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 fucking kidding me, Jasper? You don’t even have anything to hold over me. Why in the fuck 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.
Jasper disappeared, returning to the asshole I would never again let rule my life.
Gritting my teeth in aggravation and fury, I stopped. I holstered my weapons and glanced about, suddenly feeling like I was being watched. Scrubbing my face and seeing no one close by, I moved to turn the corner…and almost tripped over Tristan lying on the snow, his white fur blending with it perfectly, his black stripes hidden in the shadows. Only his blue eyes glinted in the moonlight; even his diamond collar was muted in the shadows.
Barely catching myself from tumbling on my ass, I braced my hand on the side of the building. “You were watching the whole time, huh?”
Tristan stood, shaking the snow from his fur, then he yawned wide in my direction.
“Yeah, I thought it was a boring attempt, too,” I mumbled, scratching his soft furry head. “Let’s go inside. I can’t stand all this slippery shit under my feet.” I held onto Tristan’s collar as we made our way carefully through the snow then even more carefully past the idiot drinkers wanting to pet him.
No one gave me a second glance as I sat down at the table with Tristan by my side.