- ELEVEN
Cece
It was the heat that woke me up, stifling, humid, making it hard to breathe. I rolled onto my back, eyes tight against the eventual full consciousness. "I think this place is where the idea of Hell came from," I grumbled, not even fully awake and yet somehow surly.
"There are seasons here too," Jasper's voice informed me from what seemed like way too far away. My eyes shot open and I sat up, searching for him, only to find him standing casually a few yards away, munching on the chestnuts I had found.
I moved to stand quickly, intent on looking at his back, and completely forgetting about my ankle. I stepped on it with full pressure, making me gasp as the impact sent of a shock of pain. It wasn't as bad as the day before, likely due to getting some rest, but it still hurt.
"Clumsy," Jasper said, his tone a little condescending.
My head shot up, my spine stiffening, something inside telling me that things had just taken a sharp turn into WhatthefuckdidIdos Ville.
The actions of the night before could only end in one of three ways.
We could acknowledge it and soften toward each other, maybe have things progress.
We could both completely pretend it never happened, which was always the safest bet.
Or, of course, it could turn ugly. My gut was telling me it was going to get ugly.
"Yeah, dragging your unconscious ass across a field made me less than graceful," I shot back.
I moved over toward the satchels of spices and herbs, throwing bits of them into the mason jar, filling it with water, and starting a fire underneath it.
He seemed fine, but another dose wouldn't do any harm.
Things stayed completely silent while it boiled, steeped, and cooled.
I wrapped the jar in a rag and hobbled over to Jasper.
He chugged it back with a curse as I moved behind him to check the cuts.
Under the sticky honey, the signs of infection were gone.
The flaps of skin were still red and angry, but it seemed liked they were closing up.
"Looks better," I said, moving away from him to sit down and pick at the pile of food on the ground. Doyle must have gone foraging and dropped it all off.
"He's looking for information on Jade," Jasper answered my unasked question. "We need a direction so we don't walk in circles."
"Shouldn't we stay here for another day? Until we're sure you're better? You were raging with infection for a full day."
"And now I'm not," Jasper snapped.
"Aren't you a ray of fucking sunshine today?
" I shot back, eyes shooting daggers at him, using every bit of self-control to not think about the night before because I knew he was mentally eavesdropping.
Now that I understood it better, there were traces when someone was digging around in your head.
There was almost a shadow, a cool spot, like a ghost inside.
"A ray of sunshine?" Doyle's voice asked, happy, boyish, as he walked up. "Were you talking about me, sweetheart?"
I felt my lips tip up ever so slightly. "Always, Doyle. I talk of nothing else."
"Did you find anything out?" Jasper broke in, impatient.
"Everyone keeps pointing me in the direction of the nymphs."
"You can't be serious," Jasper said, drawing my attention.
Doyle smile spread, boyish, charming. "I know. I guess I will have to endure their attentions to get some information."
Jasper exhaled, making some sort of resigned growling noise at the back of his throat. "Which nymphs?"
"Oh, the tree and flower ones to begin with."
"And to end with," Jasper said, rolling his eyes. "If they don't know anything, the water and underworld won't either."
"Oh, but wouldn't it be fun to ask?" Doyle shot back, eyes twinkling.
Nymphs. Them, at least, I was vaguely aware of from my history class. They were dancing, singing, beautiful young women who liked loads of sex. No wonder Doyle wanted to go visit them.
"So we'll go tomorrow," I said with a nod.
"No," Jasper snapped. "We'll go as soon as you've eaten."
"Jasper... your..."
"My everything is better," he said and something crossed his face that I didn't trust, something a little cruel, very much unlike the Jasper I had come to know.
Cool, condescending, a little snippy, but overall good?
Yes. Cruel? No. "Maybe all doctors should make out with their patients. Seems to work wonders."
There, right then and there, any small sliver of hope I had left for the male sex vanished. Fuck fuck fuck them. Where did he get off thinking he could say shit like that? Especially in mixed company? I felt my cheeks get warm and knew I was blushing and hated him all the more for it.
Jasper had leaned down to start collecting the mess of items we had strewn about. His head was tilted though, as if listening to me.
