He opened his mouth to speak when a thump rattled the house. He shot to his feet. Cora was there, beside him, ready to fight. Everyone else had gone silent. Their eyes turned to the ceiling as more thumps shook the walls. Rhythmical, they followed one after another like…
Footsteps.
Wyatt and Ryker rolled their shoulders as they both made for the front door. Ashton stole a kiss from his mate before darting for the back door. Griffin followed, with Lilah on his heels. His court moved in sync, without needing orders, without fear.
Jasper turned, but Cora stopped him with her hand on his shirt.
“If there is too much collateral damage, promise you will give me over to them.” Her eyes were pleading, glassy with fear.
His demon rocketed to the surface. He knew the flames filled his eyes because Cora’s lips parted and one foot slid back, like she wanted to run. His mate held her place. She didn’t back up or run.
“There will be no collateral damage,” the beast growled through his lips.
For once they were in agreement. Jasper and his demon would do their damnedest to keep anyone from getting hurt. He was king of these mountains and it was time to act like it.
He let his fingertips trail over Cora’s hand as he turned away and headed toward the front door. She said nothing, only followed. His queen. His life.
Outside, a green-scaled dragon lurked on the roof, looking down at all those who exited the front door. Cal stood in the center of the courtyard again, like this was a meeting of kings and not another attempt at kidnapping. Jasper was going to make sure Cal could never smile so smugly again.
“We were in the middle of a family dinner,” Jasper announced, hands in his pockets like he didn’t care that an invading troop of dragons lurked on his front step. “Could I ask you to come back another time? Perhaps never?”
“Have you given my letter any thought?”
Cold doused Jasper’s flames. The world swayed around him. He’d been so focused on pulling his dragons together and courting Cora that he’d forgotten. A glance back at Cora reminded him that he’d never told her about it. Betrayal dragged her jaw toward the ground. Now was not the time to tell her.
But the truth was about to come out anyway.
“What letter is he talking about?” Cora stomped toward Jasper.
Guilt weighed him down. Even if his monster could spread his wings, Jasper was sure he’d never leave the ground. He’d ignored Cal’s threats, set thoughts of them aside, when he should have done something.
“Have you been corresponding with this asshole?”
“He sent me a message. I did not write back,” Jasper bit the words out.
Betrayal filled her eyes. She stepped back from him. Jasper knew he could do nothing to abate the feeling just then. If she gave him the chance, if she could hear him out later, then maybe he could explain himself. But Cora had always stood on the edge of leaving.
This sealed the deal.
She spun and fled into the guest house. He imagined she was packing her meager things. Probably wrecking everything he’d given her as it no longer meant anything to her.
He slowly turned his attention back on Cal. Jasper was tired of the dragon’s meddling. The message he’d sent had been nothing but one giant threat. Not at Jasper and his family, but at Cal’s own clan. Jasper should have dealt with it earlier. He wasn’t being the best king, but he didn’t think even the beast could handle everything all at once.
The best king could not unify his own clan while saving another. It happened one at a time. Unfortunately.
“Oh no,” Cal said with false empathy, his smirk plain to see. “Did I ruin something?”
“I’m going to rip your face off and save the world a whole lot of trouble,” Jasper growled.
Cal held his hand up before Jasper could reach him. Cal’s eyes flicked to the dragon perched on Jasper’s roof. “One more step and I’ll have him punch a hole through the roof.”
A grin spread over Jasper’s face. He sped toward Cal, lifting the man off his feet by the front of his shirt. Behind him, the sound of shattering wood and glass echoed in the night.
“Do you really think I care more about a building than I do my clan? Than I do about your clan?”
The fear that flashed through Cal’s eyes satisfied Jasper’s demon. The beast enjoyed watching the man squirm. Even if it lasted only a moment.
***
Cora couldn’t believe her eyes.
The green dragon had destroyed the second floor of Jasper’s house, but if it bothered her mate, he didn’t show it. He’d sacrificed his home just to reach Cal.
Jasper’s words rung in the air. The house was nothing to him. It was replaceable, a thing that could be mended over and over again. It was his clan that he cared about.
And hers.
All at once, Cora realized what Cal said to Jasper. The message hadn’t been a treaty like Cora thought. It wasn’t to convince Jasper to hand her over. It was a threat. Just like he’d done to Cora before, Cal used the pain of his own people to bend the will of others. He’d gotten her to do his bidding that way. Until those same people convinced her to escape.
Cora thought that once she was far away and couldn’t tell if he was hurting them, that he would stop. She should have known better. Cal wouldn’t stop until she was at his feet, begging him. He would do the same to Jasper and his people if she didn’t give herself up.
Without thinking about the repercussions, Cora had endangered so many more people. She knew that by coming here, she was drawing Jasper and his court into a war, but it was becoming evident that the war would not be contained to the court. The metallic dragons could not be everywhere all at once.
But watching Jasper throw Cal to the ground was satisfying in ways she’d never known before. Cal rolled away before slowly rising to his feet. He wiped at his bloodied mouth with the back of his hand, eyes gleaming with the promise of retribution. She couldn’t help but think of the faces she’d left behind, the ones who would hurt for this fight.
