by K. M. Raya
A hand struck the back of her head, sending her face first into the mud and the mud up into her nostrils. She came up sputtering as a strong hand yanked her arm up, hauling her to her feet.
“What the f—” she muttered, but she didn’t have to wait and guess who'd pushed her. She could hear Jewel’s laughter from up ahead. ‘Bitch’.
“You okay?” asked Jasper as they slogged through the guck.
“I’m fine, but she won’t be for long,” Blue promised evilly.
Jasper just chuckled. “Hold your horses there, Slayer, let’s get through the course before you kill her.”
“Oh, I’m not gonna kill her, I just want to make her suffer a little.”
He yanked playfully on her ponytail “Gets me all hot and bothered when you talk murder.” Blue just shook her head.
Soon, Ronnie and David caught up. Jewel and Cade had taken off up ahead, apparently forgetting the definition of team building. Blue blamed Slater for her unfortunate placement. It was no secret that Jewel despised her, even if the girl did technically have cause to. Still though, Blue couldn’t help but wonder how the brilliant girl she used to know could be so blind. How could she not see that Blue was hurting too? Just as much a victim as everyone else. But they’d never see it that way. People tended to take their hurt and pain out on the most available target, and the way it all went down was messy and complicated.
“David, go first!” called out Jasper as they reached the edge of a wooden platform overlooking a dip in the forest floor. David didn't hesitate, he leapt into the air, latching onto the ropes which dangled from the trees overhead and made his way from one to the other until he was almost to the other side of the chasm. “Ronnie!” Jasper called out next and she leapt off as well.
Next was Blue. She jumped off the platform, hands wrapping around the thick rope, but where a human would struggle to get past the burning of their palms, to a Slayer, the harsh material only felt like soft rubber. She held on easily, flinging herself from one rope to the next with finesse. She really did love the obstacle courses, they reminded her of her days as a free agent with Harlow by her side.
Sometimes she felt a pang in her chest when she let her mind wander to the good ole days. For how much she had always dreamt of attending Arcane, she never really understood just how much she’d miss what she already had. Harlow was her teammate in every way that counted, and she’d left her there in Portland, all alone to carry on by herself.
Reaching the end of the course, she was surprised at how easy it was. Her heart rate was steady, her breathing nice and even and not a single drop of sweat coated her skin. If anything, she felt invigorated and refreshed. “That was badass!” came Jasper’s voice from just over her shoulder. She didn’t startle, because she knew he was there.
“Easy peasy.” She clapped her hands together as if it were nothing and Jasper chuckled, filling her stomach with fluttery little wings.
“Where are you headed right now?” he asked as they walked back to the school ahead of the rest of groups four through eight as they finished the course. He slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight to his massive body as they walked.
“Uh, lunch?”
He shook his head. “What I meant was, would you like to have lunch with me today?”
She turned to Jasper and saw a faint blush on his tanned cheeks. ‘Is he nervous?’ She couldn't imagine why. “Sure, why not. I guess it would be sort of awkward for me to say no at this point, right?” she teased. She was still bitter about the other night in the kitchen, but she just chalked it up to late nights without sleep.
“Pretty much.” His arm around her was warming her now chilled skin and lent a strange sense of safety and comfort she hadn’t realized she craved. The dining hall was mostly empty, a few tables towards the middle of the room held one or two people each, doing homework or shoveling food into their faces before scurrying off to their next class.
They took their seats towards a table by the back wall, just under the light of a high stained glass window. They were serving sandwiches today and Blue mentally cringed. For how fancy the school pretended to be, their food service was severely lacking at times. She dug in with vigor, practically swallowing the tiny sandwiches whole. Her body was coming down from the high of action and she hadn’t realized just how famished she was until that first bite.
Jasper sat too close; she could feel the heat of his body like a living furnace, but she enjoyed it more than she knew she should have. He only picked at his food, content mostly to stare at Blue unnervingly, to which she tried hard to ignore.
“You're making me uncomfortable,” she mumbled to him with a mouth full of bread. He grinned.
“I like watching you.” His eyes glimmered mischievously.
She cringed. “You realize how creepy that sounds, right?”
Jasper laughed, low and rumbly. “Don’t care. I like watching everything you do. You fascinate me.”
Raising an eyebrow, Blue wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Is that so? Well I feel sorry for your social life then, I’m really not that interesting.” She went back to eating.
He was quiet for a few long moments before speaking again. “Something’s wrong,” he observed with a slight frown. His jade eyes were stormy and bothered. It was the same thing he’d said back in the graveyard. His observation skills were just a little bit too keen for her liking sometimes.”
Blue sat back with a huff. Clearly, he wasn't going to let her eat in peace. “I’m worried about Harlow, alright? She hasn’t answered any of my calls.”
He sat back in his seat, matching her pose. “Why would that worry you? My own mother only calls only once a month, maybe she’s just busy?”
“You don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head. “Harlow isn’t like that. We check in weekly, but I haven't heard from her for days. She won’t answer any of my texts either, which isn’t her style… I’m worried she did something stupid, like take on the Portland vamp attack on her own or something. Trust her to do something idiotic without telling me first.”
