Page 38 of Jasper

“Melody is my priority,” Jasper said.

“She won’t be safe as long as Ludo and his people are walking around free.”

Jasper exhaled on a growl. “Melody first. And my friends aren’t endangering their lives, period.”

Finn was silent after that.

Lucius knew if he had a soulmate and her life was in danger, he wouldn’t wait a second longer than necessary to get her to safety. Jasper clearly felt the same way about Melody.

He envied his friend. Even if he was in hell right now because Melody was in harm’s way, at least hehadsomeone. Maybe someday soon Lucius would have someone too.

Melody wokeup when something pinched her wrist. She was groggy as hell, like she’d just woken up from a hangover, except she didn’t really drink.

She opened her eyes and winced at the bright sunshine.

Where the hell was she?

Blinking rapidly, she saw familiar woods and realized she was chained to a tree. A thick copper-colored chain was fixed to a cuff made of dark metal and attached to her wrist.

She was in Northbelle.

Memories flooded back, and she remembered being attacked with her parents in the park and someone cutting off her air.

This wasnotgood.

Someone squatted down in front of her, and she slid her gaze over. She didn’t recognize the male, but he had an air of authority that made her think it was probably Ludo.

“Hello. You’re quite the inventive female, hiding away and then bringing strangers into my territory and setting my enemy free.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, wondering if she could play dumb long enough to figure out how to set herself free.

Because what if no one knew she was gone yet? And how the hell long had she been unconscious?

She spoke Jasper’s name in her head, wishing she could communicate telepathically with her soulmate and tell him where she was.

I’m in trouble, Jasper.

Ludo smacked her so fast and hard that her ears rang and she tasted blood.

As her vision blurred and her mind spun, she winced and spit blood on the ground, wiping her mouth with her free hand.

“Let’s not lie, shall we, Melody? One of my captives told me that a male named Jasper set your parents free. He didn’t offer that information up willingly, of course, but he did give it eventually.” The smile on his face was purely feral and evil and made Melody want to run away and hide.

He crept forward, his eyes the amber of his beast. She tried to move away from him, but the chain was too short and she was trapped against the tree. He reached for her, jerking her hips forward and stretching her away from the tree until the cuff bit into her skin. She screamed and kicked at him as fear pulsed through her, but then he dug into her back pocket and took out her phone.

He stood and stared down at her for a moment as if enjoying that she’d been terrified of his plans when he’d touched her, and then he looked at her phone. He bent and held it in front of her face to unlock it, then moved his finger on the screen.

The phone rang as he put the call on speaker.

On the second ring, Jasper answered, “Melody?”

“Not quite,” Ludo said. “I have her here. She’s keeping me company.”

“You will regret harming her,” Jasper said, his voice filled with menace.

“Not as much as you’ll regret not doing exactly as I say.” Ludo nodded at someone behind Melody. She was suddenly wrenched to her feet, the short chain rattling as the cuff scraped her wrist and her arm felt like it was going to be pulled out of the socket. She screamed in pain as her free arm was twisted behind her back and she had to go onto her tiptoes to keep the pain at bay.

“Melody!” Jasper yelled.

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