Crossover 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book One' (33 page)

Chapter 8

It had been the longest three weeks of
his life. Jasper stood at the top of the hill and looked down the
path he knew would lead him to Hayden. He shook his head. If he
crossed over, then what? He had no idea where she was. He wouldn’t
even know how to start looking for her. Birds had a very odd sense
of description when it came to giving directions. He could get her
to lead the way, but he hadn’t seen her around since she had
delivered Hayden’s note.

His hand tightened around the note and
the loneliness he was feeling threatened to choke him.

“Please be safe,” he
whispered.

He turned away from the path and a lump
formed in his throat. He swallowed hard to get rid of
it.

He wished Luke, Mel and the twins were
still here. They had come for a few days to check on him and to see
if there was any news of Hayden. The twins had been a great
distraction, even if he had been a little more impatient than usual
with them.

Back at the waterfall, he sat on the
ground and looked at his makeshift fire pit. He had only made fires
for the first week he had been here. And really, he thought to
himself, the only reason he had gotten in the habit of making fires
at night was because of Hayden. He twirled the gold band around his
finger and smiled. She was always so cold.

He thought of her that first week she
after she had crossed over. She had been so scared. And that first
night when he had noticed her shivering, it had struck a nerve in
him for some reason. He had thought her fragile. Maybe even a bit
weak.

He chuckled. Fragile and weak. Two
things that Hayden definitely was not. Stubborn. Now that was
something Hayden was. By the moons, the woman could be stubborn to
a fault. Courageous. That was something else she was. Adaptable.
Caring. Loving.

He closed his eyes and pictured her
laying on a blanket in their meadow, braiding her halters. She had
looked up when he had walked by her carrying water to the cabin.
Her eyes, so green, with those peculiar specks of gold and green,
had met his. She had smiled, pulled her hair out of its pony tail,
and beckoned him over with a wink.

He groaned. It was time to stop that
memory before it went any farther. There was no point in torturing
himself and suffering more than he already was.

He looked up at the sky. It was almost
time. Just like every night since the day she had gone, Jasper lay
on his back, looked at the stars, and cleared his mind of all
thoughts. The first night, it had taken him by surprise. He had
been lying down, trying to not feel as terrible as he did, when he
had felt the greatest feeling in the world. She was sending her
love. He had broken down like a baby, sobbed until no more tears
would come.

Every night since then, he would lay
and wait. And every night, she would send her love to him. The
first touches of it seeped into him and he relaxed. The feeling got
stronger and the choking feeling he lived with every day left. He
closed his eyes and wished that he could do the same for
her.

A noise to his right broke his
concentration and he sprang to his feet in time to be tackled by a
wolf. He landed on his back, rolled away and shifted. The black
wolf bared its teeth and a coyote joined it.

Jasper growled. He crouched low, his
tail twitching, teeth bared. He could still feel Hayden in the back
of his mind and he hated to push her out, but he needed all of his
concentration for what was about to happen. He blocked the feeling
out and hissed at the dogs.

Another form walked out of the woods
and Jasper blinked. The wolf and coyote stayed tense, ready to
fight, but made no move toward him.

“Jasper. I must say I almost gave up on
finding you.”

Jasper shifted back so he could talk,
his eyes staying on the two dogs. “What do you want,
Damian.”

The old man smiled and put a hand out
to the dogs. They sat where they were. “I think it would surprise
you to know that I want much the same as you.”

“And what would that be?”

“To make sure Hayden is
safe.”

Jasper looked quickly to Damian, then
back to the dogs. “And why exactly, should I believe you. You’ve
done nothing but send pack after pack after her.”

Damian shook his head. “Rainen. Rainen
and I are having a bit of a disagreement on the matter of Hayden.
You see, she thinks she can use Hayden in this little war of cats
and dogs. I believe that Hayden won’t be used by either side of
this game.”

Jasper was listening intently, not sure
what to think.

“I can see things to come, Jasper. The
farther into the future it is, the foggier I see it. But I will
stake my life on this. Hayden’s purpose here isn’t to fight for the
Majs or the Namaels. Her purpose is to save us all.”

“You are the ruler of the Maj. How is
Rainen getting away with sending out the packs if you don’t agree
with it?”

Damian looked into his eyes and Jasper
was shocked by the pain he saw. “I will tell you something that
very few know. I am dying. I have been for years now. Whatever it
is that is affecting me has to do with magic. I haven’t found one
healer or sorcerer that can find a way to fix me. As far as they
can tell, the magic is slowly leaving me. I can no longer get up.
Even talking is a chore that fatigues me. Projecting myself like
this…well, let’s just say I’ll be surprised if I have enough energy
to ask for a glass of water when I get back.”

The coyote whined and Damian smiled at
him. “Things always end as they should, Patrick.” Both dogs bowed
low.

Damian looked back at Jasper. “Is she
safe?”

He nodded. “She’s where no one will
find her.”

“Good. I’ll give you the same bit of
advice that I gave Hayden. If you remember one thing in your
travels, let it be this. Nothing is as it seems.”

“What does that mean? What have you
seen?”

Damian shook his head. “I have learned
through experience that I can’t try to change how things are to be.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t give advice along the way and hope
for the best.” He looked to the wolf and coyote. “Thank you for
finding him. You may return to your patrols.”

Both of them seemed hesitant to
leave.

“I’ll be fine,” he reassured
them.

Jasper watched them trot back into the
woods.

“I believe I will have the pleasure of
seeing you one more time before my existence ends. Until then, be
careful. And keep her safe.”

