Crossover 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book One' (35 page)

I saw him take a deep breath and he
swallowed hard. Obviously he was feeling it too. I frowned. He was
shaking.

“Would you mind toning that down a bit,
Shlova?” His voice was husky.

“Oh!” I realized I hadn’t been
shielding at all and he was feeling his need and my need full
force. “Sorry.” I pulled back on my feelings and his shaking
stopped.

He gave me a half grin then turned back
to Dave.

“Shawn!”

All of us jumped at Shaynna’s scream. I
turned in time to see Shawn drop to the ground. One man was already
lying by a tree, unconscious. The other one jumped on Shawn, intent
on finishing the job.

I ran and threw myself on the man’s
back and wrapped my arms around his neck.

He grunted and slammed me against a
tree with all his might. I held on for dear life, and looked up to
see Jasper and Dave squaring off.

“Shay! Find my knife!” I yelled at
her.

She nodded and dropped on her hands and
knees, looking through the bushes.

My breath left my body as I was slammed
into the tree again.

I heard Shay give a squeal of victory
before running toward us. I let go of the man’s neck and grabbed
the knife from her.

He crouched and looked at me with a
grin. “Let’s go, little girl.”

I took two steps toward him and he
rushed at me. His arms snaked out to grab me, but only got air as I
pivoted and swung my arm back around in his direction.

He grunted as the handle of my knife
connected with the base of his skull. He fell in a heap on the
ground.

I saw Shay trying to wake Shawn and
went to help her.

“He got hit in the back of the
head.”

I turned his head and looked. “He’s
bleeding.” I brushed his hair back so I could see how badly he was
hurt. My eyes widened.

I heard Dave grunt and looked
up.

“We’re going to have to work on you
knife work, Shlova,” stated Jasper calmly as he stepped toward Dave
and gave him a solid punch to the stomach.

After fighting trained packs of Majs,
taking on one drunk human wasn’t exactly a challenge.

“Why? I think I was doing just
fine.”

“You were holding it backwards,” he
looked back at me quickly and smiled before turning back to Dave
who was straightening.

“That was on purpose. You know how I
feel about killing.”

“Lowlifes like this don’t deserve to
live.”

Dave’s eyes widened before Jasper’s
fist connected with his jaw, the uppercut sending him flying onto
his back. Jasper walked up to him and knelt on him.

Shay’s eyes bugged out of her head at
the sight of Jasper’s dagger as he pulled it out and placed it
against Dave’s throat.

“Jasper…” I got up and started to walk
toward him. At this very moment I could have cared less about what
Jasper was going to do to Dave. It was Shay I was worried
about.

He looked up at me, his eyes full of
anger, worry, love, and pain.

I put a hand on his shoulder and he
relaxed.

“It’s not as bad when you touch
me.”

I put both of my hands on him and
looked down at Dave.

Jasper followed my gaze. “What do you
want me to do with him?”

Dave’s tear filled eyes locked on
mine.

I glared at him “We could bring him
with us and just leave him there. I’m sure he’d manage to get
himself killed within a day or two.”

Jasper chuckled. “And you think that
would be less cruel than just slitting his throat right
now?”

“No. It would be much more cruel. But
then I wouldn’t have his death on my hands.”

Jasper’s eyes narrowed. “It won’t be on
your hands. It will be on his own.”

I took a deep breath, knelt behind him
and lay my head on his back. “Honestly, I just want to go
home.”

“Yes, I imagine your parents are
expecting you back soon.”

“No. Not this home. Our home. I don’t
care what we end up having to deal with. I’m going back with
you.”

He reached behind him with one arm and
pulled me around so I was facing him. “Alright.” He leaned down and
kissed me softly. “Now, about this…” He gestured toward Dave who
was smart enough not to try and get up.

“Just knock him on the head and let’s
go.”

He handed me his dagger. “I think you
earned it more than me.”

Dave’s eyes widened and he blubbered
something that sounded like my name. I glared at him. “Not so funny
when it’s you laying on the ground, is it?” I asked him. “Any final
words before I knock you out?” I asked him.

“Sorry?” He looked at me
hopefully.

“If I ever hear of you doing this to
anyone else, Dave, you have my word. I will hunt you down and next
time, I won’t be so nice.” I jammed the hilt of Jasper’s dagger
into his temple and watched him crumble to the ground.

Shawn groaned.

“Hayden, he’s still bleeding!” Shay’s
voice was full of panic.

I ran over to them. “Jasper, come look
at this.”

He knelt beside me and I pushed Shawn’s
hair back away from his ear.

“Hmm. Interesting. Does she know?” He
looked at Shaynna.

“Do I know what?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. I looked at
Shawn a little more closely. “He needs help.”

“What do you want to do?” asked
Jasper.

“I can’t tell how bad it is. If we go
back to the barns we’ll have to explain this. I’ll have to explain
you. I don’t even know if medicine here will work on him. Check his
pockets; see if he has his stone.” I looked at Shay. “Do you trust
me, Shay?”

She looked at me with wide
eyes.

“I can help him. But we need to move
him back to where he’s from.”

“I… I don’t understand.”

“I’ll explain it to you, but we have to
move now.”

She looked down at Shawn and
nodded.

We heard a snort come from a little way
in the woods and Doc came wandering toward us.

“How’s that for good luck. Can you get
him on there, Jasper?”

He nodded then pulled his hand out of
Shawn’s jeans pocket. “It’s in that pocket. He’ll be able to
cross.”

