Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three) (17 page)

“William, I’ll just help set up
camp and then we’ll get you home.” I swung off of Dodge. Once
everything was ready for the night I took the bag that held some of
the more personal things Jasper and I carried around.

“Jasper? Where’s that money we
brought back?”

He came to kneel beside me. “It
should be in there.” He looked through the bag and handed me a
smaller pouch. I took it from him and handed it to William.

“There’s a hundred dollars in
here. It’s not much, but it should be enough to get a room
somewhere until someone can wire you some more.”

“Hayden, I can’t…”

“Just shut up and take the
money.”

Jasper patted him on the back
and got up.

“Damian, Matthew.” He went to
stand on the far side of the beach. The other two joined him there.
I watched as he talk and pointed, as if asking their opinion on
where they should go from here, though I knew this conversation had
nothing to do with our destination. They all seemed to come to some
sort of agreement and came walking back to the group.

“Alright, then.” Jasper grabbed
his pack and handed me mine. “William, let’s get you home.”

William was almost knocked over
backwards as Emelly ran up and gave him a hug.

“Good luck, William!” She stood
on her tip toes and kissed his cheek.

“Thanks.” He turned, gave
everyone else a wave, and fell into step with us. We walked for an
hour before Jasper stopped.

“You’re on your own from here,”
he said to me. He pointed down a deer trail. “See where those
boulders are?”

I nodded.

“The crossing is just past
those.” He kissed me softly. “I’ll wait for you here.”

“I won’t be long.” I took
William by the hand. “Here goes nothing.”

“He’s not coming?” he asked as
we started walking toward the boulders.

“No. It’s not very pleasant for
shifters to cross. Their animal half dies and so they live in
constant pain. Jasper said it feels as though every rib is being
pulled out of his chest and he has trouble breathing.”

“Holy shit!” He looked at me
nervously. “Do you think it will hurt?”

“Did it hurt the last time?”

He shook his head.

“Then I don’t think so.” We kept
walking past the boulders. “There, did that hurt?”

“That’s it? We crossed? How can
you tell?”

“There’s no magic here. I can
feel the difference.” I pulled his hand down as he started to pull
away. “Not yet. We’re not fully crossed yet. I don’t know what will
happen if I let go of you.

“Do you think I’m making the
right choice, Hayden?” He glanced down at me.

“I can’t answer that for you,
William. If it’s what you feel you have to do, then yes. Why?”

“I just…I keep thinking, you
know, it’s been ten years, I think. At least that many.” He took a
deep breath. “Things will be different. All my things are probably
gone. My family will have thought I was dead.”

“True. You’ll have to come up
with a pretty good story…an accident of some sort that caused you
to have amnesia, maybe.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought I
would go with.” He stopped and turned to me.

“Do you want to live here for
the rest of your life?”

He frowned and shook his
head.

“Then let’s keep walking.”

He nodded and turned back down
the trail. The woods were turning into regular poplar trees and the
path we were on was turning to asphalt.

“You’d better put your dagger in
your bag.” I smiled at him. “You draw enough attention here with
your deerskin pants without looking like a murderer.”

I turned and watched a car drive
by on the highway not too far from where we stood.

“Here you are, just as
promised.” I hugged him tightly, a lump forming in my throat.

“Hey, now, don’t cry!” He wiped
my face with his shirt. “Can you promise me one thing before I
go?”

I nodded.

“For the love of God, promise me
you’ll be careful!”

I smiled. “Always.”

He surprised me by kissing me
softly. I couldn’t help kissing him back. He pulled back and looked
deeply in to my eyes.

“I’m serious, Hayden. Be
careful.”

“I will. Now go, before you
change your mind.”

He flashed me a lopsided grin.
“You don’t want me to come back?”

I laughed. “I never said that.
It’s more for your safety than anything, really.”

“Why would I be in any more
danger now then when I left?”

“Jasper might not appreciate
that little kiss.”

His eyes widened and I
laughed.

“You would tell him?”

“No. But he probably felt
it.”

