Adult-FanFiction.org : Books

The Necklace	By : belladonnacullen Category: Twilight Series > Het > Alice/Jasper Views: 4635 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
JPOV
The buzzing of Aodhfionn’s wings lulled me into the closest I’d come to relaxation since Alice and I left the western coast of Ireland to make our way to Siobhan’s cottage near Kinvarra. I leaned back on my elbows and lifted my eyes to the heavens, wondering idly if it was the same late afternoon sky Alice would be seeing right now. Probably not. My stomach twisted into knots with the knowledge that I’d let her go, to fight a dragon nonetheless. I’d let her go back to the sidhe, a place I wasn’t sure I believed in, even. A place filled with faeries that smiled to your face, but plotted behind your back.

The noonday sun had drifted towards the horizon as Aod and I walked back to Sakhmet’s compound. Sakhmet hadn’t returned though, and the faerie and I lounged in the bright light of the desert, against the outer wall of the compound. I didn’t have to worry about sunburn, and I idly wondered about faerie skin. I was debating about whether or not to broach the subject, when Aod broke the silence first.

“Mary Alice was angry when she left,” Aodhfionn said, apropos of nothing.

I chuckled a bit. Alice was certainly a firecracker, I just wasn’t used to her laying into me. I smiled proudly at the power my mate managed to wield, all without even lifting her little fist.

“Do you think she hates you and I for staying behind?” the little man asked.

“She won’t hate me, faerie. Well, not for long, anyway. And you, well, she likes you more than I care to admit.”

Aodhfionn was still looking toward the horizon, but I saw the glimmer of a smile on his lips.

“Don’t let it go to your head or anything.”

“She’s remarkable,” he murmured.

“I don’t want to have to beat you faerie. Not after all this. You’d best keep your thoughts about Alice to yourself, and thank your lucky stars that my brother isn’t here to hear them.”

“He couldn’t. Not around me.” I heard the smug edge to his voice and tried not to let the knowledge that he could cancel out the powers of even the most powerful vampires among us rankle.

“Right.” It rankled anyway. I hated that the faeries always seemed to have the upper hand, and I looked forward to the time we’d be done with them. But it was as if time was molasses, and I was wading through it, with no end in sight, with a faerie firmly attached to my side. I kicked at the coppery sand, momentarily obscuring the sun with a brown cloud. I felt a fine film of it settle over my skin, adding a gritty layer to the crackling mud and dust that had been heaped on me since I’d come here.

“You’re sure Alice will be fine? I shouldn’t worry about the dragon?”

“How many times do I have to say it?”

“At least once more,” I smirked, trying to hide my irrepressible concern.

“She will make it out of the sidhe alive. I am sure of it.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. The sun was slipping lower in the sky. Its hot rays had warmed my skin to near the temperature of the sand. I wondered how long it might take for the sand to drift over me were I sat, so that I would become one with the landscape. I carried enough of it caked on my body that I believed I already had a head start.

“What now, Aod?”

“You sit and wait, warrior.”

“Well then, why was it so important for me to be here? I don’t feel like I’ve done much of anything except worry about Alice, and eat another goddamned hyena. I’ve already had enough of those creatures for a lifetime. They taste like fermenting death.”

“You are here as a testament.”

I waited for the faerie to continue, but he seemed to assume that those six words might explain everything. Figures. The one time I wanted him to keep going, he fell silent. “I’ve had enough of your riddles, Aod. Could you speak plainly for once?”

“Sorry, it’s faerie nature, you know. Humor me… let me answer with a question or two.”

I half-growled, half sighed in frustration and kicked again at the sand. But I had nothing at hand to pass the hours except Aodhfionn. What else could I do but play along? “Fine,” I grumbled.

“Thank you. I do my best not to anger, you know. But you know as well as I do that fighting your nature is difficult.” He looked up toward me like he was after my approval. The best I could manage was a shrug of the shoulders, but his face lit up anyway, like I’d called him brother or something.

“So tell me, Jasper, warrior, why do you live as you do? It cannot be easy.”

“That’s your question? Jesus, I thought you’d ask along the lines of my favorite color or my sign.”

“I’m serious. If you want to understand your purpose here, please answer completely and truthfully.”

I sighed again, conflicted about whether I should share my soul with the little vibrating thing at my side. But there was something compelling about Aodhfionn, beyond the pull he had on me. I felt driven to answer, and surprisingly, I felt vaguely good about it too.

“I wasn’t living before, Aod. I was only killing and avoiding my own demise. I was a force of death and destruction. Even after I left Maria and the battlefield behind, I was like a ghost among humankind, picking off the weak one by one. I was about certain that I had no heart, that I was capable of nothing good or holy.”

“But then you met her?”

There was no doubt who the ‘her’ in question might be. I smiled into the glowing red afternoon sun. “Yes. And she already believed in me, and she was proof that there was more of a human left in me than I’d ever considered.”

“What do you mean? Please explain.”

“She was vampire, like me. But she was so different. She cared about others. She had human relationships...” Internal anger flared, a small and silly outburst of emotion at my own words. “I don’t mean relationships…” I stammered, “she’d had friends is what I’m trying to say. She did things to make people’s lives better. And she went out of her way to help me, even though she’d never met me, and even though I certainly wasn’t deserving of any of it.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t believe I ever did anything really good after I was turned. Yet she still loved me. It was so unexpected, it nearly tore me in two, Aod.”

I heard the faerie sigh where he sat. But I was too lost in my thoughts to pay him much mind. I was thinking about Alice. That first sunrise we’d spent together in one another’s arms.

*****

It had been about eighteen hours since I’d met Alice, and my entire world had been turned on its head. This woman, this vampire, had become my universe, and I’d been consumed from the inside out by her love. For the first time in nearly one hundred years, I’d fed without remorse. And for the first time in just as long, I’d been with a woman and felt something more than physical desire.

Hell, I’d felt everything, more than I’d known I was capable of. Because Alice was everything. She’d quickly become my world.

And she was too good. Each time I’d tried to make a list of the ways she outshone me and put me to shame, Alice would run her little hand down past my belly and grab hold of me, and things would start all over again. Not that I minded.

But then golden rays of Philadelphia sunshine began lighting up the room around us. Its reflections bounced from my skin to hers and back, lighting the room in a shimmering cascade of color, and I saw plainly how the rest of my life might play out. Alice smiled at me, her eyes half-closed and lazy. Yes, I knew just from the look in her eyes that I could spend eternity with this creature, and I could be happy, fulfilled even. I’d found someone I wanted to spend every moment of forever with. And if the night before had been any indication, there was a good possibility that we might do it all in bed.

But I was raised to be a good Christian and I knew this wasn’t right.

Someone like me should never see heaven, whether on earth or somewhere in the clouds. There shouldn’t be an Alice at the end of my rainbow. I had killed again, and again and again, in an endless string of mortal sins meted out by a soulless creature. From the haze of my first frenzied kill, to the last human I’d taken nearly three weeks prior, there had been nothing redeeming about my vampire existence.