Jasper looked contemplative. “Is this a regular thing you guys do; go rogue?”
Anger coursed through her, and for a moment, she felt like lashing out, but she knew his question was technically valid. “We weren't rogue, Jasper. We were exiled, learn the difference. It doesn’t make our jobs any less valid than those Conclave sons of bitches.” She crossed her arms, a defensive move. “We still had jobs to do, even if they cast us aside like garbage.”
He smiled softly, causing her to release a breath of relief. His large, tattooed hand closed around hers and he squeezed her fingers with his. “I really admire that, you know,” he said, surprising her.
“You do?”
“Of course, I do, babe. The Conclave is nothing but a bunch of old gossiping Slayers who should have retired a long time ago. What they did to you and your sister was wrong. I’d expect nothing less from the two of you and I know for a fucking fact that if I were in your shoes, I’d have done the same damn thing. Marcus would have too,” he added. “You don’t just stop being what you are because they turned their backs on you.”
She smiled and gripped his fingers tighter. It was so fucking nice to hear someone sympathize with her after all those years alone. “Thank you for that. It’s been hard out there alone, but I had Harlow to keep me going. Which is why I’m still worried.” She pulled her phone out, dialed Harlow's number and slid it towards Jasper. “Listen, I just know something isn’t right.”
She watched him as he listened through Harlow's voicemail. His eyebrows dipped even lower and she could see the confusion there in his eyes. She could hear Harlow’s voice even when she wasn’t listening in, and knew what her message said by heart.
“What’s the drill?” Jasper asked, handing the phone back.
Sighing, she set the phone down in front of her on the table in case it rang, she didn’t want to risk missing the call. “Well, usually we worked as a team when we
went out on missions, but every so often one of us would go solo. Mainly for the smaller jobs. But every time one of us went at it alone, we’d let the other know by setting up that exact voicemail. The drill is that if we don't hear from them in the next twelve hours, it means something went wrong.”
Jasper looked impressed. “That's pretty smart.”
“I thought so.” She shrugged.
Blue glared at her phone for a moment. Willing it to ring but knowing in her heart that it wouldn’t. Something in her gut was screaming at her that Harlow was in danger. She hoped she was wrong about that for once.
A shadow loomed over the table just then and Blue didn’t need to turn around to know that Cole had joined them. He just stood there behind her chair, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently.
“Are you planning on sitting any time soon, wolf man?” she asked with a smirk that matched Jasper’s. She loved messing with Cole. He was way too serious sometimes. Cole grumbled before pulling out a chair on the other side of her and plopping down into it. By now, Blue couldn’t help but notice other students in the dining hall were giving them curious stares. She knew Jasper and Cole weren’t friends, or even acquaintances really. People had to be wondering what the two of these very different men were doing hanging out with a Graves.
“What's pretty smart?” asked Cole. His deep voice rumbled over her body, making her shiver pleasantly. Even from where she sat, she could smell the earthy scents wafting from his clothing. Looking to Jasper, he just rolled his eyes and she blushed, embarrassed.
“Huh?” she asked dumbly. She’d been completely distracted. With a knowing smile, Cole repeated himself. “What's pretty smart?”
The lightbulb in her brain finally clicked on. “Oh, I was just telling Jas about my sister. She's got another eight hours until I go postal.”
“You think she’s gone after the vamps in Portland?” Cole asked.
Blue raised her eyebrows. “Wow, what a guess.”
He tsked. “I do pay attention, Blue.” He folded his arms across his chest, setting his elbows down on the table top.
She waved away his attitude. “I think she went after the nest. It's what we would have done had I not come to Arcane and left her alone. If I know my sister, she’s gotten herself into some kind of stupid situation.”
“I see that calculating look in your eyes. You can’t go after her, you know that, right?” Cole warned.
“Says who, she’s my sister. I can’t just not do anything.” She couldn’t believe he was even attempting to propose that.
Cole scooted his chair closer and she could feel Jasper grasp her thigh under the table. The room was becoming stifling. “It's a death trap in Portland. Reports have been coming in every few hours. More and more humans are being turned every week and there’s no explanation. Those kids at that high school… over a quarter of them weren’t just killed, they were turned.”
Blue frowned. “Why aren’t we being told?” Arcane and the whole Conclave were keeping things from their students and it was pissing her off more and more.
Jasper spoke up this time, “They don’t want students going rogue.”
Blue leaned away from him suddenly, looking back and forth between him and Cole. “You knew about this too? What the fuck, Jas, why wouldn’t you say anything? You knew I was worried about Harlow!”
Jasper’s eyes were filled with sudden regret. “I’m sorry, but I knew you’d just go after her. Harlow's a big girl, Blue, she can handle herself.”
Blue stood from her seat, pushing her chair backwards and letting is clatter to the floor. “You don’t know shit about what my sister can handle! She’s my responsibility and I just abandoned her! This is my fucking fault!” she choked.
Jasper and Cole stood up too, reaching out to comfort her, but she shrugged off their hands. People were watching their spectacle with wide, eager eyes. Eager for gossip.
