Crossover 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book One' (32 page)

I burst out laughing. “That’s the most
amazing thing?” Once I started I couldn’t stop. “Oh, my god, out of
everything, it’s the dress! It’s like Tara and her
ears!”

They both stared at me,
confused.

“Tara is from there,” I explained once
I got my laughter under control. “She’s a Wedelve, like my mom.” I
glanced at my mother. “I mean, my other mom.”

She smiled at me. “It’s alright,
hun.”

I looked at my dad. “You met her?
Brayanne?”

He nodded. “Tom, I mean your dad, lived
with her over here for a while before they decided to live over
there.”

“Oh. But the illusion… You wouldn’t
have seen what she really looked like then. Wedelves are pretty
short. And they look like us, except that their skin can be any
earthy color out there. Uncle Brinnan said that my mom’s was a tan
color. Tara’s is green! She looks great. Oh! And Ben! He’s from
there too. He’s fated to Tara. But he’s brown. And all of them have
pointy ears.”

Both of them were looking at me with
wide eyes.

I stopped. “You didn’t know how
different it was, did you?”

My dad shook his head.

I smiled. “It’s amazing. Where I live,
which is on the Wedelven lands, the trees are silver green and
sliver pink. The pine trees have red flowers. And in our meadow,
the grass by the stream is blue.” My smile faltered at the thought
of our little house.

“ ‘
Our’ meadow?” asked my
mom.

I ran my thumb over my ring and my
throat tightened. “Jasper and me. He is one of the queen’s top
captains. Or was, I guess. He’s a Namael. They shift. From humans
into big cats. Jasper’s a tiger. Anyway, he was supposed to find me
and bring me back to Queen Melana in Pinsaber, but then we found
out we were fated, like mom and dad, and so we stayed in Sageden,
where Tara and Ben live, for a while. But after Luke kidnapped me,
he’s one of the Maj, and Jasper’s brother, we built our own house
in the most perfect meadow…”

I stopped again. “I’d better start at
the beginning.”

“Are you hungry?” asked my
mom.

“Starving.”

“Why don’t you go have a shower and
I’ll make some sandwiches.”

I hugged them both before heading up
the stairs. My room was exactly how I had left it. I pulled some
shorts and a tank top out of my dresser and stopped when I caught a
sight of myself in the mirror.

“No wonder she kept asking if I was
ok!”

Mel’s black cloak was grey with dust.
The dress was streaked with dirt and my face was so dirty I could
have passed as a Wedelve. I brought my hand up to brush some hair
out of my face and paused. Jasper’s ring flashed as it caught the
light. I stared at it in the mirror and fought back a
sob.

“You better be disappeared,” I
whispered.

I walked to the bathroom and stepped
into the shower. The hot water hit me and I sighed. Once I was
clean and a bit more composed, I stepped out, got dressed and made
my way downstairs.

My dad had pulled out a couple of beer
and handed one to me.

I smiled. “Thanks.” I took a long
swallow. “Next time I come back, I’ll make sure to bring you some
sloan. You’ll like it. Kind of like an amber ale.”

My mom’s face fell. “You have to go
back?”

“I… I guess I don’t have to.” I looked
at her. “No. I do. I have to.”

“Why?”

“It’s hard to explain. I feel…I’m not
all me here. Part of me is gone. I understand what Jasper was
talking about, only I don’t think it’s as bad for me as it was for
him. He said when he crossed the tiger part of him was gone. I just
feel like part of me is fuzzy… He would have come otherwise.” I
stopped, not sure how to explain it. “The magic is
missing.”

My dad nodded. “That’s exactly what
Brayanne said.”

I reached over and took a sandwich. I
took a bite and started to tell my story from the
beginning.

“Dodge can talk?” exclaimed my
mom.

I laughed. “Well, not really. Jasper
can hear his thoughts. But we can have a conversation if I keep it
to questions that require a yes or no answer.” I explained about
Dodge’s stone quest. “When that happens I’ll be able to hear him
too.”

I moved on to the part where Jasper and
I found we were fated, the dreams about the future, and accidently
setting trees on fire.

My mom’s eyes were saucers in her head.
I laughed. “Actually, I was lucky. I almost set Jasper on fire the
first time.”

I took another drink of my
beer.

They laughed at the part where Tiny
decided she should claim me as her own.

I started to tell them about Sageden
and stopped where we were fighting on the ridge. Dad caught my
hesitation.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just… I’m not sure how much of this
you really want to hear.” I got up to get us another
beer.

“Hayden! What happened to your leg?”
asked my mom.

I looked down in surprise. “Oh! Well, I
guess that’s part of the story I’m not sure you want to know
about.” My calf showed evidence of the fox attack at the ridge.
White scars showed each puncture mark and some of the tearing that
had occurred. I sat back down.

“Somehow, the Maj learned that I was in
Sageden, and sent a pack to retrieve me. Only I had a dream, and we
had time to form a small army of our own…” I decided they should
hear it all.

My voice dropped to a whisper when I
told them of Jasper almost dying at the hands of Ream and I smiled
to myself as I recalled being able to save him.

“We were by the pond when Luke
kidnapped me. I didn’t know that he was Jasper’s adopted brother at
the time. And for some reason, Luke was able to break his bond to
the Majs, killed the other abductor, Ryland, and then brought me
back to Sageden.”

I told them about Mel and the twins,
Dawn and Zane being fated, building our little house in the
meadow.

