Chosen Fool (Forever Evermore #5)(17)

King Collins was choking beautifully on his drink. “Maybe you should put the earbuds back in.”

I blinked up at him, innocent. “Did I say something wrong? Others had questions, and I’m answering them.” I smiled sweet as pie. “And I’m answering honestly.”

He gritted his teeth and glanced at Mrs Damon. She was obviously shell-shocked, so he asked her something mundane; it was too boring to even listen to.

I went back to eating my food peacefully.

My munching was wonderful until our waitress stopped behind my chair.

She bent as she slipped an envelope over my shoulder. “This came for you, Ms Jules.”

Eyebrows puckered in confusion, I quickly wiped my hands and thanked her. The envelope was void of any markings except for my name written on the front. The handwriting appeared vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it immediately. That was odd enough and I felt my eyes narrow. I leaned back on my chair to open it so King Collins and Elder Farrar next to me couldn’t see. And barely slipping the sheet out of the envelope, I felt myself go cold inside, that cold-hearted bitch I had mentioned only two minutes before now invading my entire being.

There was only one word written on the lodge’s simple stationery.

It read: Jasper.

I pushed the sheet back into the envelope, placing it in my purse, and stood casually from the table. Gently resting a hand on King Collins’s shoulder, I whispered against his ear, “I’ve got a call I need to take at the front desk. I’ll be back in just a second.”

He nodded, paying hardly any attention, deep in his conversation with Mrs Damon.

I quickly turned, my eyes instantly scanning my surroundings and the people within the restaurant. The exit was my destination, but I stalled as my head swung to the right…

There he was, resting casually against the far wall between two massive pots of shrubbery. I had no idea how long he had been there for, watching from the depths of the room. Golden eyes twinkled at me, with a showy tooth-filled grin, before he reached behind him and opened a glass-paneled door to the lodge’s back patio, slipping outside.

I inhaled bit by bit while fury and apprehension churned inside my gut. I skidded by a server and slipped behind a partition separating the room from a swanky bar, to trot to the other side unseen. With deft movements, I glided out the patio door into the waiting moonlight with a gun in each hand hidden behind my legs, ready with the safety switches off.

I kept my guns hidden as I passed the revelry drinking and chatting, heading for the most secluded location on the side of the building. I was careful where I walked as I stepped on the snow. I turned the corner and raised my guns.

My voice was empty of emotion while I narrowed my sights on the Mage standing twenty yards away. “Hello, Jasper.”

His teeth flashed in the moon’s glow, almost as frightening as the twin guns he had aimed on me. “Hello, Caro.” His head cocked, his golden eyes were steady. “Miss me?”

“Like a pesky spider. You just keep showing up no matter how many times I try to kill you.”

He chuckled softly, the sound snaking on the light breeze. “God, how I truly miss that mouth of yours.” His eyebrows waggled suggestively. “Would you care to give me another demonstration of how you slipped away that last time?”

Unbidden, my own lips twitched. “You always wanted it, so I gave it to you.” My own brows lifted. “If I remember correctly, you weren’t too upset when I escaped on your watch for the first time.”

Again he snickered, the sound quiet and intimate. “No, I wasn’t.” A full minute passed by in silence as we eyed each other, possibly both of us remembering that night years ago when we had actually had a civil conversation. I had then taken full advantage of the situation, or him, using a bit of feminine persuasion and wiles. Jasper’s guns, though, never waved. Mine didn’t either. He stated with a cool tone, “He wants you back.”

“Is that what this is about? You’re coming to do his damn bidding?” I barely withheld my anger at the intrusion. “Are you f*cking kidding me, Jasper? You don’t even have anything to hold over me. Why in the f*ck would I ever go back to him?” I shook my head. “Do you even know who I am now?”

“He knows who you are,” he stated calmly, his guns still steady on me. “And he doesn’t give a shit. We all know with that protection over you, if you didn’t want to be found then you wouldn’t be, so your current position isn’t an issue.” His eyes indicated…something. I just couldn’t grasp what. “Think, Caro. You’re being watched, as he does with all of his favorite pets. He knows Sin left you. It’s only a matter of time before he catches him.” A pause, then, “He actually wants him, too.”

I growled quietly under my breath at hearing him state that so factually. “Sin can take care of himself now, and you all goddamn know that.” I started backing away. “We’re done here, Jasper. In the future, don’t bother with the empty threats or I will blow your goddamn head off, no matter the fact I like you.”

His teeth flashed again. “The day you try that, Caro, is the day I’ll blow your goddamn head off, no matter the fact I like you, too.”

“Goodbye, Jasper,” I muttered.

He winked. “Goodbye, Caro.” His eyes flashed bright gold.