44. Jasmine
JASMINE
“Why is it so bright in here?” Marisole groans from the living room couch.
“So there’s this thing called the sun—“ My coffee cup in my hand shatters. My gaze drops to the shadow slinking back to its owner. “That was my favorite mug. It had cats on it.”
“A lot of your mugs have cats on them.” Marisole yawns, then sits up, rubbing the tired from her eyes. “I can’t believe this realm is having me miss the red sky back home.”
“You sure you want to complete this bargain? We might be able to find a way around it.” I finish cleaning up the spilled coffee, then grab another one. Thankfully, I’m drinking instant this morning and it doesn’t take long to make a second cup.
“No, it’s time,” Marisole says. She stands and makes her way closer to me, choosing to sit on one of the stools. “You said your friend was coming over today? To make sure we don’t die?”
I set my mug down. “Why do you look disgusted when you say that?”
“Say what?”
“Friend.” I mock her. “You say it like you’re going to throw up.”
She simply shrugs. “None of this makes sense to me.”
I scoff. “Mar, you’re about to become a half demon. You sure you want—“
“Yes. Okay? I promised to fulfill the bargain, and I’m going to. It’s what we need to do in order to have me join the Council, right?”
I nod and fill a mug for her without her asking.
She keeps telling me how much she hates the taste, yet every time I pass her a cup, she drinks it.
We’ve had time over the past week to catch up, so we’ve been doing a lot of talking.
Marisole’s filled me in on most family drama, but refuses to tell me about Liam.
That’s one piece to the puzzle I don’t understand, and it’s frustrating that she won’t give me a single crumb of information. Liam could have reached out to me over these last few years. It would have been nice to know he wasn’t dead.
Today isn’t about him, though.
Katrina arrives a few minutes later, coffee in hand.
“I brought some coffee,” she says with a smile.
“Oh, joy.” If Marisole goes a day without using sarcasm, I’d think something was wrong.
“Don’t mind her, Kat.” I roll my eyes and grab the coffee from her. “We just had a cup. But this will be good for later.”
“Can we get this over with?” Marisole asks.
“This is still so weird,” Katrina says, taking a seat on the couch.
“I’m just glad you still wanted to be friends.” I told Katrina two nights ago and had her meet Marisole. She took it better than I thought. It was a long night with many, many questions. In the end, she gave me a giant hug and thanked me for trusting her. I cried.
“Always. “ Katrina smiles, settling further into the cushions.
A clap comes from behind me, then Marisole pushes past me. “Alright, it’s time.”
That it is. I take a deep sigh and follow Marisole to the center of the living room. We removed the coffee table so we’d have room to sit in the middle while we performed the bargain.
She takes a knife from a bag next to the couch, one from her room back home. It has a small blade with a golden handle. It’s simple, which is all we need for this.
Marisole turns over her palm, then brings the knife to the center. She slices a two-inch line, not deep, but enough for it to bleed.
“Your turn,” she chides.
I grab the knife and do the same, hissing from the pain. Before I have the chance to ask Marisole if she’s ready, her hand envelops mine.
It doesn’t hit me that the bargain is complete until I wake up, my head pounding with a massive headache.
“Jasmine,” Katrina says. “Jasmine.” I turn my head to the side. “God, you scared me. You two touched, and your eyes rolled to the back of your head, then you fell to the side.”
“We should have put pillows there.” I croak, then move to sit up. “How is Mar?”
“She’s alive, but still… sleeping? I don’t know.”
“Did you call Jake?”
Katrina shakes her head. “Here.” She hands me my phone.
Two seconds later, Jake is on the other end of the line.
“Hello?” He answers, his tone full of worry.
“Hi,” I say, a smile blooming on my face.
“Did it work? Everything go to plan? Do you feel any different?”
“I think it worked?” I look at Marisole, who’s out cold on my floor.
Her chest rises and falls, but that doesn’t tell me if transferring part of my soul worked.
“Marisole isn’t conscious, but I hope that’s just because her body needs time to adjust. And as far as me, no changes that I can tell. My soul is still intact.”
Jake mumbles to himself. “When can I see you? I know why you didn’t want me there today, but I’m itching to be near you.”
I rub the bite at my neck. “Tomorrow. After work. Dinner?”
“And you stay at my place? I like your sister, but I’m craving time alone with you.”
“Tomorrow it is.”
I don’t remember getting back to work after time off this difficult.
I’m yawning every ten minutes, animals seem to keep coming when I’m in desperate need of a break, and there’s a plethora of new clients.
I’m still leaving my glamour on for now, knowing that there’s still a lot of work to be done until others in this realm are ready to see demons as not a threat.