And for the first time since we’d met in the diner, I felt the deep, cutting edge of doubt slice through my soul. I would only drag Alice down. Her life was a masterpiece: living among humans, feeding from animals, clean, respectable, literate and productive. I didn’t have a morsel of understanding about how I might live like that.

With that realization came thoughts of protecting Alice - protecting her from myself. I could only ruin this life she’d forged, taint it with my own impurity. I believed I needed to leave; yet I didn’t believe it was physically possible, not after our night together. We were bound now, and I might try to go, but I would only come back again and again. Alice was part of my existence; she would be forever. That thought filled me with gratitude at the same time that I was horrified about what this might mean for my new mate: to be chained to one such as me.

At that moment, I felt frantic determination tinge the air. But before I could react, Alice pulled her little body on top of mine, pressing herself against my uneven flesh, tracing the patterns of the scars with her fingertip. I held myself still, held my breath, held my tongue. If there was ever evidence that I was no match for this civilized beauty, it was the trail of terror my lifestyle had left on my bare flesh.

“Alice --”

But then Alice’s little tongue replaced her fingertip, and I nearly lost my train of thought, lost in the warmth and wetness of her mouth, as it traced a jagged trail over my chest, lower, across my abdomen, lower.

“You beautiful man,” she murmured as she tentatively wrapped her lips around me.

“Alice, you don’t have to…” I willed myself to speak the words, but Alice shushed me even as she moved her lips over my swollen head, and back to the base of my manhood. Speech became impossible. I fought to remember what I’d been thinking – it had been important; but gave up quickly, lost in delight. Alice giggled nervously, hummed a little, and kept racing the bite marks on my skin with her hand, while her mouth took me over and over again.

At first she was all tentative and shy, but soon I could feel her desire shimmering around us: the urgency and the rough need I understood all too well. And without thinking, I placed my hands under Alice’s arms, and tugged her upwards. My erection popped out of her mouth with a smack and a wet slap to my gut. The friction of her body over mine as I pulled her up was almost enough to render me useless.

“Oh Jasper, I wasn’t --”

“You certainly are, for now,” I growled as I flipped Alice underneath me and pinned her to the bed, hungrily thrusting my tongue into her mouth. I nearly came right there, tasting myself on her, inside of her mouth like that. God, to have her as mine… And with one resounding thrust I was home. I groaned, Alice screamed my name. After just one night, it was as if my body and hers were made for one another. I couldn’t believe she could look so petite, yet… I was surprised we fit together as well as we did. I’ll leave it at that.

Alice’s hands flitted over me like a whisper, like a suggestion, like something otherworldly. They were everywhere while I pushed her knees up to her chest so that I might move deeper inside of her. Alice bucked her hips, her hands still moving, hissing a string of polite swear words, mixed with my name and insistent pleas. Her hands ran over my back, still tracing patterns, and on a whim, I went to take her little hands and pin them over her head.

But she pulled them away before I’d even reached her wrists.

“No,” she breathed.

“What?” At this point it was still so easy to forget how she always knew what was coming.

“I’m looking for the spot,” she managed to say between pants and soft whimpers.

“What spot, baby?”

“My spot Jasper. You are finally mine. And I know there’s a place for me on your skin. Just for me.”

Oh Lord, she meant a place where she could mark me. She wanted to claim me as I had her.

“Haven’t you seen it already, darling?”

Alice’s eyes fluttered and she looked sideways. I had the funny feeling she might have blushed just now if she were human. “Well, times like… this. I tried not to always look. I wanted it all to be in the present, I guess. I wanted some surprise.”

And in one swift move, I’d swept Alice up in my arms and spun us both around, so that I was seated and she was straddling my lap, her delicious perky tits level with my face. Alice took a quick breath of air, pushed herself onto her knees and arched her back, before settling back onto me.

“Didn’t see that coming, huh?” I smirked.

“No,” she smiled.

“I like that… surprising you.”

Alice grabbed my hair in her little hands, knotting it through her fingers, tugging, burying her face in it. Her warm breath tickled the back of my neck, and I placed my hands on her hips, and ground myself into her.

“Jasper!” she moaned.

“Do you really want me, Alice?”

“How can you ask that?”

“Look at me, baby. I’m no catch, Alice. Look at me.”

“God, Jasper. It’s too much,” she gasped, her eyes still pressed against my head, as I moved her hips in time to my thrusts.

“Alice, I need you to look.” I decided that it wasn’t fair to push her like this, and I stilled myself, and gently rubbed her little hips with my palms. Her enormous golden eyes peeked out from between her long black lashes and I shuddered and jerked and had to work to stay still, to do this right.

I held her chin with my hand to make sure she couldn’t look away. “I don’t deserve you, Alice. I’ve never done anything like you have: anything good, anything commendable. I need you to know this, before you… before we go any further.”

Alice took my face in her tiny little hands; so soft, so sure. She gazed down at me, her eyes now wide and full of something… faith, love… devotion. It surrounded us like a veil and seeped under my skin.

“Don’t you understand, Jasper? Everything in my life, everything that you say is good, I did it for you. Without you, I would have been a monster. You were my motivation. So don’t ever put yourself down like that again, not in my presence, anyway. Now please, show me my spot. I believe you know where it is.”

I crushed my lips against hers, lost in the idea that maybe I’d done something good after all. Somehow I’d helped Alice save me from myself.

I took her hand from my cheek, and moved it downward over my neck, my shoulder, until it rested right over my heart. I’d never understood how, after so many years, so many battles, this piece of my skin just below my left pectoral was as smooth and pristine as the day I was changed.

“Right here, Alice. This is yours.” I felt Alice’s hand jump when it reached the patch of smooth skin.

I lay back, and pulled Alice down with me, so our kiss was unbroken and the small knots of her hard nipples brushed up against me. Her hand never left my chest.

“Your heart?” she whispered breathlessly into my mouth.

“I didn’t know I even had one until yesterday. But, I guess it’s always been yours.”

I felt Alice’s warm fingers move feverishly over my skin, I could feel her itch to claim me crackle like electricity in the air. I bucked my hips, and Alice moved with me, before pulling herself up to sitting. I glanced over my body, until I could see Alice’s soft folds pressed against me, then I let my eyes drift upwards, taking all of Alice in, until I saw the sweet smile on her face and her eyes burning with want and need.

Alice held me still with that look, and moved her small body upwards until I was nearly unsheathed, before bearing down again. Our bodies cracked like stone on stone, sending bursts of voltage through me, short-circuiting something in my mind. Because my mind, always so methodical and ordered, had seemed to come loose from the rest of my body. I could hardly see Alice and myself through the haze of need and devotion that hung in the air. And I felt, I felt like I never had before. I was an empty vessel and a heart, overflowing with wave on wave of emotion. Alice was over me, around me: her smell, the feel of her… She pushed and pulled on top of me until I was undone.