Before she realized what she was doing, Cora had the door thrown open. She stormed toward the fight with a flurry of words on the tip of her tongue. They died as Jasper raised his voice for all to hear.
“You tell your clan that anyone who wants to defect is welcome in Grove. We are a family and as such we protect our own.” He turned his scowl at Cal. “Unlike some pretenders.”
Her heart thumped double time. She wasn’t sure if she’d heard him right. Had Jasper just stuck his neck out not just for her but for her whole clan? She glanced around the circle of dragon shifters, wondering if any of Cal’s army would take the message back to the others.
She caught sight of a familiar face, a red-scaled dragon she’d been friends with. She held the dragon’s gaze, hoping they would take the message back, that others would know to come here.
Cal snarled. “If that’s how this is going to be, expect them to come to you broken.”
She didn’t think. She didn’t have to. Without an ounce of fear, Cora approached Cal and drew her fist back. Her knuckles screamed in pain, but the satisfaction she felt watching him stagger back was more than worth it. Cora planted her feet apart and held her ground.
Of course, Cal would strike back. She didn’t have time to think, barely time to move. Cal launched himself at her. His fingers had become claws, catching the light of the house as they came down on her. Before he could hurt her, firm hands shoved her aside.
Jasper’s hiss of pain echoed in the silence before his demon’s angry howl burst out of him. Cora scrambled upright to find her mate kneeling on the ground, one hand over his face. Blood streamed between his fingers. Anger sparked like an inferno inside her, but she couldn’t turn it on Cal.
Not when Jasper was in so much pain.
She placed herself between him and Cal, crouching at her mate’s side. The one eye that was uncovered burned with his demon’s ferocity. Jasper’s hand fell away to reveal the carnage Cal caused. I
t stole Cora’s breath and froze her blood. Where there had been an eye was now nothing, only a shadowed socket. Jasper looked past her at Cal and promised a retribution unlike anyone had ever seen. The moment passed and her presence pushed the creature back until it was only Jasper’s anger she saw.
Blood continued to seep beneath his fingers. It splattered the ground beneath them. She had a thought, almost out of place, that the spot would forever be stained by the king’s blood. It would stand as the memorial of the moment when Jasper risked his life for her.
He’d promised all along that he would do just that, but seeing him in action drove his words home. The court appeared out of the shadows, their metallic beasts larger than anything in the courtyard. Cal’s eyes flicked from dragon to dragon, from Ryker to Wyatt to Griffin. Mina and Lilah appeared on the roof, behind the green dragon.
Cal knew he was outnumbered. He raised his hand and gave the signal to retreat. Almost all the dragons he’d brought with him fled save for him, the green dragon, and the red dragon. The green one hissed at Lilah and Mina. Neither female backed down.
“This is your ruination, Cora,” Cal said before turning away. “Remember that as I tear this clan apart piece by piece, as I send you the remnants of your friends.”
Cora didn’t pay him any attention. She looked to the red dragon, still lingering at the edge of the courtyard. The beast held her gaze for a long while, though Cora wished she could reach the creature’s mind. They’d been friends, once upon a time. She didn’t know if that friendship still bonded them, or if Cora’s betrayal had broken it.
Tell them, she mouthed anyway, hoping against all hopes that her friend would tell the clan that they had a choice.
Finally, Cal was gone. His army went with him, leaving them alone in the courtyard. The metallic dragons melted back into the night. Griffin and Lilah stayed nearby, curling together near the fountain. Griffin’s eyes remained on the sky while Lilah watched the woods Cal had left through. Together, the beasts were formidable, two horned megaliths with teeth and claws to match.
Jasper lurched to his feet. Cora reached for him, but he didn’t sway. The way he stood made it seem like he felt no pain. While she doubted that was true, she gave him points for bravado.
“Let’s go to bed,” she told him.
He turned and drew her under his arm. She let herself be pulled in. This was her mate, her forever. This was who the universe thought she deserved. At every turn, he defied her expectations. Jasper proved himself far more than what she thought she’d earned in this life.
They stumbled inside, but a cold draft pushed them back. Cora remembered that the roof was now a giant sky light. It made her hesitate.
“There are other rooms. This house is huge.” Jasper pulled her forward.
She let him draw her deeper into the house. There was nothing that would draw her away from him. Not that night. She followed him up the stairs and away from the hole of black night peering into the house. Rubble littered the floor, forcing her to step carefully.
Not long later, they were away from the wreckage, secured in another wing of the house.
“Dumbass didn’t even smash my bedroom,” Jasper muttered in the dark. “He destroyed my parents’ old room.”
Cora didn’t know why that was so funny, but it spurred laughter in her. Which, in turn, made Jasper laugh. They laughed all the way into his room, where he collapsed onto his bed. In the dark, she could see the art on the walls, landscapes of the mountains she’d lived in. Of Jasper’s mountains.
He held out his hand to her. She hesitated. His face was a blur in the dark, made shadowy by the blood smeared across his skin. If the wound hurt, he didn’t show it.
“Lie with me. Just for tonight.”
