Chapter 27
SPUN SUGAR DREAMS
The boy had sunset irises, a perma-scowl, and a dagger in each hand. He was bare-chested, wearing only a loincloth.
I didn’t need to ask. “Young Jasher,” I breathed out. I’d call him Jashy.
His grip on the blades tightened, knuckles blanching white. “Are you the one he keeps blubbering about?” When I didn’t answer within a millisecond, his glare snapped to the older version. “Is she?”
“Blubbering?” I asked, dazed. How many people could say they’d met the childhood version of their monstra situationship while the adult version stood five feet away?
Jasher winced. “Meeting him has been…enlightening.”
A tiny giggle slipped out before I could stop it.
In an exaggerated mimic of his older self, Jashy said, “Around her, bad thoughts go quiet...forget I’m a weapon…wanna be better. Smells like home.”
Laughter spilled from me.
Jasher made a strangled sound. “I do not speak like that.”
Jashy squinted at him. “You do when you think no one is listening.”
Grinning wide, I leaned closer to Jasher. “Does he know who you are?”
A stiff nod. “He does.”
“Hey!” the boy snarled, eyes flashing red. “Talk to me.”
“Listen, you little—” Jasher started forward.
“Excuse me, good sir.” I caught his arm. “Please be nicer to yourself. I’ve wanted to meet this kid for ages.”
Both versions blinked at me.
I grinned at the adult. “Patch up your wounds and catch up with Kevin. I’ll entertain our honored guest.”
Mr. Adult closed his eyes before waving me on. “Fine. Chat each other up. But do not blame me for anything he says.” He moved to the spot beside the toy and fiddled with a rock in the wall, revealing a small cubby. Out came a first aid kit.
I closed the distance and got comfortable on a rock next to the boy. “Hi. I’m Moriah Shaker. Your friend from the future.”
He rocked back on his heels, bracing for impact. “Not my friend.”
“Hurt her and suffer,” Jasher called, cleaning the worst of his wounds.
“Why? Don’t you want to kiss her better?” Jashy snapped back.
I clapped a hand over my mouth.
With a disgusted huff, Jashy sheathed his daggers. “Guardian says water maidens must be killed on sight. Especially green ones.”
“Oh, he does, does he?” I leaned back on my palms, unafraid. “That’s because I’m dangerous to Ian. But not to you.”
That little chest puffed up. “Wrong. If you’re dangerous to him, you’re dangerous to me. I am he, and he is me.”
Ugh. The propaganda started early for the monstra.
“Well, in twenty years, you abandon Ian’s training to save me from a beheading, and we go on a quest together.
You make me laugh. Ian makes me furious.
You value truth, he prefers lies. Your smile is rare but genuine.
His is practiced and comes often.” I swallowed, chest clenching.
“You care. He pretends to. You are not Ian.”
Thick silence stretched. I felt Jasher’s stare like a hot brand across every inch of my skin.
Jashy crossed his arms, curious, defensive, and wishful all at once. “Do you fall in love with me?”
Yikes! Diving into the deep end. My gaze flew to the adult, who didn’t pretend to be uninterested.
He arched an eyebrow. “Yes, princess,” he drawled out, tying off a bandage. “Tell the boy all about your feelings for me.”
You know what? I would. In mere days, we’d be entering the Ring.
Might as well get a jump on the truth bombs.
“I fell in love with him during our first adventure,” I told the kid.
“When he protected me while hating me, I fell harder. When he chose me over everything else, I shattered.” I squared my shoulders and faced Jasher fully.
“In lost oaths, vows endure. You’re only undoing. ”
He understood, molten tenderness dominating his features. A flash, there and gone. “You love me,” he said.
“She talks in monstra code,” Jashy said, impressed.
Longing pulled me a step closer to Jasher. “I do. I love you. With all that I was. All that I am. All that I will be.”
His gaze narrowed and remained on me for a heartbeat before sliding to the boy. “Go home, boy. Now.”
Hold up. “You can’t just send him away—”
“I’ve already lived this life. Ian won’t find him,” Jasher explained. “Besides, he intended to sneak out, anyway.”
“It’s true,” Jashy said with a shrug. “Anders and Reese are waiting for me.”
I threw my hands up. “You’re both impossible. How did you even get together?”
“After I left you in the forest, I went to him. Passed on a message.” Jasher shrugged. “He followed me here. I didn’t learn about Ian’s attack against you until the next morning. And don’t ask me what mess—”
“What message?” I inquired with an unrepentant smile.
He huffed and pursed his lips.
“This feels important,” Kevin said. “Should I leave? Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha.”