I shuddered, overflowing, as Alice slammed her body into mine. In a flash of delicious pain, I felt the sting of teeth through skin, numbing and beautiful and earth shattering. Alice’s black hair tickled my chest, her sex, so warm and wet, pulsed around me, and her soft lips were like a subtle relief to the sharp edge of her teeth that clung to the skin of my chest, as she released over and around me, moving on the waves of our desire.

And with the thousands of bites I’d endured over the years, that one was the only one that mattered.

And ever since that morning, Alice would put her hand over my chest and it would still me. It brought to mind the unlikely luck I’d had in finding her, if you could call it luck. Afterwards, I had a mind to call it fate (under my breath and never in the presence of another male, of course). That small spot over my dead heart forever reminded me that I was good enough for Alice’s love; that she accepted and claimed me with wide eyes and an open heart.

*****

“Don’t you see, warrior?”

“What?” I was momentarily disoriented, blinking into the setting sun. Right… the desert, the goddamned faerie. Alice wasn’t here. Lord, was Alice all right?

“Tell me she’s fine, faerie. Please?”

“Sakhmet?”

“What?” It seemed I hardly understood anything Aodhfionn had to say anymore.

“Where were you warrior?

I just shook my head and stared at the setting sun. I’d shared enough with Aodhfionn for a lifetime. I generally only let Alice see this part of me. I wasn’t about to expand my tight circle to include a faerie with a crush on my mate. No matter what he might do to save her life.

“Don’t you understand?” the faerie asked. I didn’t respond, even though I hadn’t the faintest idea what he was speaking about. “Your story… what you just explained to me about you and Alice. Line for line, it could apply to Sakhmet as well. Alice gave you hope, belief in yourself. Your presence gives the same to Sakhmet.”

“I told you faerie, you could keep me here forever, but there will never be anything between me and her,” I growled, jumping to my feet.

“I know.” The faerie rolled his eyes. “You are not here for that, warrior. How many times must I say it?”

“Why is it different this time? I took her crap for a month and I never gave in. Isn’t that testament enough?”

“Perhaps it’s something Alice said, maybe it’s because we destroyed what Sakhmet has built here. Who can say? It is difficult for one as ancient as she is to change. She could never do it without you. And trust me, your family will need her in the end.”

I sighed, nonplussed. Everything he said was all so amorphous, and I felt ashamed all over again for staying behind. Like I’d been tricked into something.

“Jasper, our time here is coming quickly to a close.”

“What?”

“But there’s still so much to discuss. And we must speak before Sakhmet returns.”

“I get to leave soon? To see Alice?”

“Jasper, please, focus.”

“Thank the fucking lord, Aod! Alice, when will she be back? Or do we go to her? When?” I’d taken the faerie by his shoulders and I’d begun shaking him. I think I grabbed him a bit too hard, and then that sickening pull crept up on me and I dropped my arms, embarrassed, fighting my desire to touch the faerie again.

“Listen closely, Jasper. The timing is very important. At some point after Sakhmet returns, she and I will go off, alone.” Aodhfionn shuddered and his shiny wings drooped toward the ground.

“Faerie?”

“Do not interrupt!” He shook and jumped a little and I watched as he attempted to regain his composure. I was thrown. I’d certainly seen him angry, but Aod was always so calculated. Now it appeared as if he were hanging on by a thread. Truthfully, it frightened me.

“I’m listening. Get on with it,” I tried to say in a low and soothing voice. The faerie saw through me easily enough though, and rolled his eyes before continuing.

“You’ll know I’m gone when your abilities return. That’s when you’ll have to act.”

“Act?”

“Get to Um al Sammim, immediately. Alice will meet you there.”

“If you can’t see Alice in the future, how do you know that?”

“I know her, and I know that she’ll turn to you when everyone else fails her.”

“Fails her?” I felt my anger and frustration mounting. “I don’t understand. I thought this would work, Aod!”

“I will make it work.”

“Fuck! If you do anything to screw with Alice, or with our family…”

“You have no choice, warrior. If Alice goes to Volterra, we both know what could happen. Would you chance losing her?”

“Never.”

“Then trust me. When I am gone, go to Alice and keep her away from Volterra. Distract her. I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

“How will we know that you were successful?”

“Without the fae around, Alice will have her vision back. And I’ll make sure that Aro will send word to your family.”

“He’ll send something here? To the desert?”

“Go home, warrior. Your proof will be waiting for you.”

“We’re supposed to leave without some solid proof? We’ve come all this way, spent all this time…”

“And what if I fail? Would there be anything left for you to do except to go home and prepare your family for the Volturi? Have faith in Alice’s sight. She saw that this would work.”

“But she saw herself going to Aro.”

“Sometimes the future changes. Alice could never have seen me, since I’m one of the fae. And this plan… is… out of character for me. It is not something that could have been foretold. But I believe it was pre-destined. Have faith, Jasper.”

Faith. I felt like I should laugh out loud. I’d had faith in Alice, faith in a faerie. Faith had brought me to the desert twice to endure the company of a menace. No one should lecture me on faith. I was about to tell Aod as much, when I noticed the uncertain desperation in his white eyes. He blinked and looked at his feet, but I saw it, and I knew his little talk about faith was for his own benefit as much as it was for mine.

And oddly, I was suddenly nervous for the little fellow.

“But how will we know that you’re safe, Aod?”

*****

DPOV
There was nothing left for me to do. You cannot save a person, or a faerie, or a vampire, or one of the baobhan sidhe if they do not want to be saved. I would not be foolish like Riodh. Getting oneself killed does not help your charge in the long run. And it would not help any other female I would be charged with in the future. I could see those women plainly. A dead faerie would not help their cause. Riodh’s good intentions were short sighted and maddening.

But I expected it of him. He was always impetuous. And he always loved too much. He loved Augustin, which led to Mary Alice’s downfall in the first place. Perhaps it was fitting that his love of Mary Alice led to his demise. Perhaps. It’s unkind to judge such things.

On the other hand, I was quite surprised about Aodhfionn.

I was getting ahead of myself, though. I was quite certain that Aodhfionn was still alive, somewhere. But a decision had been made, quite recently. He wouldn’t live for long.

And it was a pity. He was one of the strong ones. He never backed down. He threw himself into his work, relentlessly. He executed his role with precision, and, in the end, he always saved the girl.

Almost always, I should say. Losing Mary Alice’s soul weighed heavy on the faerie. He hadn’t been the same since. Aodhfionn had been quite elated when Mary Alice showed up on our doorstep, so to speak, asking for help. He finally had the chance to redeem himself. I assume the situation pushed him too far, and he decided to put his work before his own safety.

It was imprudent of both Riodh and Aodhfionn, to say the least. If they were alive, Aine would have punished them for such antics. I suppose it was well that they would not face her wrath.