Cole softened his gaze, but she wasn’t having it. “Listen to me, baby girl, your sister is probably fine. Watch, she’ll probably call you tonight. She still has a few hours, right? Just wait and see what happens before you do something crazy.”
Blue laughed bitterly. “Crazy? Saving my sister is crazy? Fuck you both!” She turned to storm from the room, silently pleading with them not to follow. Before she crossed the threshold of the dining hall though, Cole called out to her.
“Don’t you fucking do it, Blue! I swear to god if you get yourself killed—”
But she was already gone.
Chapter Fourteen
She had just slammed her bedroom door behind her when her phone rang. Blue fumbled with it, excitement and relief filling her as she read Harlow's name across the screen.
“You better have a good excuse!” she shouted into the phone, only to hear nothing but static. “Harlow, answer me, where are you?” she pleaded. Still, there was nothing but rustling and what sounded like white noise. “Answer me, goddamnit, Harlow!” Blue yelled as she paced her in her bedroom.
Suddenly, her bedroom door flew open to reveal a worried looking Jasper on the other side. He must have followed her.
“I don’t know what to do, she won’t answer me!” Blue panicked as he strode into the room and took her into his arms. She was shaking, the phone still pressed to her ear. Out of all the horrors she’d seen in her life, the mere thought of Harlow being in real danger was almost enough to cripple her. She was all the family Blue had left. She couldn’t lose her.
“Shh, calm down, baby. Let me see the phone.” He was trying to calm her down, but it wasn’t working. Still, she handed him her cell phone with shaking fingers and watched as he brought it up to his ear. “Harlow, if you can hear me, say something!” he commanded, but from the look on his face and the harsh set of his jaw, he wasn't getting results either. “When was the last time you spoke to her?” he asked Blue.
“Beginning of last week, we usually call each other once a week and today should have been our check in. She’s in trouble, Jas, I told you I can feel it.”
Handing her phone back he placed his hands on her shoulders and walked her over to her bed and sat her down. “Okay, let’s just think about this. You can’t go storming into Portland, not like this. We need a plan. We need help.”
“Why does everyone keep telling me what to do?! Do you even understand how long I’ve been out there on my own? I'm not a fledgling! My sister… my only family I have left might be dead and I'm just sitting here doing nothing!” She stood and paced in front of him.
“I'm not telling you to do nothing, but Portland is a battlefield right now. Human police barely know what to make of it and Slayer teams have already been dispatched.”
Rolling her eyes, she threw her hands in the air. “So that means we should just what, twiddle our thumbs and go to math class? Are you shitting me? This place is just as compromised; look at what happened to Savannah! I don’t care how dangerous it is, I’m going to find Harlow with or without any of your help because we all know the Conclave and their teams are as useless as the humans are.” Blue walked to her chest of drawers and pulled out a pair of black leather pants and a long-sleeved black shirt. She pulled out her hood and mask as well as her favorite leather jacket with holes in place for her thumbs to slip through. Jasper watched her in silence as she dressed. Pulling her daggers into the holsters, Blue methodically counted her weapons, hoping it would be enough.
“I can’t let you do this,” he resigned.
Blue huffed out a bitter sounding laugh. “Oh really, and why’s that?”
He cleared his throat, approaching her slowly and she stiffened. “I can't watch you get hurt,” he sighed. “Look, I might have told you I didn’t want anything serious… and technically I was telling the truth. I really wasn’t looking for a relationship, but fuck that, Blue. I want something real with you, and I can’t watch you run headfirst into danger like this. I won't.”
“It's not your choice, I’m sorry,” she whispered, locking a silver edged dagge
r into her boot. She tried to numb herself to his declaration—tried to tell herself she felt nothing, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. From the moment she met him she felt a spark. She knew he’d come to mean something to her... if she only let herself feel it. She was falling for the cunning, witty, playful man with the orange-green eyes and a sly smile.
Using his finger, he lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. His face was stern, but also soft and concerned. He was close enough that she could feel his breath fan out over her lips as she whispered against them, “I’m sorry... you know why I have to do this. I don’t have a choice. Harlow's everything to me.”
His eyes shuddered and he shook his head. His thumb grazed her cheek softly and she found herself leaning into the touch, “I understand that, but there has to be a better way. I can’t watch another person I love die…”
Instead of responding, Blue sealed her lips to his softly. She felt the low groan in his chest as his eyes closed. His strong arms snaked around her as he pressed in deeper. His tongue brushed against hers, caressing her in reverence and she couldn't help but sigh. His touch this time wasn’t hurried or rushed. It was sensual and filled with emotions that had been steadily building up over the course of the past two months. Her worry for her sister was potent, but she knew she needed to soak up this moment. There was no telling what might happen once she reached Portland. She didn’t know if she’d make it back or in what state she’d be in if she did. So, she kissed him—hard.
Her tongue ran along his plump bottom lip and she could feel his muscles tighten under her fingers. Pushing him onto her bed, Blue crawled up over his body, snaking her hands into his short hair, raking her nails over his scalp until he moaned and rolled his eyes back in his head. She really didn’t have time for this, but something in her was desperate to make this real.