“Shit.” He laughed. “Then I am
definitely out of here. That man scares the shit out of me.”

I snorted. “He’s a pussycat.” I
gave him another hug.

“Ok. Off I go. Good luck,
Hayden.”

“You, too.” He smiled and
started walking down the path. I watched him for a bit.

“Hey! William!”

He turned back to look at
me.

“Have an extra greasy burger for
me!”

He laughed. “And as soon as I’m
done that, I’ll take the longest, hottest shower ever!”

I chuckled, waved and turned in
the direction that would lead me back to Quelondain. When I reached
the boulders I scanned the woods for Jasper and found him sitting
with his back against a tree, his head bent in concentration as he
carved a piece of wood with his pocket knife. I leaned against the
boulder and watched him work, his dark curls falling in his eyes,
the tip of his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth.

“Are you just going to stand
there all day, Shlova?” He kept his attention on the piece of
wood.

“I could. I never get bored
watching you.”

He smiled. “Well, that’s good. I
was starting to think maybe you were. Getting bored, that is.” His
eyes never left his knife.

I started toward him and
laughed. “Did you, now?”

He finally looked up at me, his
sky blue eyes full of amusement. “What else would I think? Only a
bored woman would skip worlds to steal kisses from a stranger.”

“For starters, William is hardly
a stranger. And besides, how in the world would I ever get bored
with you?” I knelt between his legs and we grinned at each other.
“Do you remember how I felt when he kissed me?”

“A man doesn’t forget how his
wife feels while she is kissing another, Shlova.”

“Most men can’t tell how their
wives feel, Hun.”

“True enough. But yes, I do.
Why?”

“I thought we could do a
comparison.” I brought my mouth down to his. His lips parted and
our tongues touched lightly. His arms wrapped around my waist,
pulling me to his chest. I ran my fingers through his hair. My head
started to spin and I had to remind myself to breathe. The only
things that mattered were the feel of him, the taste of him. I
dropped my shield.

Jasper groaned and the sound
vibrated through both of us. I pulled back on my feelings,
straightened and hung my head back, trying to get my breathing
under control. Jasper pressed his face between my breasts and I
felt the heat of his breath through my tunic.

“By the moons, Shlova.”

I smiled and hugged him close.
“If that’s bored then I’d hate to see what you do to me when you’re
exciting.”

He chuckled and looked up at me,
his eyes smouldering. I ran my fingers along the stubble on his
jaw.

“What are you thinking?” I
traced my fingertip over the dark hair over his lip.

“I’m thinking that you really
need to start wearing dresses.”

I laughed. “Jasper, I ride a
horse all day. What in the world would I want to wear a dress
for?”

He stood, picked me up and
pushed me up against a tree. I wrapped my legs around him.

“Hmmm. I see.”

He kissed me hungrily and I
started to think that maybe wearing a dress wouldn’t be such a bad
idea. He pulled back and set me down, his eyes never leaving
mine.

“As much as I hate to do it,
we’d better be heading back. I don’t like not knowing who killed
Karryn.” If there was one thing that was stronger than Jasper’s
need for me, it was his need to keep me safe.

I kissed him softly. “Are you
sure?”

He groaned and cupped my face in
his hands. I pressed myself against him. Quite frankly, I was horny
as hell and not ready to go back to camp.

“Shlova, I am not going to get
caught unaware with my pants around my ankles.”

I burst out laughing at the
mental picture that popped into my head.

“Ok, fine. But when we get
home…”

He grinned and kissed me deeply.
“Don’t you worry about when we get home. I already have plans for
what I’m going to do to you.” He pushed me up against the tree and
ran his teeth along my jaw then tilted my face up and kissed me
softly. I smiled. He stepped away from me. “Your swords are
crooked.”

“That might be because someone
had me pinned to a tree.” I reached back and straightened them so I
would be able to reach them easily should the need arise.

Jasper reached for my hand and
we started back toward the lake. We were about halfway back when
the sound of hoof beats sounded toward us.

