Page 18 of Heartless

The first was that it wasn’t Darkness’ truck, but a fancy, cherry-red off-roader. The second, that there were two people in the cab – one familiar, and one with a sleek bob as bright as the truck’s paint job.

And the third? Well, that came up behind me. More shadow than man, until his face turned to the moonlight. “I told you, sweet wolf,” Jasper purred, “you don’t have to hide from me.”

Chapter Ten – Jasper

Maybe ‘run from me’ would have been more accurate, but since I knew how Vail felt about ambushes, I didn’t want to trigger her fight-or-flight reflexes. As it was, her face was as pale as the surrounding snow, her eyes flicking frantically between me and the bright red truck.

“What are you doing here, Jasper?”

“I’m your escort,” I explained, like it was all part of some prior arrangement that had slipped her mind. I was going for nonchalant, and was impressed at my steady tone, because when Reed had told me she was planning to leave, I hadn’t been very rational. My first instinct was to lock the campus down and then lock her down, but the hollow feeling in my chest was enough to remind me to take a different approach. I’d promised Vail I’d trust her, and while impersonating a maintenance worker and slinking off in the night was the definition of shady, I wasn’t here to stop her. “Are you going to introduce me to your getaway crew?”

Her eyes danced back to the truck, before she blew out a harsh breath. “What about Marnie’s initiation?”

I shrugged. “Reed’s handling it. And I told him to tell her I’m coming with. Like you said, she’s family, and I know you don’t want her to worry.”

Her lashes fluttered, torn between relief and uncertainty. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Of course it’s not.” I took my phone from my pocket and quickly shot off a text, before showing her the screen. “But Liam knows where we are and will follow at a distance with two other guards. I know you want to do this alone, but it’s the best I can offer.”

“Offer?” Her chin jutted out, suspicion bright in her eyes. “How did you even know?”

“Reed overheard you talking to Marnie.”

She cocked her head, clearly trying to replay their conversations in her mind. “You mean he eavesdropped on us in the Dud Dorm?” I winced at the term, although if anyone had the right to call it that, they did. Her sour look said she agreed. “I’m surprised he knew how to find the place. And you’ve been sitting on this information all week? Why didn’t you say something?”

“I’d planned to. But you spent every night in Cal’s room…” It was her turn to wince, but I took her hands in mine, rubbing the cold knuckles. “I’m not here to mess with your trip. I just want to come along and help.”

She bit hard on her lip. “It’s not a trip, Jasper,” she said quietly. “I’m going home. Well, I have to find Driftwood first, but I’m not planning on coming back.”

I’d been walking around with an empty chest ever since my wolf froze me out, but that was nothing compared to how I felt now. She was leaving me. And if that didn’t send my wolf back to me in a panic, I was fucked there, too. “Why?”

Gasping the word out was better than a howl, but not by much. And hearing it seemed to give her physical pain, because she flinched as she dragged her hands from mine and wrapped them around her chest. “I’ve messed up with Callum. I don’t want to be his mate. And staying here after everything just feels wrong.” Her gaze tracked back to the truck. “I want to go home, Jasper.”

Maybe I was just grasping for a silver lining, but at least she’d been honest. She could have said she was just heading out for the weekend instead of going for good. We were still on my lands, and it would’ve been easy to drag her back to the school, but her gaze was steady. Like she knew forcing her was no longer an option for me. “Okay. But let me come just until you’re settled. You need to find Driftwood, right? Let me help.”

The guy in the passenger seat chose that moment to stick his head out of the truck. “V! This is the slowest break-out in history. Are you coming, or what?”

She rolled her eyes and huffed a little. “I’m guessing half the guards at the school heard that.”

“They know to keep their distance.”

“And here was me admiring my fence-hopping skills,” she muttered, then turned towards the truck, her brow still scrunched with worry. “Just for the weekend, okay?”

I nodded, heading straight to the passenger side. I’d seen the guy from a surveillance photo, though he looked a little more put together with a neat haircut and fresh shave. Tall, with lean muscles and corded arms that came from physical work, Darkness Chance clearly wasn’t shifter strong, but I got the sense he could hold his own in a human fight. I’d just re-read his file and knew he was nineteen in a few months, but he looked older, maybe because of the hard light in his eyes. I was so used to the alpha sheen, it took me a moment to realize this was human hostility, and for the first time I was glad my wolf had split. The guy had every right to stare me down – and I was pretty sure he didn’t know half of what Vail had been through.

“This is Jasper,” she said quietly to her foster brother.

“You here to change our oil?” Darkness asked, ignoring me and looking askance at her uniform. “Or are they making you work your way through school?”

Instead of being insulted, Vail laughed. “It’s a disguise, dumbass.”

“Not a very good one,” he mused, his dark eyes flicking back to me. “Unless this is Marnie, and you decided to come with.”

Vail made a small choking sound. “This is Jasper,” she repeated, thumping him in the arm. I noticed his subtle flinch when Vail corked his bicep and managed to bite back a smirk. She was shifter strong. “But yes, he’s coming with us,” she told him with an arched brow. “And it’s not like you didn’t chance up the plans, too.”

Her meaningful look at the redhead in the driver’s seat earned her a scowl from Darkness, but he managed to keep his voice flat as he said, “This is Chastity. We go to school together.”

“So do we,” I smiled and slung an arm around Vail’s stiff shoulders. “Hi, Chastity. Thanks for the ride.”

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