Page 17 of Love, Nemesis
She hesitated.
“Another Minute owes me a favor,” he pushed, holding her eyes.
She tried to weigh the possibilities but knew what she wanted.
So did he.
“When do we leave?” he asked.
She hopped off the desk. “Morning. I need combat clearance.”
“We have time for the hill then,” he replied.
She smiled. “Sure.”
“All right. I’ll go get some travel bags. You change.”
“See you outside.” She walked up the stairs as he gathered his things on the desk.
She glanced back at him as he hurried to put together his things. She was glad she came to see him. Jasper’s enthusiastic, though sometimes anxious energy, always made her feel at ease. He was a friend and comfort she hadn’t allowed herself to enjoy for quite some time.
As if sensing her thoughts, he looked back at her.
The estrangement of the past two years, the tension between them, seemed worlds away. After Dal Hull, her team, including Jasper, had broken up. They’d been an unofficial group, ragtag outsiders with a singular mission of tracking down and destroying cursed artifacts from The Ocean’s War. That was an unofficial and illegal practice in the State, but it had to be done.
The Strike, The Eating Ocean, and all of their poisons had to die with the war.
As if Ana and Jasper’s journey ahead was just like those they’d shared in the past, Jasper smiled at her. She knew she’d leave him before they found Ares, but with so much uncertainty in her future, she felt better with Jasper beside her than in the capital under Hailey’s thumb.
Chapter 5: Sugar & Rain
ANA VISITED THE gear and apparel building near the Atlas storage and used her ID to get her uniform and fresh gear.
By the time she met up with Jasper, he’d loaded up the horses for the ride into town, a pleasant one they’d taken many times before. The pathway took them alongside the villas, through rows of stone houses, and then to a secluded trail outside the capital.
They stopped at an outlook near a rundown well and shed, a place that used to be their hideout after long days of training. They removed their bags, tucking them inside the shed with their saddles before giving their horses room to graze.
Jasper pulled out a bottle from one bag, shaking it at her with a grin. “Like old times?”
“Sure,” she said, shaking her head as she walked over to the garden she’d planted near the incline of the hill. She sighed, sitting down in the grass.
Jasper sat down behind her, one leg on either side of her. He opened the bottle, smelling it before handing it to her. They traded off taking sips from it, watching the clouds gather and roll in the silence. The time passed quickly; the moment embodied something of a goodbye.
She took a swig of the bottle and handed it back to him.
“Hey,” he said, nudging her with his leg. “We should run away.”
He said it in jest, but she knew there was some truth to his humor. He often hid his truth there.
“Come on. You know I’m suggesting this all for you,” he added when she didn’t reply.
“When we’re sitting in jail waiting for execution, I’ll remember that.”
“They couldn’t catch you. They’d get me for sure. I’m laying my life down for your sake.”
“Right,” she chuckled. “Have you thought about it? You know, with things heating up on the borders? The Mystics living in the State might not be as welcome anymore.”
“They’ve warmed up to me over the years. You’d be amazed what happened once I started dying my hair.”