I would not make the same mistake. Which is why I sat on the cliff after Alice finally left to join the vampire dragon slayers. My presence would anger the dragon and I didn’t want to get Alice killed. And I didn’t want my own life to end, either.

I did want Cirein Croin dead, however. I’d seen his death in the future, so I was quite sure our plan would work. And I believed that Alice would live out her existence in safety, afterwards. This premise rested on one assumption: that killing Cirein Croin without the use of teeth would be impossible. But I was wrong.

Death by venom was quick and clean. But what those three vampires did to that dragon was horrifying. I watched in disbelief as unending rivers of blood poured into the ocean. The wounds to his groin were large, too large for the blood to clot. But even so, the creature’s death was slow. He shuddered and bellowed, his trembling body causing the ground to shake underneath me, and waves of ocean water sprayed over the side of the cliff. Cirein Croin’s collapse was slow and agonizing to watch, as he tore at his skin with his claws and tried to stop the blood flow with his mouth.

When he finally fell, the wave his body created washed over the cliff, and pulled me over the edge so swiftly, that I was flung onto the dead beast’s back, into one of his gory wounds.

It was disgusting. It was quiet. The silence that followed the dragon’s death was stifling. I listened for Alice’s spritely voice or the cries of the vampires we had brought to the sidhe. I didn’t expect to hear Riodh, but I listened for him anyway. But there was nothing, except a large dead dragon and the sound of the waves as they slapped against his scaly skin.

I searched the area, but there was no one. Alice fell into the water moments before the dragon, and I could only assume that he’d fallen on top of her.

I had failed.

It had taken sixty years, but it appeared that Alice was finally, completely dead. This was surprising, for although my sight didn’t allow me to see Alice in the future, I could see her warrior consort. He always looked so pleased, so I had simply assumed that Alice would live. (Of course, he wouldn’t be happy during The Battle. Or for the time leading up to it, for that matter. But otherwise, the warrior looked content, verging on joyous.) From what I knew of vampires, pleasure was impossible after losing one’s mate. It was enough to make me wonder about the warrior.

But I didn’t have the time for idle contemplation.

I desired to do right by Mary Alice. She fulfilled her part of the bargain. Even if she lost her life, her family should live to see another day. I would go to the Saelie Court and face my punishment. It would not be pleasant. But I would lobby for Mary Alice. I would get the crown jewels to her warrior. He could bring them to Aro and keep his family safe. Mary Alice would want that.

I used the sharp edge of my wing to cut a dark gray scale from Cirein Croin’s back as evidence of his demise. To explain: a dragon’s scales go dark after their death. So the turquoise and purple glint to Cirein Croin’s armor was now a smoky gray. Aine would know immediately. I hoped that it was enough.

I hurried along to the court, but couldn’t help taking pause to wash the gore off of myself when I saw a large buttercup filled with golden dew. After all, there was no reason not to sparkle when I came face to face with Aine. Aine’s men were guarding the court as always, and they grinned and chuckled as they let me past. I didn’t like their attitude, and showed them as much with a dark stare. It’s easy to be smug when you haven’t recently faced death in the form of a large dragon.

I knew something was amiss, however. There were too many guards, even for someone as cautious as Aine. The air was charged with fear, and tinged with sadness. I rushed forward toward the clearing, only to be corralled by Aine’s horsemen.

“Let me through this instant! I have a message for Aine. It is important!”

“Aye. And Aine has a message for you as well, DinSheenK’ha,” a tough old horseman named Phinnaeus growled. “If she weren’t down two men, she would be done with ya’. You’ll come to court with us, DinSheenK’ha, to hear what Aine has t’ say. Then you will face yer punishment.”

I openly sneered at the horseman. He was no DinSheenK’ha, and he knew it. His skill involved riding on an animal, and I was not impressed. He was not mentally equipped to go out into the human realm and save a girl from her abusive consort. That took a bit more work than straddling a horse’s back. I had been charged with assisting one of the baobhan sidhe to bribe a vampire, slay a dragon and save her family. There was a complexity in that situation that may well have been lost on this faerie. I pitied him.

But pity alone could not deflect the links of iron that flew through the air and tightly circled my wrists and ankles. The dull metal seared into my faerie flesh, but aside from a tightening of my lips, I didn’t let on about the pain I was in. I was tugged along on an iron leash toward Aine, and I went to pains to look dignified, despite my shuffling gait and painful bondage.

“Ya’ best wipe that self-satisfied smirk off yer’ face, faerie. Aine is not pleased.”

“I always do my best,” I replied.

“Well, ‘t seems this time it weren’t enough. I’d look to the ground if I were ya’,” Phinnaeus advised.

I bared my teeth at the horseman, and made sure my wingtips glinted in the light of the sidhe. But I took his warning to heart, and trained my eyes on the grass as I shuffled as gracefully as possible into court.

“Well, well, look who has returned to us,” I heard Aine croon. “I was beginning to wonder where on earth, or in faerie, my DinSheenK’ha had gone off to. It was about time that one of you straggled in, seeing as how your charge found her way here before you.”

My head snapped up, and my eyes locked with Aine’s blazing green orbs. “What?”

“After all of these centuries, Donnchadh, I believed you could keep better track of a woman in need. It seems I was mistaken, though.” Aine turned to address her horsemen. “You may all step back. He will go nowhere while shackled in iron.”

Phinnaeus snarled in my general direction, but under Aine’s orders, the horsemen disbanded, leaving me alone in the center of the clearing. Only then did I see them: two vampires and one of the baobhan sidhe.

“Mary Alice!”

I momentarily forgot the shackles and attempted to run to her side. I’d been so sure she was lost. But the iron kept my limbs from moving, and my legs crumbled beneath me. The weight of my body pressed the iron into my skin, and I cringed and writhed on the ground.

“Lift him up!” Aine commanded.

A large hand knotted itself in my hair, and I was wrenched off the ground. I struggled to keep myself upright. I quickly located Mary Alice again. Her clothing was torn, and there was a deep gash along the length of one of her calves. It didn’t escape my purview that she did not put any of her weight on that leg. The pain must have been agonizing.

“How?” I barely breathed.

“Someone had to save me and my friends. That’s really all that I know,” Mary Alice replied coolly, her face hard and set like stone. Her eyes were dark, nearly black, and gone was all trace of the bubbly girl she had been when we first encountered her in the sidhe.

“It appears she’s a quick study when it comes to the powers of the fae. She brought herself here, along with the two fighters. If not for Mary Alice, I believe we may have lost three faeries and two vampires this afternoon.

“What do you have to say for yourself, Donnchadh?” Aine asked, as she walked very deliberately to my side. I tried not to tremble as I struggled to find my voice.

But I didn’t have a chance to speak. The two dragon fighters were in front of me faster than I could blink, growling and baring their shining teeth. In another heartbeat, Mary Alice had joined them, and was attempting to pull them away from Aine, whose glowing eyes now lit the clearing emerald green.

