scent you, track you, sense your emotions.”
“And feel my heartbeat?”
“Yes, though that’s unique to you and I.” He holds out his hand, its outline beckoning to me. Once I slip my palm against his, shivering for more than one reason, he continues, “Harbingers’ hearts no longer beat. But your heart, your beautiful fucking heart, I can feel from anywhere.”
“Even in your world?”
“Yes.”
I mull over his words, then my eyes snap up to meet the sparkling silver of his. “You said scent me… You can smell me?” My hands fidget against his as I try to maintain eye contact.
“I can sense your feelings. Anger, truth, desire.”
My body warms, and his attention drops to the pink spanning my chest.
“Does that bother you?”
“Um… Not really, though it’s a bit embarrassing.” I release his hand and cross my arms over myself, rubbing away the goosebumps peppering my skin.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Tempest. I love it.” He swallows audibly, then his voice drops to a level that sinks deep inside me. A bone-level baritone that vibrates through me. “As mates, it is useful in finding each other, especially around solstice.”
“Solstice?”
“The official changeover of the seasons. Once you’ve worked through the season, it closes at solstice. It doesn’t necessarily coincide with the mortal realm’s calendar. It’s when the harbingers are set to transition before hibernation, a final way to reconnect with our mates before we rest and regain our strength to continue bringing the seasons.”
“Your solstice isn’t next month… It’s sooner?” I croak out the words, my throat much too dry to form a full sentence without pausing to swallow.
“It is.”
“What happens?” I ask, immediately wondering if I really want to know the answer.
“I’m only speaking on what happens to harbingers, I’m not sure if it will be the same for you. But you might find yourself having a certain itch that needs scratching.”
“And my mate is supposed to scratch it?”
“I love seeing you blush,” Jax says, and I somehow manage to heat even more, certain every inch of my body is beet red. He chuckles, and it shakes the bed, making my thighs clench. “Usually, mates hole up for days together, savoring each other’s bodies, reuniting souls before either turns in to hibernate.”
Hole up for days ? My mind cannot comprehend, but my body wants to understand. Badly.
“Do the men— Do you have the same urges during solstice?”
“This will be my first mated solstice and no one else has a mortal mate, but yes, I assume so.” There’s a bit of a growl to his tone that he cuts off mid-sentence, as if trying to control it. “I’ve fully prepared to handle things on my own, though.”
A vision of him handling things struts all too eagerly into my mind.
“Have I scared you off?”
I’m terrified. Not of him, though. My own intrigue scares me most.
He’s sitting here and I still can’t bring myself to believe it. Not truly. If I did, he wouldn’t be slightly translucent, unable to fully touch me. When I realize he hasn’t spoken because he’s waiting for me to respond to his question, I blurt out my delayed response. “Just trying to wrap my head around everything.”
“Well, now that we’re snowed in, what should we do?” he asks, blessedly changing the subject. My skin stops prickling and gradually returns to its normal shade. Before I answer, he tosses out an idea. “How about you show me some more of your favorite movies?”
“Sounds great.” It’s the perfect excuse to keep him here but avoid more talk of mates or solstice. Or anything else that would make me blush.
We spend the rest of the day having a movie marathon, and I’m grateful for the company, especially when I head out into the living room, overhearing Lark and Delilah enjoying the day off from work. In between flicks, we talk about our favorite things. Jax tells me about Nivea, where he lives when he’s not in the mortal world, and I ask about a million questions, trying to imagine what it must be like.
When night falls, he leaves for a few hours, promising to be back each morning to spend as much time with me as possible until spring forces its way in. He doesn’t seem afraid of the trouble he’ll be in. I still hate that he’ll likely be punished because of me, though I can’t help how much I savor our extra time together and the steadying weight of his presence.
Over the next week, his visits became fewer and farther between. The studio reopens. Occasionally, I spot his wolf watching from across the street, his glittering eyes and snout hovering just above the bushes. He never lingers long, though. Not that he really could. A wolf isn’t a normal sight in DC, after all.
Then, one morning I wake to an empty bedroom, heat blowing strong and steady and stifling through the vent… And I just know Jax is gone.