Chapter 13 #3
Even though she had made it clear that she wasn’t all that fond of Ashley’s brother, she still wore a serene expression and gave off an almost hippyish vibe.
One that had Ashley wishing, though she would never admit it to anyone, that she was more like her.
If only because this Jasmine woman seemed to be beautiful, smart, talented, and far more sophisticated.
And Ashley was just Ashley, a dragon shifter who was thrown away simply for having no magic.
Jasmine’s voice once again broke the illusion when she turned to Jack Tracey, her tone flat and unamused as she looked at him, a hint of a scowl pulling down at her lips.
“If you’re in a rush you better tell me why you’ve darkened my door, Jack,” she said, making it sound like Jack came by frequently and demanded things of her just about daily.
Ashley’s eyebrows shot up her forehead at the insinuation behind Jasmine’s tone.
She wondered if there was more to their relationship than friendship.
Did Jasmine secretly dislike Jack, but used him to get information about Ashley’s brother?
Ashley could picture that. She had been the teddy bear type when she was a high school girl, but she had never exactly been romantic.
If she had been the romantic, then she might not be left wondering about Jasmine, or feeling a little bit jealous of her.
If she’d been smart, she wouldn’t have any romantic notions about someone like Jack Tracey.
Mainly because the man seemed to have his own ambitions in life Jack leaned against the door frame, not even the slightest bit apologetic for the apparent turmoil that he had caused both women.
“And here I was, thinking that you would be thankful for me being kind enough to introduce you to Ashley, only to find myself sorely disappointed,” Jack said, dismissing the other woman’s stare with another beautiful smile.
He had a way of talking to people that was far too comfortable.
Ashley supposed that it was only natural for Jasmine to feel as pulled into this man as she did.
“I just wanted to take advantage of the situation and introduce you to our princess, the one who will soon be married off by your beloved Val.”
Ashley wasn’t sure the way he was taunting Jasmine was necessary. She couldn’t deny that, for a moment, she felt the tiniest bit sorry for the woman. The more Jack talked, though, the more captivated she was by him.
“Now, as you know, there’s currently a prophecy and all of that nonsense going around,” Jack said, and Ashley brought her attention back to him, wondering what the fuck he was talking about.
A prophecy? Well, that was the sort of thing that often happened in fantasy novels and, and even though she was a dragon shifter and everything had gone wrong recently, Ashley didn’t exactly consider her life to be a fantasy novel.
If anything, the whole becoming a dragon shifter probably meant that she was living out a horror novel right now.
If she ever managed to shift successfully, she would undoubtedly turn into a giant flying monster.
But, still, Jack seemed more than pleased by Jasmine’s reaction to the bringing up of a prophecy and that her eyes narrowed as she looked over at Ashley, once more taking in Ashley’s features, almost as if she could read the woman’s importance in this world with a simple glance alone.
Ashley couldn’t help but feel self-conscious, wondering if Jack was implying that she was important or the subject of this prophecy. If so, he was about to be sorely disappointed.
“Listen,” Ashley jumped in, waving her hands rapidly at her sides and grimacing as she did so, her eyes soft as she silently begged the woman to offer her some sort of pity because Jack was hardly a man who anyone could control.
“I don’t know about any prophecy or anything like that, and I don’t really know what he’s implying, but I’m glad to meet you either way.
I’m just a normal girl, just like anyone else, so y’all don’t need to worry about me.
Or that I’ll tell my brother that I saw you because that’s probably why you’re living in the woods and all,” Ashley said, and she couldn’t help but immediately flinch, realizing at that moment that she had made a crucial mistake, the same mistake that she made all the time, ever since she was a kid: she talked too much.
Or at least, something about how Jasmine reacted, her eyes narrowing, and her face once again morphing to something, making Ashley feel like she had said too much.
It was evident that Ashley’s brother was a touchy subject, so it was probably best that Ashley brought him up as little as possible.
The only problem was that she was cursed with the existence of Jack, and Jack seemed to take that moment as a prime opportunity to throw a far too charming smile in the woman’s direction. It was like he wanted to remind her of the fact that Ashley had just fucked up.
“Right, she doesn’t want to dredge up any bad memories or remind you of the way that her brother threw you aside like you were nothing. And she certainly doesn’t want to bring up the fact that there’s a new young woman that’s been stopping by getting all his attention,” Jack said.
Ashley wished she had a broad leather belt because Jack sure could use a good whooping.
He grabbed Ashley’s arm, forcing her to turn around with him and practically guided her through every step she took.
Ashley was confused, wondering what the fuck he thought he was doing, especially because they were leaving pretty much mid-conversation with the woman.
No southern belle had ever had such bad manners before in their lives, and yet, there was something about the haste with which Jack moved that encouraged Ashley to move as well.
And then, because that wasn’t enough, Jack said something that was even more confusing, turning his head slowly in Ashley’s direction.
“Take five more steps,” Jack murmured out of the corner of his mouth, with authority.
Ashley wanted to protest but obediently took the five steps. One, two, three, four, five. Actually, she had no idea what she was waiting for at that moment, or why Jack paused on the last step. He knew more about life here, and what a pissed off witch was capable of so she waited wit him.
“Fine,” Jasmine said, groaning as she rolled her eyes at the pair of them like they were genuinely exasperating. Which Ashley thought was unfair because it was clear, apart from her verbal stumble, that Jack was the exasperating one.
“There will be trouble at the Dragon Games, that much I can guarantee,” Jasmine said, and something about that satisfied Jack, if the way he nodded was any indication.
Jack didn’t reply, he just took Ashley’s hand to guide her away from the cottage.
But Ashley couldn’t help but look back at Jasmine, her steps slowing for just a moment as she dared to wonder what exactly she meant by that and why Jack had been trying so hard to get that information out of her.
Ashley knew that the games were coming, that they were somehow meant to be part of her debut into society, and her engagement. She’d heard people whispering about it, but the way Jack needed that reassurance that there’d be trouble at the games worried her.
Especially when, as the two of them started for the woods again and began to disappear behind all the branches and brambles, Ashley heard Jack repeating Jasmine’s words to himself with a sort of reverence that made Ashley’s stomach tighten in trepidation.
Something terrible was going to happen, she was sure of it.
The only problem was that she didn’t know how to begin to tell Val.
Or what Jack would do if she did tell her brother.