“I’m pretty sure we already lay together,” she quipped, trying to bring humor to the night.
Jasper shook his head and grabbed her, hauling her onto the bed where he wrapped her in his arms so that her back was against his chest. She couldn’t see his face, not from this position. Guilt wormed its way through her heart and tried to eat at her.
All of this was her fault. It was her fault for leaving, for thinking she could have a future of her own.
“Stop,” he whispered in her ear, voice filled with the drowsy beginnings of sleep. Already, their minds were slipping into one. “Don’t beat yourself up. Cal is the one to blame. Cal is an asshole.”
“Yes. Cal is most certainly an asshole.”
Sleep didn’t take long to claim them while they were lulled by the sound of their heartbeats falling into sync and soft breathing.
Chapter Eleven
Cora pulled her knees to her chest. It didn’t matter what she did. Everything crumbled in her hands. Even her mate. If she hadn’t come running to him, if she hadn’t brazenly approached Cal, then Jasper would still be whole.
His healing had pulled the wounds in his face back together and abated his pain, but it could not replace what was gone. So much for being giant lizards. Even small lizards could grow back missing tails, maybe even limbs.
Jasper would never get his eye back. The other was amber colored, though she’d expected his demon to turn it fiery gold. Why he wasn’t livid, she didn’t understand. Jasper went about his day like nothing had happened. Like nothing had changed.
But he’d lost an eye to protect her.
“You know,” he began while at the kitchen counter. “I feel kind of like Odin. I got to read the runes and sacrificed an eye.”
Cora guffawed. She cocked her head and took him in, barely able to believe that he was making a joke about this. He dropped into the seat across from her, lifting his feet to place them on her lap in a gesture that was far more intimate than she thought she deserved.
“I’m not going to rub them,” she warned him. “Not until you take a shower. There’s still blood caked in your hair.”
“Is there? I can’t see it.”
She threw a pillow at him, sloshing his coffee. “You’re not funny!”
“I think I’m absolutely hilarious,” he informed her.
Which only bothered her more. He wasn’t taking this seriously. Jasper was at a disadvantage now. He could only see out his left eye. In a fight, that would leave his right side open to attacks. This was a war. It was foolish to think there would be no more attacks.
“When do I get an eyepatch?”
“You’re insufferable. I’m going to order one with a googly eye on it.”
Jasper grinned wide. Even without an eye, he was a stunning sight. The wound only made him look fiercer. Two scars ran through his brow and down his cheek that he wore like a badge of pride. She was almost convinced that his beast had left them there on purpose. His demon would be that vain.
Though, she hadn’t seen the demon in a long while. The beast had shown itself here and there, but it had not taken over Jasper in quite some time.
“I told you, your presence has been good for me.”
She groaned. “Get out of my head!”
He threw up an arm, expecting another pillow. “I’m not in your head. You’re easy to read!”
What were they doing? What was this comfort that sat between them? Cora no longer feared the demon inside him. She didn’t shy away from Jasper or any motives he might have hidden from her. There was only truth sitting between them, forging the beginnings of a relationship.
Everything she’d tried to avoid.
Cora had every intention of leaving Grove in the dust. She’d wanted to prevent everything that had already happened. The people of this town, these shifters, were sacrificing so much more than she’d expected. The fight had bled into the town. It had stolen half of Jasper’s sight.
“But, I wouldn’t be the man I am if you hadn’t stayed.”
She pursed her lips and glared at him.
“Okay, so I’m in your mind. Cut a man a break when his mate doesn’t speak her mind. I have to go a little further to figure things out.”
“Is that why I have
n’t seen your demon lately? Is he busy sifting through my thoughts and handing you the important stuff?”
Jasper inched closer to her. She couldn’t help but sneak a peek at the way his dick moved beneath the thin fabric of his boxers. Her mouth watered, but she tried to ignore it. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into him. She should have moved away, but didn’t.
She didn’t want to.
Cora wanted to know what it would be like to stay. Jasper truly loved her. Even if he was reading her mind without her permission.
“You’re going to have to tell me how you do that,” she warned him. “You can’t be the only one with that ability.”
“How badly do you want to learn?” There was a teasing tone in his voice.
The sound drew her core tight, filling it with heat until she thought she might burst. Jasper wrecked her thoughts with a single sentence. Then, he lifted the arm that had been around her and used it to pull her face to his. She let him be drawn in by him.
While his lips gently pressed against hers, she pushed at the boundary of their mate bond. There was a tug in her core, the bond. She followed it to him and felt herself slipping past thoughts and urges until she could feel them all swirling around her.
How did Jasper keep any of this straight? It was a miracle he was able to pull anything from her mind at all.
“See,” he whispered. “You’re a natural at this.”
Little by little, she pieced together a thought.
I want
To
Fuck
You.
The heat in her core burst. It filled her, crashing into every small space inside her like an overwhelming wave. Cora groaned into his kiss. Distantly, she heard the sound of his coffee mug hitting the side table before he pulled her onto his lap.
She broke the kiss, breathing heavy, her hands on his shoulders. Every second with him buried her deeper. At this rate, she would never be able to put him behind her.
Jasper Drake Page 10