“As much as I loathe him, I don’t want anything to happen to you guys,” Mary Alice said, tugging the two fighters away. “You’ve done so much for me, for Jasper and the rest of my family. Don’t ruin it for yourselves now. I have a feeling he has something less than pleasurable in his immediate future. You will punish him, won’t you, Aine?”

Aine giggled, and the sound ran down my spine like needles. “You do make a wonderful addition to the fae, Mary Alice.”

“I only attempted to help Mary Alice at every turn,” I began explaining, to anyone who would listen. “If I were killed, it would do Mary Alice no good. I pulled her away whenever her life was in danger.”

“I have no quarrel with your actions during the fray,” Aine announced. The three vampires spun around and directed their glaring amber eyes at my queen.

“What?” Mary Alice asked.

“He let you get away, Mary Alice, in every sense of the word. You will leave us now. There is nothing to bind you here.” Aine turned her cold green eyes on me. “You failed, Donnchadh. And you are the only one left to punish.”

“Are you serious? That is why he’s being punished?”

“Isn’t that reason enough?”

I watched Mary Alice narrow her eyes and clench her fists. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked, and more, Aine. My mate is alone in the desert. My family’s safety is on the line. I don’t care what happens to Donnchadh. Give me the crown jewels so I can take them to Italy.”

“You realize that you will put your life in jeopardy if you make that trip, don’t you, Mary Alice?” Aine asked, putting out her arm to touch Mary Alice’s face. But Mary Alice turned away, sneering.

“You don’t care about my life.”

“It is my DinSheenK’ha’s responsibility to protect you. Keeping you here would ensure that you were beyond the reach of the Volturi.”

“Give me the jewels, your grace.”

Aine’s eyes locked with mine. We both mouthed the words in unison. “You cannot save someone that does not want to be saved.”

Then, Aine turned and looked over my head, toward the rear of the clearing. “Bring me the crown jewels.”

*****

JPOV
Sakhmet returned later that evening, eyes redder than ever. I hardly paid her any mind as she’d saunter past me, for one reason or another, because I was distracted. Because the faerie had said Alice would be back soon. The thought consumed me completely. I’d accepted Aodhfionn’s logic easily enough. If, after everything Alice and I had sacrificed, we hadn’t changed the future, then we would deal with it. But I wouldn’t gamble with our lives any longer. I wouldn’t let Alice go to Volterra. We were going home.

Suddenly, I felt the heat from Sakhmet’s skin burning against my arm like acid. I hadn’t been paying attention as she’d settled herself down next to me, leaning her back against the wall. I pulled away from her and spat in the sand. “You never give up, do you?”

“For someone that is supposed to change my future with the strength of his compassion, you certainly know how to hurt a woman’s feelings.”

“Could you please leave me alone? The faerie tells me this is almost over. I don’t have much patience left.”

“Yes. It will be over; you will leave. But I will see you again. Doesn’t that excite you?”

“Excite might not be the right word.”

“I will help you in the future,” Sakhmet chuckled maliciously under her breath. Whatever was supposed to magically happen with her had obviously not taken place yet. She was as acerbic as ever, if you asked me.

“Imagine… you might actually do something good, for a change.”

“I let the fighters go with your mate, did I not? You do not think that was good of me?”

“And you let me stay here, with you, in exchange. You’ll excuse me if I don’t bend over backwards thanking you.”

I could feel Sakhmet edging closer. I turned toward her, growling, pulling myself to my full height so that I towered over her. She smiled in a mildly seductive manner and smoothed her garment coquettishly.

“Would you tell me about your family?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.

“Certainly not.”

“Please, Jasper? I find all of this intriguing, and I should like to know with whom I will align myself in the future.”

“Jesus, really? Is that what Alice told you?” I was appalled.

“Among other things… she said I would want to help you, and that someone else would motivate me to do so. That I would change.” Sakhmet smirked and wrinkled her nose. “I wonder why she went to such pains to say that someone else would be the motivating factor. I believe you could motivate me, if you wanted to.”

“I’d prefer never to see you again, let alone motivate you.”

“But when I asked whom that person was, do you know what? She could not tell me, Jasper. She is not a quick thinker, your Alice. She should have thought of a better answer, don’t you think?”

“If Alice said she didn’t know, then she didn’t know. It’s got nothing to do with me.”

“She did paint a lovely picture. She said I would go out of my way to help this man, that I would want to help you and your coven, and that I would be changed. I would be a better version of myself. She said I would always hunger after power, though. I appreciated that detail. I did. It gave almost everything she said the ring of truth.”

“I wouldn’t doubt my mate, Sakhmet.”

“Your mate. I used to doubt that.”

“And now?”

“And I didn’t believe you had changed, Jasper. I didn’t believe that you could. Fighters do not have mates. What could she really mean to you?”

A roar erupted from my mouth and I leapt at Sakhmet. She didn’t run, she didn’t fight back, and I picked her up by her shoulders and threw her against the wall. A fine network of cracks snaked across the wall, and a cloud of dust momentarily hid her from me. All except her ruby red, glowing eyes.

“She means everything to you. I can see that now. That is what I was going to say. You did not give me the chance.”

I was at a loss for words, and found myself on the verge of an apology. My growl subsided to a low, warning rumble. I let my shoulders drop and I stuffed my hands into my pockets.

“Perhaps you should come inside and clean yourself,” Sakhmet suggested. “You said your mate was returning soon. Come take a bath in my quarters. Sparkle for her.”

My body immediately reacted to the possibility of a bath. I hadn’t bathed since before we left for Ireland. I was covered in dried mud, hyena’s fur and layer upon layer of desert dust. I could feel the dried muck crackling as I clenched my fists and flexed the muscles of my forearms. But I got a hold of myself in less than a second. “Not a chance,” I chuckled.

“I didn’t guess it would be that easy,” Sakhmet murmured, a smooth smile on her lips.

“After all you’ve put me through...”

“With that faerie around, it is sadly all I have to work with.”

“I suppose we’ll both be happy to see him go, then.”

“No, I don’t believe I’ll be happy at all. With everything your mate said to me… the idea that I might someday be happy… it was the most unlikely, and the most enticing idea that she proposed.”

“I never made you happy, then?”

“I always wanted you to.”

Sakhmet’s words were sweet relief. She didn’t feel that way about me then. Perhaps I wouldn’t have to worry that she would track me for eternity. Alice could breathe easy. I couldn’t control the smile that took over my face.

“But I certainly enjoy your smile, Jasper Whitlock. I did not have the chance to see it very often these last few visits you have paid me.”

“Right now, that was the first thing you ever said that made me smile.”

“You see, I am learning.”

