48. Jasper
FORTY-EIGHT
JASPER
If you were to ask me how I picture my last moments on this Earth, I’d easily say that I imagine myself with Carter, and Tyson.
No other circumstances, no requirements for how I was able to live my life, or measure the happiness I felt during my time here, but the two most important people to me would be right by my side.
Of course, I didn’t expect to be in a stand off, in the middle of the desert, and fully prepared to die if my Principessina takes one more step in any direction that isn’t right back into my arms.
After all this time, I thought we were past this, that the moment she chose her Family over us all those months ago was buried amongst the rubble left back at Emory, but she’s snaked her way into my heart once more, and yet again, I find myself staring down the barrel of a gun, painted as the fucking fool.
“Carter, I swear to fucking God, if you take one more step, I’ll shoot you. I will kill you, Principessina, rather than watch you walk away from me,” I warn, my finger squeezing the trigger, but to my surprise, she turns to face both Tyson and I.
“Let me save you, okay? I left last time to save Tyson, and I don’t regret that for a single second, so please, let me save you both.
Whatever they do to me, I’ll find my way back to you,” she begs, sand-streaked tears streaming down her cheeks, but I’m not listening to her words, instead, absorbing her body language.
Last time, she was defiant, in total control, and sacrificed herself to save Tyson, but this time, she’s standoffish, almost in defense mode, and I’m struggling to read her mind.
Normally, we can communicate without words, but right now, I’m blocked from her thoughts, only using her body for clues on how she wants to handle this, because from where I’m standing, she doesn’t have a death wish.
“Baby girl, it is not your job to save us. We save you, okay? Just come over here, and we’ll figure this out,” Tyson pleads, his voice strained and desperate, but Carter doesn’t budge, her feet shuffling further away from us as she attempts to turn back around.
“Make your choice, Miss Cassini,” one of the gunmen says, and she snaps her eyes shut, raking her fingers through her curls while she contemplates her next move.
One thing is for sure, it’ll absolutely gut me to kill her, but when her father held a gun to her head just minutes ago, I knew we had a way out. I refused to pull the trigger because if she could just remember her power, remember the knife strapped to her thigh, we’d have the element of surprise.
Our connection didn’t fail me then, but if she turns away from me, I lose that streamline into her head, which ruins any chance I have of intruding into her thoughts once more.
“Carter! Look at me. Right now. You are going to fight with us for our freedom. Sacrificing yourself, walking to your death, is not going to save us. If you die, Carter, we die too. If you walk away from us, I will fucking shoot Tyson first, do you understand me?” I scream, bringing her back to the moment we had on one of our long drives, reminding her of the promise I made that if one goes, we all do.
“Don’t, Jasper. Don’t you dare use my words against me.” Her tone switches, that sassy, fearless girl I know and love coming back to the surface.
“I will kill Tyson, then myself, and let those monsters murder you however they see fit. We’ll die for nothing, Principessina, is that what you want?
” I match her energy, not sugar-coating my plans in the slightest, forcing her to feel every single syllable in order to crack through her stubborn skull.
“Baby girl, we’re nothing without you,” Tyson reminds, his voice eliciting another stream of tears down her cheeks, but she swipes at her face, shaking her head at the two of us while we wait for her choice with bated breath.
This is a direct parallel to the night Tyson was shot, and we lost her, but I’m desperately hoping that we can rewrite that chapter, fixing the mistakes made by forcing Carter to believe in us, our love, and most importantly, that this life with us is worth living.
Involuntarily, tears begin to well in my eyes, the reminders of loneliness, loss, and complete devastation plaguing my mind, but I keep my focus on Carter, knowing that if these are my last moments, I’m thankful to be staring at her.
Even in battle, my girl looks fucking flawless, like a black-clad grim reaper princess that’ll rip your heart out with one hand, and offer a wave with the other, all while inhaling the sweet scent of blood that she so devilishly loves.
Everything that’s good in me is because of her, and I could search the entire universe, scour the ends of the Earth, or even hunt down the worst criminals, but I’d never find a better partner in death, whether that moment comes now, or decades down the line.
“The part of me that’s you will never die, my little Angel of Death,” I tell her, watching as her icy blue eyes open back into mine, and she nods, holding her hand over her heart like we’re doing a secret handshake, almost as if we’re both coming to terms with what’s about to happen.
“Do what you have to do, Jasper,” she says softly, while a lone tear streams down my cheek as I inhale a deep breath, realizing that she’s not backing down, and in turn, forcing me to hand my soul over to the Devil.
“No, Carter, you’re not going to stand there and give him permission to kill you!
Get your ass over here, and make this decision with us!
” Tyson pleads, the desperation in his voice is enough to bring me to my knees, but he didn’t feel her absence the way I did, and I refuse to endure that pain again.
“Tyson, I promise, I’m not leaving you. We’ll find each other again,” she offers a semblance of hope, brushing the curls from her eyes as a gust of wind blows sand through the air, clouding our vision to the point where I lose sight of her silhouette.
“Carter!” We both yell, the desperation in our voices echoing around the empty desert, but when the dust settles, she’s walking away from us, and as I look at Tyson, the red dot has vanished from his forehead, meaning that her father’s men honored their end of the deal, putting their guns down.
If you asked me to imagine a scenario where I’d be on the losing side of a fight, I promise I’d come up empty, never able to fathom or highlight a single weakness I possess, but I’d be wrong.
For a second time, I’m on the side that’s dead to rights, and it’s all because of the petite brunette who managed to steal my heart not once, but twice, and both times, chose to eviscerate it in the palm of her hands.
Even though this feels like a loss, my brain won’t stop coming up with scenarios, possible ways out of this where we don’t end up in body bags, and finally, the heaviness of this moment slams into me like a freight train.
I’m carrying extra weight, and like a smart soldier, I’m planning to return it right where it belongs.
Without the lasers trained on us, their focus has shifted to Carter, and if I can buy us a few more seconds, this day won’t have to end in total tragedy.
Right now, I need Tyson’s head in the game, except he looks like he’s going to pass out, or succumb to a panic attack, but if he does, we’re as good as dead.
“Ty, I have an idea,” I say, breaking through his inner thoughts, and he offers a slight nod to let me know he’s all ears.
We’ve been in sticky situations before, but we’ve never let each other down, and I know that in his heart, he trusts me to protect his life.
“Two out,” Tyson replies, reverting back to our code to assess how far away our target is, and as happy as I am that he’s putting blind faith in me, he’s a terrible shot.
We only have one chance at this, there’s no do-overs, but as the seconds tick on, I know that it’s quite literally now, or never.
“Just don’t miss,” I warn under my breath, keeping my eyes forward as we attempt to pull off a sleight of hand trick for the ages.
“I’ve got this, brother,” he whispers, and I nod in response, exhaling a deep breath as I lock my aim on the target, but when I give Tyson the signal, he’s the only one shooting.
The second his ricochet bullets pierce the SUV, I pull two grenades from the pockets of my cargo pants, ripping the pins simultaneously as I heave them one at a time, praying to whatever Devil can hear me that they land correctly, blowing my target into pieces.
Tyson and I lock eyes across the battlefield, a knowing smirk on his face as we notch a serious win under our belts, but just as I turn my attention toward the small dust clouds pluming in the air, I catch a glimpse of the curly-haired temptress we both love, and the grenades go off in rapid succession.
Bang.
Bang.