Working his jaw, Jasher turned the toy to face the wall. “I told him one day an otherworlder with wounded eyes, an enchanting smile and a sharp wit, would step onto his chopping block,” he admitted. “And that, if he harmed her, he would forever regret it.”
A brilliant light beamed through the corridors of my being. He loved me back. He must.
Jashy pretended to gag, and the two males shared a brief grin, both identical and devastating. Then Jashy ran, diving into the open air.
What in the world? I raced after him, grinding to a halt when wings burst from his back, carrying him into the darkening clouds.
Should have realized. Shaking my head at my unnecessary fright, I turned back—
—and forgot every thought in my head.
Jasher stalked toward me, sunrise irises ablaze. “You love me,” he said again, the words less a question than a fragile truth he needed echoed back.
I searched for words, but only found two. “I do.”
A breath away, he settled his hands on my waist and paused a beat as we searched each other’s eyes.
Then he lifted me gently, reverently, as though he feared I might vanish if he moved too fast. He carried me to the blanket and laid me down.
When he bent his face to my neck, his breath shook.
With hunger, yes, but mostly with awe, as if he were committing me to memory in case fate ever tried to steal me away. Again.
“And you?” I whispered, my voice barely holding together. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”
He stared at me, features softer than I’d ever seen them. “In lonely outlands, voids echo. You’re our universe.” Slowly, he lowered his head. “To others, ominous.”
The corners of my mouth lifted. I love you, too.
His mouth hovered just over mine. He hesitated to close the remaining distance, as if memorizing me, the moment, afraid it might end. As if he’d been starved for this sight for eons and now wished to savor it.
“Kiss me,” I whispered.
He did. Softly. It wasn’t careful or reckless but inevitable. Slow and meticulous, as though he sought to fuse our souls. As though I’d become a lifeline beyond survival.
My world narrowed to the space between us, where heat bloomed.
Invisible flames licked over my skin, through my veins, one languid stroke after another.
I burned and I groaned, clutching his shoulders, soaking in the quiet wonder of his touch.
He shook, yet he remained steady and unyielding. Devastating in the best way.
He deepened the kiss, feeding me the most intoxicating desire. I melted beneath him, my body molding to his. I clung to his broad shoulders, clutched at his back.
“Jasher.” When my fingers brushed the sculpted arch of his wings, his breath broke, and he jolted against me. I went still. “Did I hurt you?” Even the thought of causing him pain was unbearable.
His irises glowed, suddenly soft and vulnerable. “I feel you here.” He pounded a fist into the center of his chest, rough, honest. Wrecked. “Awareness of you burns in my cells. You live in my thoughts. Own my heartbeats.”
My head spun with tenderness. Not a code, but a declaration.
He rested his forehead against mine, panting, eyes blazing with too much feeling to contain.
“Baby.” The endearment left me, soft but unstoppable. Devastating to my inner armor. “Whatever happens, I will always love you.”
He lifted his head, his gaze holding mine, unguarded now. Not a warrior. Not a monster. But a man who’d been chosen. He gave me a little smile—and then he kissed me again.
More defenses crumbled. He kissed me and meant it.
A ripping noise from beyond us sliced into my awareness. Must have sliced into his, too. He wrenched from me with a growl. In unison, we scrambled to our feet. Jasher palmed his axes on the way up.
The rainbow birds had returned, squawking with panic. Then they flew off in droves. And my stomach sank.
“They warn of—” Jasher began.
Four adult rabdogs scaled the cavern’s outer ledge to stand in the only exit. Their wiry hair stuck straight up. Their bright red eyes writhed with shadow and light, and their claws flared against the floor, so sharp I swore I heard knives sliding against each other.
Like my Nugget, they were monstrously large amalgamations of wolves, hyenas, and some kind of prehistoric predator, with a spiked snout, huge teeth, and an abnormally arched spine.
“The runts,” he hissed as Kevin fell from his perch.
Jasher stepped forward, a warrior without fear, acting as my shield. The axes appeared in his grip. “Open a waterway and go,” he told me. “I’ll draw them away and find you when I can.”
Even as he spoke, a vision overtook me. For a split second, I saw a vicious battle that ended with three rabdogs dead and the executioner catastrophically injured. A final one-on-one showdown with the fourth runt didn’t end well for either combatant.
No. Not this time. But what should I do? My previous dealings with rabdogs had been wonderful. Other than giving them all a good cuddle and a tasty snack that didn’t involve our internal organs, I was at a loss.
“Here, little doggies,” he taunted, stepping closer to them. “Come and get me.”