“One more, then lunch,” Katrina yells from the front.
I give her a lazy thumbs up, then retreat to the second room in the back to give a new puppy shots.
“That was a quick one,” I say a few minutes later when Katrina comes to grab the paperwork.
“Yeah, thankfully. We appear to have a slow afternoon, which is good. I don’t think anyone called the office while we were gone.”
I shrug. “I regret not wanting any calls now. It would have saved us a busy day back.”
She laughs. “True. Oh, Jake is out front for you.”
Katrina leaves the room before I’m able to say anything, and I sprint to the front. Sure enough, Jake is standing by the front door, petting the puppy I just took care of. When he spins to see me, his eyes meet mine, and it’s like fireworks erupt through my entire body.
“What are you doing here?” I throw my arm around his neck, pulling him into a hug.
“I wanted to take you out for lunch.” He leans back enough to press a kiss to my forehead. “Is that okay?”
“Is that okay? Yes!” I practically shout. “Wow, sorry. I’m really excited to see you.”
He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear, then lowers his lips to mine for a quick kiss.
“The feeling is mutual, Jaz.”
When we walk out the front door, I realize I don’t know where we’re going. Besides my apartment, there isn’t a great restaurant on this side of town. Jake grabs my hand and leads me around back, toward the forest.
“I know you’re tempted to ask questions,” Jake says, beating me to it.
“I’m trying to refrain, because you would have already told me if you wanted me to know.”
What I don’t comment on as we walk further into the forest is feeling worry through our bond, and the expression Jake has on his face when I steal a few glances.
He keeps biting his lower lip and glancing around the trees as if he’s searching for something.
He’s also aimlessly rubbing his thumb back and forth over my hand, fidgeting to mask whatever is going on.
“Just a little further,” he says, keeping his gaze ahead of us.
“You don’t have a picnic basket with you,” I say, noticing his empty hand.
“I, uh, don’t worry about it.”
I chuckle, but keep my mouth shut.
“Close your eyes?” He asks, and I furrow my brows. “I won’t let you trip, promise.”
I do as he says, and keep my eyes closed until he stops me. He unlaces his hand from mine and moves away from me.
It’s his voice that I hear next. “Okay, open.”
Slowly, my eyes open and I’m confused. In front of me is the field of wildflowers, the same field that was destroyed weeks ago in our fight with the demon. Except there isn’t a broken flower, or burned path, or anything that would tell someone a dangerous fight occurred here.
“What?” I ask, trying to find the words to say, but none come. Tears well in my eyes as I take in the sight of my favorite spot on Fernhollow being back to its beautiful self. “This is an incredible surprise. How?”
“Well,” Jake says, turning toward the fields for a brief moment before returning his attention to me.
“This place is important to you and people in this town care about you. Rebecca was able to help, along with a few witches she knew. It might not have every flower that was here, it might not be exactly how you remember…” Jake palms the back of his neck.
“But I hope it’ll remind you that you’re worthy of love. ”
“Jake…”
He gets down on one knee and I clasp a hand over my mouth, unable to believe this is happening. His hand reaches for mine, and I take it.
“Jasmine, we’ve known each other for a few weeks, but every time I’m with you, it feels like I’ve known you for multiple lifetimes. You helped me realize I had everything I needed right in front of me, that I didn’t need to prove myself to others, that I was perfect the way I am, flaws and all.”
Jake takes a breath, then reaches into his back pocket to pull out a small box. When he opens it, a small ring shines at me. My throat swells, overwhelmed with happiness, as I take in what’s in front of me. It’s a gold band, with tiny black gems on top.
“It’s perfect,” I say, not sure if he was able to hear me. But of course he did.
“I know we have a wedding scheduled, but I didn’t want that to be how you remembered the start of our forever.
I want you to know I’d choose you, every time, regardless of who demands it.
I love you, Jasmine, and it’s an honor to be your mate, to be the one who gets to be with you till the end of time. ”
“I love you too,” I whisper.
Jake brings my hand to his lips and presses a soft kiss to my knuckles.
This past decade of my life has been full of ups and downs.
If you’d have told younger me, that all the trauma, all the sadness, will lead me here, I wouldn’t have believed you.
I spent my entire life pretending to be someone I’m not.
It took finding myself, loving myself, in order to realize that I don’t need to hide my true self to be liked.
Fate has a way of bringing out the best in others, and even though the road ahead might have its own troubles, I’m glad I won’t be going at it alone this time.
Which is why when Jake asks if I’ll marry him, I grin and say, “yes.”