*****

SPOV
I could sense that little white faerie from five kilometers away. I felt each step he took to come closer, and my heart lurched when he drifted away. I could sense him like I had never sensed another creature before, living or dead. His scent was sweeter than honey, and spicy like black pepper and cardamom. But it was more than a smell that drew me to him.

I had heard tales of faeries, but in all my years I’d never seen one. So, I did not completely believe that there were winged celestial creatures that roamed the earth. I was wrong. I don’t suppose most modern humans believed in the goddess of war, either. Preternatural creatures always possessed the power of surprise. I have learned my lesson, I suppose.

And now there was a faerie flitting about the ruins of my compound. And I was not angry. It had been a strange week.

I had finally met Jasper’s mate, Alice. The small, boyish vampire promised me a future of freedom and happiness, and assured me that I was welcome to stand with Jasper’s family. She told me personal faerie tales, and then she took my guards. I would have let her take anything, as long as she left me alone with Jasper and the faerie.

And the faerie was more tempting than I had ever imagined. He destroyed me, and the life I had made for myself in exile. He rendered me a shadow of my former self. But I wanted him nonetheless. Overall, I was quite pleased. I had Jasper, my ideal man. And the faerie… something else entirely.

So right now, even after Jasper threw me into a wall, I was giddy. I didn’t pounce on Jasper and he didn’t have to fight me off of him. Instead, I smiled because I could sense the faerie coming nearer. I had no idea what I was saying to Jasper Whitlock. Something inane, something that made him smile.

“Are you ready?”

The faerie’s voice was as light as the wind running through the willows. I giggled, and the lightness in my stomach recalled another time, many centuries ago, when I was a different creature.

“Ready for what?” came Jasper’s reply.

But the faerie ignored him, focusing his glowing white eyes on me. I swooned, honored. Something became stuck in my throat and I couldn’t reply. The faerie placed his small hand on my bare shoulder and it was softer than the finest Egyptian cotton, but heavy like steel. His scent was cloying, overpowering, but I would prefer to drown in it than live another minute.

And then the venom came. Although I’d unceremoniously dispatched two oil workers less than three hours earlier, it pooled in my mouth and I had to press my lips together so that it didn’t spill over my chin.

“Not yet,” the little faerie breathed, his warm candy breath washing over my skin.

I swallowed. “Fine,” I mumbled.

Aodhfionn turned and smiled at Jasper, putting out his hand to shake. I immediately felt the loss of the faerie’s attention. “It was an honor to meet you, Jasper. Mary Alice is in good hands. I would never leave here if I did not believe that, with all of my heart.”

“Is this it, Aod?” Jasper asked, seeming strangely torn: reluctant, sad, even a bit relieved.

“Soon warrior. You will feel it in the air. Good-bye.”

The faerie turned back to me, and I was immediately lost in his eyes. The world was bathed in white light, framed in a golden glow. “Now is the time when you are supposed to come with me.” Aodhfionn held out his hand, and I took it greedily and held on like I was holding onto life itself, stumbling through the darkness at the edge of Aodhfionn’s light. I did not know how far we walked or where he took me. Consumed by the light in his eyes, I could not care.

And suddenly, the faerie was so close to me, breathing deeply, with light coming off of his silken skin, illuminating the dark desert night. There was only one thing I knew to do in a situation such as this. Something I had done nightly, for centuries. And I trembled in anticipation that I might get to do that with this faerie. However, thousands of years couldn’t have prepared me for the feeling that was making it’s way under my skin. It was cool, soothing, and unmistakably… holy.

“What do I feel?” I managed to ask.

“Peace.”

“Oh,” I gasped, trying to hold myself together and keep coherent. “You come to women and bring them peace?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“Like a heavenly stud service?”

“No.” Aodhfionn’s reply had a hard edge to it, and the light around him shimmered and dimmed.

I needed desperately to have it back. “I don’t mean to offend. I don’t know what this is.”

“I have never helped a woman… like this before.”

“No?”

“I’m descended from above. We wait for something special.”

“But I am not the special one, am I?”

“I was always meant to be here for this.”

I would have been disappointed in the way he avoided answering my question if I weren’t suddenly drenched in the unearthly pale light from Aodhfionn’s skin. His arms were quickly wound around me, cradling me, taking care of me. He rubbed his thumbs along my cheeks, placed a chaste kiss on my forehead. The kiss seared like flames so that I gasped and writhed against him. And as my body knocked against his white silken flesh, flames erupted wherever we touched. The desert around me glowed brighter as the fire burned. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I should run… or fight.

“Are you burning me?”

“No… it is the divine in me that causes you pain, that will eventually help you.”

“You’re here to help me?”

Quite suddenly, his arms were drawn away. “Stop asking me why I am here.”

I went vampire still; I stopped breathing. I didn’t want to anger the faerie. I wanted his arms around me, his lips on me. I would gladly be consumed in those flames. Anything to have his touch return.

“Do you understand?”

I nodded my head, and he was back: his arms, his lips, his silken smooth skin pressing against mine. And then fire, hard and steely, was thrust inside of me and I screamed out in the desert night.

“Now open your eyes.”

I had no choice but to obey. I blinked once, then again, then over and over. But I didn’t understand what I saw. I gasped, shuddering, turning my head from side to side, trying to take it all in.

“What do you see?” he asked breathlessly, his mouth pressed against my ear. His arms were still cradling me, his legs pinned on either side of my hips.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It is the world. Your world.”

“When did it start looking like this?”

“Like what, Sakhmet?” It was the first time I heard him speak my name. Murmured like that, I thought I might melt.

“Beautiful. It is beautiful.” I would have cried if I could.

“It always has been. Now you know.”

And then he moved his hand over my eyes, and warmth and golden light flooded my field of vision. I caught the barest glimpse of something… I saw myself smiling, laughing. And my eyes reflected something I couldn’t quite make out.

“Did you see?”

“Yes. What was that?”

“It was you. It is your future. It is changing.

“Why?”

“Because there is goodness inside of you. If there was no good, this would kill you. You could never see the world as I see it. But you lie here with me and you can see the light and the beauty. So, you can change.”

“This isn’t really how the world looks?”

“The world is what you make of it. Look at me.”

Aodhfionn’s glowing lines were soft, blurring, his touch was like a whisper, his weight was as heavy as if I were pinned underneath the earth, and his arms held me with reassurance, and nurturing tenderness.

“Now look into my eyes,” he mumbled. And I was swallowed up in the light, and ceased to see anything. I only felt the way he moved over me, the warmth bathing me until I was sparkling, the fire burning within and without, building until it threatened to consume.

“Hold on to me.” I did as I was told and wrapped my arms and legs around him as tightly as I could, despite the searing pain. “I feel the good within you. You won’t die here. You will live to do good. Do not be frightened.”