Before Jasper could reply, Damian was
gone.

Jasper looked around and listened
intently to make sure there was no surprise attack coming. After a
few minutes, he returned to lay down and found that he could no
longer feel Hayden.

“Bloody hell,” he muttered to himself.
“They couldn’t have waited five minutes.”

What was Damian up to? Jasper growled.
He didn’t trust the man. Granted, Hayden had a strange effect on a
lot of people. But Damian? He would just have to be on his guard
when she came back. Whether or not the leader of the Majs really
was telling the truth about his intentions, his advice was
good.

He shifted and stretched out on his
side. Breathing was a little easier when he was a tiger. It was
probably because he couldn’t feel a hundred percent like a human
could. His tail twitched. A little better, but not much.

*****

“You should phone Shaynna and go
riding. You know that makes you feel better,” suggested my
dad.

It had been one month since I had left
Quelondain. We were having supper.

“I don’t know, dad. It’s hard enough
not to run to the park and cross back over, and I think the main
reason I don’t is because I’m not sure how to get to Sageden from
that crossing. If I go to the arena I’ll be a hop, skip and a jump
away from the hill crossing. I don’t know if I can stop myself from
crossing over knowing he’s around there somewhere.”

“Honey, you have to do something.” My
mom passed me the potatoes. “I can see you getting wound up tighter
and tighter every day. We don’t know how long this will take. What
if it’s months, or years?”

I stopped chewing, the thought of
swallowing making me gag. I felt the blood drain from my face and
my mom’s eyes widened.

“Hayden, honey! I didn’t mean that it
will! I’m sure it will be soon. From the sounds of that letter, I
don’t think Jasper can stand it much longer than you
can!”

I took a few deep breaths, tried to
slow my heartbeat and made sure I wasn’t projecting what I was
feeling. Jasper didn’t need to know how miserable I was. I was
getting pretty good at shielding. The only time he could feel what
I was when the emotion was extreme. Or if I felt like teasing him.
“I know, mom. It’s okay.” I tried to smile. “It’s probably a good
idea. I’ll give Shay a call after supper.”

I spent the next twenty minutes poking
at my fish.

“Why don’t you go call her right now?”
My dad gave me a smile.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, dear.” My mom gave my arm a
squeeze as I walked past her.

I grabbed the portable phone and headed
to my room.

The phone rang twice in my ear and a
familiar voice answered. “Hello?”

“Shay! It’s me!”

There was a short pause.

“Oh, my god! Hayden! Are you
home?”

I laughed. “Yeah, I am. I was hoping we
could get together, if you’re not too busy.”

“Of course not! God! When?”

“I have absolutely no plans. You pick
when is best for you.”

“How about right now? I was just
heading to the arena. They’re having a roping jackpot and Shawn is
in it.”

I smiled. “Sure. That sounds
great.”

“Do you still have your truck? Do you
want me to pick you up?”

“No, no. That’s good. I’ll meet you out
there.”

I kicked off my sandals, got out of my
shorts and put my wranglers on and changed into a t-shirt, then
headed downstairs.

My mom and dad were in the
kitchen.

“So?” asked my dad.

“There’s a roping jackpot this weekend
and the first round is tonight. I’m gonna go meet Shay out there.
Does my truck still run?”

“It sure does.” He went to the key
holder and tossed me my keys. “I’ll go move the SUV out of the
way.”

“Thanks, dad.” I gave my mom a hug and
went to put my boots on.

“You’re not putting on your riding
boots?” she noticed.

I shook my head. “I promised Jasper I’d
keep these on.”

She smiled. “That’s sweet. Did he give
them to you?”

I glanced at her. “No. I have my knife
in them.”

Her eyes widened.

“See?” I pulled my pant leg up and
showed her the pocket that held the knife.

“But why…”

“Mom. It’s different over there. Over
there I walk around with my knife in my boot, my dagger on my belt,
and two short swords on my back. When I go to bed, the dagger goes
under my pillow and the swords go under the bed. When I told Jasper
I couldn’t be walking around with weapons here, he asked if I would
keep the boots on just in case.” I laughed. “It blew his mind that
people just walked around here.”

She nodded her understanding of the
situation and passed me her phone. “If anything should happen…” She
smiled. “I understand if you decide to go back. If it happens, just
call and let us know, okay?”

I took the phone from her. “I will,
mom. I promise.”

My dad came back into the house. I gave
them both a hug and told them I loved them. “I’ll see you guys
later.”

Shaynna was waiting for me outside when
I pulled up to the arena. She ran up to me and gave me a
hug.

“Man! It seems like ages! How have you
been?”

I smiled. “Great. It’s been quite the
six months, that’s for sure. You?”

“Beyond great! I got into the equine
massage therapy program!

I gave her a hug. “That’s awesome!
You’ll love it.”

We headed into the building and into
the lounge where the spectators could sit and watch out of the
windows while having a drink.

I ordered two beers from the bartender,
whom I didn’t recognize and we headed to the back of the arena to
sit along the fence where we usually sat.

Shawn trotted his horse up to me. “Hey!
Hayden! Long time no see!”

“Hey, Shawn. How have you
been?”

“Same old, same old.” He
smiled.

“Hey, Shawn! Pay attention! You’re up!”
one of the other ropers hollered at him.

“Oops! Gotta go!”

We watched and I fell into my old
rhythm again, running to grab drinks for the guys on the horses,
answering the phone, or jumping into the alley to help push one of
the steers that wasn’t cooperating.