Anger making me determined, I slammed down the shield I had used with Declan, mentally reinforcing it with bricks, barbed wire, and trained fucking dogs. His brow raised for a split second, as if in surprise, before he snorted and finished what he was doing.
I couldn't bring myself to look at Doyle who also got up and started cleaning. I stayed where I was, eating a foraged breakfast and silently seething.
"You know she had to hold your nose shut and let you choke on that tea for a while before she finally got your stubborn, unconscious ass to drink it," Doyle said, likely trying to lighten the mood.
"Great bedside manner," Jasper said dryly in response.
"Learned from the best," I snapped back, snatching all the herbs and tying their strings together as they finished up. "Where did Onyx go?" I asked, sure to direct it to Doyle even though I didn't look his way.
"He bounded off right before sunrise. Figured he was hunting. We can get moving though. He will sniff us out."
Not really having a counter-argument, except maybe my aching ankle, I nodded and fell into step behind them. If Jasper could walk around with half of his body torn open, I could hobble on my likely-twisted ankle.
About half an hour into the walk, that wasn't the only thing bothering me. With nothing else to do but pay attention to my aches and pains thanks to the stubborn silence of my companions, everything was starting to hurt. My ankle, my face, my ribs.
An image of Doyle popped into my head, reaching for the hem of my dress.
Up ahead of me, I was sure I saw Jasper stiffen, as if he was mentally eavesdropping again.
And, maybe it was the ultimate of petty of me, but I let that image linger, I focused on it until it was bright and crisp.
I dug deeper in slow motion as he lifted my skirt and gently ran his fingers over my skin.
Then I let the moment linger after, when he was just giving me an intense look.
Then I shut that shield back down, sealing Jasper out.
Let him think what he would like about that. Let him wonder if it maybe went beyond that, if maybe something had happened between us. Doyle was, after all, good looking, charming, sweet, and sexy.
And maybe I was willing to use that to my advantage so I didn't feel quite so embarrassed about what happened with Jasper and about what I had, maybe, started to think it meant before he squashed that all to hell.
"Hey Doyle?" I called, just a little coyly.
"Yeah, sweetheart?" he asked, smiling his usual charming smile over his shoulder at me. It was a smile that Jasper would see differently now.
"Why don't you come back here and keep me company?" I suggested.
Doyle jogged backward to me, bumping his shoulder into mine. "Whatever the lady wishes," he said with a wink.
This wasn't a game I would normally play.
I wasn't that kind of girl- petty, vengeful.
Maybe it was the mix of adrenaline, fear, anxiety, danger, hunger, and exhaustion.
Maybe it was just the fact that I was sick and freaking tired of having people yank my chain.
Or maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that I liked Jasper.
It was stupid of me. He was at the top of the list of bad choices.
One, because he was the brother to my best friend which always automatically made him off-limits.
Two, he wasn't my type. Three, he was a jerk.
"There," Jasper said, pointing to the left, head tilted like he heard something.
"Well," Doyle said, rubbing his hands together with a wicked smile, "let's go get to work, shall we?" he asked and bounded into the clearing.
I smiled for a second, finding his enthusiasm charming, before I remembered about him cheating on Jade.
"Hey," Jasper said, watching me.
"What?"
"He's part nymph, Cece," he said as if that explained everything.
"Um... okay?"
"In the human realm, he's great. He was the best boyfriend Jade ever had. He loved her like nothing else in the world."
"If he loved her so much," I cut in only to have him cut me off.
"The problem is, he has family in The Green that he keeps in touch with.
So, occasionally, he has to come back in for celebrations.
So when he crosses over the border, his urges start up.
The longer he's here, the harder it is for him to control them.
In the human realm, he was faithful to Jade. Here, he really couldn't control it."
"That's why Jade doesn't hate him," I said, understanding. "She understood that he couldn't control it."
"But it didn't take away the betrayal," Jasper agreed. "They still love each other. They probably always will. But Doyle can't change and Jade can't live with that heartbreak every time he needs to visit here."
I nodded, swallowing past the sudden lump in my throat, suddenly bone-deep sad for the both of them. Jade, because she was so worthy of the best. Doyle, because I knew he could give that to her. But they couldn't have it.
"Let's go," Jasper said, voice hard again.