And then the world burst around me, and something exploded within me. Intense pleasure and pain wracked my body, and although I knew it was impossible, I thought I might pass out or pass from the world. But I fought it and held on. I needed to keep this feeling, I could never let it go: this heaven and hell. I needed to take it with me, to make it…

“Mine,” I snarled opening my mouth wide, my hands fumbling, feeling for the faerie’s neck and biting down for all I was worth…

On the cold, dark air. The night went dark. The faerie was gone.

*****

APOV
I waited, trying not to tremble, never taking my eyes off of Aine. I was getting what I came for. No more tricks, no more traps. I was taking the jewels and leaving. I wouldn’t look back. I had a family. These things were nothing to me. I would be happy to get on with living, and to forget all about this.

Two portly faeries came into view, towing an enormous clapboard box between them. Dust clouds filled the air and heavy objects skittered back and forth within the box each time the faeries stumbled, jostling their load.

“Thank you,” Aine smiled. It was a stern, unpleasant smile. Then she turned that same look on me. “These are yours to do with as you please.”

“Open the box. No more tricks,” I growled.

Aine rolled her eyes, gritted her teeth and squared her shoulders. “Open the box for the baobhan sidhe. Leave it to the damned to cast doubt on the good will of the fae.”

A large crowbar was produced from out of the underbrush, and the two little men grunted and groaned as they pried the dusty lid from the casket. With a whoosh of air, and a cloud of dust, the lid was raised and thrown to the ground.

I stepped forward and saw piles of old dusty cloth. Red velvet and purple linen, dull, discolored furs. “No, no, no. I’ve had enough of your tricks. I was promised the crown jewels. Where are the jewels?”

Aine sighed. “Mary Alice, the crown jewels are the implements used in coronation. Those are the vestments.”

I pushed the cloth aside, and was greeted with the sight of tarnished silver and gold: heavily jeweled sceptres, crowns, orbs, swords, rings and spurs were crowded into the bottom of the box. The diffuse light of the sidhe seemed to hit each object at just the right angle, so that the stones all caught the sunshine, and a rainbow of color erupted from the box. One object shone brighter than the rest, though. It was a staff. The length of it was rich with soldered detailing, encrusted with hundreds of tiny rubies and emeralds. And at the hilt, was a sparkling diamond, larger than my fist. It’s cut caught and reflected the light from each of the other jewels in a way that made it seem like it was glowing from inside.

“Satisfied, Mary Alice?”

“You’re sure these are the stolen crown jewels? This isn’t a trap of some sort?”

“The fae always deal fairly, Mary Alice. Cirein Croin is dead. The stolen crown jewels of England are yours. But Mary Alice, I do not advise you to take this crate to Volterra. No matter our disagreements, it is always a shame to lose one of the fae. We have lost too many already, all very recently. Please reconsider your actions.”

“Thanks, but no thanks, Aine. I know that I have to do this. It’s why I came.” I grabbed Chun-Tao’s hand in mine and squeezed it. I liked her so much, and hoped that future I’d foreseen, where we got to know one another, would actually come true.

Chun-Tao smiled at me warmly. “We can go now?”

“Yes. Let’s all go back to the desert. I’ll take you guys home, get Jasper…” I couldn’t wait to see Jasper. I was still pretty mad at him. But my worry was outweighing my anger at the moment. I had been angry that he wanted to stay in the desert with Sakhmet, but I was scared senseless that I’d left him alone with one of these faeries.

“Alice?” Chun-Tao asked.

“Oh, sorry… I was lost in thought, I guess. Right, let’s go.”

“Alice, we’ve decided not to go back. There’s nothing for us there anymore,” Dong-Mei explained.

“But Sakhmet… she’ll never let you go. She’ll go after you! You’ll have to fight her. You’ve been through so much. You don’t need to deal with her too.”

Don-Mei giggled and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “Over the past month we have learned that the world is bigger than we ever imagined. You and your family have opened up our minds to new ideas. We don’t want to delay living any longer.”

“It is something we are willing to fight Sakhmet for,” Chun-Tao added.

“But, you won’t have to.” It was Donnchadh. He attempted to walk towards us, but winced as the chains held him in place. “She won’t go after you. Something changed. I believe you are both free.”

“Really?” Dong-Mei practically cheered.

“Calm down, Dong-Mei. It may be one of their tricks,” Chun-Tao cautioned.

“It is no such thing, slayer,” Aine said, walking gracefully in their direction. “Donnchadh can only speak the truth. You are both free. I have seen it as well.”

“Well then, where do you want to go?” I asked.

“First, I would like to visit the place where I was born.” Chun-Tao smiled, wrapping her arm around Dong-Mei’s waist. “I have always wanted my mate to see my home. My real home. Then I hoped we could spend some time with your family. There is so much we could teach one another.”

I smiled. “I would love that. Come as soon as you can. We’ll make all of this up to you. Just wait until you meet our brother and his wife, and our parents. Wait until I tell Rose and Emmett!”

I would have gone on, planning out the details of when the fighters would come, what we’d do, but there was a sudden flash of light in the clearing. I jumped protectively in front of the two dragon fighters, and Dong-Mei giggled. And suddenly, where before there was just mossy green grass, stood Aodhfionn. He appeared out of nowhere, right next to the crate of jewels.

The assembled faeries exclaimed and murmured and the guards and horsemen rushed forward. But with a wave of Aine’s arm, they all quieted and backed down.

“Aodhfionn,” I whispered under my breath. The faerie’s eyes glowed and glittered, and he smiled and bowed in my direction.

“So good to see you, Mary Alice.”

“And here I thought you’d left us for good, DinSheenK’ha,” Aine intoned. Aodhfionn gazed at her intently. I almost caught the edge of his silent faerie speech, but I realized that whatever he was saying, it was intended only for Aine.

“No, I won’t listen to this,” she muttered.

“I am still one of the fae and it is my last wish, Aine. You must listen. Find the body and it will be done.”

“You know what this will mean, don’t you?”

“Of course,” Aodhfionn snarled, his demeanor suddenly changing. “I’m thorough, and dedicated, but not stupid.”

“I mean, with regard to the fae,” Aine clarified. “Your actions are changing things for us all.”

“Yes, of course. There will be implications. I just hope you understand whose side you will be on.”

“Murder never goes unpunished, DinSheenK’ha. You may go now, but I do not give my blessing.”

“I didn’t expect to be blessed, Aine.” Aodhfionn turned to Donnchadh. “This one should not be in chains. It was never right to keep Mary Alice here. There are many ways to keep her safe. You were fighting her fate to try to make her stay. It is hardly Donnchadh’s fault.”

“We know well your ideas about what is right for Mary Alice. Which is why we made you leave. Donnchadh and Riodh had a job, and they failed. Now he will face the consequences of his actions.”

“So be it. At least he has his life. Aine, remember my wish.”

Then Aodhfionn walked quickly forward, and in one fluid motion, he grabbed hold of the crate and easily lifted it over his head.

“What are you doing?” I asked, walking toward him, alarmed.