“Okay. Let’s get him on the horse.” The
three of us lifted, pushed and pulled until Shawn was in the
saddle. Jasper hopped on behind him and held him on.

“Get started. By the time we catch up,
you should be there.” I took Shay’s hand and started running back
to the barns. “We need Macho.”

We slowed as we got back to the
building, not wanting to draw attention to ourselves. Shay went in
and bridled her horse. I gave her a leg up and then used the fence
to get on.

Shay gave him a kick and we loped off
after Jasper and Shawn.

“What’s going on, Hayden?” She sounded
confused, but not terrified.

“Do you remember when I saw that trail
in the woods, but you didn’t see it?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it’s there. And at the other end
of it is a world completely different than the one here. That’s
where Jasper is from and by the looks of it, so is
Shawn.”

She was quiet. “Let’s say for a second
that I’m going along with this…how can you tell he’s from
there?”

“He’s a Namael. Like Jasper. They have
a mark behind their ear. A straight line. They’re born with
it.”

“He told me it was a tattoo he got in
his wild and stupid days.”

We cantered over the bridge and headed
for the meadow.

I pulled my mom’s phone out and dialed.
I got the answering machine.

“Hey, mom, dad. It’s me. I’m letting
you guys know that I’ve decided to go back, so please don’t worry
when I don’t come home tonight. Thanks for everything you’ve ever
done for me. I love you.”

Up ahead, we could see Doc trotting
with his charges.

Macho slowed as we caught up to
them.

“How’s he doing?” I asked
Jasper.

“He’s mumbling. He’s fated to her.
That’s all he talks about. But he’s scared to tell her the
truth.”

“
Shay?”

Shay legged Macho closer to Doc and put
a hand on Shawn’s shoulder. “I’m here, Shawn.”

He smiled and lay his head back down
against Jasper.

I heard Shay catch her breath. “I can
see it!” She was looking further up the trail, where the cross
trail branched off of the main one.

“How can she see it,
Jasper?”

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s because
you’re touching her. You must carry some magic with you. That’s why
I didn’t hurt as badly when you touched me.”

“Does that mean she’ll be able to
cross?”

He shrugged. “I’m assuming that if she
can see it, she can cross it. If something happens that you don’t
cross with us, I’ll bring back Shawn’s cross gem for you,” he told
her.

She nodded.

We turned the horses onto the cross
trail and trotted up the hill. I half expected Shay to disappear
when we reached the meadow.

“When do we get there?” she
asked.

“We’re here. You made it.” We made our
way over to the waterfall and stopped the horses.

We lay Shawn on the ground

I took a deep breath and sighed. “That
feels much better.”

Jasper looked at me and grinned.
“Doesn’t it?”

I kneeled at Shawn’s head and put my
hands on him. Jasper sat on him to hold him still.

“You can hold his hand, if you want,
Shay. This won’t affect you at all.”

She sat beside him and took his hand in
hers. “Is he going to be okay?”

Jasper nodded. “Hayden is one of the
best healers around. She’ll have him fixed up in no
time.”

“It’s just a real bad concussion.” I
pulled a green wave out of the air and concentrated it on Shawn’s
head.

He jerked under Jasper and opened his
eyes. “What…” He looked around. “Shay! Are you ok?”

Jasper got off of him and came to sit
beside me. I snuggled into him.

“I’m fine. Are you alright?” she
asked.

“Oh, god, I am better than alright.” He
looked at Jasper and I and his eyes bugged out of his head. He got
up quickly and stood at attention. “Captain!”

Jasper smiled and waved him down. “Sit.
It’s just Jasper.”

Shawn twitched. He looked down at Shay,
then back at us. “Does she know?”

“Not really,” I told him. “Just that
we’re not where she’s from.”

He nodded and twitched
again.

“What’s wrong Shawn?” Shay looked like
an emotional mess.

“I haven’t been back here for two
years. I just…there’s something I need to do. But I don’t want you
to be scared.” He twitched again and his form blurred a bit. He
turned and started to run past the waterfall.

Shay’s hand flew to her mouth as he
shifted into a lion.

He leapt over a bush and
disappeared.

I looked at Jasper. “Go talk to him.
Bring him back. Shay’s tougher than she looks.”

He nodded. “I really don’t think he
means to stay away. I need to shift and I’ve only been gone an
hour. I can’t imagine how it would feel after two years.” He
shifted before bounding after Shawn.

“I’m going to tell you a story,” I
motioned for her to sit down.

She nodded.

I started at the beginning and kept
nothing from her. She didn’t interrupt me once. When I was done,
she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Is it worth it?” she asked. “Leaving
everything behind?”

“It was for me. Why are you thinking of
staying? Why wouldn’t you go back?”

“It’s just…his eyes. When he opened
them here. They were different. Better. I don’t know how to explain
it. It hurts them to be over there, doesn’t it?”

I nodded. “The cat part of them needs
magic to live. When they are there, it’s like half of them is
dead.”

“I love him, Hayden. I can’t ask him to
live in pain for the rest of his life.”

A blue bird landed between
us.

“Do you know where Dodge is?” I asked
her.

She bobbed her head.

“Is he nearby?”

Her head bobbed again.

“Would you mind getting him back here
for me?”

She chirped and flew away.

I smiled at Shay. “I love that
bird.”

She laughed. “This is
unreal.”

“This is as real as it gets, actually.
It’s quite the ride if you decide to come along.”

She looked up as Jasper and Shawn made
their way back toward us. She stood and walked over to
him.