Jasper!
Hayden!
Dodge came galloping toward
us.
Emelly and Kearan are
missing!

“What?” I swung onto him.
“How?”

Jasper shifted and we started
back as fast as we could.

We don’t know. They went off
looking for firewood. Mark was with them. When he got back, they
weren’t with him.

“What was his explanation?”

Mark said everyone split up for
a bit. When he couldn’t find them he came back to camp assuming
they had already made their way there. He’s a mess.

“Where was everyone else?”

Damian was watching the camp.
Matthew and Steven went to hunt. They were told not to go far.

We thundered out of the woods
and onto the beach. Matthew was in leopard form, pacing back and
forth. He shifted as we came closer.

“I told her to stay put!” He ran
a hand through his hair. “I told her to stay!”

“I need something of hers.”

He looked at me blankly.

“Matthew! Focus! Give me
something that belongs to her.”

Damian was already going through
her pack. He pulled out a bracelet.

“You can track?” he asked as he
handed it to me. I nodded.

“You?”

“Somewhat. It’s not my strongest
spell. I can’t track if my starting point is too far away.”

I stood by the fire which was
the last place I had seen her stand almost two hours ago.

“Skamp kees.” I concentrated on
the bracelet and pushed my magic nudge out as far as I could in all
directions. A white glowing line appeared. It moved around the
campsite in zigzags and circles. I looked around until I found
where it left the site and ran in that direction. Everyone followed
me.

“It’s heading back the way we
came!”

“Are you sure it isn’t the trail
she made coming in?” Damian asked.

“No. That one is there too, but
paler.”

We ran until we were out of the
woods and in the field.

“What the…” I stopped short. I
looked around trying to catch my breath. “It’s gone.” I
concentrated on the bracelet again.

“Skamp kees.” I pushed the nudge
out again. Nothing. I looked around frantically.

“If she was… I mean, if
something had happened, would that explain this?” Matthew’s voice
shook.

“It would, but it doesn’t. Look
around Matthew. There was no struggle, there’s no blood. She’s
alive. Mark, I need that shirt of Kearan’s.”

I took it from him and repeated
the spell. A new white line appeared.

“Across the field and up the
hill.” I hopped onto Dodge and everyone shifted to keep up to him.
We flew up the hill, following the white trail until it stopped on
the edge of the cliff that ran along the river.

I got off of my horse and looked
around. Here, there had been a struggle. The grass was trampled and
I found blood on a rock. I stepped closer to the edge of the
cliff.

Careful, Hayden.

I lay on my stomach and looked
over. My throat tightened. There, lying at the bottom on the rocks,
was Kearan. I got back on Dodge just as everyone was reaching
us.

“She’s down there!”

Dodge jumped off the edge of the
cliff and flew down. I knelt beside her and ran a green wave over
her, though the blood under her head was enough of an indication as
to her status. I sat back on my heels, too stunned to move.

“Hayden?”

I looked up slowly at the sound
of Jasper’s voice and shook my head.

“Don’t move! We’re coming down!”
The group above me headed back down the perilous hill.

“Dodge, can you go to the field?
Fly, scout around. Maybe you can see a trail through the grass
where Emelly might have walked.”

He nodded and flew away. I sat
with my back against the cliff and waited for everyone to reach me.
I looked up. If no one broke a leg I had about ten or fifteen
minutes until they got to me.

“Think, Hayden. What would cause
Emelly to just disappear?”

I heard a noise and looked up.
Not seeing anything, I waited to hear it again. My head turned
slightly to the left as I focused on the sound. Across the river, I
saw some movement in the woods. I looked up again only to discover
that Jasper and the rest had gotten to the part of the trail that
didn’t follow the cliff side.

“Hayden!”

“Emelly!” I found a spot where
the river was narrow and was glad to find that there were large
rocks I could use to cross on. I jumped from one to the other and
landed awkwardly on the other side. After recovering, I ran into
the woods to where Emelly sat against a tree.

“Emelly! Are you alright? What
happened?”

I had time for my brain to
register that she was tied before the world went black.