“My job, Mary Alice. But, please understand, I would have done it all the same, even if you weren’t my charge.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

But the faerie didn’t answer. In another flash he was gone, and so were the crown jewels.

*****

JPOV
“No!”

Sakhmet’s voice rang out through the air around me and I was knocked to my knees with the force of the emotion that came from nowhere and filled me, until I thought I might burst. I’d been hit with overwhelming…

Peace.

Pleasure.

Astonishment.

Joy.

Love.

Bewilderment.

I knelt there for more than a second, wondering at the force of the feelings that had assaulted me, before struggling to my feet. It was nearly too much to bear, and I braced myself against the wall for support. I pushed too hard, though, right over the spot where I’d thrown Sakhmet earlier. A sharp crack sounded in the night air, followed by a deep groan. Pieces of mud began to flake to the earth as the wall shook, destabilized. Then I heard the scramble of footsteps from within, and I remembered Aod’s words. He was gone now. I needed to get to Um al Sammim.

It was time to go to Alice.

Thank the Lord.

My exuberance joined every other emotion that charged the air around me, and I ran, my feet hardly touching the ground. I knew the wall had fallen when the ground shook, and a thin cloud of white film blasted through the air, coating me like a ghost.

But even as I ran, I was pursued by Sakhmet’s emotions: despair, anger and love. Always love. Finally, I could hear her footsteps. She was fast, gaining on me. But I certainly didn’t want to see her now. I needed to be there for Alice.

And then Sakhmet was before me, blocking my path, teeth bared, fingers extended like claws, a snarl erupting from her mouth. But her eyes had changed. They were still red as rubies, but the light they emitted had softened, and the irises seemed to be peppered with spots of white light.

“Where is he?” she growled.

“Get out of my way, I have to get to Alice.”

“You are not going anywhere before you tell me where he went.”

“Jesus, Sakhmet, get a grip. Aodhfionn went to get the jewels, and then to Volterra.”

“What?” She flew at me so that her face was less than an inch from my own. She didn’t grab hold of me physically, but her emotions did. I was wracked with disbelief, fury and love.

“I think you heard me. Now let me pass.” I attempted to push her out of the way, but she blocked me at every turn.

“You let him go to Volterra?”

“He wanted to go, Sakhmet. It’s what he does. He helps others.”

“He’ll be killed.”

I sighed, but didn’t say anything. I’d been pretty sure that was exactly what might happen to Aodhfionn, but I hadn’t done anything to stop him. I was more concerned with Alice’s safety. Suddenly, a pair of hands wound around my neck, and soft red eyes peered into mine.

“You let him die,” Sakhmet snarled. “If he is taken from this world, if all of that dies, it is your fault.”

“He wanted to save my mate, Sakhmet. I couldn’t stop him. Not if it meant that Alice had a better chance at life. You’ve got to understand that.”

Sakhmet dropped her hands and took a step back, disengaging. I felt her anger falter and fade. It briefly surged again, and I watched Sakhmet fight the rage, finding a way within herself to tamp it down. The emotions in the atmosphere changed to something more pleasantly sad and understanding.

“You are right, Jasper. I do understand that.” She took another step backwards, before she turned on her heels, walking rapidly towards the west, away from her home.

“Where are you going?” I couldn’t help asking.

“To Volterra.”

“Jesus, Sakhmet, you’ll get yourself killed. The Volturi want you to stay here. And besides, the faerie will be there and gone before you could get off this continent. He may already be there by now. You can’t save him.”

“But I have to try. You have got to understand that.”

“Holy hell, Sakhmet, what happened between you and the faerie?”

“Tell your mate that she was right, Jasper Whitlock. Take care of your family, until I see them again.”

*****

I was about halfway between Sakhmet’s compound and Um al Sammim when I must have hit an area with cell coverage. The phone I forgot I’d had started buzzing and shaking like a rattlesnake in my pocket.

I pulled it out as I ran. Twenty-two missed calls. Four messages.

“Hey, umm, Jasper? It’s Bella. I, uh, would really like to talk to Alice. But her phone keeps going to voicemail. Could you have her call me, please? Thanks.”

“Jasper, where the hell are you and Alice? I need to speak to Alice right now. Fuck, Jasper, it’s important. This is not a joke. Have Alice call me, immediately.”

“Hey Jazz, Emmett here. Edward’s losing it, man. And he can’t get in touch with Alice. He’s nervous about the Volturi, the whole end of the year deal. Dude’s gonna ruin his honeymoon. So, uh, if you or Alice get this message, give the guy a call.”

“And dude, I totally won the bet. I expect you to pay up when you get back, bro.”

Damn.

Damn, damn, damn.

I dialed Emmett’s cell. I wasn’t completely prepared to speak to Edward, and I was certain that whatever Bella had called about, she had no desire to discuss the details with me.

The line began ringing just as I’d reached the uneven line and the subtle dip indicating the presence of quicksand. I’d made it. I dipped my toe into the quicksand with my cell pressed to my ear, listening to the distant, staticky ring.

“Jasper, where the hell have you and Alice been?”

“Rose?”

“Don’t get me wrong, Emmett and I needed some time alone. But would a call have killed you two? You tell us you’re going off to Ireland to deal with the Volturi, and then no one can get a hold of you? You two better have a good explanation for all of this!”

“Nice to hear your voice too, Rose. Emmett called?”

“Damn right, he called. Like twelve times. How are we supposed to relax and recover from everything we went through, when we don’t know if you’re dead or alive?”

“Are you looking for me to apologize, Rosalie? You don’t have a clue what you’re asking, you know.”

Rosalie paused for a beat. “Sorry. We were worried. Are you two alright, Jasper?”

“I’m fine. Filthy, but fine.”

There was another significant moment of silence on the other end of the line. “What about Alice?” Now it was my turn to pause. “Jasper?”

“She’s not here. But she’s supposed to get here any minute now.”

“Shit, Jasper, where the hell are you? Where’s Alice?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Rosalie. Hey, is Emmett there?”

“Hang on, I uh, have him… indisposed.”

I winced as I heard what sound like several heavy objects being moved, thankful I wasn’t back in Forks for whatever bedroom adventure Rose and Emmett had dreamed up.

“Jasper?”

My breath caught in my throat. I dropped the phone to the ground. Something gentle and strong wound around my heart: love.

“Jasper? Jasper? Jasper!” Emmett’s tinny voice called from the vicinity of my feet. “Rose, what the hell? He’s not there... Jasper?”

“Jasper?” My name was uttered so soft and low. Urgency and pain joined the love in the air, with an intensity that made me tremble.

Worry.

Anger.

Love.

“Jasper?”

I turned around slowly, and there she was. Her clothing was torn and singed. God, her shin had a long, ugly scar. Her eyes were so black. She needed food.

Alice.

“Fuck. Alice.”

In a moment she was in my arms. And goddamn it, I would never let her go again.
- 12
- 13
- 14
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Necklace