I went into detail about some of the
healing I had been doing, and some of the things I had learned to
do there, some of the magic I was getting good at doing.

“There’s a plant I need to get that I
know I can make into a mush for a few different ailments. It’s
called Tish Weed. I was hoping to find some during
Wellfore.”

I then finished off my story with an
explanation of Wellfore, how I had been selling my halters, and
finding the rare herbs I needed.

I laughed. “That’s why I was in a
dress. We were all modeling some of Tara’s dresses to help her sell
them. But then Jasper noticed I was being followed, and with
Dodge’s help we found out the queen had put an order out for me to
be found and brought to Pinsaber.

He made me come back so I’d be safe.
They’re going to be hunting him. And it’s all because of me.” I
felt a tear slip down my cheek.

My mom took my hands in hers. “He seems
to care about you very much.”

I nodded. “I feel like my heart’s been
ripped out of my chest. I just want to go back and make sure he’s
safe. But I promised I’d stay here until he sent for
me.”

There was a knock on the door. I jumped
up and reached back for my swords but grabbed air.

My mom and dad stared at me.

I took a deep breath and willed myself
to relax. “Sorry.”

“It’s just the poker crew. It’s our
turn to host it tonight,” my dad explained.

“If you guys don’t mind, I’m going to
go up to my room.” I gave them both a hug. I hesitated a bit before
heading up the stairs. “Umm… Would you mind if no one knew I was
here for a bit?”

Both of them nodded and gave me another
hug. “Get some rest, honey.” My mom brushed my hair out of my face.
“You look exhausted.”

I made my way back to my room and lay
in my bed, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

I spent the next two weeks catching up
with my mom and dad, and pacing in my room when I had free
time.

I would wave to the neighbors and make
small talk to a few people I knew that I ran into at the grocery
store. My parents had told everybody that my birth mom had
contacted me and I had gone to visit her because she was
ill.

*****

The three of us were sitting in the
back yard watching the steaks cook on the bar-b-q when a little
blue bird landed on the bird feeder.

My heart jumped in my chest.

“It’s you!” I stood and strode over to
the feeder. The bird chirped and bobbed her head. “Is he ok? Did he
make it to the other crossing?”

My parents were staring at me. “How do
you know it’s from there?” asked my mom.

“Oh. I… well, I just know. She’s kind
of mine, see? Jasper said he sent the birds to tell you I was
there. How did you know?”

“There were five of them. They sat on
the porch in a row. That was the signal.”

I turned back to the bird. “Did he send
anything?”

My little friend bobbed again and lift
her wing. I put out my hand and she hopped onto it. I went back to
my seat and set her on the table in front of me.

My hands were shaking too hard to undo
the knot that held the note to her leg.

“Here, honey, let me do it.” The bird
hopped over to my mom.

“Thanks, mom.” I took the note from her
and read it out loud.

My love,

I wanted to let you know I
made it to the hill crossing so you wouldn’t worry. Brice has sent
word from Sageden via our friends the blue birds. There has been
four groups of guards that have shown up to the house to see if we
have been back. After some convincing, they have all seemed to be
satisfied he is not lying.

Being away from you has been
a hundred times harder than I had even imagined.

I cleared my throat to get the lump out
of it.

I spend my days thinking of
our times together, wondering what you are doing now, and hoping
that we are together again soon.

I send my regards to your
parents. I hope you are enjoying your stay there and are not
worrying to much about things here.

We will be together again,
Shlova, this I promise you. Until then, know that I love you more
than words can express.

Jasper

I lay my head in my arms and
sobbed.

My mother rubbed my back. “Shush,
honey. It will be ok.”

I took a few deep breaths and wiped my
face on my arm. “I know, mom. And it’s not that I don’t love being
here with you and dad. It’s just…I miss him so much!”

She pulled me into a hug. “I know,
Hayden. Remember when your dad left for two weeks for a business
trip when you were about twelve?”

I nodded.

“Granted, he wasn’t being hunted by
armies of cats and dogs, but it felt like part of me was missing
for two weeks.”

I nodded again. “That’s exactly how it
feels.” I turned to the bird. “Would you be able to bring him back
a note from me?”

She bobbed her head.

“Thanks. I’ll be back in a few
minutes.”

I ran up to my room and sat at my desk.
I could have written him a book filled with everything I wanted to
tell him, but kept things as simple as possible.

Jasper,

I was beyond relieved to hear that you
were safe at the hill crossing.

Rest assured that I am having a great
visit with my parents, and just as

promised, after hearing all the stories
I had to tell about you, they are totally in

love with you.

I can’t even begin to explain how much
I miss you or how badly I wish to feel your arms around me
again.

Every night, before I fall asleep, I
think about how much I love you, and hope that you can feel
it.

I bought you something a few days ago
that I was going to give you when I got back, but I am sending it
with the bird. A small token of my love for you.

Until the day when I can tell you
again, just remember one thing… I love you more.

Hayden

I went to my dresser, pulled out a
small box containing the gold band I had bought for him, and made
my way back outside.

The blue bird was where I had left her
on the table. I tied the note to her leg with the ring tied
underneath it.

“Is that ok? It’s not too
heavy?”

She chirped and did her impression of a
head shake, then hopped up onto my shoulder.

I gave her a small pat on the head. “If
you see anyone else, tell them I miss them, okay?”

She bobbed her head, gave me a peck on
the cheek, and flew away.

I watched her until she disappeared
before taking a deep breath and sitting down at the
table.