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Chapter Twenty-Seven
I try, and fail, to keep the shock from showing on my face. Jude dances gleefully at that. He loves wrong footing me, always has.
“Then why…reach out to me now?” I try for some tact, thinking it might be best to keep him sweet while I come up with a better plan to get us out of here.
I blink and in the time it takes me to reopen my eyes, Jude has crossed the clearing and is standing right in front of me.
“Because you are mine!” he roars in my face. I reach up and wipe his spit away.
“I am not and never have been, yours,” I say calmly. “And I won’t ever be in the future either.”
“LIES!” he screams. Lightning strikes overhead and I jump, terrified that the two are connected and not coincidental.
“Jude—” I try to placate him.
“No!”
Flames erupt all around the clearing, closing us in. Even if I could remove the chain from my ankle, I wouldn’t be going anywhere. Fuck. Fear threatens to consume me, but I swallow it down. Okay, smart ideas, if you want to hit me anytime soon, that would be great. Really great. Anytime…
“Jasmine!”
Fuck you, Fate, not what I meant. My heart sinks as Linden, Oakley, Rowan, and Ash crash into the clearing opposite us. I guess the sleep spell wore off faster than expected.
The flames rear up even higher, creating a towering inferno of a wall to keep them back from me.
I really don’t want to see them. Okay, I do. I totally want those guys to be the last thing I see, but I don’t want them here. Not in the path of danger.
“They’re to blame! They’re the ones who are trying to steal you away from me!” Jude screams and then he begins to ramble incoherently.
I take advantage of his distracted state to stare across the clearing and through the flames. Jude’s rambling seems to have diverted his attention from the flames and he’s unable to maintain their height or ferocity.
My eyes lock on to Linden’s blazing gaze and I can’t look away. A myriad of emotions floods me, and I stare at him with regret. He throws me a fierce look and shakes his head. Telepathically, I try to tell him how I feel. I love that he drives me crazy, and I care about him more than I ever thought I would. Finally, when it’s too late, I believe him. I believe them all. The bond is real. And I deeply regret not sealing it with Rowan and Linden somehow.
“I’m sorry,” I mouth to him, and I can see the tension in his jaw. He looks so angry, and I don’t want my last moments to be with someone who hates me. My gaze seeks out Rowan’s. He’s there, behind Linden, but his gaze is locked on Jude. Ash is nowhere to be seen now, which causes me to frown. Oakley’s eyes are tightly closed and his face is screwed up in concentration while his lips move rapidly. I can’t hear what he’s saying though. It seems like a chant or a song of some kind.
Suddenly a blinding purple light explodes in front of us, and I can no longer see the guys on the other side of the clearing. Heat, stronger than anything I’ve ever felt before—which is saying something considering the ring of fire I’m standing in—blazes, and my retinas hurt. I shield my eyes with my hands, and I swear I see a murky shadow within the purple light. It’s shaped like a man, but not quite right somehow. Is that horns and a tail? Fuck this is getting weird, even for Silver Springs.
Oakley steps into the clearing and has a whispered conversation with the shadowy being. Simultaneously they both turn toward me and I see Oakley shaking his head vehemently. He points to Jasper and then to Jude, who appears to be frozen in fear, and then he shakes hands with the shadow. What the hell is going on? Without warning the world turns black and I crash to the ground.
I blink awake and it’s daylight. Bright. Sunny. Warm. All around I’m in a field of saplings. I’ve seen them before and, remembering my conversation with Jaye, I instinctively know that these are the shoots from the Linden tree she mentioned. They’ve grown considerably since my last vision.
I smile softly to myself, as I realize that my feelings toward my Linden have also grown considerably over a short space of time. No sooner does the thought leave my mind when a rumbling begins under foot.
I jump backwards as the saplings surrounding me start to shoot upwards, turning into mature trees before my eyes. I stare in shock at the beautiful trees: they’re about 40 feet tall, elegant, and have pendulous limbs and a domed foliage. The leaves are beautifully heart-shaped, a dark green but white-ish underneath. They’re also in bloom, with clusters of tiny yellow flowers. The scent is divine and the drone of lazy bees buzzing in the late summer sun fills the air. It’s perfect. It’s exactly what I’ve been missing.
“Linden,” I whisper on the wind and the vision starts to fade. I blink and I’m back in hell.
Only, it’s not quite so hellish anymore. The flames have gone. The purple blaze has gone. And...Jude has gone?
“What the hell happened?” I demand as soon as I’m back in the room...well, clearing. I’m lying on wet grass, and it’s a horrible feeling.
“Jasmine! You’re okay!” Linden immediately starts fussing over me. It’s unnerving, but kind of lovely. I reach up and stroke his brow.
“I’m fine,” I say softly. Lightning courses between us when we touch. The look he gives me is so full of...something...a lot like love...that my heart beats a little faster. “Where’s Jasper?”
“Jasper’s fine,” Ash tells me, placing the small pup into my arms as I sit up. “Here you go.”
He’s dirty, smells of smoke, but his tail is wagging and when he sees me he yips in excitement and licks the end of my nose. Relief courses through me. He’s okay. We’re okay...are we all okay though?
