Jasmine
After a blissful night, the last thing I expect is to see Jake awake and sitting up in bed. Instead of him telling me good morning with a smile, or leaning over to kiss me on the forehead, both things he’s done before, he does nothing.
He sits there, eyes wide, as he stares forward at the covers wrapped over his legs. The bond between us is silent, quieter than normal, as I reach for it.
Something is wrong.
My stomach drops, a heavy weight settling where the butterflies normally fly free when Jake is around.
Our bond is always a mix of feelings, but as of late it’s felt like there was less worry and anguish.
Those emotions caused by the unknown weren’t as prominent.
They were being replaced with love and care and hope.
The shock of the lack of feelings has me clutching my chest.
“You’re hiding your feelings from me,” I whisper, daring to look at Jake.
He nods, his gaze not moving to meet mine.
Something is really wrong. What could have happened between last night and this morning? We even went to bed late, so it’s not like he could have left the house and done something without me knowing.
That only means one thing could have happened while we were sleeping.
“Who visited you?” I ask, my tone wobbling as I do. Marisole wouldn’t betray me, but she’s not the only dream walker. It’s a rarer magic, but there are others who would do what my dad commands.
Jake tucks his lips and stays silent, stewing in his anger.
I grasp his arm and tug to get his attention. His gaze swings to meet mine, and although his brows are furrowed, his eyes are glossy.
“Talk to me,” I beg.
He scoffs and pulls his arm away from me. “Why should I? You’re hiding things from me. Important things.”
Jake’s voice breaks at the same time my heart does, and I should have seen this coming. I should have predicted this.
“I…I—”
“No,” Jake interrupts. “You can’t make an excuse for this. How long were you going to let me run in circles? This is my job, Jasmine. You’re threatening that.”
“I’m threatening your job?” I sit up straighter, offended. “I was working on how to tell you.”
“Were you?”
“Yes!”
We’re at the point where our voices are raised and I’m glad no one outside can hear us. All it took was one crack to cause an avalanche on our relationship—or whatever I thought we had.
“Liam visited me.”
“Liam?!” My jaw slacks in disbelief. “I don’t understand…”
I try to rack my brain to figure out how Liam fits into all of this. Yes, he was a tracker. If he’d been alive, it would have been his literal job to find me, but he’s…
“Liam is dead, Jake. That’s impossible. Could it have been someone else?”
I don’t need to tell Jake how Liam died. I don’t need to tell the story of Liam coming to this realm to gather souls and instead of coming back, falling in love with a human. He’s how I know what my dad does to his children that run away. He kills them and everyone they love.
Jake growls. “I don’t believe someone would pretend to be your brother. Plus, that’s not the point, Jasmine. You lied to me. You hid yourself. You’re a princess.”
I hate that term.
“It means nothing.” I try to argue, but I know it doesn’t mean much.
Jake laughs out of disbelief and pushes to stand. He paces in front of the bed with his hands on his hips, mumbling to himself. I could try to explain myself, but I have no idea what I’d say right now.
Jake will need to take time to calm down, to process this information. He’s had to come to terms with my lies. First, that I wasn’t a witch, but a demon. And now that I’m not a low demon, one that doesn’t matter, but the daughter of a god.
After what feels like an hour, Jake stops pacing and turns to look at me.
“Liam made me a bargain.”
I meet his gaze, tears on the verge of falling. This isn’t the moment to break down, but I can’t stop the tears that follow.
My entire future is crumbling as I wait to hear about the bargain. This is my worst nightmare. The man I love, my mate, has been propositioned with a bargain by my own family.
“He told me to give you up, that you’re not worth it.”
And there are the tears. You’re not worth it, a message that’s on repeat in my head like a skipping CD.
It hurts to hear my older brother said that, even if he’s under the influence of our dad.
And to hear Jake say it out loud without immediately saying he doesn’t agree? That’s like a knife to my chest.
I bite my lower lip with so much force to try and stop myself from sobbing that blood pools in my mouth. The bond between us fractures more as my resolve fades, knowing I’m losing Jake little by little.
Any hope I might have had has gone up in flames and lies in ashes. All that’s left is despair and no hope that I’ll get my happy ending.
There won’t be a future for me, not without figuring out how to make it to the Underworld alive and to my dad to make a bargain. A bargain that I still need to find a way to fulfill.
I’ve always wanted to celebrate a one-year anniversary. Take the cheesy couple photos. Visit our first date spot to reminisce about everything that’s happened.
There won’t be time for us to fight over which color to paint the walls in a new house.
There won’t be time for me to see the rest of this realm, to visit the ends of the lands where I’ve previously been scared to travel because I didn’t want my time to end too soon.
But now, I’m regretting all the time I wasted.
Ten years.
An entire decade I bargained for to live my life, to find my purpose, to live a life free from the threat of death.
I was na?ve to think I’d have more time, that I’d be able to live a full life full of love and happiness. Why should I deserve that?
Just like that, my time is ending, and the hardest part is that I don’t know what it’s like to be loved fully.
I should have looked harder for my mate—for Jake.
I should have traveled and seen the world.
And if I died? At least I would have been able to live without regret.
At least I’d have done something to be proud of.
I would have been happy with the people I met along the way, even if those relationships ended in heartbreak every time I revealed my true nature.
How was I supposed to know? Why did I decide how others would feel about me before even giving them the chance?
“I can’t do this right now,” Jake says. He lifts his hand, and I think he might reach for me, but he drops it at his side.
I realize I’ve been crying for the past ten minutes, neither of us saying anything. My lap is a mess of tears, but that’s the last thing on my mind.
I don’t think about Marisole and the breakthrough we had with the bargain.
I don’t think about Liam, and the dream walking, and the bargain he made with Jake.
I can’t even find it in myself to think about my relationship with Jake, because it’s clear there’s no fixing it. When I die, our bond will break regardless of if he rejects me before then or not.
The only thing I’m thinking about is how there’s no hope for me. No one’s coming to help me save myself.